I've driven many large trucks in my time at Edmunds but I think this is the first time I've scaled a truck that doesn't have a grab handle on the driver-side A-pillar. With a ground clearance of 9.1 inches, the Silverado isn't the tallest truck I've been in, true, but being 5'5" I still need some help getting into the cabin. I wonder why the passenger side gets that grab handle but the driver side doesn't. Hm...
There is a handle on the door itself but I'd like a stationary object to grab and pull myself into the cabin. It's a minor issue, but it does seem like an odd thing for a large truck to lack.
Production Editor Caroline Pardilla
Production Editor Caroline Pardilla
dotsara says:
02:55 PM, 12/12/06
But it clears tight corners in drive-thrus like nobody's business. (:
jerseypr5 says:
07:00 PM, 12/12/06
Caroline Pardilla, you might try holding on to the steering wheel like everybody else. I understand the annoyance, but face it with all of the good designing that Chevy injected into the GMT900, is this really something to complain about?
tsgeisel says:
07:12 PM, 12/12/06
jerseypr5 - I wouldn't have thought to grab the steering wheel myself; those things are sometimes not locked, and the last thing I want is to have it shift in my hands as I pull myself up.
As she said - there's a handle on the passenger side. Why isn't there one on the driver side? Symmetry, if nothing else would mandate this.
billt9 says:
12:00 AM, 12/13/06
jerseypr5: bad train of thought. There always is something to improve. A stagnant thinking of "this is the best, and better is impossible" lead GM and Ford to the situation they are in today.
thebigal says:
12:20 AM, 12/13/06
As always there is something that got overlooked... A grab handle would be nice... I even have one in my lower riding S-10 - although it works better for getting out than getting in. I might suggest using the steering wheel... but I would worry then about the stresses of a person's weight constantly pulling on the steering column in a way it wasn't designed too. I had an old Chevy P/U that didn't have a grab handle and I always used the steering wheel, but the column also always felt a little less secure... but then again it was also a 16 year old truck at the time and that was 10 years ago so maybe the steering column on this new Chevy just might be up to the stress of nominally wieghted person using it as a handle to get in ??? I would venture to think so. Just make sure it is locked first. But then what do you do when the vehicle is running and you need to get in?
carluvr1 says:
06:10 PM, 12/13/06
I brought up the same subject to a product specialist for Chevy at the L.A. Auto Show....i went to get up into a regular cab silverado and i went to go for a grab handle and i nearly fell forward not knowing it wasn't there...and i looked over and saw the passenger got one so it made me wonder......My Mom's Armada has two grab handles for each side of the truck....so i guess the GM guys were in too much of a hurry to get the trucks to market that they forgot a simple thing that would help many people....
actualsize says:
08:00 AM, 12/14/06
They didn't forget. It was a conscious decision.
Say it with me now: "Value Engineering."
jerrywimer says:
05:05 AM, 12/15/06
I'm not sure about "value engineering". I'd like to see the handle there too, but I wouldn't go so far as to bash GM for the lack of it. I'm sure there are plenty of "praised" competition lacking this same exact feature?
easystreet says:
09:55 AM, 12/25/06
If you're 5'5", you shouldn't be driving a truck. Get a Cobalt or something and move on, Leave the big toys for the big boys. Thanks.
chevylonghorn says:
04:20 PM, 01/ 1/07
Im 5'2" and I can get in and out of my dads driver side just fine. It's called improvising. Use the door handle or the seat, or just pull on the steering wheel. You should see all of the metal in the steering column. There's no problem with using it..
dderosa says:
12:57 PM, 01/23/07
Dear easystreet,
As the 5'4" managing editor, I resemble that remark.
Donna