How Does the Silverado Steel Bed Hold Up?

If you haven’t seen them all over the Knoxville stations already, Chevrolet recently released videos that demonstrate the strength of the Silverado’s roll-formed steel bed when compared to Ford’s F-150 stamped aluminum bed and we bet you can guess which one outperformed the other… This campaign proves that the right materials, along with the right manufacturing process for the right application can do wonders for a vehicle.

In order to demonstrate the advantages of the high-strength steel bed of the Silverado, Chevrolet performed three separate comparisons to the F-150 stamped aluminum bed. In one test, an empty metal toolbox was pushed off of each truck’s side rail and into the bed. Of the 14 demonstrations, the corner of the 28-pound toolbox left a puncture the F-150’s bed 13 times. The Silverado, on the other hand, held up pretty well with a mere dent in all but two instances. Another test involved 55 landscaping blocks, collectively weighing in at 825 pounds. These blocks were then dropped into the beds from 5 feet above the bed floor. The Silverado ended up with only scratches and dents that did not affect the utility of the bed, one thing we all know St. Louis buyers can appreciate.The F-150 sustained punctures in every single drop, totaling to an average of 4.3 punctures per drop. In a real-life scenario, this kind of damage would reduce the utility of the bed.

Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet truck marketing director states, “Obviously, any material can be pushed to the breaking point if you subject it to enough impact energy. If a customer does manage to puncture the high-strength steel bed of the Silverado, they have the added peace of mind knowing steel tends to be easier to repair than aluminum- potentially saving money and minimizing time without their truck.”

Watch the video below to see these tests for yourself!

Stop in West Chevrolet in Alcoa, Tennessee today to check out and test drive the 2016 Silverado!

 Source: Chevrolet Media