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What did you do to your Avalanche today?

Swapped out my cabin air filter yesterday with a charcoal activated one. Was catching a whiff of something old when I fire up the AC...did some research on filters and they suggest replacing it every year...huh..didn't know that. They said your cabin air can be 6 times more hazardous than the outside air if the filter is old. Simple swap and good price for better air. Suppose to filter smoke which has been horrible in MT. this year. My eyes burn after awhile from the smoke so I hope these help. Drove to Spokane and back which is around 750 miles roundtrip. My eyes were burning bad when I got home. Sometime visibility was less than 1/2 mile from the smoke. Nasty smoke this year from the fires ....native Montanan and this is the worst I've seen in my 65 years. What global warming ......
 
Swapped out my cabin air filter yesterday with a charcoal activated one. Was catching a whiff of something old when I fire up the AC...did some research on filters and they suggest replacing it every year...huh..didn't know that. They said your cabin air can be 6 times more hazardous than the outside air if the filter is old. Simple swap and good price for better air. Suppose to filter smoke which has been horrible in MT. this year. My eyes burn after awhile from the smoke so I hope these help. Drove to Spokane and back which is around 750 miles roundtrip. My eyes were burning bad when I got home. Sometime visibility was less than 1/2 mile from the smoke. Nasty smoke this year from the fires ....native Montanan and this is the worst I've seen in my 65 years. What global warming ......
what years have and don't have cabin air filters?
 
Some owners have and you can install a retrofit kit in yours, if you desire.
 
Ha Ha donholco that reminds me of spirited discussions we used to have years ago about storing items in the "hidden secret storage area", some members freely talked about it on this public forum so it's no longer was a secret area to many member's way of thinking.. as it was mentioned then if they knew about it so would the thieves and cops etc. :devilish:
That why a console vault is a small degree safer then thinking you are the only one aware of "hidden compartments".
Yeah, I’d think since the Avalanche (and similar) was first built 20 years ago it’s common knowledge to the groups, general public not so much. But I’m sure the criminal elemen has some knowledge.
 
@fignewton

I enjoy seeing about all of the great work you have been doing to your truck.

Looks great!

You have done enough good things to justify your own build thread here in the forum.

I would hate to see your updates get lost in the shuffle as this thread continues to grow.

Keep up the work and the updates!

:) (y)
 
Well, today I finished up wheel #3. It was prob the worst one of the 4 to do, and took me a little longer. I’ve noticed that the metallurgy of the wheels differs a little. The faces are all machine cut, so they’re fairly consistent because of the grooves. But inside the openings between spokes, some of the aluminum is fairly grainy. For that reason, it doesn’t sand down or polish as smoothly as I’d like. I may go back with some more aggressive polish on this one in the future to see if I can make it more reflective. Here are some before and after pics of this wheel.
28BF986E-DEC4-4FBF-B36D-E7B064822470.jpeg2D3D7DE3-FEAA-446A-8621-858D8097A363.jpeg2CE4B2F5-5BB4-4A7F-AB39-1EE1841141C5.jpeg66AC61C2-394A-4DC3-83B4-64958A63F651.jpeg
 
Yay! Got the last wheel done and the spare hung back up under the rear. Also added a K&N drop in panel filter, as I've used them on lot of vehicles over the past decades (my count is over 60 cars/trucks/motorcycles). Cleaned up the tires. Next is the annual oil change and get her polished and ceramic coated before the winter comes. Hard to believe it's September already!
Oh, and for some reason, my headliner cover on the sunroof panel has started to droop down around the edges. Will have to take care of that too. I can smooth it back in place, but it came back down after a few hot humid days. It's not wet, thank goodness. Did a search here, but some of the links don't work anymore.
 
sunroof cover dropping on first gen is known issue after the years have gone by.
I have it.

Someoen made thread in PROBLEMS INTERIOR section on how he fixed it by removing the slid cover.
Then removing rest of fabric and he painted it.
Another person replaced fabric and glued it back.

But full instructions on how to remove where there as you it can be a PIA.
 
