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New 2002 2500 Avalanche Owner, Best Mods to put on it?

I

Itsyaboyd

New Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
6
Location
North Carolina
I currently have a White Chevrolet Avalanche 2500 2002 model with about 148k miles on it, As a North Carolina native born and raised car prices are very high, we paid 9000 + a couple hundred for the paperwork fee. The transmission is having problems but that will be fixed later. I am 16 and we got the vehicle 2 months ago and i have already almost put 4000 miles on my truck. My truck has about 6 inches of lift under it plus 36 inch tires that don't clear the front end. As a 16 year old i can't put a lot in my truck yet even tho i have 2 jobs (8.50 2-4 nights weekends) and 7.50 under the table training at a mechanics shop. i have bout 1400 right now. My truck already has all aftermarket speakers just need subs, a great radio and in the cab lighting that i got from autozone for very cheap. something that is killing me is my fuel, going 59 to 90 (messing around on my best friends girlfriend's road cause she lives on the next street over that is straight or the big 4 lane that the cops/troopers don't patrol) anywhere in that zone is killing me, using about a 8th of a tank every time i go into town and back or to school and back (15-25 miles). anything that could help with fuel economy, or just sick add ons that i would probably love to do to my truck that i can afford. Currently i am making car payments off also because i was supposed to get a 2 door 1998 tahoe but the transmission went out in it and my grandpa wanted me to have something dependable so i have to make car payments on the truck while also trying to get addons. the grill is extremely faded, the bowtie is worn out and has started to look ugly also so if you have any recommendations for that also def shoot them to me.
 
Congratulations on your new truck!

(y)

But if gas mileage is a concern, you're probably going to be very disappointed.

The 2500's are known for a lot of good things, but gas mileage is not one of them.

(n)

If I had a 2500, I would be a very happy camper.

But I would also understand I would be spending more time and money at the fuel pump from now on.

Welcome to the site!
 
EXT4ME said:
Congratulations on your new truck!

(y)

But if gas mileage is a concern, you're probably going to be very disappointed.

The 2500's are known for a lot of good things, but gas mileage is not one of them.

(n)

If I had a 2500, I would be a very happy camper.

But I would also understand I would be spending more time and money at the fuel pump from now on.

Welcome to the site!
Click to expand...
Well i get money from my parents most of the time for gas but i can't always do that as we don't have a lot of money. i was just wondering if there was any computer chips i could get or program for my truck that would make it more reliable on gas. my entire paycheck from last weekend is going in my truck today actually (except 2/3 dollars i spent on coffee this morning). its not a huge concern of mine because i can get money from my grandparents and my parents but i didn't know if there were any options to get better gas milage but will still a good looking truck.
 
                          Like stated above you want MPGs this not the vehicle for you.
  Take the time to read through the 2500 Performance section. Free up the exhaust with a better muffler or go duals.
An air intake may or may not help.

  As far tunes read up on tunes in the 2500 Performance section. There are a lot of plugins now. Also look at Black Bear and Nelson Performance.

  You better prepare your budget for 12 mpg. If you?re bouncing around back roads well you will be able to watch your
gas gage needle fall while you are driving. 

  What is your tranni doing? You could be losing performance and millage there. 

  This a good learning curve for you to budget and survive. Do not rush into things you read on the internet.
like what works on a 4k lb. car will not work on a 6k+ lb. truck. Do your research and like you did here ask questions. 
These beasts have been around for a while now. There are good people here and there are good forums out there. 

                                                      These things are a beast.
                              Put a brick under the gas pedal and look for a third job.

                                                                      :laugh:
 
JVZL1 said:
                          Like stated above you want MPGs this not the vehicle for you.
  Take the time to read through the 2500 Performance section. Free up the exhaust with a better muffler or go duals.
An air intake may or may not help.

  As far tunes read up on tunes in the 2500 Performance section. There are a lot of plugins now. Also look at Black Bear and Nelson Performance.

  You better prepare your budget for 12 mpg. If you?re bouncing around back roads well you will be able to watch your
gas gage needle fall while you are driving. 

  What is your tranni doing? You could be losing performance and millage there. 

  This a good learning curve for you to budget and survive. Do not rush into things you read on the internet.
like what works on a 4k lb. car will not work on a 6k+ lb. truck. Do your research and like you did here ask questions. 
These beasts have been around for a while now. There are good people here and there are good forums out there. 

                                                      These things are a beast.
                              Put a brick under the gas pedal and look for a third job.

                                                                      :laugh:
Click to expand...
My transmission is shifting really rough, going up to high RPM's and has redlined on me twice, one time i went to go in a tight gap and it just spun tires but got going. it has a very small oil leak that we filled it up and it didn't shift as bad but it still shifts horrible. i know that is making it lower but we really don't have the money to fix it. i also have a very heavy foot at some times and that really doesn't help. but getting maybe 4-8 miles to the gallon using cruise control on the highway and not even in town is really bad
 
  The Avy has a learning computer. So it will learn your driving habit to certain degree.
It will also adjust to throttle pressure. If your foot is in it it?s going to shift hard.
If you take off with a light throttle it should have nice smooth firm shifts.

Now if you do not know the history of the Avy.
Start here tune up. Clean the MAF sensor with the proper cleaner, air filter, fuel filter (on the frame),
clean throttle body, plugs and wires if needed.  With these miles do you know if the 02?s have been changed out?
If not a good time to do them.
 
JVZL1 said:
  The Avy has a learning computer. So it will learn your driving habit to certain degree.
It will also adjust to throttle pressure. If your foot is in it it?s going to shift hard.
If you take off with a light throttle it should have nice smooth firm shifts.

