Chevy thought it had a winner with its redesigned Silverado, which at the time of its debut boasted a class leading 6.6-liter Duramax V8 engine that got 397 horsepower and 765 pound-feet of torque. Then Ford engineers tweaked the SuperDuty's diesel V8 so that it eclipsed those numbers.

But Chevy isn't buying the 400 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque that Ford rates its boosted engine at. So the company has challenged Ford to a "tow-off," a showdown between the two trucks to see which could tow a trailer up a mountain the fastest.

Ford currently leads Chevy in sales in the pickup class, meaning the company had a lot to lose but very little to gain by accepting Chevy's challenge. So although Ford has declined to participate, Chevy will go ahead and test the two trucks anyways, with the competition overseen by an impartial independent committee of judges.

"Numbers on paper are fine. Let's go work these trucks in the mountains, and may the best truck win," Chevrolet Silverado Marketing Manager Tony Truelove said.

The vehicles are so close in power and performance that what a driver chooses will most likely come down to personal preference and styling. Both of these trucks have been on the market for years, so drivers searching on the used car market will have plenty to choose from.