Today, I changed the oil, then got the buffer out and compounded all the white parts, and then hit it with a coat of Griot’s 3-in-1 Ceramic. Tried to get good pic to show the paint, but this one with the reflectivity on the dark side is the best. Pretty good for 16 year old paint that sits outside all the time. GM did good on this truck! I love it 🥰 893FEB8B-EA1D-4DE2-A9F9-02099D070502.jpeg
 
yesterday i got the new stainless brake lines routed and hooked up. plan to bleed them them tonight and hopefully be back on the road. its not a fun drive home after the front supply line blows out.

ALSO, while working on the brake lines, i was able to confirm the exhaust leak off the manifold (drivers side rear bolt broke) the repair clamp should be here by Thursday! she should purr like a kitty after that fix.
 
Got the ol girl back on the road! had 1 fitting that decided to leak after bleeding. checked the flare nut, and it was properly tightened. so i pulled that end of the line off and realized the line itself was not very straight going into the mating connection. it was at an angle, and the flare nut could not force the flare of the line straight enough to seal. after flexing the line to make it enter the connection straighter, i re-connected and all was good!!!
 
I bought a set of used GMC wheels with Toyo winters for $300. a few months ago. Decided to actually test fit so I didn't have any surprises come winter. It is law to have winter rated on most highways here Oct 1 to Apr 30. My old tires are winter rated but I wore them out all summer. Could still give em away to someone desperate. Keep the stock chev wheels and paint them black for next year. Even these chrome gmc I don't like. Too shiny lol. The only chrome on my Av is the grill bar.
*next day edit: I'm kinda like the look. I'll just keep em on.
winters.jpg

So I decided to try the stock bottle jack. It worked great but I added 3" of wood as the rear jack point is quite high. The front jack point on the frame is lower but i had to raise it 3.25" to have the tire off the ground, so the wood block helped. The jack did lean as i raised the front, the Av shifted sideways. Chucks should have been on the opposite front I guess.
Pic of recommended rear jack point on axle...
bottlejack1.jpg bottlejack2.jpg

front jack point on frame,
bottlejack3.jpg
 
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You may want to buy a floor jack, that looks so dangerous.

I bought a set of used GMC wheels with Toyo winters for $300. a few months ago. Decided to actually test fit so I didn't have any surprises come winter. It is law to have winter rated on most highways here Oct 1 to Apr 30. My old tires are winter rated but I wore them out all summer. Could still give em away to someone desperate. Keep the stock chev wheels and paint them black for next year. Even these chrome gmc I don't like. Too shiny lol. The only chrome on my Av is the grill bar.
*next day edit: I'm kinda like the look. I'll just keep em on.
View attachment 233130

So I decided to try the stock bottle jack. It worked great but I added 3" of wood as the rear jack point is quite high. The front jack point on the frame is lower but i had to raise it 3.25" to have the tire off the ground, so the wood block helped. The jack did lean as i raised the front, the Av shifted sideways. Chucks should have been on the opposite front I guess.
Pic of recommended rear jack point on axle...
View attachment 233131 View attachment 233132

front jack point on frame,
View attachment 233133
 
I hate the stock bottle jack our trucks come with. I bought a 4 ton Daytona Floor Jack at Harbor Freight, and honestly it has far surpassed by expectations. Not to mention it is Hemi orange! ;D
Got the same thing except mine matches Bumblebee's yellow paint.
 
You may want to buy a floor jack, that looks so dangerous.
Yeah its definitely not the safest. No way in hell I'd go under the truck with that holding it up lol.
I do have a floorjack but way too heavy to keep in the Av. Was just testing the bottle jack to see if it still works. Worked fine in the driveway but it would be dangerous roadside without flat solid ground.
 
I think we can agree that bottle jack should only be used in a emergency
 
What did the installer say? I have a 2011 and it may not be a direct comparison but I'd like to gauge the wind so to speak :)
I had replacement front door speakers installed and talked with the installer about removing the 2002 On Star system which has been worthless, and installing XM radio in it's place
 
I had new door speakers installed a couple of months ago in my Avalanche. You would not believe how cheaply made the OEM speakers were. Right now I'm saving money to add XM.
 
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