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Working The Avalanche

N

Northstar

Full Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2003
Messages
58
Does anyone use their avalanche for down and dirty work? I'm probably going to buy one, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to haul dirt, crushed stone for the driveway, that sort of thing. I'm not talking about weight, I mean as far as the dirt getting in everywhere or hurting the bed. Also, I have a load handler that slides on a bedliner to unload stuff from the bed. Has anyone tried to use one of these on an avalanche? ??? :cautious:
 
I would say it is the wrong truck for this kind of work. Some members have hauled things like sand and rocks in theirs but it will get where you don't want it! Go ahead and get the Avalanche and the get a good trailer to do the dirty hauling.
 
As far as using the Av for a work truck, the big vulnerability is the water management system. The drain gutters could get damaged easy and the drain holes could get clogged up if you're hauling sand and gravel.

I restrict my Av to hauling sheets of plywood, 2 x 4's, bags of mulch, etc. When I go camping, I place things like firewood in rubbermaid containers so as not to let heavy stuff roll around and damage anything.
 
Heck, I would do it in a heart beat. It ain't nothing but putting down a sheet of plastic or a tarp and then LOAD HER UP with rock, sand, dirt, mulch......If keeping the inside looking pretty is all we are concerned about. This is a TRUCK....just use some smarts in protecting what needs protecting. If your going to use it to haul things like sand and rock, you probably will store your panels in the garage and not put them on utill you need them. As for the gutter system....a few clips and they are off too. You only need them if the panels are on the truck. Now you just have the drain slatts at the front to keep them from getting clogged, and a tarp will fix that!

Just my little .02!

Wiki
 
I agree with Wiki. I have used my AV for all the above and it works great! I went shopping for a Silverado crew cab or a Sierra crew cab and bought my AV because it does everything they do and more. The problem is some us almost worship these vehicles....

Take the gutters and hard cover panels off and use it for hauling dirt or rocks or anything else. Heck, if you are worried about the bed, have it Line-x'd! With the proper midgate (some originals had leaks), the bed can easily be hosed out. Just remember to ensure the drain holes are clear of debiris, or else the bed won't drain.

Mac
 
For hauling loose dirt, etc, I went to Home Depot and bought a heavy duty canvas painters tarp. I had a friend of mine put grommets in the appropriate places and then hook/tie it to the inside tie downs. It's like a diaper for the Av. It works great and does contain the material.
 
I will haul anything I can fit. You are not going to hurt the bed. Like Wiki & MacMan said just keep the drain holes clear after the hauling and you'll be fine !

Also, I have a load handler that slides on a bedliner to unload stuff from the bed. Has anyone tried to use one of these on an avalanche?
Click to expand...

Like these Bed Slide (Click Me) ?

 
I have hauled christmas trees, fire wood (including kindling, and now some bark dust/chips.

The last two had a tarp laid down first. I did that only to keep the firewood from getting on the camping equipt and food boxes. As for the bark dust/chips, it was done to make the clean up quick. I needed to haul other things back that weren't supposed to get dirty.

We bought it to use it - not to baby it. After all it is a truck.
 
it goes without saying that I would lay a tarp down, and clean it well afterwards. I am surprised how many people are saying that it can't be used like a truck. I thought that was the point, it's a truck and an SUV. It wouldn't be a daily thing anyway, maybe 3 or 4 times a summer. Not worth having a second pickup. Also, I heat my house with wood pellets, which I buy by the ton on a pallet. I need to get some measurements to see if the pallet will fit intact. The bottom I believe is 4 by 5, but the sides usually stick out a little. The inside of the Av bed is what, about 48" wide?
 
Well, I haven't hauled any dirt or rocks. But I have hauled Drywall and a ton of equipment. So far, Any little bits of dirt or drywall or whatever that falls down in the water channels has come out with a squirt from the hose. No problem. I'm not sure how well an actual ton of dirt would do.
 
