It was in the fleet all of 24 hours before our Silverado got pulled into its first bout of moving duty. A friend of mine was setting up shop in a new house and I figured the truck would come in handy for some of the smaller stuff. With its short 5 foot 3 inch bed, our Silverado can't really swallow a couch very well, but it did accommodate a kitchen table with room to spare. Folding the rear seats opens up a good amount of floor space too, so it was useful for small stuff as well.
Of course, there's a reason why the crew cab only comes with a short bed. Anything longer would make the truck too big to fit in the average garage. To test the theory I pulled the Silverado into the empty garage of the new house to see how it would fit. Sure enough it was tight. With the nose barely an inch or two from the wall, the Silverado's back end barely cleared the garage door. So yeah, it fits, but not by much.
Senior Editor Ed Hellwig @ 144 miles
navigator89 says:
12:33 PM, 11/13/06
Wow that really is a tight squeeze!
navigator89 says:
12:34 PM, 11/13/06
Wow that really is a tight squeeze!
Glad that an American vehicle was added, an a good one too, unlike the Compass. I doubt there'll be much to complain about this truck. I sure hope it whips the Tundra when you get it!
thebigal says:
03:57 PM, 11/13/06
Not surprised to see that the truck barely fits. I don't fault the truck however I fault the homebuilding industry. Having worked in the new home construction before, it is common for the garage to be shorted. People like huge fancy and big houses, but lot sizes, and building codes have limited to a certain degree how big a house can be. So home builders design houses with more house, less garage. Usually the garage is given just the bare minumum to clear the codes and that will only fit an average sized sedan or small truck. To see that a full sized truck fits at all is a surprise.
firstwagon says:
04:10 PM, 11/13/06
That's why I like extra-cabs over crew cabs. Unless you need to carry really big adults on a regular basis, it makes more sense to get a full size truck that still has a full size bed.
desmolicious says:
06:25 PM, 11/13/06
Ya think ya got it bad in the US with garages? The garage in my sister's newly built house in England does not fit their VW Golf!!!! All around her neighbourhood one sees Toyota LS 400s, Mercs, BMWs sitting on the driveways because of too small garages!
jerrywimer says:
05:16 AM, 11/14/06
That's why I traded my extended cab Silverado for an Avalanche (and why I've wanted an Avalanche since it first came out). The Avalanche is shorter in length than either the crew cab short bed (ie- the long-termer here) or the extended cab standard bed. Don't even go there for the regular or other cab with the "long box" configuration. Yet I still have all the interior space of the crew cab, and the full 8' (and a touch more) of the long box when I really need it. Not that I don't like Chevy's Silverados (loved the one I had). The Avalanche just takes versatility to a whole new level for the average suburbanite.
And don't misunderstand- trucks still have a place. They generally have a higher overall load capacity, and now, a higher towing capacity too. Some folks need those.
hondacura4 says:
04:46 PM, 11/20/06
I looked at one of these this weekend with my brother. It was a crewcab with navi and rear entertainment and all the other goodies for around $45k. I liked everything about it except one thing. The overall design is nice but for some reason the fender flares make the truck look a little anemic/anorexic in some areas of the body. It looks a bit odd from some angles but very recognizable as a Chevy truck. As far as looks go (and this is subjective) the Dodge RAM and the current Toyota Tundra look better.
gmc73 says:
02:34 PM, 01/ 2/07
Don't understand where the 5 foot 3 inch bed measurment comes from. Is the chevy short box smaller than the GMC crew/short box. I just went and measured the floor of a GMC crew cab short box and it was 5'9'' on the bottom of the box and around 5'7'' at the top of the box in lengths. The truck also had an easy lift tailgate option with a lockable tailgate. The truck was also very nicely equipped Z-71 4x4 at 35K sticker.