One of the things people love about trucks is their practicality, yet one of the things others hate about trucks is their lack of security without using expensive aftermarket solutions. There’s just not much you can do for the security of an open bed when you have to run in to Starbucks after you just loaded your bed with your latest acquisitions from the vintage store down the street.
The Chevy Avalanche offered this kind of versatility, but in case you didn’t notice, Chevy killed the Avalanche about three years ago. Since then they haven’t offered the bed configuration options that Avalanche acolytes loved.
Enter Chevrolet’s latest option, the High Desert package. Available on the high end Silverado LT, LTZ and High Country models, the versatility of the package can’t be argued. You could call it the successor to the Avalanche and you wouldn’t be too far off.
When Chevy drops this package into the bed – it’s not a different bed. It’s just an insert. – the truck gains a three-piece hard tonneau that covers two side storage bins, as well as a moveable cargo divider and little wings aft of the cab that look remarkably like the Avalanche’s buttresses. Top the whole package off with the remote-locking tailgate that is standard on all three models and you get some pretty decent security. It’s not waterproof, but Chevy claims it is water resistant, so your luggage might not even get wet as you and your spouse drive the kids to Orlando for vacation. I’d still use the old tried and true “wrap the luggage in garbage bags before tossing it in the bed” method just in case, though.
GM’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension, which is amazing in GMC’s Sierra Denali, is finally available on the Silverado, but only on those equipped with the High Desert package at this time. This optional suspension adjusts the dampers continuously for better manners on and off road. Almost everybody who has driven a Sierra Denali equipped with this technological trickery has come back singing praises, so it’s hard to believe anybody would opt out of the package for their High Desert truck.
If you’ve gotten hooked on your Avalanche’s versatility but really want something new, or you need a pickup truck with the security of an SUV, the practicality of a truck and the road manners of a sedan, this is the truck you’ve been waiting for.
