Ford F-150 Delivers Where Chevy Silverado Falls Short

It’s no secret that the Ford F-150 has been the best-selling truck in America for more than 40 years, and the F-Series, in general, offers the best-selling vehicles overall. We love our trucks, and Ford has tapped into that in ways that no other manufacturer has been able to, making powerful, hard-working trucks designed to deliver what you need day after day. This is why so many people look for a Ford F-150 for sale and find trucks with even more to offer than they expected.

To fully appreciate everything this truck can do, however, it helps to take a step back and look at the big picture. That means checking out not just the F-150 but also the market in general to see how it stacks up. When you look at the Ford F-150 compared to a model like the Chevy Silverado 1500, it becomes easier to understand why so many people love this truck and how well it goes above and beyond everything else. The Silverado 1500 is arguably its biggest competition, so let’s see several ways the F-150 comes through and proves itself as the best truck on and off the road.

More Powerful Engines

When it comes to a hard-working truck, to paraphrase a well-known expression, “A powerful engine isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” If you’ll forgive our borrowing of that quote, we feel the sentiment is appropriate because what you can get done with your truck often comes down to the kind of power its engine delivers. We don’t care how impressive the design and engineering of a truck’s body and frame are or how well its suspension keeps you in control; put a weak engine in that pickup, and everything else has been pointless.

Ford understands this better than anyone else, so you’ll find engines in the F-150 that deliver incredible power and robust capability. Looking at the 2024 F-150, for example, we see a standard turbocharged V6 that puts out 325 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque, which is a great place to start. From there, you can choose from several boosted options, including a 5.0L V8 or a 3.5L turbocharged V6 with 400 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque. We love that Ford also offers a hybrid engine, which Chevy doesn’t. A PowerBoost hybrid version of that V6 cranks up its performance to 430 hp and 570 lb-ft of torque, which can help you get a lot of work done.

Looking at the Chevy Silverado 1500, there’s no denying that it also has some impressive engines, but they fall short of what Ford delivers. The standard engine in the 2024 model, for example, is a 2.7L TurboMax that offers 310 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. This is a bit more torque than Ford’s starting engine but less horsepower, so they’re comparable. The problem for Chevy comes when you look at the other options available-Chevy’s best engine is a 6.2L V8 that offers 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. You can see that’s a far cry from Ford’s best engine, a 5.2L High Output supercharged V8 that offers 700hp and 640 lb-ft. Of course, the supercharged V8 is meant for off-roading capabilities. Still, Chevy’s 6.2L V8 provides a bit less horsepower and massively lower torque than Ford’s hybrid engine. Chevy offers greater torque with its diesel engine. However, it still falls short of the F-150 while losing a lot of horsepower.

Greater Towing and Payload Ratings

Powerful engines are great, but beyond simple bragging rights, they also need to translate into getting some real work done. A sports car has a powerful engine, but you’re not about to tow 10,000 lbs behind it-the engineering of a truck needs to support a tremendous amount of weight. Ford comes through time and again with best-in-class towing that you simply can’t beat, and we see that continue in the modern F-150. The difference in numbers can be minimal, but when you start using them in real-world situations, the difference in capability can feel more pronounced.

With the 2024 Ford F-150, the maximum towing capacity is 13,500 lbs when properly equipped, which is terrific. The Chevy Silverado 1500 can only handle up to 13,300 lbs of maximum towing at best, which is close to what the F-150 can do but falls short. Similarly, the F-150 can handle up to 2,445 lbs of maximum payload, while the 2024 Silverado 1500 tops out at 2,260 lbs of maximum payload capacity. What’s particularly noteworthy, however, is that the F-150 can reach these numbers with the same engine; the Chevy gets its best payload from an engine that can only handle up to 9,500 lbs of towing, while its best towing comes at the cost of less than 2,000 lbs of maximum payload. That’s a trade-off that you don’t have to make when you choose Ford.

Incredible Off-Road Power and Capability

Full-size trucks are some of our favorite options for heading off-road; there’s no denying that the right SUV can also be a great companion out on the trail, but we just like the feel of a truck when navigating the great outdoors. Both the Ford F-150 and the Chevy Silverado 1500 have dedicated trim levels for going off-road, which is great, but Chevy hasn’t quite reached the same level as Ford in this regard. The Silverado 1500 ZR2 can be equipped with the available 6.2L V8 engine with 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque and an off-road suspension package featuring an off-road cut front bumper to give it a greater approach angle out on the trail. Skid plates protect the underbody of the Silverado ZR2, and overall, it’s an acceptable off-road option, but it can’t keep up with what Ford offers.

The F-150 Raptor, Ford’s off-road beast, features available FOX Racing Dual-Live Valve Shocks with incredible performance and innovative tech that reacts in a fraction of a second to changes on the trail. With internal bypass engineering and position-sensitive damping, these shocks adjust automatically to the terrain you’re on. F-150 Raptor models feature an advanced Terrain Management System with seven modes, including Slippery, Off-Road, and Rock Crawl. To take things to the next level, however, the F-150 Raptor R adds a Baja mode to help you handle the incredible performance of its 720-hp engine and 37-inch tires, creating an off-road monster that nothing can surpass.

Innovative Features and Options

There are many things that make the Ford F-150 America’s favorite truck beyond its robust power, terrific capability, and engineering that lets it go anywhere you can imagine. It’s smartly designed for both work and play, with great features like its Pro Access Tailgate that swings outward to give you easy reach into the truck bed, putting you up to 19 inches closer to your cargo for convenient access. It’s comfortable inside and out, with great luxury and tech features. Plus, you get advanced options that let you take your experience to the next level. For example, the Pro Power Onboard system, available on the F-150 Lightning, gives you multiple electrical outlets and ample power for devices, including power tools, TVs, and much more, making this the ultimate truck for taking care of business, tailgating on the weekend, and doing things the Chevy Silverado just isn’t capable of.

Leading the Way Again and Again

We would never say the Chevy Silverado 1500 is a poor truck-it’s clearly a well-built option that does everything it can to keep up with what the Ford F-150 offers. Unfortunately for Chevy fans, the Silverado 1500 simply falls short in critical areas and reminds us why the F-150 has been the best-selling truck on the road for so long. As a Ford dealership, we’re going to be a bit biased in this regard because we’re passionate about Ford trucks and everything they have to offer. At the end of the day, however, this ultimately comes down to what they can do for our customers because we thrive on being able to help people find amazing vehicles with everything they want in them. The Ford F-150 makes that easy, and all it takes is one test drive to appreciate what one of these trucks can do for you.

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