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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  • IBx1 I had the displeasure of driving a CTS5 while my 1st gen CTS-V was in the shop for a brake line recall, and that was an absolute pile of garbage. Hyper sensitive brakes, stiff crashy suspension, a horrible sounding 4-cylinder, and this is what people fawn over?
  • Jkross22 The CX9 we leased and will be returning soon smelled like a dentist's office for the first 2 years. Big Dental must have paid dearly for that.
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  • Rover Sig Market placement: One good (large) car, one good (mid-sized) SUV, plus the Escalade (because).Attention to detail. I see nice looking caddies with some ugly features (wheels, trim). I don't know about interiors because no one I know has a caddie.The world does not need another BMW. Not everybody is in sales. Cadillac could be selling cars to all of us Boomers, who remember the large Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Mercuries, etc., of yesteryear and their comfort and, yes, style of a sort.
  • Tassos Back in my day, Nissans were the choice for forward-thinking, progressive folks who appreciated quality and innovation. But now? Seems like they're just for those who can't afford better. It's a shame to see a brand with such promise become the go-to for the budget-conscious (POORS!) crowd. Makes you wonder what happened to standards and aspirations. Guess you can't expect much from a generation that thinks a Nissan is a status symbol.
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