AND THE WINNING TRUCK IS ...

The Truck King Challenge saw three HD trucks compete against each other

By Howard J. Elmer, Postmedia News - Each year, the Canadian Truck King Challenge tests and evaluates whatever is new in pickup trucks under real-world conditions.

This model year, each of the Detroit Big Three released new heavy-duty versions of their trucks. These HD pickups are a segment within a segment -- like sports cars are to overall vehicle sales.

However, in industry, on the farm and among recreational haulers, they probably make up a bigger chunk of overall truck sales, in part because nobody buys one to race out and get groceries. With that in mind, we loaded them down, towed with them and ran them off-road and on.

The Ford Super Duty, Chevy Silverado HD and Ram HD were delivered to us in crew cab diesel-powered form. The three similar in most respects and the tests were conducted back to back and on the same day. As always, we tested at our private IronWood test facility near Head Lake, Ont. And, for the fourth year in a row, it rained. (This is now called the Truck King curse among our panel of three judges.) Our results are as follows:

Third Place: Ram 2500

Our third-place pick debuted with all-new sheetmetal and a great new interior. Much of the improvements came from the latest half-ton Ram, itself an award-winning design inside and out. Our tester was equipped with the veteran combination of a six-cylinder 6.7-litre Cummins turbodiesel (providing a stout 350 horsepower and 650 pound feet of torque) and six-speed automatic. Unfortunately, "veteran" is also code for oldest.

Empty Test Loop: The engine and transmission combo is proven, although it now has the lowest power output among the three trucks. The interior is the best of the three with excellent soft-touch materials, accents and design. The drive was confident and comfortable -- in fact, maybe a little soft.

Towing/Loaded: The Ram has the best mirrors of the bunch, easily flipped-up to resemble the West Coast mirrors of old. No power means no failures. Dodge also provides four- and seven-pin connectors in the bumper -- a good protected location. A backup camera is also available. The Ram was first to offer a button-activated engine exhaust brake -- this is still there and works very well while towing. The brake holds the load on grades, saving the brakes. Its operation is tied in with the selectable gearing feature on the shifter handle.

Off-road: The truck has a two-speed transfer case (as do the others) for 4WD Hi and 4WD Lo that's an electronic shift-on-the-fly setup. Where the Ram falls short is its lack of a rear differential locker. Of the three it was the easiest to get stuck. The other noticeable omission is a traction control system. This truck spins its wheels off-road as well as on-road if over-torqued, not a good trait particularly when towing.

Conclusion: Design-wise, of the three trucks, I liked the Ram best inside and out. However, it appears that this was where the development dollars were spent. While the powertrain is decent, it is also the oldest of the three trucks and the capacities offered are the lowest.

Second Place: Ford F-350

An F-250 was not available. However, with the exception of the increased load limits on the F-350, the pickup is identical to the 3/4-ton version.

The 2011 Ford is by far the most extensively upgraded Super Duty ever -- new engine and transmission encased in the most powerful chassis the line has ever released. This is both great and scary. The potential for a great truck is there, however prudence suggests that with this many new components, a period of time is needed to make sure they all mesh in the real world.

Empty Test Loop: The new dashboard has clear large gauges and a larger centre information screen (4.2 inches) that clearly displays information, everything from radio settings to the trailer connections. It's easy to see, bright and can be accessed via steering wheel-mounted five-way buttons.

This Ford (granted, it was the one-ton) is the stiffest ever and I found it had a tendency to skitter on the washboard during test drives. On the other hand, the new steering is confident with good on-centre feel.

The new 6.7L Power Stroke is a torque monster, yet vibration is low and noise is well controlled. Ford claims there's as much as a 20% improvement in fuel economy over the outgoing 6.4L (which isn't hard considering how thirsty it was). The signal stalk has been changed; it no longer "sticks" when activated, which I found annoying. Several extra inches of floor space have been added to the new Super Duty Crew, most of which found its way into the rear-seat area. With the seats folded, the large flat floor lends itself to easy loading and unloading of equipment, tools or groceries.

Towing/Loaded: Ford has power mirrors that extend for trailer towing. The backup camera also doubles as a conenient way to hook up a trailer when alone. Four- and seven-pin connectors are also offered, but the connectors are still located below the bumper, where it gets the dirtiest. Why? Ford's tailgate step wit6h handle is a nice feature that has yet to be copied by the others. The new TorqShift six-speed transmission gave me pause. Under load, there were some rough upshifts. It didn't happen regularly, but it was noticeable. The pickup had a confident feel on-road and while towing.

Off-Road: The shift-on-the-fly controls for 4WD work well, and a button-operated electronic rear differential locker (as opposed to the automatic mechanical GM system) is also offered. The F-350 was the only pickup to have manually locking front hubs. Ground clearance was good, and the pickup offers very rugged off-road performance.

Conclusion: The Super Duty gets a power dome and a large Super Duty logo stamped into the upper grille. This looks is polarizing -- buyers either love it or hate it. As for what's under the hood, Ford has made a huge investment in the new engine and associated systems. The judges just worry a bit about the transmission. At first blush, though, Ford's effort looks very good.

First Place: Chevy Silverado 2500

Just out of bankruptcy when this truck was released last spring, GM has a lot riding on the Silverado (and GMC version). That has to be at least one strong reason for the massive improvement in the strength of the pickup's chassis and the leap forward in its electronics. The body got little attention, but that is the least of buyers' concerns.

Empty Test Loop: GM has put all its R&D dollars into a great leap forward in chassis and powertrain development for the Silverado. However, this means changes to the body and interior are negligible. The sheetmetal is OK style-wise, but the interior design is now the oldest of the three and it is tired-looking. On the road, the ride was very firm, but the road manners were steady. The interior soundproofing has been improved and the dash is functional. The rear seats flip up for storage, but the floor was not flat like Ford's F-350.

Towing/Loaded: The proven 6.6L Duramax has been upgraded and now easily pulls up to its limit. Along with the stiffer chassis, towing feels more confident. The veteran Allison transmission is smooth regardless of the amount of weight towed. Frankly, it's excellent, it also has a manual tap up/tap down shift feature along with a tow-haul setting. The smart engine brake works with the transmission to downshift and hold the load on grades no matter how severe. GM has deleted the four-pin electrical trailer connector from its standard hook-up, however, the seven-pin connector is well placed in the bumper. GM has an optional backup camera for the lone driver hooking up a trailer. The mirrors are alright, but not great.

Off-Road: GM offers a neat Eaton mechanical differential locker for off-road traction. This locker has an internal spring-loaded pendulum that reacts to centrifugal force, flying out when there is wheel slippage and locking the gear set. It's completely automatic and, when engaged, gives the 4WD system a goose as the back end slips. Excellent!

Conclusion: This Silverado HD is GM's best ever. But, this market is highly competitive, so the best I can say is that this effort has put GM back in the game with Ford. That was the consensus among the other two judges, too. The Silverado pulled just slightly ahead of the F-350 because of the proven reputation of its powertrain. This feature carried it to first place.