Chevrolet Avalanche Accessories & Modifications

gandolphxx · November 2001

Be very careful with the back pressure issue - Gibson makes a real nice single side swept - Nice growl - works well with 8.1L - presume the 5.3L would be just as effective - combine with headers and a K&N FIPK for a real nice truck.

ygmn · November 2001

They are worth it very much. The ones I installed were components all around and there is a definite improvement. The stock head unit is fine and must be kept if you want the OnStar warranty to remain in effect.

The rear speakers fit right in place and I surface mounted the tweeters in the top front of each rear door panel

The front stock speakers use a large clip to hold speakers in place. I reused the bracket to hold the new ones in place. I then removed the stock tweeters from the plastic mounting bracket and drilled them out to hold the new tweeters.

I strongly suggest it for anyone who wants better sound. An ampilifier was not required for good sound and I do not want to many modifications on the inside anyway.

jcody1 · November 2001

Just bought a 1500 Z71 with all the goodies. What an awesome truck! My only complaint so far is the less than diserable stereo, but like everyone else- I don't want to sacrifice the OnStar system. I am 99% sure the microphone mounted on the overhead console is for the OnStar system and NOT the speed sens. volume. All GM radios have that feature now and I have not noticed micrphone.

Upgrading to the Caddy head unit would be my first choice if it offers CD changer capability. Does anyone know? Has anyone determined if the Avalanche has a factory amp? Is it behind the glove box? If we could determine which wires were the low level outputs (from the head unit)going to the amp we could at least upgrade the amp and speakers.

It would be great if we could put our heads together and come up with a solution.

jcody1 · November 2001

according to Crutchfield. I called them and they said they have worked on one Avalanche so far. They suggested a four channel amp and new speakers. They confirmed OnStar WILL NOT work if you remove the factory head unit, and there are No aftermarket head units that support OnStar (yet).

ygmn · November 2001

A person I know told me this by e-mail, "If you want to keep the OnStar there is a component made by SoundGate that will allow you to retain the OnStar system. It sells for about $150."

I have no idea what it does but you may want to look into it if you want to change the head unit.

I prefer to keep my factory head unit. Just my speaker change was enough for me. Guess I have bad ears.

Good luck and welcome!

gandolphxx · November 2001

Hi, I am a newbie - have an Avalanche 2500 - 4x4 - 8.1L. I have read all of the problems and suggestions, still have many questions.
I want this beast to really perform. To date I have:

1. K&N FIPK - not bad, kicked it a little - tight fit on the cowl.
2. Gibson single side cat back - nice sound - kicked it some more.

On order:

1. "The Other Guys headers" - 1/2" flange - should eliminate any problems.
2. Yank 2600HD torque converter - should kick some more at the low end.

Wish list:
1. Whipple 8.1L Supercharger - after the new year - hope to see one in two weeks on another guys lucky truck.

What else would you experienced guys reccommend?

Topic2:

I have Mickey Thompson 16x8's - can only handle Firestone 265/75's because of wheel wells - tight as is. Don't want to raise suspension - but willing to take body up max 3" - will this help fit 285/75 Interco TRXUS. Will a body lift screw up towing [gooseneck excluded] - change bumper mounts?

Thanks in advance for all thoughts, criticism, etc.

jcody1 · December 2001

Anyone interested in a power lock for your tailgate? I just installed a power lock actuator that is connected to the rest of the door locks so my tailgate is locked/unlocked whenever the doors are. It is quite handy. I also put in a pin switch on the tailgate- so whenever the gate is opened the cargo lights come on. New speakers and an amp go in as soon as I have some spare time. By the way- there IS an external STOCK amp. It is located behind the glove box. The OnStar system is connected to the amp and the head unit, so replacing either one of these items is not really possible unless you scrap OnStar. No an option as far as I am concerned. I am going to use a high->low level converter and connect my after market amp after the stock amp. Hopefully it will sound a lot better.

tip10 · December 2001

JCODY the power lock and pin switch for the tailgate sound interesting.
Questions:
What actuator did you use (who made it , where's you get it??)
How hard was it to gain access to the tailgate area??
What'd you do for power to it??
How long did it take to do the mod??

