Chevrolet Adds Trail Boss to Silverado HD

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

It’s a great time to be a fan of burly off-road pickup trucks from the Bowtie brand. With multiple flavors of dirt road fun in three different sizes, Chevy has covered just about all bases.


Proving things don’t always happen in order, the Silverado HD is getting a Trail Boss trim for 2025, a model whose off-road chops slide in between the Z71 and ZR2 – though both of those have options been available on the HD trucks for a spell already. Adding this trim to the Heavy Duty line completes a trifecta of sorts, with Trail Boss now showing up on midsize Colorado, half-ton Silverado 1500, and now these brutish HDs.


What makes a Trail Boss? Hove underneath the truck in LT or LTZ guise are a set of suspenders from the Z71, including specially tuned shocks which are not the trick DSSV units. If you want those, get a ZR2. Meaty tires on unique 20-inch wheels are part of the deal, as are swaths of blacked-out trim and badges. Stickers don’t add horsepower or off-road prowess but at least advertise the fact you’re not rocking a bog standard Silverado HD.


The 6.6-liter V8 gasser is standard, a mill which showed up this year with 401 horsepower and 464 lb-ft of torque; there’s no indication those numbers will change for 2025. Meanwhile, the 6.6L Duramax diesel is the one you really want, belting out 470 horses and 975 lb-ft of twist. Both engines dance with a ten-speed automatic.


Elsewhere, the interior got a much-needed revamp last year, so other changes are minor. Park assists now appear on more trims, as does adaptive cruise control. Note that adaptive cruise is not Super Cruise – nor is it Ultra Cruise, a tech innovation The General has folded into the Super Cruise family and will no longer market separately. There’s a spate of black-out packages for 2025 as well.


These trucks will be available in summer of 2024. Pricing will be announced closer to the start of production.


[Image: Chevrolet]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • Corey Lewis It's not competitive against others in the class, as my review discussed. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/cars/chevrolet/rental-review-the-2023-chevrolet-malibu-last-domestic-midsize-standing-44502760
  • Turbo Is Black Magic My wife had one of these back in 06, did a ton of work to it… supercharger, full exhaust, full suspension.. it was a blast to drive even though it was still hilariously slow. Great for drive in nights, open the hatch fold the seats flat and just relax.Also this thing is a great example of how far we have come in crash safety even since just 2005… go look at these old crash tests now and I cringe at what a modern electric tank would do to this thing.
  • MaintenanceCosts Whenever the topic of the xB comes up…Me: "The style is fun. The combination of the box shape and the aggressive detailing is very JDM."Wife: "Those are ghetto."Me: "They're smaller than a Corolla outside and have the space of a RAV4 inside."Wife: "Those are ghetto."Me: "They're kind of fun to drive with a stick."Wife: "Those are ghetto."It's one of a few cars (including its fellow box, the Ford Flex) on which we will just never see eye to eye.
  • Oberkanone The alternative is a more expensive SUV. Yes, it will be missed.
  • Ajla I did like this one.
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