Which Truck Is Better for the Long Haul? The 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 vs 2024 Ram 1500

The pickup truck is the quintessential American vehicle, and there are many reasons why drivers choose one. Some people like the ruggedness of a truck or the high driving position, while others love off-roading or exploring. But probably the top reason people choose a truck is for its unrivaled capability, because no other type of passenger vehicle can come close to the towing and hauling feats of a pickup.

When you’re looking at two of the best trucks—the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 versus the 2024 Ram 1500—you have to ask yourself which one is going to be better in the long haul: which of these two is going to help get the job done? Well, you’ll soon see that the Ram 1500 just can’t match the Silverado 1500, which is why we’re so proud to offer the full Silverado series here at Rusty Wallace Chevrolet, the go-to place if you’re on the hunt for a Chevy Silverado 1500 for sale.

Basic Comparisons

Like most full-size trucks, Chevy’s Silverado 1500 and Ram’s 1500 are available in a great many options. For example, the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 comes with three different cab styles, four engine options, and nine trim levels. In contrast, the 2024 Ram 1500 has two cab styles, three engine options, and eight trim levels. Clearly, there are a great many options to choose from on both trucks!

When it comes to cab styles, Chevy offers the Silverado 1500 with a two-door regular cab, a four-door double cab, and a four-door crew cab that offers more legroom than the double cab. The 2024 Ram 1500 has a quad cab—similar to Chevy’s double cab—and a crew cab, but it does not offer a regular cab design. This in and of itself makes maximizing towing and hauling difficult since models with a two-door regular cab typically have more capacity for cargo and trailers.

As for engines, Chevy offers one turbocharged four-cylinder, two V8s, and a Turbo-Diesel, while Ram offers you either a V6 or one of two V8 engines. Ram does not offer a diesel engine option on their full-size 1500. For a truck’s towing and hauling figures, the single biggest factor is the engine, so it makes sense to compare these engines against each other.

Introductory Engines

The base engine on the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 is a 2.7-liter TurboMax I-4 with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This inline four-cylinder engine features a dual-overhead camshaft design (DOHC), providing four valves per cylinder. The engine has Active Fuel Management with variable valve timing to improve efficient performance; this shuts down half the cylinders when traveling at slower speeds. This engine uses direct high-pressure fuel injection to provide up to 310 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque.

In contrast, the 2024 Ram 1500 has a larger base engine: a 3.6-liter Pentastar eTorque V6 gas engine paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This also has a DOHC design, giving it 24 total valves for its six cylinders. It also has a mild 48-volt hybrid system to reduce fuel consumption. As a result, the total output of this engine is 305 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque.

Although the Chevy has a smaller engine, it actually outperforms the Ram 1500 when it comes to towing. The Chevy Silverado 1500 with the TurboMax engine can tow up to 9,500 lbs and haul up to 2,260 lbs in its payload bed. Whereas the Ram 1500 with the base 3.6-liter V6 can haul a slightly higher 2,300 lbs of cargo, it can only tow up to 7,730 lbs.

Mid-Range Engines

Chevy offers a 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8 as a mid-level engine on the 2024 Silverado 1500. This comes with a ten-speed automatic transmission, and it has an overhead valve design, providing two valves per cylinder. Like the smaller TurboMax engine, this one features variable valve timing to improve efficient performance but adds Chevy’s Dynamic Fuel Management system as well. The key difference is that Dynamic Fuel Management includes a computer that can make quick calculations on cylinder usage and deactivation; this improves its overall efficiency, making it capable of delivering up to 355 hp and 383 lb-ft of torque.

The 2024 Ram 1500 again offers a larger mid-range engine than the Chevy Silverado 1500: a 5.7-liter HEMI eTorque V8 nicknamed “Eagle.” Like Chevy’s V8, this HEMI has an overhead valve design with 16 valves. However, this engine comes paired with an eight-speed transmission, although it also has the eTorque mild hybrid system to reduce fuel consumption. As expected, it has a larger output than Chevy’s 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8, producing up to 395 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque.

When it comes to towing, the Ram 1500 with the Eagle V8 does outperform the Chevy Silverado 1500 with the 5.3-liter V8, towing up to 12,750 lbs, as compared to 11,300 lbs with Chevy’s 5.3-liter V8. However, Chevy’s V8 does provide more hauling capability, with a maximum payload of 2,180 lbs, compared to only 1,940 lbs on the Ram 1500 with the Eagle V8.

In addition, Chevy Silverado 1500 drivers can always opt for the 3.0-liter Duramax Turbo-Diesel I-6. This six-cylinder diesel engine has a DOHC design with 24 valves and a ten-speed automatic transmission. This makes it capable of delivering up to 305 hp and 495 lb-ft of torque. As a result, the Silverado 1500 can tow up to 13,300 lbs and haul up to 1,970 lbs of cargo, both of which surpass the capabilities of the Ram 1500 with the Eagle V8.

Largest Engine Options

Both Chevy and Ram offer a huge V8 engine on some of their trims for the Silverado 1500 and Ram 1500, respectively. Both of these engines measure 6.2 liters and have an overhead valve design with two valves per cylinder. However, while the Ram 1500’s version is more powerful than the one on the Chevy, it is only offered on the TRX trim.

If you choose a ZR2, RST, High Country, LTZ, or LT Trail Boss trim on the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500, you can opt for a 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V8. This comes paired with a ten-speed automatic transmission and features the same Dynamic Fuel Management system and variable valve timing as on the smaller 5.3-liter V8 engine. This engine uses direct high-pressure fuel injection to produce up to 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque, for up to 13,300 lbs of towing and 1,980 lbs of hauling in the Silverado 1500’s ed.

The 2024 Ram 1500 TRX has a 6.2-liter HEMI V8 nicknamed “Hellcat,” and it has an eight-speed automatic transmission and an intercooled supercharger. As a result, it can deliver up to 702 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. However, when it comes to towing and hauling, this one just doesn’t deliver. Its maximum trailering tops out at 8,220 lbs, and it can only haul 1,350 lbs of cargo. While this will give you unrivaled speed and acceleration in your Ram 1500, it does not provide much in the way of trailering capability.

The 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500: In It for the Long Haul

When you are looking at getting the job done, there is only one truck to choose: the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500. While the 2024 Ram 1500 with the 5.7-liter HEMI Eagle V8 does provide solid towing capabilities, it doesn’t compare to the towing and hauling figures of the 2024 Silverado 1500 on an engine-by-engine basis. This is why you should consider making your next truck a 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 if you are serious about traveling for the long haul!