The New Silverado's Abundance Of Towing Technology: Making Heavy Duty a Snap

Making the towing experience easier is one quality for a truck that many of our customers here at O'Rielly Chevy have been asking about. There are many instances where a towing job is taken on by just one person, and Timothy Dahl of Popular Mechanics gave it a try to see just what he thought. The Advanced Trailering system works together with the myChevrolet smartphone app to make your life easier, even letting you very easily conduct a trailer light test, to make sure your trailer is connected properly. In days past, this task needed a spotter, to be able to see if your brake lights and signals are working properly. It allows you to start a pre-programmed flashing sequence for the lights, and then do a thorough walk-around of the vehicle to check them with your own eyes.

There are three different cameras that provide a 270-degree view behind you, as you attempt to attach the trailer. The setup includes a standard rear-vision camera, as well as two side cameras mounted in the side view mirrors. You can even choose from an optional fourth camera that mounts to the trailer, providing an even better view during towing. With the hitch view camera, you can obtain a birds-eye-view of your trailer and hitch, and the new backing guideline adds a healthy dose of precision to the task of placing the ball just right below the hitch. This will cancel out the need to spend valuable time going in and out of your truck to make sure everything is properly aligned.

Just after you place a truck in park, it can roll an inch or two, which can cause an otherwise spot-on hitch to be misaligned. The auto parking brake assist automatically sets the parking brake when you're in Hitch View to very smartly avoid this from taking place. Over the past decade especially, there have been many different advancements that have simply gone above and beyond to save time, promote safety, and provide owners the ultimate in enjoyment that they could fathom. The industry-first Trailer Theft alert actually can activate the truck's lights and horn if the harness is disconnected, and even alert you with an email or text.

If you happen to be traveling at very high speeds, a tire blowout can spell sheer disaster. The onboard Trailer Tire Pressure Monitoring informs you of tire pressure, as well as temperature to prevent blowouts from getting into the dangerous and potent overheating zone. Next Year's Silverado is bigger yet lighter, and boasts a fuel economy above 20 miles per gallon. One of the features that is the most congruent with the times is dynamic fuel management: it shuts off unneeded cylinders during a very detailed 17-step process. The wheelbase is 4 inches longer, and we can heartily recommend the Trail Boss Trim Line: this is the model that the staff from Extreme Tech used to navigate a very demanding obstacle course of a log road, steep dirt hill, and uneven boulders. Ask us how the cylinders deactivate during engine load, and the modern fuel management system yields a 5 percent improvement in overall fuel economy!

Colorado ZR2 Bison Created With Aid From AEV for the Ultimate in Off-Road Adventure

Details regarding a very detailed pre-emptive strike against the competing Ford Raptor have been circulating around the office and on the lot here at O'rielly Chevy, where more off-road equipment has been added to the bad and burly ZR2. Based on the AEV concept seen during last year's SEMA show, the new ZR2 Bison features very awesome and able custom gear from American Expedition Vehicles. First setting apart the new Bison from ordinary ZR2s is a winch mounting plate underneath with “Chevrolet” spelled out across its width, as well as an AEV steel bumper with fog lights.

There are now larger fender flares positioned over very cool customer 17-inch black wheels, and 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, an AEV steel rear bumper with integrated tow hooks, and Bison decals on the bed. For the most proper and fitting in rock climbing  equipment, Chevy traded the ZR2's aluminum skid plates for a total of five new steel units that cover both differentials, the transfer case, engine oil pan, and the fuel tank. New logos of a charging bison and the AEV name now appear on the tailgate and headrests.

For the most part, the Bison has similar traits to the standard ZR2's equipment, sporting the usual Multimatic remote-control reservoir dampers, cast-iron control arms, front and rear electronic locking diffs, a two-inch lift, and a 3.5-inch-wider front and rear track then is found on the lower-model Colorado Z71. Engine selections are the turbo-diesel 2.8-liter inline-four with a six-speed automatic transmission, or the 3.6-liter gasoline V-6 with the 8-speed automatic, in crew-cab or extended cab body types. This is the truck that the folks at Jalopnik called “A plated pickup to power through anything”, and raved about the strength of the newly installed protective plating.

The skilled folks at AEV are the ones who turned the Jeep Wrangler into the fully-fledged off-road ready AEV Brute, and are currently tinkering with Dodge Ram pickups as well. Since the main ingredient is the skid plates, it's hard not to notice that they are constructed of very hard, durable hot-stamped Boron steel. This makes an enormous difference for anyone who Is going to be taking their truck off road: oil pans and differentials can be some of the first items to crack, and this armor for the underbelly is wildly sensible. Crawling rocks and racing through the desert at dusk are popular forms of recreation right here in the Tucson area, and you will be more than excited to embark on your own adventure with the trusty and battle-ready 2019 ZR2 Bison!