Thanks in advance

Tip

jcody1 · December 2001

The actuator can be bought at any car stereo place like circuit city, tweeter, best buy...etc. I costs around 20 bucks. The cladding around the tailgate handle removes by extracting the two torx screws on the inside of the gate. It is the two screws furthest apart. I had to do some grinding on the fiber glass in order to get the motor inside the tailgate. It was a little bit of a challenge. I got power from the drivers door wiring harness found behind the dash side panel cover. It is polarity reversing. The whole mod only took me about 5-6 hours, but I am fairly experienced with these sort of things. If you want more specific info let me know- I don't mind at all!

tip10 · December 2001

THANKS

I've done similar things on other vehicles -- was just after a quickie answer as to the "degree of difficulty" since I'm at work -- I'll probably nose around the beastie this weekend and take a look at it.

Appreciate the response!!

fastz28 · December 2001

Jason,

Those two thing are exactly what I thought were missing from AV. I would really appreciate info on part list and install instruction. You can send to fastz_28@yahoo.com.

Thank,

Bruce

95 Z28
02 Z66

timfarn · December 2001

Jason - Great mods! You might as well detail the parts and wiring for both add-ons here or with a link. I think you've hit two nails right on the head.

jcody1 · December 2001

Hey gang-

I order my parts for these "kinds" of things from wholesaler catalogs so the part numbers are going to be meaningless. The door lock actuator is a standard OEM type actuator that can be purchased from any car audio/security road shop. You want one that is polarity reversing. It will have two wires- supply voltage +,- and the actuator goes up, supply voltage -,+ and the actuator goes down. Very simply device. Installing it the tailgate was a bit of a challange and the only thing I can say really is take a look in there before you try to do this. Remove the cladding from around the handle with the two toRx screws and take a look. The key lock moves a bracket up and down to lock the handle mechanism. I was able to use dremel tool and carve away the fiberglass and drop the actuator in behind the outside layer of glass. I fastened it with one screw from the outside. Don't worry- the cladding covers all this up. I then drilled a small hole in the lock bracket to connect the actuator arm to the bracket (using a small nut and bolt). Now- when the actuator moves upward so does the lock bracket. Same thing for the down direction. This process takes some time and patience. Keep working with the alignment of the actuator to get it right.
The next thing I did was drill a 1/4" hole in the left side of the tailgate and fished a piece of twin lead zip cord (lamp type wire) from the edge of the tailgate to the center where the actuator is. This was a pain in the [non-permissible content removed]. It took forever due to the fact the tailgate is pop riveted together and contains multiple pieces of plastic and glass. Once you get this wire fished through, connect the wires to the actuator. Polarity does not matter at this point.
I went to Home Depot and bought about 20 feet of 16-3 water resistant wire run under the truck to power the actuator. I used the third wire to set up a pin switch on the tailgate to turn on the cargo lights. I ran this 16-3 wire from under the dash panel, out of the truck through a rubber goromet under the drivers side carpet (transmission shift cable) and back along the frame. I got the power from the drivers door harness located in the side dash panel electrical center. It is the grey and tan colored wires for the door lock. Check this to be sure with a volt meter or a test light. I got the cargo light wire off the back of the cargo light switch terminal number "e". The terminals on this harness are labeled a thru h I think. Test this as well. It is grounded when the cargo light switch is on, so if you provide ground to this wire at any time the cargo lights come on. I used a pin switch in back to provide ground to this wire when the tailgate is opened.

Good luck-

Any questions let me know...

ygmn · December 2001

Great description of what you did. I never thought about it and wondered why the cargo light did not have a better switching. But What about the side boxes? The lights shine in there as well? Do you just open the tailgate up? or did you install switches in there too?

