Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss: What’s missing

General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) has confirmed via social media that it will deliver first examples of the cheaper new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss in August, followed by the new heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD in late 2021.

Pricing and specs for the Silverado 2500 won’t be announced until closer to launch and GMSV won’t say how many Trail Boss vehicles will be available, following the reveal of pricing and preliminary specs in March.

However, full specs obtained by carsales confirm the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss will lack a range of key features – including important safety technologies – fitted as standard in the more expensive Silverado LTZ Premium.

The LT Trail Boss is the new price leader in GMSV’s Silverado pick-up range. Priced at $106,990 plus on-road costs, it undercuts the pre-existing $114,990 LTZ Premium with Tech Pack – and the cheapest new DT-series RAM 1500 (from $114,950) – by about $8000.

But unlike the LTZ, the Trail Boss is not fitted with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning or adaptive cruise control.

These omissions would likely rule it out for a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, if tested.

No Silverado or RAM models are ANCAP-rated, but these safety features are at least available in the base RAM 1500 Laramie, as part of a $4950 option pack that also includes lane departure warning, auto parking and a 360-degree camera.

AEB with pedestrian detection and adaptive cruise are both standard in the more upmarket Silverado 1500 LTZ and RAM 1500 Limited ($139,950 plus ORCs), which is alone in offering a lane-keeping function, albeit fairly primitive.

Both American dual-cabs are converted to right-hand drive by the Walkinshaw Group in Melbourne, but the cut-price Trail Boss is General Motors’ first salvo at the full-size pick-up market dominance of RAM Trucks Australia since it established GMSV with a 54-dealer network in 2020 after axing Holden and HSV in 2017.

The factory-backed RAM Trucks Australia network has sold more than 8000 examples of the previous-generation DS-series RAM since 2018, thanks to a four-grade line-up starting at $79,950.

Distinguished by a black grille and bowtie badge rather than the Silverado LTZ’s chromed front-end with gold Chevy logo, the Trail Boss employs the same 313kW/624Nm 6.2-litre petrol V8 and 10-speed auto with two-speed transfer case, locking rear diff and Z71 skid plates.

But the off-road-focused Trail Boss adds a suspension lift kit with monotube Rancho shocks, increasing ride height by about 25mm up front and 30mm at the rear (increasing ground clearance from 235 to 260mm, as well as approach and departure angles), plus 18-inch gloss-black alloy wheels with Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac Mud-Terrain tyres instead of the LTZ’s silver 20-inch rims and all-season tyres.

Standard features common to both variants includes Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Alert, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, StabiliTrak stability control with Proactive Roll Avoid, reversing camera, tyre pressure monitor, hill descent control, LED headlights and fog lights, front/rear parking sensors, 8.0-inch infotainment touch-screen, 10-way power-adjustable and heated front seats, a heated leather steering wheel, privacy glass, illuminated Durabed tray, rear-view camera with hitch guidance, tow bar and electric trailer brake controller.

From there, however, the Trail Boss misses out on a host of LTZ features, most notably key safety equipment including Forward Collision Alert with low-speed AEB, Front Pedestrian Braking, Adaptive Cruise Control, IntelliBeam High Beam Assist, Head-Up Display, Rear-View Camera Mirror and 360 Degree HD Camera with 13 camera views.

Also missing is the LTZ’s leather seat trim, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, driver’s seat memory, 8.0-inch Driver’s Instrument Cluster Display (4.2-inch instead), wireless phone charging, wireless (rather than wired) Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, side steps, sunroof, power-sliding rear window, seven-speaker Bose Premium Sound System with Richbass, Cargo Bed Camera, powered up/down tailgate (down only), In-Vehicle Trailering App with Trailer Profiles and Trailer Theft Alert.

For the record, the Trail Boss has a 4260kg towing capacity (down from the LTZ’s 4.5 tonnes), a 752kg payload instead of 760kg, a 2469kg kerb weight (down from 2540kg), GVM of 3221kg rather than 3300kg and a 6804kg GCM – down from 7160kg for the LTZ.