Now if you do not know the history of the Avy.
Start here tune up. Clean the MAF sensor with the proper cleaner, air filter, fuel filter (on the frame),
clean throttle body, plugs and wires if needed.  With these miles do you know if the 02?s have been changed out?
If not a good time to do them.
Click to expand...
no clue, its had 4 owners (2 of which hardly drove it, probably a auction house then the person couldn't afford it) then one had about 80k the other had about 60k. but its gears are like really awkward, most of the time in first and third gear it won't shift up until 4000 rpms and shifts even if im being slow on the throttle and not being hard with it. im the 3rd owner thats drove it for over 1000 miles (about 3 in just over 2 months)
 
I would also wonder if you are basing MPG on doing the math each fill up and comparing miles driven with gallons used or using the MPG average display on the dash.
Either way it could be off due to those larger tires if the person who installed the tires didn't re-calibrate the AV computer odometer.
As others have already posted the AV is not an economical or performance vehicle and as far as MPG the 2500 is the worst of all due to weight and motor size. It is the best at hauling and towing capacity though.
If it was me I wouldn't spend money on mods hoping for better gas mileage such as CAI or open flow mufflers since you would probably be stomping on the gas to hear the intake and exhaust which would drive your MPG down even lower. I'm sure you won't want to hear this but probably best thing you could do to try and help your gas mileage would be to lower the AV to get it back down closer to the road and put stock tires back on. That would get the AV out of the turbulent air and put lighter,less road resistant tires on. It would also decrease wear on your suspension and drive-train. It would solve the problem you have about "the tires clearing the front end" that you mention.
You also should plan ahead for some repairs and keep money aside for things like the fact is your AV is 16 years old and has lower cladding so you may have hidden rust on lower body panels behind the plastic, you may want to crawl under your AV and clean around the wheel wells front and rear to look for early signs. Then age and rust can affect brake and fuel lines as well. Then you have mentioned possible transmission problems and will fix later, what will you do if it dies on you when you least expect it and all of a sudden the repair shop says that will be a couple thousand dollars to get it running again? Maybe selling those big tires and lift kit would pay for repairs and maintenance?
I know being 16 years old yourself you probably don't want to hear this but if you truly want to improve gas mileage and improve the longevity of your AV the best thing you could do it not "abuse" your AV but to drive it like an old person and go easy on the gas and brakes, avoid rapid start and stops and cruise gently on the highway.
I hope you have many happy and safe miles in your AV.
 
Vaeagleav said:
I would also wonder if you are basing MPG on doing the math each fill up and comparing miles driven with gallons used or using the MPG average display on the dash.
Either way it could be off due to those larger tires if the person who installed the tires didn't re-calibrate the AV computer odometer.
As others have already posted the AV is not an economical or performance vehicle and as far as MPG the 2500 is the worst of all due to weight and motor size. It is the best at hauling and towing capacity though.
If it was me I wouldn't spend money on mods hoping for better gas mileage such as CAI or open flow mufflers since you would probably be stomping on the gas to hear the intake and exhaust which would drive your MPG down even lower. I'm sure you fon't want to hear this but probably best thing you could do to try and help your gas mileage would be to lower the AV to get it back down closer to the road and put stock tires back on. That would get the AV out of the turbulent air and put lighter,less road resistant tires on. It would also decrease wear on your suspension and drive-train. It would solve the problem you have about "the tires clearing the front end" that you mention.
You also should plan ahead for some repairs and keep money aside for things like the fact is your AV is 16 years old and has lower cladding so you may have hidden rust on lower body panels behind the plastic, you may want to crawl under your AV and clean around the wheel wells front and rear to look for early signs. Then age and rust can affect brake and fuel lines as well. Then you have mentioned possible transmission problems and will fix later, what will you do if it dies on you when you least expect it and all of a sudden the repair shop says that will be a couple thousand dollars to get it running again? Maybe selling those big tires and lift kit would pay for repairs and maintenance?
I know being 16 years old yourself you probably don't want to hear this but if you truly want to improve gas mileage and improve the longevity of your AV the best thing you could do it not "abuse" your AV but to drive it like an old person and go easy on the gas and brakes, avoid rapid start and stops and cruise gently on the highway.
I hope you have many happy and safe miles in your AV.
Click to expand...
well my grandparents and great grand parents own a logging company and every couple saturdays i go and pull wood for them. i told my grandpa that i wanted to start working out there more weekends and my dad that because he works for them and they are afraid to ask my uncle because he doesn't trust me for whatever reason even tho i do good. most of the time my uncle doesn't even know im working out there if any time he knows i am. My grandpa pays me for working out there so i would just tell him to pay for it and i work for free out there. (i already get my pay cut in half because of how i have truck payments). but until i move out and go out of state (if i ever do but i probably won't)i will be paying them the entire time(i have 2 years to move out so its going to be a while) then i will have to pay my parents rent if my great grandparents die before then because they are giving us another house. i am planning on becoming a 6th generation logger, a car salesman or a radio host/sports announcer/dj so any of those jobs i will make 20+ $ a hour. in the future i will be able to afford my truck but for now i just can't afford it without help any way i go around it. the clearance problem is a easy fix and we have already decided how we are going to fix it. the rust part is fine, no rust at all, we have done looked at it. also the only way i would be stomping on the gas to hear it is if it was a really loud flowmaster that would wake up my entire neighborhood in the morning lol. but with it having 38 gallons and it going down to half half of 38 is 14 and im going through 14 gallons in maybe 60 to 100 some miles if even that is not working out to well
 
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