re: Silverado vs Ford F150 (Steel bed vs Aluminum bed)

My first truck was a 1970 K20 step-side with a 292 straight 6. It had a steel and vinyl interior, saddle bench seat, and the fuel tank was right behind the seat . That truck in first gear would do about 2 MPH whether I was pulling a loaded 16' trailer or empty. It was also all steel. I rolled it down a ditch one night. I got out and locked the hubs and drove it home. The next morning I used a mallet to beat out the dent above the passenger door and on the right fender. That thing was solid as could be. The downside being it got 8 mpg, needed a football field to turn around/stop/get up to 20 mph, and had no AC. I loved that truck though, right up until I got a 79 LUV 4X4 with a 3 cyl. That LUV could go anywhere a 3 wheeler could, and would still go from Shreveport to Houston on a tank of gas.