The kind of captions we are going to look at here are heavy-duty trucks. If you want to tow a really big trailer or haul a whole lot of payload, you might be shopping for a heavy-duty truck. Consumer Reports bought all three of the big contenders - Chevy Silverado 2500, Ford F250, and Ram 2500.

Many of these trucks are sold as fleet work vehicles, but we bought our trucks like a consumer with a big horse trailer or camper would - loaded leather-lined four-door Crew Cabs. Each truck came with its optional turbo diesel engine with tons of torque. Towing is easy, but with all that power, don't expect super fuel economy. These trucks don't come cheap; each one was over $50,000.

Heavy-duty trucks inspire fierce rivalries among their makers trying to beat each other in their stats. However, here's the thing: each of these trucks is really capable. To need to tow 12,000 lbs or haul more than 2,000 lbs payload, each truck can do it easily. Each truck has features like integrated trailer brake control, diesel exhaust braking, and giant towing mirrors all to make Towing easier.

There are some common traits among these trucks - a rather stiff ride that improves when the truck is loaded. Handling is worse than in a ton pickup truck; these are big heavy vehicles and they feel that way to drive. It doesn't mean there aren't differences though our Ram 2500 has a Cummins inline 6-cylinder turbo diesel engine.

Cummins makes diesels for big rigs and have quite a following. The said though, this engine's is a bit low on horsepower compared to the V8 diesels. And also, fuel econom is really not that good at 13 MPG gallon overall when not Towing in Laramy trim.

The cabin is quite nice; there is also quite a bit of room in the rear seat. Transmission shift quality can be a bit rough but it does smooth out with a heavy load. The Ram was slow to get traction and stability control but did show up finally for 2012.

GM and Ford diesels require periodic refills of a Ura based diesel exhaust fluid; the Ram doesn't that does save some money and does save some hassle but it's really not that big of a deal.

Ford's F250 has a lot of good things going for it - the cabin is immense inside, there is a giant back seat lots of cabin storage also the cab is fairly quiet inside. There are some clever features like a row of extra switches for operating things like snow plows and there is a fold down tailgate step.

Ford's Zone Power Stroke turbo diesel is more than capable; at 16 MPG gon overall when not Towing it gets the best fuel economy among these three trucks but this truck has a big drawback even compared to other heavy-duty pickup trucks. The Ford's emergency handling capabilities are really low despite stability control; the F250 could only make it through our avoidance maneuver at a really really low speed.

The Chevy Silverado is a twin to the GMC Sierra - their Duramax turbo diesel engine and Allison automatic transmission provide the best performance of the three tested trucks. What's more significant, these trucks actually handle closer to their half ton equivalence than other tested trucks; handling is more responsive helped partly due to GM's unique independent front suspension.

