Chevrolet Gives the 2019 Silverado a Proper Diet

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Jan 15, 2018

Bowtie's new full-sized pickup now weighs 450 pounds less than the current model

Chevrolet promised to turn heads at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, and it did just that with the introduction of the 2019 Silverado. There’s a lot to unpack about Chevy’s all-new, half-ton pickup truck, and one of the most interesting developments about it has to do with its weight. It may not seem like it in on the surface, but the new Silverado, among other things, is 450 pounds lighter than the current model.

Chevy’s going to point to the combination of using aluminum and steel on the truck’s body as the biggest reason behind the Silverado’s loss in weight. There’s a good reason for that because a number of body panels in the truck are made from aluminum, including the doors, hood, and tailgate, Together with the lightweight material, Chevy also used steel in the development of the new pickup, including seven different grades of steel on the underlying safety cage.

The shift to this mixed-material use is a body that now weighs 88 pounds (40 kg) lighter than the current model while also offering 10 percent greater torsional rigidity. The use of mixed materials also has an effect on the pickup's all-new suspension. Take the front independent short/long arm suspension, for example. According to Chevy, not only are the new forged-aluminum upper control arms lighter, but they also provide better wheel alignment than the stamped component they replace. The redesign extends to the live-axle rear suspension, which now includes new carbon-composite second-stage springs on LT models. The addition of these springs helps save 12 pounds per side compared to the steel springs that are used in the current model.

As it is, the 2019 Chevrolet now weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 4,000 pounds, 450 pounds less than the current model, which carries a base curb weight of around 4,500 pounds for the Regular Car trim. It’s not the sexiest development attributed to the new Silverado — it also gets a new engine, in case you’re wondering —but it is significant in improving the pickups all-around versatility.

By comparison, the base curb weight of the existing Ford F-150 sits at 4,560 pounds while the Ram 1500 tips the scales at a heavier 5,083 pounds. A lighter pickup truck has the makings of a more versatile pickup truck, a strategy that Chevrolet is adopting with the new 2019 Silverado. Combine that with the presentation of the pickup and all its other new features and you have a new Silverado that’s looking to make a statement in the half-ton pickup segment.