It’s hard to argue with the pulling power of a strong, heavy-duty pickup truck. With the Duramax diesel engine under the hood, the 2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD has the towing power needed to move mountains. Well, not literally, but you get the idea. The question is, should you drive this big GMC truck, or should you choose another model when you need big pulling power.

Let’s highlight what the 2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD offers other than pulling power

This heavy-duty GMC truck is the biggest consumer-grade truck in the brand lineup. MotorTrend gives us a good place to start with some pros and cons.

Pro

• Burly turbocharged Duramax diesel V8 engine
• Refined 10-speed Allison automatic transmission
• Useful towing tech

Cons

• Not enough power from the gasoline engine
• Lackluster interior
• Squishy brakes

For a truck that can wear the Denali trim level, that’s not glowing praise for the GMC Sierra 3500 HD. The diesel engine is worth adding to this truck, giving you 445 horsepower and 910 lb-ft from a strong 6.6-liter V8 block.

How much can a 2022 GMC 3500 dually tow?

GMC offers the numbers for gas and diesel engines. These numbers are:

Gas Engine

• Standard box – 14,500 pounds towing conventional/16,530 pounds towing fifth-wheel/4,365 pounds payload
• Long box – 14,500 pounds towing conventional/16,410 pound towing fifth-wheel/4,398 pounds payload
• Dually long box – 16,010 pounds towing conventional/15,890 pounds towing fifth-wheel, 6,374 pounds payload

 Duramax Diesel Engine

• Standard box – 20,000 pounds towing conventional/21,300 pounds towing fifth-wheel/4,185 pounds payload
• Long box – 20,000 pounds towing conventional/21,040 pounds towing fifth-wheel/4,078 pounds payload
• Dually long box – 20,000 pounds towing conventional/36,000 pounds towing fifth-wheel/5,662 pounds payload

Overall, the GMC 3500 HD is a strong truck, but how does it stack up against other heavy-duty pickups.

Other one-ton trucks by the numbers

To keep things relatively simple, we’ve taken the top towing numbers for each of the competing trucks. This gives us the highest pulling power for the competitors to the 2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD.

• Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD – 36,000 pounds towing
• Ram 3500 HD – 37,090 pounds towing
• Ford F-350 Super Duty – 37,000 pounds towing

For all three of these trucks, the tow rating is based on the truck using a diesel engine, dually setup, and fifth-wheel hitch.

How much does the 2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD cost?

The starting price for each trim of this GMC truck is listed for the truck with the gasoline engine. Opting for the diesel engine adds $10,000 to the price. The base price for each trim of the Sierra 3500 HD is:

• Pro – $41,400
• SLE – $46,700
• SLT – $58,100
• AT4 – $64,300
• Denali – $70,800
• Denali Black Diamond – $85,050

If you add the diesel engine and some options to the Denali Black Diamond trim, it’s not hard to reach over $100,000 for this GMC heavy-duty pickup.

What’s the price range for the competition?

Taking similar numbers from CarBuzz, we find:

• Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD – $40,700-$68,600
• Ram 3500 HD – $42,600-$75,100
• Ford F-350 Super Duty – $39,410-$91,515

If each of these models also requires an additional $10,000 for the diesel engine, you can see the prices increase significantly.

Is the 2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD the best truck to buy for the pulling power?

The most affordable truck to buy in this class is the base version of the Ford F-350 Super Duty. The GMC Sierra 3500 comes in third. Of course, if you want maximum towing power, the Ram 3500 HD is only $1,200 more at the base level than the GMC.

When you head to the top trims in the market, the Ford F-350 becomes the most expensive and the Chevy Silverado the most affordable. All four trucks offer strengths that make them useful, which could bring you down to a matter of brand and preference when shopping for your heavy-duty pickup truck.

Next, learn how many Chevy Silverado EV owner will use their trucks or watch the GMC Sierra Duramax Denali video below:

This article was updated on 7/18/2022.