The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the Ram 1500 are two of the best light trucks on the market. That makes it hard to choose between them. Of course, you could always pick one and hope for the best, but our guide can help you make a more informed decision - we’ve done the homework for you.
Price
Trucks can be expensive—just take a look at the Ford F-150 Raptor. You don’t want to be paying off your truck for the rest of your life, and while you can deck these trucks out as much as you want, the basic cost of entry isn’t that high. Of the two, the cheapest Ram 1500 has the lowest MSRP of $26,395, according to Dodge’s website. The cheapest Silverado 1500 is priced at $27,585.
At first, that may seem like a huge price hike. While the Silverado costs over a grand more, it breaks down to around $19.84 extra each month in a 60-month auto loan - at least before taxes, interest, and any other charges get tacked on to the loan. That’s not a lot of extra money - but is the Silverado worth it?
Fuel Economy
Trucks are notorious for getting poor fuel economy. After all, they haul large loads and have some of the most powerful engines of any vehicle on the market. You need that kind of power to tow thousands of pounds of stuff. Both of these trucks have relatively good gas mileage compared to some of the other trucks out there.
The Chevrolet Silverado gets 18 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway with the V6 engine. Comparatively, the Ram 1500 gets 17 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway. The difference isn’t too much, so this could practically be a draw, depending on how and where you drive the most.
Towing and Payload
Neither of these trucks has the best-in-class towing, but they aren’t too far off. When properly equipped, the 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 V6 engine tops out at 7,600 lbs. However, if you shell out for the 5.3-liter V8 engine, you can tow a whopping 11,000 pounds.
You can pull even more with the 6.2-liter package at a maximum of 12,500 lbs. The maximum payload is rated at 1,980 pounds for the V6 and 2,430 for the 5.3-liter V8.
The Ram 1500 doesn’t really stack up. The Ram has the ability to tow up to 7,610 with the V6 engine, and the diesel V6 bumps it up to 9,210 pounds. You can upgrade to the V8 to tow a maximum of 10,640 lbs., but that’s still less than the Silverado’s by around 400 pounds.
The max payload for the Ram sits at 1,890 pounds, which decreases to 1,800 lbs. for the V8 engine. The diesel V6 engine reduces your maximum payload even further to 1,600 pounds. The Silverado wins at hauling, all around.
