2024 Silverado 1500 vs 2024 F-150: Which Is the Right Truck for You?

The 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 is here for truck enthusiasts who need a new rig. As the 26th edition of this award-winning truck, the Silverado 1500 now offers even more astounding performance to go with its legendary reliability. If you’re looking for a Chevy Silverado 1500 for sale near Bessemer, Edwards Chevrolet Downtown has everything from the barebones WT trim to the ZR2 off-roading savant.

Choosing the right truck is essential, and the newest Chevy Silverado 1500 will inevitably get put head-to-head against its biggest rival, the Ford F-150. Are you still trying to decide between the two? Our team can help. Let’s look at the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 versus the 2024 Ford F-150 to see which one is going to give you the comfort, capability, and extras you need for 24/7 adventure.

More Space for Passengers and Gear

Whether you’re bringing equipment and supplies to a work site, taking your ATV to the Talladega National Forest, or going to a concert in Birmingham with your buddies, Bessemer truck drivers need a lot of space onboard. The 2024 Silverado 1500 outperforms the 2024 F-150 in having room to live your life. Every Silverado trim has 44.5 inches of front legroom and about 43 inches of front headroom; that decisively beats the F-150 with 43.9 and 40.8 inches, respectively.

The four-door Crew Cab (Silverado 1500) and SuperCrew Cab (F-150) are roughly equal in terms of cabin space, but the two-door standard cab options chalk up another win to Chevy. The “between” cab on the Silverado 1500 has nearly two inches more rear legroom than the F-150 at 35.2 to 33.5 inches, more than offsetting the slight edge the F-150 has on headroom. If you want people to be comfortable on long rides, they will be in the Silverado 1500.

The cargo will be comfortable, too, as well. While both models have three bed sizes available, the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500’s are larger in every comparison. It has a Short Bed of 62.9 cu.ft., a Standard Bed of 69.6 cu.ft., and a Long Bed of 89.1 cu.ft. The 2024 Ford F-150, meanwhile, has a Short Bed of 52.8 cu.ft., a Standard Bed of 62.3 cu.ft., and a Long Bed of 77.4 cu.ft.

As you can see, that’s a huge difference in capacity. The Silverado 1500 gives you up to 19% more space for lumber, generators, pipes, luggage, bikes, and anything else. When you add in the massive hauling capacity of up to 13,300 lbs, there’s practically no limit on who or what the Silverado can tow. The 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 was named a Cars.com “Top Pick for Light-Duty Towing,” showing it can haul gear behind the bed as well as inside it.

Want to Save Fuel? Go Diesel

As much as you need to get done, you can’t afford to be stopping at the gas pumps every couple of hours—not for your time or your bank account. For non-electric and even hybrid truck efficiency, the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 walks all over the 2024 Ford F-150.

The reason is simple: it’s the only truck of the two available with a diesel engine. The 3.0L Duramax Turbo-Diesel inline six-cylinder is an option on all Silverado trims, always paired with a ten-speed automatic transmission. This combination puts out an EPA-estimated 26 MPG combined with a range of 624 miles on a full tank; that’s enough to drive from Bessemer to Memphis and back and still have enough fuel for a quick jaunt to Rainbow City.

The 2024 Ford F-150 just isn’t in the same arena with fuel economy. The best-case scenario is the 3.5L EcoBoost hybrid engine, which clocks in at an EPA-estimated 25 MPG for rear-wheel drive and 23 MPG for all-wheel drive. The only way to get a diesel engine in a Ford truck is to buy a Super Duty, and those trucks are so big you’re canceling out a lot of the efficiency benefits—not to mention it may simply be more “truck” than you want or need. For truck performance that’s easy on your wallet and leaves you more time to get things done, a diesel Silverado 1500 is the way to go.

Well-Rounded Off-Road

There are a lot of places near Bessemer to get off the main roads for exploring. Although both the F-150 and the Silverado 1500 have quality off-roading trims, the Silverado 1500 has the edge for drivers who want a more nuanced, versatile experience. The 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor, impressive though it is, is all about brawn. It will certainly power over big jumps and dunes, but it’s not good for much else.

The Silverado 1500 ZR2, on the other hand, is a much more versatile vehicle. Its Multimatic DSSV shock dampers, 1.5-inch factory lift, large mud-terrain tires, machined aluminum wheels, locking front and rear differential, heavy-duty steel front bumper, and other features make it an excellent truck for technical off-roading such as rock crawling. It’s available with the 3.0L diesel engine for massive torque—and if you want some race-worthy power, you’ll get it from the 6.2L V8. The Silverado 1500 ZR2 provides much better ride quality for daily driving with excellent hauling. It says a lot that the Silverado 1500 ZR2 was named 2023 “Pickup Truck of the Year” by Motor Trend’s Four Wheeler magazine.

Not only that, but the Silverado 1500 isn’t all-or-nothing like the F-150 when it comes to off-roading. The Custom and LT trims are available with a Trail Boss variant that includes a Z71 two-inch lifted suspension, automatic locking rear differential, two-speed transfer case, and mud-terrain tires on 18-inch aluminum high-gloss black wheels. Either is a great option for beginner or intermediate off-roaders.

Some Big-Time Tech

Technology may not be the deciding factor on whether to buy a truck, but it certainly helps. When you’re on a long-haul weekend adventure or trying to negotiate downtown traffic, some solid driver assistance and entertainment will make the ride safer and more fun.

The 2024 Silverado 1500 steps it up again on both counts. Most trims (excluding the WT and Custom) have a standard 13.4-inch infotainment touchscreen, a 12.3-inch driver digital gauge cluster, and an optional head-up display. By comparison, the displays you can get on a Ford F-150 are 12.0 inches each. A bigger HD screen lets you easily navigate the menus and get an even better view from the various cameras.

As for entertainment, the Silverado 1500 and F-150 both include Bluetooth and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. But the Silverado 1500 separates itself with a fully integrated Google app suite consisting of Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Assistant. You don’t need to connect a device to get directions or load your playlist; you can do it right from the main screen. Optional upgrades such as wireless charging and a Bose high-performance speaker system on various trims give you a complete experience.

All new Chevy Silverado trucks include the Chevy Safety Assist suite, a collection of driver assistance features such as automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, and forward collision alerts. Ford has a competing suite called Co-Pilot360, but some of the features are only standard on the upper trims. Chevy Silverado owners also get OnStar capability plus three years of the Remote Access Plan; this allows owners to remotely start their vehicle, lock the doors, check tire pressures, and more using a smartphone app. Add in a 2023 five-star overall score from the NHTSA, and you can feel confident when you hop into your Silverado.

An All-Around Awesome Truck

By purchasing a 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500, you get a truck that can tackle almost any task. You also will own a truck that is perhaps the most dependable around—so much so that GM provides industry-leading backing such as a five-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty and matching roadside assistance for all Silverado 1500s with a TurboMax or Duramax engine.

Make the trip to Edwards Chevrolet Downtown to talk with a salesperson about the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500. We’ve been helping Bessemer drivers find the right truck since 1916 and offer two years or 24,000 miles of scheduled maintenance on every new or used Chevy vehicle.