If you used a pressure washer, I think dirt would dissolve and flush out the drain holes. Even if the drain holes got clogged up a bit, then it seems like it woul be like any regular old truck.

Nonetheless, I do plan on using a tarp to haul barkdust this spring, mostly to make clean up a bit easier.
-w
 
Northstar said:
it goes without saying that I would lay a tarp down, and clean it well afterwards. I am surprised how many people are saying that it can't be used like a truck. I thought that was the point, it's a truck and an SUV. It wouldn't be a daily thing anyway, maybe 3 or 4 times a summer. Not worth having a second pickup. Also, I heat my house with wood pellets, which I buy by the ton on a pallet. I need to get some measurements to see if the pallet will fit intact. The bottom I believe is 4 by 5, but the sides usually stick out a little. The inside of the Av bed is what, about 48" wide?
Click to expand...

I think it has to do more with the fact of how pretty the truck is and not as much as it's lacking strength and durability. After thinking about this for quite some time today, I don't think I would enjoy filling the bed with gravel, but that does mean the bed can't handle it.
I filled my friends S10 with Construction Granite. If that truck could handle it, then so can ours!!
 
I DID use mine to carry just under 1000 lbs worth of Texas rock (clay-slate stuff) for Mountain Bike Trail maintenance. We just tossed it all in on top of the rubber mat and it did fine.

Went to the Do-It-Yourself-Car-Wash afterward and yanked the entire mat out of the bed and hosed it off on the ground. There were lots of little flakey bits of the clay stuff that got into the bed, but nothing that a good pressure wash wouldn't get rid of.

The only frustrating part was that dust would spray up under the edge of the protec sides and then run back down with the water after. Just took some careful cleaning to get out though.

If I was going to do that often I'd just get the bed Line-X'd and take the mat out. No big deal.

 
Northstar:

It's all been said already (I'm a little late to this thread), but yup, it can be used for dirty projects too. We did 1/2 ton of pea gravel for our yard shortly after we bought it.


Can you believe that's only 1000 lbs?​

Used a tarp, but as you can see, some rocks still got where I'd rather they didn't. Took 4-6 hours of meticulous cleaning and water spray to rid myself of all them little gravel pieces. Required that I removed the mat, the forward draincover (at the midgate) and the spring-loaded midgate threshold cover. Not something I want to do *every* weekend, but not bad once in awhile or when you need to. Certainly cheaper than having gravel, bark, etc. delivered. I like the canvas "diaper" idea--I'll have to look into that when money allows.

Brendan
 
Great setup on your picture pages Brendan. Did you do that yourself or is the site hosted with someone who has the nice thumbnailing package?
 
The AV would work fine for that. The rest of us just don't like getting it that dirty. :rolleyes:

I never thought I would own a truck where I would be reluctant to put ANYTHING in the bed because I didn't want it "dirty". :rolleyes:
 
you namr it i think i have hauled it. if you want to haul sand or something lay a tarp down it makes for easy clean up just pull it out and no sweeping needed fold it up and put it in the sidebox
 
TXAVy said:
Great setup on your picture pages Brendan. Did you do that yourself or is the site hosted with someone who has the nice thumbnailing package?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wrote the Perl/CGI myself to autogenerate my picture pages. To keep this thread clean, I responded [at length] over in the current Photography Thread.

Brendan
 
Northstar said:
Also, I heat my house with wood pellets, which I buy by the ton on a pallet. I need to get some measurements to see if the pallet will fit intact. The bottom I believe is 4 by 5, but the sides usually stick out a little. The inside of the Av bed is what, about 48" wide?
Click to expand...
The walls of the bed are a hair over 48" wide, but the gutters at the top of the rails make that measurement significantly narrower. If the base of the pallet is 48", and the sides of the stack hang over the pallet, I'll wager that it won't fit. :6:

Also, if you are really buying it "by the ton" that would be about double the trucks 1/2 ton load limit (assuming you have a 1500. Even with a 3/4 ton 2500, you'd still be over the limit by a quarter ton.

