Trailering isn’t just about taking a trailer and hitching it up so you can pull some heavy load behind the truck. Yes, in essence, that’s what it’s about. However, you need a certain level of performance from the powertrain to achieve acceptable performance, you also need a certain kind of rigidity in the chassis to withstand the force from tugging tons of weight, and you need a heavy-duty suspension to ensure you don’t lose control of the vehicle once it gathers speed. All of these elements help make up the importance of being able to tow and trailer effectively, and that’s one of the topics we’ll be dissecting in this 2022 Ford F-250 vs 2022 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD showdown.
The idea is to look at how both trucks handle their trailering capabilities, as well as the top-end of their trailering capacities and how they manage to achieve it. Whether you already own one of these trucks or you’re just interested in how both trucks stack up to one another, this should give you a good idea of how Ford and Chevy approach the trailering game for their three-quarter-ton pickups and how both trucks stack up to one another by comparison.
Conventional Towing Capacity Is The F-250’s Game
The 2022 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD and Ford F-250 are both more than capable when it comes to hitting some impressive numbers in the conventional towing and trailering game. However, the F-250 manages to edge out its competition by several thousand pounds. This isn’t a knock against the Silverado 2500 HD, because the numbers are still impressive. But when it gets down to it, Ford just has the figures that put it a step ahead and a rung above the competition.
The Silverado 2500 HD, for instance, tops out with a max conventional towing capacity of 14,500 pounds with the 6.6-liter V8 gasoline engine and 18,500 pounds with the impressive 6.6-liter heavy-duty Duramax turbo-diesel. As mentioned, the numbers are nothing to scoff at and give you an idea of just how strong and durable these trucks are under massive loads. However, it still comes up short compared to the F-250’s capabilities.
Ford’s 2022 model year Super Duty truck tops out its conventional towing at 15,000 pounds for both the 6.2-liter V8 and 7.3-liter V8. The numbers jump by an impressive 33% for the 6.7-liter turbo-diesel V8, which gives the F-250 enough heft and capability with the right configuration to max its conventional towing figures out at 20,000 pounds.
Gooseneck Trailering Is Still The F-250’s Game
Typically if a truck has impressive numbers in conventional towing, it also tops out with equally impressive figures when it comes to 5th-wheel or gooseneck trailering. Again, both trucks are quite commendable when it comes to performing beyond expectations on the trailering front. However, the F-250 just has the better overall figures at the top end of the chart.
While the 2022 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD manages to push a very respectable 17,370 pounds worth of trailering capacity with the 6.6-liter V8 gasoline engine, and 18,510 pounds with the 6.6-liter Duramax turbo-diesel, it’s the F-250 that has the most impressive figures at the top of the stat sheets. It must be said that depending on the powertrain, though, the Silverado still holds its own quite well.
For instance, the 6.2-liter V8 for the Ford-250 maxes out at 15,800 pounds, which actually gives the edge to the Silverado 2500 HD in comparative figures. The 7.3-liter V8 for the F-250 does a better job of bringing back the bite, managing to top out at 19,500 pounds when configured with a regular cab. The 6.7-liter V8 turbo-diesel is the one that runs away with all the prizes, though, because it can manage to achieve a very impressive 22,800 pounds worth of trailering with a 5th-wheel hitch or gooseneck setup.
How The 2022 Ford F-250 Super Duty Achieves Its Towing Capabilities
So there are a number of ways in which the Ford F-250 and Chevy Silverado differ that allow them to achieve the tow ratings they have. A lot of the functionality for achieving such high ratings comes from the structure of the trucks. This comes all the way back down to the core components of each truck’s chassis.
In the case of the Ford F-250, it’s literally built with a body that employs high-strength, military-grade lightweight aluminum alloys. Basically, this allows the truck to achieve higher tow ratings by reducing its own weight. In turn, the vehicle is expending less energy through the powertrain to propel its own mass, which frees up more resources to tow heavier trailers.
The steel box frame has also been completely reconfigured over the years with the sort of torsional rigidity necessary to endure the stress of the lug-and-haul that a frame encounters when attempting to trailer. Ford went out of the way to make the frame 24 times stiffer than previous designs. So basically, the more strain that the frame is under, the less likely it is to tear, flex, bend, or break under trailering duress. When you pair a highly durable frame with an extremely capable powertrain, you then end up in a situation where the truck is more than capable of hitting the kind of towing figures that the F-250 can achieve.
Chevy Continues To Push The Competition
While the 2022 Ford F-250 may be the better performer in the conventional towing and gooseneck trailering department, Chevy continues to make upgrades and updates each generation that further push Ford to evolve the F-series as well. A good example of this is the fact that the 2019 Chevy Silverado model year was on the receiving end of some impressive updates.
The truck actually reduced weight and increased its own structural integrity to not only make it handle better on the road, but also pave the way for further upgrades to its towing capabilities. The following year, Chevy announced that the Silverado HD’s powertrain capabilities had also been improved, and in turn, the towing and trailering capabilities increased.
So Chevy isn’t sitting around and waiting to take the lead. Ford has to continue to push forward as they have in order to keep an edge on the competition. All it takes is one good redesign from the Silverado to reduce the truck’s weight, increase the frame’s torsional rigidity, or slightly boost the powertrain output, and they could be neck to neck with the Super Duty when it comes to conventional and 5th-wheel towing.
2022 Ford F-250 Still Comes Out On Top
Despite all the updates and upgrades that the Silverado HD series has received over the years, in the head-to-head showdown between the 2022 Ford F-250 vs 2022 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD, the F-250 still comes out on top. This isn’t to say that one day, one year, the Silverado won’t turn things around, because it certainly could. However, right now, Ford seems to have a secure lock on the segment when it comes to towing and trailering.
The next big question is, where does Ford go from here to maintain the lead? Will they continue to refine the suspension and chassis to handle more stress from towing? Or will they focus more on the powertrain and being able to squeeze just a few more rotations out of the crankshaft before red-lining? We will just have to wait and see.
