What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Why are avalanches so heavy?

down4thakrown

down4thakrown

1/2 ton status
 Premium
GMOTM Winner
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Posts
1,981
Reaction score
342
Location
flagstaff,az
So I've been looking at some trucks and specs trying to figure out what my next build is going to be. And I really wanted to do a avalanche but there over 1k lbs heavier than a suburban. Where does all the weight come from? I was reading up about the UA avalanche and seen something about it being a 9k truck. Is the body just overall thicker steel??? All accessories?
 
9k Lol. A monster truck weighs just a little more than that. You must be looking at the gross vehicle weight which includes cargo weight, full of passengers and a full tank of gas.
 
rampage said:
9k Lol. A monster truck weighs just a little more than that. You must be looking at the gross vehicle weight which includes cargo weight, full of passengers and a full tank of gas.
Click to expand...
Yea pretty much what they said, I'm talking about the ultimate avalanche in the 03 ultimate adventure and they mentioned in article about it being 9k rolling down the hey. But the high side of factory specs isn't far off
 
watch the episode of Dirt Every Day where they build one and race it. The talk about how heavy it is
 
My mom used to have one and I noticed they are heavy. I've also noticed that when they're in accidents they do some demolishing. Would make a great vehicle for keeping the better half and/or rest of the family safe out there.
 
The Avalanche has a lot of extra bracing to keep the body rigid. It's essentially a shorter CCSB, but with the bed and cab integrated together, whereas frame flex in a pickup can happen between the bed and cab. The shape of a Suburban is inherently stronger. You can figure the midgate with rolling window and tailgate put together are heavier than a Sub liftgate, but you would think the extra sheet metal and 2 more windows in the Suburban would even things out.

So maybe 600lbs of plastic cladding?
 
I don't know if there is a big difference in engine weights too....but the 3/4 suburban had the 6.0 and 8.1 engines. The 3/4 ton Avalanche was only available in the 8.1....

Is the 8.1 a lot heavier than the 6.0? The pic of the maroon suburban shows the 4WS option, than only came in the 6.0 engine. 8.1 was not available for the 4WS suburban.
 
Blazooki said:
watch the episode of Dirt Every Day where they build one and race it. The talk about how heavy it is
Click to expand...
That's the same one that was on the ultimate adventure 2003. Fred bought it from Peterson's. But destroys it snow raceing and now last I heard was talking about take burb body and putting on the avalanche frame
 
jeff in co said:
I don't know if there is a big difference in engine weights too....but the 3/4 suburban had the 6.0 and 8.1 engines. The 3/4 ton Avalanche was only available in the 8.1....

Is the 8.1 a lot heavier than the 6.0? The pic of the maroon suburban shows the 4WS option, than only came in the 6.0 engine. 8.1 was not available for the 4WS suburban.
Click to expand...
8.1 is supposedly 761lbs and 6.0 520lbs. I think Avalanche used 4L80E like the Sub and never got an Allison (correct me if I'm wrong). I read that Quadrasteer adds 285 lbs vs 1/2-ton, which should be about 185lbs compared to 14BFF, which would make 6.0/4WS similar to 8.1/2WS.

Some have argued that you could get 4WS/8.1 Sub, but I've never heard of one that's 4x4. Obviously 2WD is lighter.
 
Blue85 said:
8.1 is supposedly 761lbs and 6.0 520lbs. I think Avalanche used 4L80E like the Sub and never got an Allison (correct me if I'm wrong). I read that Quadrasteer adds 285 lbs vs 1/2-ton, which should be about 185lbs compared to 14BFF, which would make 6.0/4WS similar to 8.1/2WS.

Some have argued that you could get 4WS/8.1 Sub, but I've never heard of one that's 4x4. Obviously 2WD is lighter.
Click to expand...

No Allison that I've heard of in the suburbans. Of course, when I went to the GM dealer he said some had an Allison......but he was a pretty young kid so I'm not really believing him. :surepal::whistle:

I believe the only option for the 8.1 Suburban/Avalanche was with the 4L85E instead of 4L80E.

The vehicle RPO code for the 4L80 is MT1 and MN8 for the 4L85. Just checked my glovebox and I have "MN8" RPO code.
 
Avalanche w/ 8.1 had the Allison at least as an option.
 
Did that Avalanche have the HD front and the body lift or is an Avalanche floor different than a Suburban?
 
^^^^ from what I can see, some of the 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks had the 8.1 and Allison option....can't find anywhere that the suburban or avalanche had that option (only 4L85e).
 
There is more room under the pickup floor than the SUV floor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom