What truck do you get the rancher who has everything? Something that can tow and haul, of course, because there’s work to be done on and off the ranch, but maybe something that can get a little down and dirty, too. As capable as it is off-road, the Ram Power Wagon is probably out because all that off-road capability takes away from its heavy-duty work truck abilities. Ram makes a 2500 Rebel, too, but your rancher friend is a staunch GM loyalist. If the Chevrolet Silverado HD ZR2 Bison isn’t posh enough, consider the all-new 2024 GMC Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition. We headed to the Xoverland Ranch in Montana to put the heavy-duty off-roader through its paces (per Cars.com’s ethics policy, we pay for all travel and lodging at such manufacturer-sponsored events).
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What Do You Get in a Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition?
The foundation of the truck is a 2024 Sierra 2500 three-quarter-ton pickup, and buyers can choose either the standard 6.6-liter gasoline V-8 good for 401 horsepower and 464 pounds-feet of torque or the optional turbo-diesel 6.6-liter Duramax V-8, making a healthier 470 hp and 975 pounds-feet. Either way, your only transmission option is an Allison 10-speed automatic. Four-wheel drive is also standard.
Like other AT4X models in GMC’s pickup lineup, the Sierra HD gets off-road-focused equipment, including a 1.5-inch lift, 35-inch mud-terrain tires, Multimatic DSSV dampers, an electronic locking rear differential, a steel skid plate for the transfer case, an aluminum front skid plate, and revised steering and suspension components.
The AT4X also gets an exclusive premium interior that includes massaging front seats upholstered in full-grain leather along with the latest GM tech, including a 13.4-inch touchscreen and 12.3-inch digital instrument panel.
The truck I drove was an AT4X AEV Edition, however, which adds steel front and rear bumpers and unique 18-inch wheels along with extra badging and interior accents. Even though it’s the biggest of GMC’s AEV offerings, the Sierra HD is probably the least extreme; as important as off-road capability is, GMC stated that the primary concern for heavy-duty truck buyers is towing.
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How Does It Handle Off-Road?
First, the good news: The Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition is remarkably capable off-road. The new Off-Road driving mode does a lot of the work for the driver, and the Goodyear Territory tires have tons of grip. Combined with the grunt of the Duramax diesel engine, the truck can propel itself up and over just about any obstacle you might reasonably expect to encounter in a hypothetical ranch-truck situation — and it can do so while giving you a massage. It’s tough to beat that.
In one obstacle, we descended a roughly 30-degree downhill slope covered in loose rocks. The truck’s hill descent control fought and won a battle against gravity, keeping the descent slow and steady. Even when the truck slid on the stones, the second it caught a whiff of traction, it worked quickly to bring the speed back under control.
The bad news is that this is a simply massive vehicle. Forward visibility is not great at best and the massive hood and nose of the truck make ascents especially tricky. Fortunately, there’s a forward camera view you can use to see what’s ahead of you that may otherwise be hidden from view — rocks, trees, steep drops, medium-sized animals, children — but driving using the camera is not very precise.
Besides the visibility issue, the size of the truck makes most trails either inaccessible or likely to leave marks along the sides of your $94,000 truck (including destination fee). The camera views are also designed more for towing and hauling than off-roading (there’s no underbody camera), and there’s also only a rear locking differential instead of front and rear locking diffs..
The Multimatic DSSV dampers do an admirable job of soaking up individual bumps, but the suspension is very stiffly sprung, precisely because this is a heavy-duty truck capable of towing and hauling heavy loads. The Sierra HD is far bouncier over terrain than any of GMC’s other AT4X trucks.
I wouldn’t choose this as a pure off-road vehicle. It’s too big, too bouncy, and frankly, too expensive to make me want to put it through the abuse an off-road rig would face. It’s also not as well equipped for off-roading as other smaller and less expensive AT4X models GMC offers.
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That’s Kind of the Point, Though
I’m not saying anything GMC doesn’t already know, however. As mentioned above, the brand stated that the first consideration for heavy-duty customers is towing. To that end, the Sierra HD AT4X maxes out at 18,500 pounds of towing capacity with the turbo-diesel engine while the AEV Edition drops to 18,400 pounds. It’s also loaded with a lot of technology to make towing easier. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to tow with any version of the Sierra HD, so I can’t tell you how it does. What I can tell you is that a parked AT4X with a trailer attached to it looked really cool. And that’s what the AT4X and even the AEV Edition are: tow rigs that look very cool and can, in theory, take an off-road trailer a bit farther off the beaten path than a Denali version.
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