So you’re driving down the road with a load of lumber—some long 2x4s in the back of your Chevy Silverado—and sure, they’re hanging over the top of your tailgate, but that should be fine, right? You glance at your rearview mirror, and that’s when you notice one of your boards tip over the edge and hurl itself out of your bed toward the car behind you. In horror, you reflexively hit the brakes, and that’s when another board launches itself forward and slams into the rear window of your cab, shattering the glass into a hailstorm of tiny fractured bits… Congratulations, you’re having a really bad day.
Thankfully, this unfortunate scene is completely avoidable by simply choosing the right options when looking for a Silverado 1500 at your local Chevy truck dealer or by getting a few accessories after the fact. Truck bed accessories aren’t just for looks; plenty of options are functional and designed to protect your cargo bed while letting you get more done with it. If you’re not sure what kinds of things you should be looking at, then don’t worry because I’m here to help. Let’s check out some of the options and accessories for the 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 that will help you get even more out of your pickup.
Three Bed Lengths
Before we dig into some different ways you can trick out your truck’s bed, let’s have a look at the options available to you when shopping for your truck. The 2024 Chevy Silverado 1500 has five different configurations available with three different bed lengths and three cab sizes.
Some quick math reveals that the factorial of your options does not equal the number of configurations, and that’s because—yes—you can’t entirely mix and match. There’s a Long Bed that measures about 98 inches in length, a Standard Bed that’s about 80 inches long, and a Short Bed that runs just under 70 inches. If you choose a model with a Regular Cab, then you can get the Standard Bed or Long Bed; a Double Cab is only offered with the Standard Bed, and the larger Crew Cab is available with either a Standard Bed or the Short Bed. Capiche?
With these three bed lengths, you’ll find they’re all the same width and height, so the only thing to really consider is what you expect to pack into your bed. You can get longer items into the Long Bed more easily than the Short Bed, while the Standard Bed is a great “baby bear” option that you can get with all three cab sizes.
For reference, the Short Bed has just under 63 cu.ft. of cargo volume available, while the Standard Bed has over 71 cu.ft. of cargo space, and the Long Bed gives you nearly 90 cu.ft. of total cargo volume. You’ll have to decide which of these you need based on what you like to load your bed with and how much space you have in your life for a truck.
The Standard Durabed
Every 2024 Silverado 1500 comes with Chevy’s Durabed, which gives you a great combination of functionality and style. For starters, you get twelve standard tie-downs in the bed rated at 500 lbs per corner, so they can keep things secure for sure. A cornerstep rear bumper is standard, which makes it easier to access stuff in your truck’s bed, and you get plenty of open areas to take advantage of. Available options for the Durabed include a 120V outlet and LED/perimeter lighting that make it easy to get to things even when it’s dark, which is perfect if you like to go camping.
The Multi-Flex Tailgate
Functionality goes even further with the available Multi-Flex tailgate, which has six built-in functions. You have the primary gate with remote-open functionality, plus a primary gate load stop to keep long items from sliding out the rear of the bed. There’s an inner gate that can fold down to give you greater reach into the bed for easy access to items, as well as a full-width step that can hold up to 375 lbs. An inner gate load stop helps keep a second tier of stacked items in place, plus the inner gate can fold flat to function as a work surface or to make second-tier loading easier. All of this comes together to create one of the most functional tailgates on the market, and you can get it with any Silverado 1500 trim.
Your Bedliner Options
Most trims of the Chevy Silverado 1500 have a drop-in bedliner or a Chevytec spray-on bedliner available to let you choose the level of protection you want for your truck. The pinnacle High Country trim comes with the spray-on bedliner, as does the off-road-focused ZR2 trim. A drop-in bedliner will save you some money and works well enough, but you want a spray-on bedliner if you need to protect your truck bed from paint, harsh chemicals, or other liquids that can get under a drop-in liner. You can always have a spray-on bedliner installed later, so if you’re trying to stick to a budget, it can be a decent option to skip at the time of purchase.
Your Bed Cover Options
Chevy offers a number of options for bed covers, particularly if you’re interested in a tonneau cover. Some Silverado 1500 trims have an Assist Step and Tonneau Value Package I available, which gives you work steps (which make it easier to get in and out of the truck) and a premium soft roll-up tonneau cover. A Level II package features a tri-fold soft tonneau cover instead, while a Level III package comes with a hard-folding cover. There are also plenty of aftermarket tonneau covers available, including soft and hard roll-up options, hard-shell covers, and even retractable ones for added convenience and security.
More Accessories to Consider
Honestly, there’s no shortage of accessories available for your truck, especially the bed, including different kinds of covers like camper shells or caps. You can add more lighting to your truck bed, which is perfect if you like camping or off-roading and need to be able to find things you have stored while far from the city after the sun has gone down.
Personally, I think a good light bar on top and powerful bed lighting is essentially for a truck that you’re going to take camping on a regular basis. If you’re interested in doing some overlanding or extensive camping, then look for tents and other items that can be set up in your truck’s bed.
You can get mount plates installed into the bed of your Silverado 1500, which you can use to secure different types of racks and other items. For example, there are universal mount plates that work great if you need to be able to swap out things like bike racks or other supports, as well as purpose-built mounts for items you need to easily secure in your truck bed.
You also have a wide range of racks for your truck bed available, with numerous safety racks to install in front of your rear cab window to protect it from cargo shifting while driving or in case someone gets a bit rough while loading up your bed.
Get the Most From Your Truck and Its Bed
As you can see, the only real limit for ways you can customize your truck bed is your imagination or your budget. This is great because, whether you’re looking at a new 2024 Silverado 1500 or you’re interested in a used model, you can choose a truck you can afford right now and have the freedom to add to it later.
All you have to do is figure out what you want your truck’s bed to facilitate and then start looking at the available options. No matter what you’re looking for, someone out there probably makes it and is ready to help you assemble the truck of your dreams.