This is great stuff guys keep up the posts like this!

jcody1 · December 2001

The cargo lights in the bed are double sided and light up the tool boxes as well. Yes- when I drop the tailgate the lights come on illuminating the bed and the tool boxes.

timfarn · December 2001

Jason - I think Mark was asking if you put pin switches in the top boxes to light the cargo lamps when they are opened.

Where did you get the pin switch and how did you mount it? Where did you take the wire from the tailgate back into the bed? Will the zip cord stand up to the flex of opening/closing the tailgate?

gerrick · December 2001

All,

Here is a link for a power door lock I got from the pickuptruck.com forum:

http://www.truckautoaccessories.com/acb/Directory.cfm?&DID=9

Click on the "locks/unlocks" link on the right side of the page to see it. They also have kits to alter your headlights so that when your hi beams come on, the low beams and/or the fog lights stay on too. Pretty cheap.

Enjoy.

basicblues · December 2001

Has any installed a front end lift kit or plan to in the future. Post any details or benefits.

Check this link for details and photo's

http://www.gorancho.com/products/new_6547.stm

ygmn · December 2001

That is what I was meaning to ask TIMFARM. So now to have the lights come in the side boxes he must open the tailgate unless he installed some sort of override switch. Or switches in each box lid.

I like the idea but I would want the lights to come when I open any one of the three; tailgate, left or right side box, midgate.

I have noticed that I go in and out at night more now due to the holiday shopping and short daylight hours.

I am going to think about this some more. Maybe just a simple timer like the dome lights have would solve this I dunno. I gonna think some more.

BTW the AVY can hold several shopping carts worth of presents!!!! I LOVE IT FOR THAT!!

bshefmire · December 2001

Just got a quote on the Rancho kit. $3000+

that's crazy!

Brad in SoCal

cuss1 · January 2002

So, it's not simple to replace the stereo on the AV due to onstar. I'll try to replace the speakers first, and if not happy with that, wire in an external amp.

Crutchfield does not yet have the mastersheets on the AV. Have any of you guys replaced speakers? If you have, could you walk me through the door panel removal. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for Crutchfield to get caught up. Crutchfield is recommending Polk speakers.

Any other advice and experience on your stereo upgrades would be appreciated!

ygmn · January 2002

I replaced the speakers and it is exactly like a suburban.

Rear: two screws one low and one by arm pull. lift panel undo all wiring. Simple as that. 6 1/2" speakers fit easily since there is a plastic mounting bracket screwed into door panel already. I moounted component tweeter on top front corner of panel by surface mounting.

Front: two screws one underneath window switch and one by the arm pull. Remove top triangle peice ABOVE PANEL FIRST! Then lift and undo wiring. Difficult to get speakers to mount due to the existingf speaker has special snap in place plastic bracket made onto it. I removed it and used it to mount new ones. Very tight fit. I used existing tweeter plastic for new component tweeter.

Sounds great and I will not be adding amp.

There is a website some where about a guy and his rado and the panel removal he shows with pics is the same.

jcody1 · January 2002

I replaced the speakers in my AV with Kicker components in the front, Kicker 2-ways in the back doors, and added Infinity tweeters in the front on the winshield pillars (facing frontwards towards the glass). I also added an aftermarker amp to power all of these speakers. I simply converted the factory speaker level output to RCA into the new amp. It sounds 150% better. I also built a small box for an 8" subwoofer which fits under the drivers side rear seat. I think I am done now, but I would love to replace the head unit and the factory amp. I think that would really clean up the quality of the sound. I am keeping an eye open for someone to come up with a solution to replace the factory system.

avalanchefng · January 2002

Has anyone heard about a kit that allows you to have both the highbeams and lowbeams (and thus the foglihghts) at the same time ?? Where can i get one ??

naylor99 · January 2002

Hi Folks. I just purchased an Avalanche (more or less a 'base model'), and am looking for ideas/recommendations on side steps. Anything particularly good out there?

