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The first real snow of the season was pelting the HD Silverado I had just picked up from the General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ontario. This diesel powered 2500 had only 1,500km on the clock and it had been shiny and clean—but was now splattered with freezing salty slush. It was now just another dirty pickup truck heading north through the back roads of South-Central Ontario’s Oak Ridges Moraine.

This was just one of the three HD pickups my colleagues and I were driving to IronWood in the Kawartha Lakes region where we do testing for the annual Canadian Truck King Challenge and if I could, I’d have picked a nicer day.

The weather, as I said, was nasty but not unusual for late November and I remember thinking that for truck testing, in Canada, it was actually appropriate. That’s because, unlike the magazine awards that come out of the deserts of California or Texas, Truck King is homegrown, tattooed red and white and very often frozen.

Heading to the Head Lake region of Central Ontario marked the 11th year we had assembled and tested pickup trucks head to head; and this year we started with the three 2500-series HD diesel-powered trucks from the Big Three.
On hand we had:

2017 Ford F250 FX4 Lariat (*there are no changes for 2018)
Engine: Power Stroke 6.7L V8 turbo-diesel
Horsepower: 440
Torque: 925
Transmission: TorqShift, six-speed, SelectShift automatic
Drive: 4WD with selectable two-speed transfer case
Wheelbase: 159.8”
Cab: Crew Cab—4-door
Box: 6’ 9”
Rear axle ratio: 3.55 with electronic differential locker switch
GVWR: 9,900 lb
Payload limit: 3,350 lb
Bumper Tow limit: 17,600lb
Special feature: FX4 adds off-road tires and underbody protection.
Base MSRP: $62,249.00
Price as tested: $92,364.00

2018 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LTZ Z71
Engine: Duramax 6.6L V8 turbo-diesel
Horsepower: 445
Torque: 910
Transmission: Allison six-speed automatic
Drive: 4WD with two-speed transfer case with hill descent control
Wheelbase: 153.7”
Cab: Crew Cab 4-door
Box: 6’6”
Rear axle ratio: 3:73 with auto-lock differential
GVWR: 10,000 lb
Payload limit: 2,513 lb
Bumper Tow limit: 13,000 lb
Special feature: Z71 adds off-road tires, skid plates & Ranchero shocks.
Base MSRP: $ 62,865.00
Price as tested: $ 79,805.00

2018 Ram 2500 Limited Tungsten Edition
Engine: Cummins 6.7L I6 turbo-diesel
Horsepower: 370
Torque 800
Transmission: 6-speed automatic *note Ram still offers a six-speed manual
Drive: 4WD with two-speed transfer case
Wheelbase: 149.5”
Cab: Crew Cab—4-door
Box: 6.4”
Rear axle ratio: 3.42 with anti-spin differential
GVWR: 9,900 lb
Payload limit:
Bumper Tow limit:
Special feature: auto-leveling rear air suspension
Base MSRP: $69,995.00
Price as tested: $92,105.00

Normally, the entries arrive at the 70-acre IronWood test site days before the judges so we can prepare them for hauling and towing, as well as shoot video for our YouTube channel, Truck King TV. In the meantime, they are all outfitted with digital data collectors. These gadgets plug into the OBDII readers on each vehicle and transmit fuel consumption data to a company in Kitchener, ON, (MyCarma) who records, compiles and translates those readings into fuel economy results from all the test kilometres we run.

These results are as real world as it gets. We collect fuel consumption numbers for the empty runs, then loaded with payload (1,500lbs) and also consumption while towing (10,000lbs). Each segment is measured during repeated test loops with the trucks being driven by the judges—one after the other. The complete fuel consumption report will be available on our website (www.canadiantruckkingchallenge.ca) early in 2018.

The Head River test loop itself is a combination of road surfaces and speed limits. At 17km long it runs on gravel, secondary paved road and highway. There are three full stops and a five-minute idle period between loops. Speed limits vary from 50 km/h to 80 km/h and the road climbs and drops 90 meters off an escapement–like ridgeline several times; plus it crosses the Head River twice at its lowest elevation.

The judges score the trucks across 19 different categories—covering styling, occupant environment, noise/vibration/harshness, powertrain performance, vehicle dynamics and performance while empty, with payload and while towing. It’s these averaged scores that lead to an overall number.

And this is how the trucks faired during testing. Final scores are shown as total out of a possible perfect 100.
• 2018 Ram 2500 – 72.4
• 2017 Ford F250 – 75.3
• 2018 Chevy Silverado 2500 – 80.7

Congratulations to the Chevrolet Silverado for winning the 2500 HD segment at this year’s Challenge.
Testing of the 1500-series trucks continues at the time of this printing—so we won’t announce an overall winner (highest score across all segments) till that is completed early in the New Year.

So, while numbers often tell the tale, what follows are some comments that the judges recorded during testing. I ask them to record short comments/impressions on whatever strikes them as they are driving – good and bad – for each of these trucks. What follows is a cross-section of comments from all the judges on each one of the entries.

2018 Ram 2500 Limited Tungsten Edition
The rear air suspension is great—auto levels. Ram has the best trailer safety chain hook-ups and it’s the only truck that has an analog DEF gauge in the dash. The seating and interior design still hold up well after several years without change. It has excellent exhaust brake and rarely needs brakes on long grades. The manual flip-up tow mirrors are very nice.

However, the cabin is noisy and the steering feedback chatters. The ride is stiff and noisier than the others. Cummins has the most turbo lag of the three. The brakes can feel slightly spongy and there’s still no damped tailgate from Ram. The passenger foot well is very constricted. The control buttons in centre stack are small and very low and it does not pull as well as Ford or Chevy when towing.

2017 Ford F250 FX4 Lariat
The transmission shifts are smooth and when towing it pulls strong and the transmission doesn’t falter. The Power Stroke has massive torque.

The variable steering ratio works well—high speed and low speed. The tow mirrors are powered, heated and large while the flat floor in the rear seat area is an excellent design feature. It has an electronic DEF gauge and the multiple cameras offer good visibility and help hooking up.

On the other hand, I felt more body-roll than I’d like when driving empty and when towing the front end seems light. It’s very busy wioth buttons, controls and screens. The trailer safety chain hookups at the hitch are small and too far under the bumper, while the power tailgate with the integrated pull-out step makes it heavy to close.

2018 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LTZ Z71
Having Wifi in the truck is sweet, and the overall handling can be described as nimble. The cabin noise level is very low while the exhaust brake and gear downshifts (while towing) worked well together. Allison transmission is so solid. The interior layout is simple, functional, neat and bright. The rear bumper step is smartly designed and there’s a damped tailgate. The towing switches (trailer brake controller, 4WD, etc.) are well located and the steering feel, under load, is good.

On the negative side, the suspension washes out in hard corners. There are no tow mirrors (which have to be ordered separately) and the standard bedliner is very slippery when wet. As well, the DEF tank hangs too low and is in real danger of getting cracked.