What worked:
Obviously, the space of a full-size bed was a bonus and cuts down on the number of trips back and forth to the storage facility. Some other pickups with four doors and true two-row seating sometimes reduce the size of the bed (and add a bed-extender cage) to keep the overall length of the truck the same. Those flip-out cages are usually a bigger pain than they're worth and a full-size bed is almost always better.
The Silverado's one-handed flip-up rear seats also paid dividends. I found I could load up the rear passenger compartment with huge quantity of stuff I didn't want flappin' in the breeze like framed posters, desk drawers filled with paperwork, and other small items which might take flight en route.
The aforementioned choppiness does indeed become a smooth ride with the addition of a few hundred pounds of ballast in the bed. This was important to for me to keep adjacent furniture from rubbing. Had this been a cross-country trek, it would've been even more important.
The invention of proximity sensors has revolutionized large-vehicle reversing. Keeping in mind the sensors are disabled when the tailgate is lowered, it was snap to back into the loading dock with the telltale "bing-bing" updating my progress. I'd prefer more updates (more frequent binging) so I wouldn't have to back up so slowly in fear of overshooting the sensors.
What did not work:
I've said it before and I'll keep saying it until my last breath, but why can't I choose to lock and unlock my own stinkin' door when I choose to? Pre-programmed locking protocols must be banished along with six-speed automatics that only allow a choice of two forward gears. I can't tell you how many times I walked around the vehicle to find a locked passenger door. Yes, I know, I finally programmed them to "all unlock in park," but why must I endure a menu of locking options? Hey, GM, how 'bout I just operate the little switch on the armrest myself? Pah-lease!
Perhaps it was our choice when we purchased the Silverado, but the lack of a bed liner seems pretty silly in a pickup. Why have a pickup truck if you're not going to place potentially scratch-inducing items in the bed? Luckily, I had a very large piece of cardboard which fit snugly and did the job in a pinch.
Again, there might be just such an option we overlooked in our haste to get our hands on this brand-new 2007 Silverado, but I found precious few tie-down locations in the bed itself. Unlike the Nissan Titan or new Toyota Tundra both of which feature a sliding cleat system wherein you may place a secure tie-down anywhere along the bed-bottom or -sill.
On one trip loaded with furniture, I depressed the tow/haul mode button on the shifter hoping to smooth out the transmission's shifts and keep my furniture from bruising. I found that gears were held higher into the rev range (affecting fewer net shifts), but the shifts themselves didn't appear to be any smoother -- especially when the truck needed to downshift to maintain uphill speeds.
Finally, why isn't there a tailgate lock? Did we overlook this option as well? It'd be nice to lock the tailgate along with the cab between solo push-cart trips to the storage unit. That might discourage passers-by with sticky fingers who would be more obvious thieves when climbing into the bed to steal my stuff. While I'm thinking about it, why not have a locking tailgate that's linked to the of the global-lock button on my remote?
Sorry I didn't snap any photos. I realized (too late) that my digital camera is now buried at the back of a high-security storage unit at an undisclosed location.
Chris Walton, Chief Road Test Editor, 4705 miles
skierx420 says:
01:54 PM, 01/ 2/07
City folk and pick 'em up twucks. Don't ya'll know yer suppossed to put stuff in the bed of the truck. IT'S A TRUCK! WHO CARES IF IT GETS SCRATCHED! If you are looking at a used truck on the basis is that this bed is scratched and this bed isn't? Come on! The only way you can see into the bed of the truck is to get on a ladder and look in. A locking tailgate? Ok you lock the tailgate and I'll just climb over the side by stepping on the tire, or the center cap. If you have a cover that is not fiberglass and is cloth, vinyl, etc. I will just cut it with a knife. Scratch the bed please. At least people will know it got used as a truck insead of driven as a sports car. Most city folk like to buy these vehicles for nothing other than the only way to get a rear drive high powered V8 and then drive tham like sports cars. A scratched up bed will get you a little respect next time you pull into a truck stop to put a $100 bill into the tank.
jkavanagh says:
02:18 PM, 01/ 2/07
Many 'city folk' are concerned about long-term durability, and scratches in the bed provide pathways for rust to form.
skierx420 says:
04:04 PM, 01/ 2/07
Ok, I see your point about the bed liner and rust in 10 years or so. Here is the thing. Lift up a plastic bedliner on a 5 yr old used truck and you will see as many scuffs and scratches from the bedliner itself as a truck that did not have one that carried things on a daily basis. The only way to prevent the inevitable scuffs and scratches is with a spray in bedliner. So if it is important to you that your bed does not get scuffed and you actually want to use the truck, please go see your neighborhood spray in bedliner service. I have seen good results from Line X and Rhino Liner. But I don't mind seeing a truck with some dings in the bed and that would not sway my purchase down the road. Maybe Edmunds should do a comparison test on what is the best bed protector.
thebigal says:
04:36 PM, 01/ 2/07
I will attest that a drop in liner will scratch the bed as much as as a bed without a liner. I pulled my drop in liner out of my 6 year old truck and the paint was scratched off down to the primer in lots of places. As far as rust forming? Maybe it just where I live but I also had a onld 82 pickup that didn't have a liner and it was used a farm truck before I got it I always had something in the bed. The truck was over 20 years old and the bed was pretty banged up and pretty used, but it wasn't anywhere close to rusting. So whether a truck has a bed liner or not is not something that would sway me from buying it.