Thanks,

--BN

ygmn · January 2002

Look back a few posts and find the link to GMPARTS direct. They have the GM side steps and are very inexpensive.

naylor99 · January 2002

I am thinking of a mod to the overhead console. Mine has the open storage area, and I am wondering if I could mount my V1 radar detector in there. This would involve making a cutout in the front facing part of the console, as well as tapping into the lights for power. Any thoughts?

ygmn · January 2002

the VR1 should not be placed behind the front window tint as this greatly reduces range. Also this high up rear detection will be reduced due to the obstructed view as well..

I use my little storage space for a towel to clean the interior at red lights.

naylor99 · January 2002

Actually, there is room between the top of the mirror and the beginning of the tint line. I did some testing by holding the unit in place. There does not seem to be any reduction in range -- very unscientific, I know, but it seems to work as usual, both front and rear. I tested it at known locations so I could be reasonably sure.

As I look at it now, it will require replacing the existing console -- it needs to be lower and a little forward. I need to give this some more thought. Something like the stylinconcepts.com power overhead console might work. They don't yet have one to fit the AV though. If anyone has any other ideas, please chime in!

naylor99 · January 2002

I checked it out, and they do appear to be reasoanbly priced. What are the differences, any one know? They list a running board package, and two step packages, chrome or gray. Thanks!

ygmn · January 2002

The z66 comes with the BVE side step I think.

You can email gmparts and they will reply to you within a day with tons of information.

As for youor V1 make sure you visit the Valentine website there is tons of information there about Detector performance and the windshield issue.

naylor99 · January 2002

What is the BVE option on the steps?

As for the V1, window tinting is not mentioned as an issue. Here's the scoop from the V1 web site;

"When properly mounted, the front antenna will look forward through the glass. It must have an unobstructed view. Don't put it behind the windshield wipers, or in-glass antenna. Don't position it so that it "looks" into the rearview window.

The rear antenna will look rearward, between passengers and out the rear window. It must have an unobstructed view.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Windshield heaters such as Ford's InstaClear® system (you can see a brown tint) block radar from passing through the glass. So do mirrored sun screens. Detector performance will be seriously reduced when mounted behind such metallic films."

naylor99 · January 2002

Does anyone know how to remove the overhead console?

timfarn · January 2002

Option can be ordered with any Av - and is not standard on Z71 or Z66. These are the full running boards that match the cladding. The chrome or gray GM aftermarket side steps are more $$$$.

cuss1 · January 2002

Thanks guys,

This will help.

ygmn: what brand speakers and tweater did you choose? If you come across that website you mentioned, please let me know!

ygmn · January 2002

I installed Blaunpunkt PCCI 650 they have a 6.5" mid and a 1 1/2" tweeter. I forget where I got them but around 60 a set

Carstereodiscount.com now that I thunk about it..well bunches of dealers have them so shop around.

ygmn · January 2002

Sorry I thought I read that there maybe it was from another site.... IT would have to mess with the Laser though since it could change the laser beam as it entered the tint..wouldn't it?

Well I err on the safe side and mounted mine to the windsheild just below the rear view mirror.

As for the console search for suburbans since they are identical the hole is is for rear air controls on them.

ygmn · January 2002

Anyone besides me thinking of doing this change out to get them white lights?

The light bulbs are a pain to get to too. Be careful of the top light it can be removed but the clip is fragile mine cracked..I gonna see if I can get it warrantied.

