2019 Chevy Silverado Review: Why The New 2019 Chevy Silverado Is The Ultimate Tailgating Truck

Jessica Walker for Chevrolet


Back in January, in freezing cold Detroit, Chevrolet unveiled the next generation of the Chevy Silverado in truly dramatic fashion. Celebrating the 100th year of Chevy trucks, the brand showcased a new vision for the Silverado, available in a whooping three body styles, six available powertrains, and eight trim levels, from the 5.3L V8 1500 LT Trail Boss to the beastly 6.2L V8 High Country or the 3.0L I-6 Duramax diesel.

Built from 100 years of truck heritage, the next generation of Silverado is an everyday workhorse. It’s a truck for the landscape engineers, golf course superintendents, irrigation specialists, and oil field supervisors of the world that need a rugged vehicle with a proper sense of work-life balance. Across it’s various grille styles and interior flashes, the Silverado is a truck that’s built like a rock for the 9-to-5 but also cleans up nicely for a proper afternoon tailgating before a football game.

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A couple weeks ago, I got to experience the 2019 Silverado at Tailgate Fest, a country music Bro-down in the parking lot of The Forum featuring a proverbial who’s who of country radio: Toby Keith, Randy Houser, Nelly, Jana Kramer, and more. The event showcased the tailgating capabilities of the 2019 Chevy Silverado in Los Angeles, positioning the new Silverado as the ultimate tailgating truck, through and through.

Jessica Walker for Chevrolet


Let’s start with the bed: Overall, the 2019 Silverado features a brawny truck bed floor made from roll-formed steel that’s lighter than previous generations, all thanks to an engineering improvement in high grade alloy.

In fact, the new Silverado is 450 pounds lighter, on average, from previous generations of the truck, all without sacrificing the strength that comes from a steel bed and frame. For example, the safety cage of the cabin includes seven grades of steel alloys. While the doors, hood and tailgate are all aluminum, the steel frame is 88 pounds lighter in the next-gen Silverado.

That makes for a great ride. It also means it can handle whatever you throw in, for work or leisure.

Jessica Walker for Chevrolet


But back to the tailgating: The 2019 Silverado features best-in-class cargo capacity, with a bed available in three different lengths, depending on the model: 8 foot, 6-foot-6-inch, and 5-foot-8-inch. There are plenty of fixed tie-down points throughout the bed for securing your grills, Eazy-Ups, and cornhole sets, along with mountains of coolers, tables, and chairs. There are locking bins in the bed of the truck and the dual cab cabin is stacked with compartments for storing whatever else you might need for a week at work or a weekend in the woods with your best friends.

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The 2019 Silverado also features an optional 120-volt power outlet in the bed of the truck.

I can’t emphasize enough how much I love this feature.

When you’re hanging outside all day, turns out it’s pretty clutch to have an outlet in the back of the truck, like recharging a phone or a bluetooth speaker without entering the cab. Other uses include hooking up a light rig to your tailgate set-up or plugging in a blender or coffee maker.

Jessica Walker for Chevrolet


Which brings us to my favorite feature of the 2019 Chevy Silverado (…besides all the monstrously awesome power under the hood of the High Country edition): The automatic power-lift tailgate. The 2019 Chevy Silverado High Country features a first-of-its-kind power lift tailgate.

Just press the button on the key fab or pull on the handle for the tailgate and it goes up and down automatically – No extra exertion or muscle required.

It’s an awesome detail if you’re constantly in-and-out of the bed of your truck. Allow me to demonstrate the 2019 Chevy Silverado’s power lift tailgate from the parking lot of Dockweiler State Beach here in Los Angeles:

On the road, the Chevy Silverado maneuvers in hectic Los Angeles traffic like a dream. The 2019 High Country Silverado features an exhilarating feeling of owning the road from pilot seat, towering above commuters in heavy traffic on the 405.

The ride is silky smooth and quiet.

The interior features all the usual bells and whistles you’d expect in a brand new truck: A console featuring Chevy’s Infotainment 3 system, with an 8-inch HD touch screen, Bluetooth, USB charging ports, a seven-speaker Bose audio system, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. Certain editions feature a sunroof, a Wi-Fi hot spot, dual-zone automatic climate control, keyless entry, remote start, and in-cab 120-volt power outlets, and wireless device charging – I can’t tell you how cool it is to just put your phone on the wireless device charger to power it up between destinations.

Jessica Walker for Chevrolet


Tailgating should never feel like work, even when it requires planning and the proper equipment. The 2019 Chevy Silverado levels-up your tailgate game in every way imaginable, checking all the boxes as a great truck for work and lettings your hair down in a parking lot with a heaping plate full of BBQ, hot off the grill.

Not that I know from experience or anything like that…

Photo by Jessica Walker for Chevrolet


Brandon Wenerd is BroBible's publisher, writing on this site since 2009. He writes about sports, music, men's fashion, outdoor gear, traveling, skiing, and epic adventures. Based in Los Angeles, he also enjoys interviewing athletes and entertainers. Proud Penn State alum, former New Yorker. Email: brandon@brobible.com