Although if it is a concern, it would be nice to have the dealers offer it as an dealer installed option. Maybe for even less than the Rhino or Line-X guys could do it for?
skid666 says:
06:28 PM, 01/ 2/07
The missing items are options:
$95 - EZ-Lift Tailgate Package, includes locking tailgate and EZ-Lift tailgate
$175 - Cargo Management System, aluminum front and side C-channel rails, located in the pickup box, includes 4 adjustable tie-down hooks
7driver says:
06:30 PM, 01/ 2/07
My truck is 23 years old and was used as a farm truck for the first 10 of its life before I got to it. To this day, whenever I drive on the freeway paint flakes off from everywhere except the area covered by the huge stickers on the doors that advertised the farm. Yet every time it rains, the drain holes plug up with leaves and pine needles and the bed still will hold several gallons of water. Keep in mind that I usually don't get around to unplugging the drain holes until several days (sometimes weeks) after it rains.
Galvanized metal really helps, I guess.
rsholland says:
07:17 PM, 01/ 2/07
I'm surprised more truck makers don't offer a factory sprayed bed liner, like Nissan does.
misaniovent says:
07:44 PM, 01/ 2/07
Is it that expensive to simply have a liner sprayed on? Could you folks please do this and relate the experience instead of constantly complaining about it?
While I realize that something like this should be standard (and I believe it should), it's also an opportunity for you to do show how improvements can actually be carried out by a customer.
7driver says:
11:02 PM, 01/ 2/07
Oh, I forgot to mention, my truck never had a liner. They're not necessary, folks. 23 years old and half the paint is gone, yet the bed still holds water. Plenty of surface rust but no sign of automotive cancer.
jerrywimer says:
05:23 AM, 01/ 3/07
A spray in liner isn't an option from GM on their trucks, new or old. You can buy a drop-in (with the associated cons mentioned above) from GM accessories. Or you can, like many of us have in the past, get your truck liner sprayed on. I got mine through my dealership as part of the negotiated deal when I bought the 2004 Silverado. It was a Rhino Liner and worked great. Not only did it protect the bed, it kept cargo from sliding around, reducing the need to use tiedowns for some things.
But my real reply here is along these lines- with the specific complaints you have, it sounds like you really need a Chevrolet Avalanche.
Bed cover (hard) from factory- check. Point to avalanche
Plenty of tiedowns, eight in fact, one on each top corner and one on each bottom corner of the bed box (not sliding however, unlike the optional checkbox item for the new Silverado)- check. Even split on this point .
Bedliner (sort of. Rubber mat over the metal in the bottom, plastic sided box, hard plastic covers)- check.
Locking tailgate (*tied into the keyless entry, as requested*)- check. Combined with the hard covers on, this provides about as secure a cargo box as a truck gets. Point-and-a-half, Avalanche.
-Bonus point (addressing a complaint from the top of your blog entry), the Av is a bit shorter than a crew cab truck with the standard box. While this chops off around 8" of bed length when using the full-sized front and rear seats, that's not much of a difference. No passengers? Good, now it's a BIG difference as you open up the midgate and stow that window, getting over 8' of space (2+ feet over the Silverado). Extra point to the Avalanche.
-oh yeah, and it rides like a loaded Silverado, even without anything in back. Not adding points here though, since the Silvy rides just as good with stuff in the back, which is the way it's designed to be used most of the time anyway.
So while is shares many of the traits of other trucks (harder to park, 50% more fuel consumption than the average sedan), your blog entry illustrates really well why it's such a great vehicle for some of us.
On the other hand, you could get a Silverado equipped properly to address most of your concerns too, as explained above. I don't believe the locking tailgate is tied into the keyless entry though. (The new manual tailgate lock has got to be better than the aftermarket tailgate lock kits for the prior models though- if you had a screwdriver or other similarly straight thin instrument, it took about 2 seconds to open the tailgate without even doing damage to those!)
bdc2020 says:
08:51 AM, 01/ 3/07
You're a 'Chief Editor'??? You've got to be kidding. The TOW/HAUL mode doesn't give you smoother shifts - it's made to hold the gear longer before shifting so the engine doesn't 'bog' as hard when hauling that much weight.
A bedliner?? Geez, next thing you will be doing is waxing the bed of the truck too. It's going to get scratched, it's a dang truck, not a glossy sports car. You should take your shoes off before getting in it, so you don't get dirt on the carpet.
1487 says:
10:00 AM, 01/ 3/07
I dont get your complaint about locking options. first of all auto unlocking when the vehicle is in park is totally logical and I cant see why anyone would prefer to hit the button each time. Besides, you can always hit the actual switch anytime you want to so I dont understand your complaint. Why didnt you just hit "unlock" when you got out of the truck? I believe you can deactivate the auto lock/unlock and leave everything manual if you so chose, although that makes little sense to me. Most people appreciate the convenience of programmable locks.
firstwagon says:
10:42 AM, 01/ 3/07
Why would you have to unlock the car when you get out? Who drives around with the doors locked?
gmc73 says:
03:19 PM, 01/ 3/07
In one of the November blogs you guys stated something about the small 5'3" bed. You're now stating it has the space of a full size bed! What kind of quilifications do you have to have to be a chief road test editor? Its pretty obvious you don't have to know alot about trucks. As skid666 said the truck does have available options. bdc2020 is right as well on the TOW/HAUL mode, heck every blog here is accurrate except for the things Mr. Walton says DO NOT WORK. Dude, do your home work before you start bashing on things you don't know alot about. KUDOS to the general for once again setting the mark of PROFESSIONAL GRADE line of trucks!