While on the roads, most of us have seen an old truck, especially a late 90’s and older Chevy, that seems to have too much weight in the middle. Just sagging down like it was jumped 40 feet and landed funky. While it’s fun to think that person ran their truck off a ramp Dukes Of Hazard style, the truck has likely just seen a few too many miles.

The sagging bellies of these trucks is due to weak frames. Using a truck like a truck, the center of the frame between the suspension attachment points becomes the weak link and the weight pushes the frame downward into a less desirable position. The problem has mostly gone away over the years with better frame steel and design improvements by most automotive manufacturers, unless you jump your truck off a ramp that even BJ Baldwin would question.

The OEMs had been improving their frames in an effort to boost towing capacity numbers, but never really talked much about the flex of their frames. Chevrolet, though, has just taken the gloves off and straight up called out Ford and their Super Duty.

Chevy recently hired AMCI Testing to act as a third-party research firm to pit a 2015 Silverado 2500 HD up against a comparable Ford F-250 Super Duty. Each truck was run through a set of ramps specifically designed and built to twist each truck up to extreme levels so measurements could be taken and compared.

The Silverado frame deflected just over a quarter inch. Barely even noticeable on the comparison picture. The Super Duty on the other hand sagged nearly a full inch. “The use of high-strength steel in the Silverado HD is what allows the Silverado to handle even the toughest of jobs,” said Jeff Luke, General Motors’ executive chief engineer for full-size trucks. “Paired with a fully boxed frame, high-strength steel is what makes the Silverado come from the family of the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road.”

Looks like Chevy wins this round. For more information, head on over to the GM News Blog.