The 2024 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV Edition Gets 35 Inch Tires To Take On The Jeep Gladiator And Ford Ranger Raptor

You remember the 2024 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison? That’s the Colorado mid-size pickup’s most off-road capable trim (ZR2), but upfitted by off-road outfit American Expeditionary Vehicles with beefy armor, stronger bumpers, a lift, and big 35-inch tires on beadlock-capable wheels. Well, now the Colorado’s sibling, the GMC Canyon, gets its own version of the ZR2 Bison; here’s a look at what GM is hoping will win over buys in the increasingly crowded hard-core off-road midsize truck space.

First, let’s hop back to that Colorado ZR2 Bison. It looks cool, with some gorgeous body lines on the side, and an aggressive fascia:

The big story, though, was the 35-inch mud-terrain tires, the small suspension lift, the steel front and rear bumpers from AEV, the “Boron steel” underbody skid plates, the ZR2’s DSSV shocks from Multimatic, the 310 horsepower “high output” variant of Chevy’s 2.7-liter turbocharged four cylinder, the locking diffs, and the approach/departure/breakover/ground clearance figures of 38.2 degrees/26 degrees/26.9 degress/12.2 inches, respectively.

Now the GMC Canyon AT4X AEV Edition gets all of that goodness as well. A 1.5-inch lift, along with 35s instead of 33s, put the AEV Edition’s ground clearance at 12.2 inches versus the standard Canyon AT4X’s 10.7. (The Colorado ZR2 Bison shares this 12.2-inch clearance, and the non-Bison ZR2 shares the non-AEV Edition AT4X’s 10.7-inch clearance). There are skid plates and special bumpers, rock sliders for the rocker panels, lockers, as well as beadlock-capable wheels — just like on the ZR2 Bison. It seems like a very capable package, sharing the ZR2 Bison’s 38.2-degree approach angle, 26.9-degree breakover angle, and 26.0-degree departure angle.

Favorable geometry is the most important attribute of a good off-road vehicle, and as far as the AT4X AEV Edition goes, the last figure of 26-degrees isn’t great, especially since the Jeep Gladiator manages that same departure angle on two-inch-smaller tires (33s). What’s more, the Jeep has a slide-rail behind the rear tires to make sure that, when that ass-end inevitably drops, the bedside and rear bumper won’t get too dinged up.

The GMC Canyon AT4X AEV Edition doesn’t have a tube, though I bet that steel rear bumper can take a beating:

More importantly, GMC and its Chevy Sibling both have great breakover angles — six degrees higher than that of the Gladiator. While the Gladiator has them both beat by over six degrees in approach angle, my opinion is that the GM twins’ geometry is more favorable overall since it’s more balanced. Having a great approach angle and an awful breakover angle is less favorable than having a decent approach angle and decent breakover angle. Something something weakest link in chain something something — whatever that expression is.

Anyway, this was just a short news story about a GMC variant of a truck we’ve already seen, but please do let me know your thoughts. I myself am excited to see these trucks go head to head. The capability of modern pickups, with big tires, locking diffs, skidplates, and short overhangs — is legitimately impressive. A Ranger Raptor/Gladiator/AT4X AEV showdown would be epic.