Or was "by the ton" just a figure of speach? :-[


Finally, while I haven't done it yet with the Av, I have with other trucks, and the tarp idea does indeed make cleanup easier. (y)

If the load is something that takes shoveling to unload (dirt, gravel, mulch, etc.) here's another tip: Lay down the tarp, then lay down an old piece of plywood on top of it. Then go get your load. When it's time to unload, the plywood will make it much easier, since the shovel won't get hung up on the folds of the tarp, won't tear it, and won't ding up the floor of the bed.

Also, when unloading, either place another smaller piece of plywood on the tailgate with the front edge under the main peice, or remove the tailgate altogether. This will prevent the mess when stuff tries to fall into the gap between the bed and tailgate.

-- SS
 
actually, calling the truck a half ton has little to do with it's load carrying capacity. I don't know why that is, but its true. One time Home Cheapo refused to sell me a ton of pellets because I only had a 3/4 ton truck. It was titled at 10,000 lbs, bed was regularly used to carry 3300 lbs. I checked the payload somewhere a while ago, I believe the 1500 Av was just under a ton, 2500 is well over. And I am hoping to get the 2500 for just that reason. :B:
 
oh, by the way, thanks for the idea about the plywood on top of the tarp. Great idea! I will definitely remember that one. (y)
 
Northstar said:
actually, calling the truck a half ton has little to do with it's load carrying capacity. I don't know why that is, but its true. One time Home Cheapo refused to sell me a ton of pellets because I only had a 3/4 ton truck. It was titled at 10,000 lbs, bed was regularly used to carry 3300 lbs. I checked the payload somewhere a while ago, I believe the 1500 Av was just under a ton, 2500 is well over. And I am hoping to get the 2500 for just that reason. :B:
Click to expand...

My 1500 says this on the inside of the doorjamb:

GVWR: 7000 lbs.

Since on average my 1500 weighs 5800 (2003 specs is 5678, my 2002 always ways ~5800 without me), that leaves 1200 for cargo. Since most of us weigh 100-200, that leaves 1000 lbs. for cargo. Half-ton. If you want to carry a shovel, subract that weight. If you bring a helper, subtract his/her weight. It may be possible to load more in a 1500 safely, but if you want to play the specs, it seems pretty consistent to me.

If my information is correct, the 2500s have a GVWR of 8600. The 2003 2500s supposedly weigh in at 6642, so their cargo capacity is a little shy of 2000 lbs. Subtract your own weight, that of your help, and anything else you have on board, and you're gonna be somewhere between 3/4 and 1 ton. Again, the math seems to work out to me.

Again, I too have heard that "usefullly" you can load more. But a second trip for "the other" half-ton never bothers me. I've only once loaded it like this anyway.

I'm not starting anything am I? Just reporting numbers I've seen in print and figured were correct. Please stand up if you arrive at different weight ratings. But I now read that your "other truck" had a rating of 10,000. If that's so, then unless the truck itself weighed in excess of 8000lbs, any store to tell you that you couldn't haul what you wanted should have lost the sale. I'm just saying that for the Avalanche, it happens to work out "as advertised".

Brendan
 
I have been remodeling our basement. Hauling sheetrock is a breeze, as for 2x4x8"s i put a tiedown strap on each side of the bed inside the hooks that fold out. Then when lumber is in place it is tilted up....if not angled enough just pull on strap to tighten up and wood comes up with it....try it..
 
I went back to Autotrader .com, picked some Avalanches, then went into technical specs. I assume this info must come from the manufacturer. It lists the 2500 as having a payload of 1958 lbs, with a towing capacity of 10,100/12,000 (I think the 2 numbers indicate with or without weight distributing hitch) The 1500 has a payload of 1400 lbs and towing capacity of 7300/8300 lbs. I see what you mean by the GVWR numbers you quoted, but I believe that refers to passengers and personal cargo, not payload.
Don't take it the wrong way, I'm not trying to argue, I am just trying to learn and share info.
 
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