American Pick-up truck comparison

IF YOU need more space and power and you don’t want to modify your trusty Hilux, Ranger or Triton steed, then the only factory alternatives are full-sized American pick-up trucks.

We’ve given three right-hand-converted US trucks an all-Aussie initiation: the Ford F-250 Lariat, the GMC Sierra Denali 2500 and the RAM Laramie 2500.

Ford’s F-250 Lariat is a $152,000 offering from Harrisons in Melton. For that you get a Powerstroke 6.7-litre turbo-diesel V8 engine – instead of the US-preferred petrol V8 – that dishes up a gargantuan 1116Nm from 1600rpm. This is enough urge to haul a 7600kg trailer! However, the result of this is a nasty fuel consumption figure of 21.93L/100km. The rig utilises a heavy duty ladder-frame chassis with live axles front and rear, plus it’s fitted with a selectable rear diff lock. As big and brash as they come!

Next up is the GMC Sierra Denali 2500, a $152,000 offering from Performax. Under the hood is a monster 6.6-litre turbo-diesel V8 that generates 1037Nm and 298kW, enough to haul an 8000kg trailer. Heavy duty driveline experts, Allison, supplied the six-speed automatic transmission. The rear axle has an auto-locking diff from Eaton. It utilises a separate ladder chassis and a live rear axle on an HD leaf spring pack. Unlike the other two pick-ups, the GMC uses an independent front suspension design with torsion bar suspension.

RAM’s Laramie 2500 is the cheapest of this trio, coming in at $139,500 from the Walkinshaw Group. There’s no V8 powering this truck, but the massive 6.7-litre, six-cylinder Cummins donk still musters a hefty 1084Nm. It’s got a six-speed auto, part-time 4x4 with shift-on-the-fly, low range and auto-locking Tru-Lok diffs front and rear. It’s also bolted to a ladder frame chassis.

The complete road test on these three American mega machines can be found here.