For the last ten years, the Ford Raptor has been the “King of The Hill” for off-road streetable trucks. For the 2021 model year, Ram’s Rebel TRX is going to give the Ford Raptor a run for its money. However, not content to let Ford and Ram play in the sandbox alone, Chevrolet may be prepping a legit contender as we speak.

Silverado Trail Boss

In recent years, Chevrolet has had a Trail Boss package available for their Silverado. It is a package that makes the truck a capable off-roader. But it has not really taken any of the Raptor spotlights. It’s looking like that’s about to change.

The folks over at The Fast Lane Truck recently had a discussion with Tim Herrick (VP of GM Global Vehicle Programs) and Jim Danahy (Executive Chief Engineer Full-Size Trucks and Full-Size SUVs). These two individuals have the ability to influence the direction of truck programs at General Motors. The discussion, of course, centered around the triumphs, and anticipated triumphs of the new trucks General Motors is rolling out. 

Proven desert performance

Eventually, the video turned to the topic of the rumored Chevrolet Silverado ZRX. This truck is finally expected to be a real competitor to the Ford Raptor. The hosts asked the gentlemen about the truck. Sadly, no confirmation of a ZRX program was made in the discussion. What was mentioned, however, is that the Raptor will be dead as General Motors is continuing to improve the suspension for the Silverado. Emphasis was placed that their truck offering will have its own proven desert performance. The current testing platform for desert racing has a 6.2-liter V8, with a modified rear suspension.

Ram is not sitting still either

Meanwhile, over at the Ram camp, they have their own capable Raptor fighter being developed. In fact, it is rumored that it is going to debut in late June, with production beginning in October. It’s called the Ram Rebel TRX. It was purposely named the TRX because the Tyrannosaurus Rex is bigger than a Raptor. That seems pretty telling on who the target benchmark was for testing Ram’s truck. 

The Ford Raptor seems to have a target on its back. It is said to be flattery when competitors start copying your work. Nobody doubts that the folks at Ford had developed a great truck when they launched the Raptor. The question now is, will the Raptor be able to keep up with competitors that are coming. Understandably, Ford has constantly been improving the Raptor’s capabilities. There is no reason to assume that they would stop that, especially when they know competitors are coming for them, including Chevrolet.  

Interestingly, General Motors has gone out and filed to trademark “ZRX” as recently as August 2019. So, the internal rumblings at Chevrolet are definitely there to bring this package on the Silverado. But, then again, the ZRX nomenclature could be applied to any of the trucks or SUVs in the General Motors portfolio of offerings. Even still, gauging the information that is coming out regarding a development truck with off-road chops being used in the desert, certainly brings excitement to the General Motors crowd. It appears that the Silverado ZRX “Raptor Killer” could really be around the corner.