IF you have links to HID kit sites please post!

naylor99 · January 2002

According to Mike Valentine, all windshields diminish the effectiveness of radar detectors. While he says that metallic films (some aftermarket tints) will confuse the detector, most tint bands are not a problem at all.

ygmn: Thanks for the Suburban idea on the console. I should've realized that they are the same... d'oh! I posted a few messages, surely someone has done it and can give me some insight (before I try on my own and break something)

ygmn · January 2002

I cracked my top light mounting click! DOHHHHHHHHHH I understand!

txyank1 · January 2002

not be as rugged as the Sierra!

ygmn · January 2002

I just epoxied it and it seems find now...I blame myself I did not see the tab and I kinda forced the top light off...I than heard the crack...

Easy to get at lights when you remove the top one..two pins lift up then the whole assemlby is loose no tools required..pretty nifty!

dickeynh · January 2002

I know the Poron ultrasonic systems for backup alerts have gotten good word of mouth here, but I'm wondering if anyone has used/seen a GuardianAlert unit in action. It uses microwave radar technology and comes in several forms for mounting, one of which is a unit that fits into the hitch receiver.

ygmn · January 2002

Anyone think about changing all them bulbs out with the HID convertor kit???

The low beam bulb is a 9006 and the high beam is a 9011. I have never heard of the 9011 but that is what it said on it. ANyone see what the foglight bulbs are?

brucecr_ms · January 2002

My Av came with the EchoMaster (www.karbiz.com) system. I like how it worked, so I bought one and installed it on my wife's car...three days too late. But that's another story. The system uses two or four ultrasonic transceivers for the bumper, a logic unit, and a beeper for the cab. I figured the ones you have to look at distract from actually looking in back.

The folks are friendly, though were a little perplexed that an owner wanted to buy one. Evidently most of these are installed by car dealers. He said Avs are popular vehicles for alarms since it's so hard to see out back.

No connection to karbiz except a satisfied customer.

metalgear · January 2002

I have asked the following question to GM and will keep you posted of thier response if any,or if anyone here knows please respond. Regarding GM Parts Direct, Is part no.12497862 (steps and roof rack)
the same products that are installed at the factory (if so ordered)? Also do the steps in this package include all mounting hardware and is it a bolt on application or is drilling required?
Does the roof rack come with all necessary hardware for mounting and a template for drilling holes?
Their prices seem to be awesome however its seems shipping and handling is an expensive deal.

fastz28 · January 2002

How much is it for the Echomaster?

ygmn · January 2002

Try using their price at your local dealer and see if they will lower it...Haggle with them..

From my understanding of the roof rack which I still have in the box because I did not let dealer install yet is that it takes a special tool to insert the threaded inserts after drilling the holes.

You might want to check into that I am not 100% sure

naylor99 · January 2002

I posted this in the problems forum, but I think it belongs here, too. Help!

I am hearing a flapping (popping?) sound coming from my windshield. I did install the deflector, but did not install the extra 'tape' along the windshield moldings. The instructions were a bit vague, and I was concerned about fooling with the moldings. Well, I had no noise while I was keeping the speed at 50-55. At 65-80, though, I am hearing it a lot.

Has anyone done this? Is it OK? Any help or hints would be appreciated. (Just seems a little kludgy to me, but if it works...) Thanks!

ygmn · January 2002

You must install the two sided tape...It is easy get you a torx headed driver and follow directions...Them GM people are getting smart!!!

I will tell you a few steps though:

Mark windshield with wax pencil or something that will draw on the glass and can then be washed off.

Open both front doors.

Gently pull out the weatherstripping...I suggest you coat it with some sort of protectant first like 303 or Vinylex to help lubricate it.

Remove the side molding by removing I think 4-6 torx headed screws..the bottom one is a pain since the door is very close their I used a bit and ratchet..

Then clean glass with alchohol...be careful to leave your wax pencil line.

Apply sticky tape the entire length leaving about 1/8" gap with top moulding.

Put side moulding back on and re-assemble..

You should not have any parts left over like when you rebuild an engine..LOL

Good luck!

Chevrolet Avalanche Accessories & Modifications

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Chevrolet Avalanche Accessories &amp; Modifications

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Chevrolet Avalanche Accessories & Modifications