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Avalanche Vs. Garage

B

bmontini

Full Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2002
Messages
586
Location
Atlanta, GA
I have been reading these forums for DAYS, and I have not come across this issue....

Does ANYONE out there have a problem getting their AV into a standard 8' garage door? I have to pull in 1 mirror :6: every day in and out of the garage!!

Are there ANY hopes of a Power Folder Mirror MOD to my 2002 AV Z66?

This STINKS!! I didn't acutally measure the AV cause the dimensions say around 80inches. I guess the mirrors add about 1 1/2 feet +.....

Thoughts, Suggestions?? Anyone working on this?
 
I would be hard pressed to support someones defintion of an 8' wide garage door as standard. Mine in 9' wide because I built it that way. ;D If you have wood siding, I would put in a 9' door. If you are stuck with 8' then you have the same problem and solution as others have posted here. :6:
I don't know about adapting power mirrors although I believe that aftermarket power folding mirrors are available. :0:
 
search "power folding mirrors" for my similar experience. As for the aftermarket, I am unaware of any current kit but the '02 EXT has PF mirrors that would seem to fit on the Av, the switch gear is an issue though. I am waiting for the '03 Av (which has a PF mirror option) for possible retrofit to my '02 Av.

P.S. Any suggestion that the Av should fit in every "normal" garage door opening (remember some of us, actually the overwhelming majority of us, live in houses built more than 15 years ago) is, in the kindest words I can find, untrue. I do agree that my house remodel project will specify wider garage doors.
 
gstreak said:
I would be hard pressed to support someones defintion of an 8' wide garage door as standard. ?Mine in 9' wide because I built it that way. ;D ?If you have wood siding, I would put in a 9' door. ?If you are stuck with 8' then you have the same problem and solution as others have posted here. :6:
I don't know about adapting power mirrors although I believe that aftermarket power folding mirrors are available. :0:
Click to expand...

Although I don't do residential architecture (I do mostly commercial restaurant etc..), an 8' door is standard for a house. Even go through the BIA Parade of homes a month or so ago, all the garages were the small 8' and most were side loading. Not only were they too small for most suvs to park in, the side loading garages don't allow the turn radius needed to pull a suv into the garage in the first place. These were the 1/2 million dollar houses too!

I yelled at several of the architects who were involved in this parade of homes. And to prove my point to them, I tried parking my AV in one of the garages, and I had my wife bring our Mountaineer over, which is a mid sized SUV. The AV couldn't even turn into the garage, and the Mountaineer barely fit (door banging into wall).

Standard residential codes for garages need to be fixed. For that matter parking spaces, and parking lot codes need to be fixed as well.
 
thanks Spork_Av.. ?My point exactly when asking this question... ?8ft is a standard "builders" garage door.

If I had my choice, I would have an 18ft single door!!

We just moved and bought this house:

House Pic

THEN bought the AV.. ?I think I am going to see if I can just Remove that darn center support and put in one big door...
 
nice looking house. my wife loves covered front porches.

the divided garage doors, might not be just an architecture element, it might be structural. it would probably have to be rebuilt using a steel I-beam as support across that distance.

good luck.

 
Thanks man...

We are going to cut out some of the drywall inside the garage... See what is back there.. Some of the other houses in the area are built similar... and they have 18' doors.. I hope that beam is in there already!!!!

Now I just have to epoxy paint the garage floor so I can make my AV look even better...

 
That is a "boat door" or so they call it...

It goes into the basement. Makes it much easier than carrying plywood down the stairs.. I back the truck up to the door and carry in whatever I need.. pretty slick huh? ;D
 
You could modify the garage front by replacing the two doors with a single large one...it would probably require a larger header across the front but then you could fit one car in there and open the doors.

I have known friends who do this.
 
That's the plan... I might even use my AV to temporarily support the house's weight while I replace the header if necessary >:D

Just kidding ;) I hope to do this within the year... I like being able to pull into the middle of the garage for detailing work anyways... I don't care for the 2 doors too much..

Thanks for the advice!!
 
Good luck, because I hate pulling my mirror in and out everyday as well!
 
We have a side loading 2.5 car 2 bay garage. Have had no problem parking the AV or any other cars ... I think the trick is to design your driveway to swing wide.

See house pictures at website in signature line. ignore the car in the picture ... but the house is in the background. Click on main picture on webpage to enter site .. then click on the small car icon.
 
My garage doors are straight in as shown in the picture

House Pic

So the turning radius isn't an issue... you must have 8 1/2 foot or 9 foot wide garage doors..

Why chevy made something that doesn't fit into the Normal standard of an 8' garage doesn't make sense. (Of course the mirrors are not included in the dimensions either (at chevy or here at CAFCNA)) Maybe we should add those... Chief??
 
Though you probably don't want to hear it....the '03's have power folding mirrors. Once those come out maybe more mods might be available.
 
bmontini can you come in thru that wooden fence and park alongside the house? have a pad poured with water, electricity,, and air , frame up an awning ramps or a lift I always wanted a pit like on old gas station or alignment shop i dinged got change pretty bad on the rear right quarter going forward looking down out the driver window, and caught the right rear fender "bubble by 3/4 inch on a boat rub rail it went -----kabebabunk icould hear the metal pop in and out-----but not all the way out...... dont hurt the av
 
Well, bmontint... Those 2 doors REALLY look nice! Maybe you should just keep driving in and breaking off your mirrors. Eventually the insurance company might "help" you to trade yours for an '03. >:D
 
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