The five major 2023 pickup truck contenders, from Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Ram, and Toyota have unique features that attribute to their popularity. Fans of their favorite truck brand will debate over who makes the best vehicle based on these features and other varying factors, such as who has the best brake calipers or brake rotors. To solidify who officially makes the best pickup truck, each of the five contenders endured a rigorous test to see how well each truck's performance brakes fared.

The first brake test required the driver to bring each pickup truck up to 60 mph before slamming on the brakes and coming to a complete stop. The test simulated a real emergency stop that evaluated the truck's brakes, calipers and rotors. This test was ran with the trucks loaded and empty, to fully understand each truck's braking capabilities. The braking distance of each truck is below.

Driving Empty

The 2023 results of the empty braking test rounded:

• Chevy: 138 feet
• GMC: 141 feet
• Ram: 145 feet
• Toyota: 145 feet
• Ford: 149 feet

The clear-cut winner in braking distance is Chevy. The vehicle used for this test was the 2023 Chevrolet Silverado. This truck's performance brakes, calipers, and brake rotors are second to none. The Silverado's braking speed outmatched 2023 GMC's Sierra by nearly 3 feet. These results speak highly of Chevrolet and GMC's ability to design a pickup truck that is capable of coming to a halt quickly in an emergency. Tailing these two contenders are the Ram 1500, Toyota's Tundra, and Ford's F-150.

The final ranking for Ford is quite surprising. The last place position possibly occurred due to the Michelin Energy Saver tires, rather than the truck's performance brakes.

Driving Loaded

To view a detailed comparison in braking performance, each pickup received a 1,750 pound payload before conducting the braking test again. The added weight brought three of the contenders to their maximum payload capacity. As for the 2023 Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra, the payload exceeded their max capacity. Conducting the loaded driving test put the shocks, suspension, brake calipers and rotors under extreme duress in an attempt to officially conclude which pickup has the best truck performance brakes.

The 2023 results of the loaded braking test rounded:

• GMC: 146 feet
• Chevrolet: 149 feet
• Ford: 155 feet
• Toyota: 158 feet
• Ram: 162 feet

Once again the 2023 GMC and Chevrolet are at the top of the list. Clearly these companies know how to make top of the line truck performance brakes. Not once did these vehicles have issues with their brake calipers or rotors, although they did wobble and sag quite a bit under the payload. Ford did somewhat better during the loaded test, however, to achieve this final result, it pays to remember that excess weight hindered the Tundra and Ram 1500's performance. Bare this in mind when picking out a truck to tow your boat or RV.

To locate any truck accessories like towing or braking products for your pickup truck, visit Tuff Truck Parts today!