FORD 150 VS. CHEVY SILVERADO

[Mr. Chevy]

I just traded in my 2008 Ford F150, STX, 4x4, extended cab truck with the 4.6 V8 for a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado with a 5.3 V8, extended cab, 4x4 with the Z71 off road package as well as the towing package..

I hate to say this, but comparing the two new trucks Chevrolet offered much more for the money than did Ford. I have been either leasing or buying Ford F150 trucks and trading them in every 2 years since about 1995. This is my first Chevy and so far I love it!! Ford makes an awesome and durable truck that is no doubt, but when I test drove the Chevy I fell in love with it.. I have to say I NEVER had an issue with any of the Fords I had...

The road noise is less and the ride is smoother than the Ford.. Fuel economy will be better also, so I'm told..

Any feelings or opinions from anyone out there?? Most all my friends have Chevy Silverado Trucks and like them...

Rich

[ORIGLS6]

Good luck with the gas mileage. My 5.3 gets worse overall mileage than my previous 5.7 Silverado. And it absolutely HATES my trailer. I've never gotten better than 9 mpg pulling a 20' trailer, and on most trips it hovers closer to 7 mpg.

Now, I will admit other than the mileage they have both been very dependable trucks. I drove the '97 5.7L truck 206K miles with nothing more than a slight oil leak at the rear of the intake. (except for a few fuel pump issues [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]) and the current truck has over 100K with the speedometer being the only problem to date.
I'll be looking at a different truck in 2011 and may consider a 2500 series or another 1500 with the 6.0 engine.

[Mr. Chevy]

Thanks Dennis... Could be the new 5.3 will get better gas mileage due to the cylinder shut off... Don't know if your motor had that on it or if that is something new..

Rich

[ORIGLS6]

I ran almost 600 miles last Saturday, the majority of it open road at 65 - 75 mph. Mileage ran around 17.3 mpg with this truck. It would have been at or over 20 mpg with the previous truck.

You're right, I feed all eight cylinders all the time. I'll be interested to see what your mileage is.

[SS427]

I have bought nothing but 1500 Silverados every 2 years for the last 15 years and have had great luck with all of them other than minor issues (fuel pump, steering column clunk, driveshaft, etc). Very happy to say the least. Several years ago I tried to convince myself that Ford and Dodge had nice trucks and went out of my way to buy one. Still came back to the Chevy in the end. My biggest complaints on the other two were road feel and room in the extended cabs. I did not feel that either Ford or Dodge came anywhere close to the roominess that the Chevy's had especially in the rear seat and that included crew cab trucks. All of my trucks have averaged about 16-17 mpg including my crew cab and did not do all that bad even with trailers. I made NUMEROUS trips from Mpls to Springfield with my last crew cab 1500 pulling a 24' enclosed trailer and averaged around 10 mpg. Without a trailer I might be able to sqeak out 19 mpg. I am a Chevy guy to the core but when it comes to a work truck I was not afraid to drive anything that would get the job done. The Chevrolet always came out on top in my opinion.

[Don_Lightfoot]

Our '07 is essentially identical to what you just got Rich. Ride and feel are excellent, much better than all the previous Silverado's we have owned. Hauling my open trailer with the Chevelle on it is much more stable and smooth than previous models. Think it has something to do with the new frames being used.

However, mileage with our 5.3 sucks. It's not much better than the SS we had before it which was a real gas hog. Agree with Dennis, previous 5.7's had better mileage.

[x Baldwin Motion]

I was consistently getting about 17.5 MPG with the 5.3 over the last 70,000 miles. (considering the other cars in the garage, I thought this WAS good mileage). I am driving the 2011 crew cab with the flex fuel option now and have not bothered to calculate the gas mileage. This truck rides like a Lincoln, I love it.

As far as full size Chevy pick ups go, I have been buying new ones since 1985 and most recently found out they were safe in a roll over. It's not likely I would switch to a Ford (and I did have a new 2011 as a rental for a few weeks recently..yuck, the ride sucked and it handled like a dump truck)

[njsteve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SS427</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have bought nothing but 1500 Silverados every 2 years for the last 15 years and have had great luck with all of them other than minor issues (fuel pump, steering column clunk, driveshaft, etc). Very happy to say the least. Several years ago I tried to convince myself that Ford and Dodge had nice trucks and went out of my way to buy one. Still came back to the Chevy in the end. My biggest complaints on the other two were road feel and room in the extended cabs. I did not feel that either Ford or Dodge came anywhere close to the roominess that the Chevy's had especially in the rear seat and that included crew cab trucks. All of my trucks have averaged about 16-17 mpg including my crew cab and did not do all that bad even with trailers. I made NUMEROUS trips from Mpls to Springfield with my last crew cab 1500 pulling a 24' enclosed trailer and averaged around 10 mpg. Without a trailer I might be able to sqeak out 19 mpg. I am a Chevy guy to the core but when it comes to a work truck I was not afraid to drive anything that would get the job done. The Chevrolet always came out on top in my opinion. </div></div>

Don't mean to hijack the thread but...

Pulling a 24 footer with a 1500? Are you able to stop effectively with the brakes on the 1500? do they have big enough brakes? The one reason I've been using 2500 suburbans for decades was that they had much bigger brakes than the 1500s. I still have the 1995 diesel K2500 suburban I bought new 15 years ago. I pull a 24 footer as well. Not a whole lotta power with the 6.5 diesels but they seem to hold up pretty well. They were cost effective back when diesel was cheap but nowadays I wouldn't waste the extra 10 grand.

[SS427]

It occured (remembered) to me after I wrote this and too late to edit. Most of the recent travels from MPLS to Springfield were with the 1 ton dually NOT my 1500. However, I did pull a trailer around town several times as well as short 2-3 hour trips with the 1500 and with electric trailer brakes I had no issues with the 1500. My only concern was actually with the rear axle as they had service bulletins on them regarding too close of tolerences and the rears being ruined by too much heat when towing though I never had an issue.

[Chevy454]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Pulling a 24 footer with a 1500? Are you able to stop effectively with the brakes on the 1500? do they have big enough brakes? The one reason I've been using 2500 suburbans for decades was that they had much bigger brakes than the 1500s. I still have the 1995 diesel K2500 suburban I bought new 15 years ago. I pull a 24 footer as well. Not a whole lotta power with the 6.5 diesels but they seem to hold up pretty well. They were cost effective back when diesel was cheap but nowadays I wouldn't waste the extra 10 grand. </div></div>
If a guy tows/hauls very much at all, just about any diesel made within the last decade will make you throw rocks at anything else you've owned before...

Re. 5.3 versus 5.7...look at the numbers...255hp @ 4600rpm and 330lb-ft @ 2800rpm for the 5.7L to 295hp @ 5200 335lb-ft @ 4000 RPM for the early 5.3L...the 5.3's power is higher up in the rpm band. The 5.3's move out better because they have a bit more horsepower, but the higher rpm peak makes better use of gearing...and being from the LS family means the aftermarket for the 5.3L is ENORMOUS!