2021 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The Silverado 3500HD’s styling can generously be described as polarizing. The front end and grille look like a vintage furnace, a freight train, or a cargo crate from a freight train. It looks anything other than a handsome new vehicle. Modern trucks are all about conveying machismo, and if that’s your goal, this vehicle has exceeded your daily dose of it.

Thankfully the cabin is more conventional. In some ways, the Silverado is all about quantity over quality. It might not have the best fit and finish, but with a cabin the size of a living room, it can be forgiven. Trim levels for the Silverado 3500 HD are W/T (or Work Truck), LT, LTZ, and High Country. Standard features on the W/T include two USB ports, vinyl seat trim, two-tier trailering mirrors, and a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Moving up to the LT trim adds cloth seating, body-color door handles, Chevy’s EZ lift-and-lower tailgate, 4.2-inch driver information display, integrated trailer brake controller, a 4G LTE WiFi hotspot, and a larger 8-inch touchscreen infotainment screen.

The LTZ adds chrome exterior accents, leather upholstery, heated front seats, remote start, dual-zone automatic climate control, 120-volt wall-style power outlets, and side mirrors that extend and have integrated turn signals.

The LTZ is available in the Premium Texas Edition. Other special editions include the Midnight Edition, Z71 Sport Edition, and Z71 Chrome Sport Edition.

The High Country is the range-topping luxury trim and is the Chevy equivalent to the GMC Sierra Denali HD offering. Dually (dual-rear-wheel) models come with 17-inch alloy wheels, and non-dually models have 20-inch polished aluminum wheels. This trim also features body-color front and rear bumpers, heated and ventilated front seats, chrome side steps, a Bose premium sound system, and a spray-in bed-liner.

There are two engines offered in the Silverado 3500HD. The standard gas engine, a 6.6-liter V8, puts out 401 horsepower and 464 pound-feet of torque. This engine routes power through a six-speed automatic transmission.

The optional engine is a Duramax turbodiesel 6.6-liter V8. It makes 445 hp and a whopping 910 lb-ft of torque. The diesel engine is hooked up to an Allison 10-speed automatic transmission.

Both powertrains can be connected to rear-wheel drive (RWD) or available four-wheel drive (4WD) with low range. An automatically locking rear differential comes standard on the Silverado 3500 HD. Both engines make terrific power and make the 3500HD feel lively for such a massive vehicle. The diesel engine has a lot of pickup thanks to the 10-speed automatic, which can keep it in the ideal gear for optimal performance at all times.

When properly equipped, the Silverado 3500HD can tow up to 36,000 pounds. This towing capacity number is for gooseneck trailering with the single-cab/long-bed/dually configuration with the 6.6-liter diesel engine, RWD, and the max trailering package. The Silverado 3500 also has a payload capacity of 7,442 pounds. These are impressive specs all around.

Whether you go for the Max Trailering Package or not, the 3500 HD comes with a seven-pin connector. The LTZ trim comes with an advanced trailering system, which uses an app to monitor critical trailer functions and even has a trailering checklist.

The Silverado 3500HD is available in regular cab/long-bed, double cab/long-bed, crew cab/standard bed, and crew cab/long-bed configurations. The single cab has one row of seating, while the crew cabs provide two rows of incredibly spacious seating. There is tons of headroom and plenty of legroom, whether you are loading it up with crew members or valuable items that you don’t want to store in the bed.

No matter which configuration you select, the Silverado provides helpful bed steps integrated into the corners of the rear bumper. The Silverado HD goes a “step” further with additional step-ups along the side of the bed, ahead of the rear wheels. These steps are a low-tech solution to a common issue: getting into a vehicle this large.

The Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD comes standard with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Upgraded trims come standard with an 8-inch touchscreen and the range-topping High Country adds navigation to the infotainment system. This is an easy-to-use setup on both screen sizes and benefits from hard buttons and dials. It also has a helpful home button.

The Silverado is available with a number of trailering features including guidelines for the backup camera as well as seemingly endless additional camera angles for trailering. The additional trailering app also provides a pre-trailering checklist and the ability to see critical trailering status updates.

The EPA does not require automakers to post fuel economy for heavy-duty vehicles. Just know that, like the Silverado 2500HD and competitors from Ford and Ram, these are not the most efficient vehicles on the market. Drivers can expect fuel economy between 12 and 15 mpg.

Base MSRP for the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD is $36,500. Through its litany of configurations, the 3500HD can cost as much as $85,000. A typical build may cost closer to $60,000 or $70,000. The Silverado HD is backed by a five-year, 60,000-mile powertrain warranty.

This pricing may seem steep if you’re not familiar with the heavy-duty pickup truck market. This is just par for the course and the cost of a truck that can tow and haul as well as it can bring the family on a road trip comfortably. The beauty of these trucks is their wide range of trims, packages, and configurations. It allows for many types of buyers to find the truck that suits their needs. Within this segment, there are more comfortable offerings (such as the Ram HD), but if you want the best combination of comfort and capability, the Silverado 3500HD will more than satisfy.