Braking distances are decent as well; the GM trucks aren't perfect though their rear seat in the crew cab is smaller than the other trucks also engine noise in the cab can be quite pronounced. No question, heavy-duty trucks are extremely capable vehicles.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enif you want to tow a really big trailer or haul a whole lot of payload you might be shopping for a heavyduty truck while Consumer Reports bought all three of the big contenders Chevy Silverado 2500 Ford F250 and the Ram 2500 many of these trucks are sold as Fleet work vehicles but we bought our trucks the way a consumer with a big horse trailer or camper would loaded leather-lined four-door Crew Cabs we bought Each truck with its optional turbo diesel engine with tons of torque they make Towing easy but with all that power don't expect super fuel economy equipped this way these trucks don't come cheap each one was over $50,000 heavy duty trucks Inspire Fierce rivalries with their makers trying to Lea frog each other in their stats but here's the thing each of these trucks is really capable need to tow 12,000 lb or haul more than 2,000 lb payload Each truck can do it easily Each truck has features like integrad trailer brake control diesel exhaust braking and giant towing mirrors all to make Towing easier there are more common traits each has a rather stiff ride that improves when the truck is loaded handling is worse than a/ ton pickup truck these are big heavy vehicles and they feel that way to drive it doesn't mean there aren't differences though our Ram 25 00 has a cumin inline 6-cylinder turbo diesel cumin makes diesels for big rigs they have quite a following that said though this engine's a bit low on horsepower compared to the V8 diesels and the other heavyduty trucks also fuel econom is really not that good at 13 MP gallon overall when not Towing in laramy trim the cabin is quite nice there's also quite a bit of room in the rear seat transmission shift quality can be a bit rough but it does smooth out with a heavy load the ram was slow to get traction and stability control but it did show up finally for 2012 the GM and Ford diesels require periodic refills of a Ura based diesel exhaust fluid the ram doesn't that does save some money and it does save some hassle but it's really not that big of a deal Ford's F250 has a lot of good things going for it the cabin is immense inside there's a giant back seat lots of cabin storage also the cab is fairly quiet inside there's also some clever features like a row of extra switches for operating things like snow plows and there's a fold down tailgate step Ford Zone power stroke turbo diesel is more than capable and at 16 MP gon overall when not Towing it gets the best fuel economy among these three trucks but this truck has a big drawback even compared to other heavyduty pickup trucks the Ford's emergency handling capabilities are really low despite stability control the F250 could only make it through our avoidance maneuver at a really really low speed it also has the longest stopping distances of the group The Chevy Silverado is a twin to the GMC Sierra the advantage of the GM twins is that they're sort of the athletes of the heavyduty truck set their Duramax turbo diesel engine and their Allison automatic transmission they provide the best performance of the three tested trucks what's more significant is that these trucks actually handle closer to their half ton equivalence than the other tested trucks handlings more responsive helped partly due to GM's unique independent front suspension braking distances are decent as well the GM trucks aren't perfect though their rear seat in the crew cab is smaller than the other trucks also engine noise in the cab can be quite pronounced no question heavy duty trucks are extremely capable vehicles but we strongly recommend that consumers think if they really need to buy one of these big trucks half ton trucks they can haul 10,000lb trailers They Ride better they handle better they usually stop quicker and they cost a lot less money unless you're hauling a big trailer or a heavy load every day for most people a half ton truck is going to be a better all-around choiceif you want to tow a really big trailer or haul a whole lot of payload you might be shopping for a heavyduty truck while Consumer Reports bought all three of the big contenders Chevy Silverado 2500 Ford F250 and the Ram 2500 many of these trucks are sold as Fleet work vehicles but we bought our trucks the way a consumer with a big horse trailer or camper would loaded leather-lined four-door Crew Cabs we bought Each truck with its optional turbo diesel engine with tons of torque they make Towing easy but with all that power don't expect super fuel economy equipped this way these trucks don't come cheap each one was over $50,000 heavy duty trucks Inspire Fierce rivalries with their makers trying to Lea frog each other in their stats but here's the thing each of these trucks is really capable need to tow 12,000 lb or haul more than 2,000 lb payload Each truck can do it easily Each truck has features like integrad trailer brake control diesel exhaust braking and giant towing mirrors all to make Towing easier there are more common traits each has a rather stiff ride that improves when the truck is loaded handling is worse than a/ ton pickup truck these are big heavy vehicles and they feel that way to drive it doesn't mean there aren't differences though our Ram 25 00 has a cumin inline 6-cylinder turbo diesel cumin makes diesels for big rigs they have quite a following that said though this engine's a bit low on horsepower compared to the V8 diesels and the other heavyduty trucks also fuel econom is really not that good at 13 MP gallon overall when not Towing in laramy trim the cabin is quite nice there's also quite a bit of room in the rear seat transmission shift quality can be a bit rough but it does smooth out with a heavy load the ram was slow to get traction and stability control but it did show up finally for 2012 the GM and Ford diesels require periodic refills of a Ura based diesel exhaust fluid the ram doesn't that does save some money and it does save some hassle but it's really not that big of a deal Ford's F250 has a lot of good things going for it the cabin is immense inside there's a giant back seat lots of cabin storage also the cab is fairly quiet inside there's also some clever features like a row of extra switches for operating things like snow plows and there's a fold down tailgate step Ford Zone power stroke turbo diesel is more than capable and at 16 MP gon overall when not Towing it gets the best fuel economy among these three trucks but this truck has a big drawback even compared to other heavyduty pickup trucks the Ford's emergency handling capabilities are really low despite stability control the F250 could only make it through our avoidance maneuver at a really really low speed it also has the longest stopping distances of the group The Chevy Silverado is a twin to the GMC Sierra the advantage of the GM twins is that they're sort of the athletes of the heavyduty truck set their Duramax turbo diesel engine and their Allison automatic transmission they provide the best performance of the three tested trucks what's more significant is that these trucks actually handle closer to their half ton equivalence than the other tested trucks handlings more responsive helped partly due to GM's unique independent front suspension braking distances are decent as well the GM trucks aren't perfect though their rear seat in the crew cab is smaller than the other trucks also engine noise in the cab can be quite pronounced no question heavy duty trucks are extremely capable vehicles but we strongly recommend that consumers think if they really need to buy one of these big trucks half ton trucks they can haul 10,000lb trailers They Ride better they handle better they usually stop quicker and they cost a lot less money unless you're hauling a big trailer or a heavy load every day for most people a half ton truck is going to be a better all-around choice\n"