Yahoo Autos 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD ZR2 Is a Serious Plus-Size Off-Roader
Lifted heavy-duty pickups are nothing new, and in most parts of the country, so-called brodozers are a common sight. Ford's Super Duty Tremor and the Ram 2500 Power Wagon represent factory entries into this arena, but the new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD ZR2 is arguably the best turnkey example of the breed due in large part to its independent front suspension. No, really.
The Power Wagon, replete with a standard winch and disconnectable front anti-roll bar, is clearly optimized as a rough country rock crawler. The Tremor, on the other hand, has more general appeal with its mildly lifted suspension, somewhat burlier dampers, and oversized tires. Traditionalists will say that the solid front axles that underpin both models are preferable when tackling boulders, but such hardware comes with an abundance of unsprung mass that hurts them in conditions that are arguably more crucial more of the time.
The Silverado 2500HD's independent front suspension and the low unsprung mass that comes with it is a boon in daily driving, improving ride comfort and steering precision and minimizing chatter over washboard dirt roads. In the case of the ZR2, you can add swallowing up the whoops and rolling terrain of the wide-open desert to that list. We know this because we drove one to California's Johnson Valley, site of the notorious King of the Hammers extreme off-road race, to see for ourselves.
2500HD ZR2 equipment
In Silverado HD form, the ZR2 formula consists of 35-inch-tall Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT mud-terrain tires on 18-inch wheels, a 1.5-inch suspension lift, and an electronically locking rear differential. But the ZR2's killer app is undoubtedly its Multimatic DSSV dampers. They feature an aluminum body to better dissipate heat, durable and fade-resistant spool valves configured to provide position-sensitive damping, and piggyback external oil reservoirs that house more oil to reject even more heat—the latter fitted not just to the rear, but also the front. The HD competition has nothing like them.
On the less-than-perfect paved roads heading out to Johnson Valley, the ZR2 exhibited precious little head toss, minimal impact shock, and a surprisingly low level of tire noise from its big Goodyear tires. The ride remained smooth even after we turned onto the washboard dirt entrance road, with none of the skittering we usually experience in plus-size pickups. But the biggest surprise was the control and stability the truck displayed on the countless crisscrossing dirt tracks that have been terraformed into standing waves by the passage of numerous dirt bikes and UTVs. Here, the HD's ZR2 setup seemingly shrinks the truck by delivering an ability to absorb terrain that belies this behemoth’s size and weight.
Farther into the off-road area, that feeling continues to come through when tackling the more boulder-strewn and remote trails of Johnson Valley, where the crew-cab standard-bed ZR2 can tiptoe through terrain you might personally tackle on foot with trekking poles. The purists are probably correct about the worthiness of solid front axles in this environment, as the apparent articulation of the Silverado's independent front suspension isn't as impressive as the last Power Wagon we sampled. Still, the ZR2 displayed eye-popping capability in this terrain.
