Chevy Ultimate Avalanche - Chevy Brand Pages

Have you seen the commercials where the guys are driving their Chevy Avalanche and they stop and decide to change? We got the opportunity to do just that. This year for our Ultimate Adventure we snagged a brand-new 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche 2500, and we are going to change it in ways that even the General hadn't planned on.

The Chevy Avalanche is kind of an odd vehicle. It's like a Suburban without the back, or a Crew Cab truck with no separation between the bed and cab. Plus it has the added benefit that the rear seats can fold down and you have access to the bed from the cab. This feature is great if you need to haul plywood, but not if you are hauling horse manure or your prized piggy to the fair. These trucks are known for their unique styling and the plastic body cladding that evokes a "love it" or "hate it" response from most people who see it. We were pumped to get our hands on this rig because it was one of the last vehicles that we would have chosen to build into a serious trail rig, but a very capable project truck to start with. Plus, we liked the challenge of trying to make a cool-looking and more capable rig from an odd duck.

As you may know, Ultimate Adventure is sponsored by some great companies such as BFGoodrich, Tuff Country Suspension, Dynatrac, Detroit Locker, Rhino Lining, Warn, Poison Spyder Customs, Trailready, and Flowmaster. These companies are just some of the sponsors and usually send a representative on our adventure with us, but we also like to find smaller businesses as well to test out their components on our trip. In the end we apply some of the coolest components from companies all over the nation to build what we think will be the Ultimate vehicle for our Adventure, but we also like to push the envelope and try new and unusual ideas that are not seen on the trail every day. We think you'll be excited with what we end up with.

From the time the buildup started to the day it hit the trail was one and a half months, and in that time we went from a barely broken-in new rig (1,700 miles) to a machine unseen before. Every year we take a select group of sponsors, readers, and staff on our Ultimate Adventure trip, and this year we are going to the muddy tight trails of the Southeast. We will report on how the trip went in our Nov. 2003 issue, but for now let's dive into the first stages of The Change, which took place at Off Road Unlimited in Burbank, California.

To start a project rig you have two choices: start with a pile of parts and assemble it, or start with a complete rig and disassemble. We chose option two, but first we needed a rig. If you are wondering why we would start with a brand-new '03 Chevy Avalanche 2500, consider that it has an 8.1L engine and a 4L85E electronically controlled four-speed automatic. In addition, it comes with disc brakes on its full-floating 14-bolt rear axle, and rear leaf-spring suspension and independent front suspension. Even with all these great things we felt we could change a couple of them for the better.
To start a project rig you have two choices: start with a pile of parts and assemble it, o
Tearing apart a perfectly good, brand-new truck is a lot of fun. Most people don't get a chance to do that, and we wish we could share the fun with all of you, but since the shop space at Off Road Unlimited would be way crowded with a few hundred thousand readers, we decided instead to show you a few pictures. John Hughbanks tore off the independent front suspension, which we will change for dependable leaves from Tuff Country.
Tearing apart a perfectly good, brand-new truck is a lot of fun. Most people don't get a c
Ryan Sanders also got to beat the parts out of the piata by tearing out the exhaust. Some of the pipework might get reused, but with some Flowmaster parts to boost it. To make room for progress in other areas, we pulled the whole thing from the manifolds back.
Ryan Sanders also got to beat the parts out of the piata by tearing out the exhaust. Some

After Hughbanks unbolted everything from the front and chucked the parts in a big dumpster, Mauricio Natera fired up the big red wrench to clear out some brackets that were still cluttering up the frame.
After Hughbanks unbolted everything from the front and chucked the parts in a big dumpster
With the disassembly under way it was time to head down to Huntington Beach, California, to see what Dynatrac Axles had in store. Once again, Dynatrac agreed to build an ultimate axle for our Ultimate Avalanche, but this year we went a step further. In addition to one of its super high-clearance Pro Rock 60 high-pinion front axles, we also brought home a standard-rotation rear Dana 60. Now, you may ask why we pulled a perfectly good 14-bolt with disc brakes to swap in a 60. For the answer, you'll have to keep reading.
With the disassembly under way it was time to head down to Huntington Beach, California, t
Maurice Rozo, the owner of Off Road Unlimited, even let this knucklehead cut some parts off. This guy was fresh off the farm, and he usually spends his time writing articles for a 4x4 magazine, but was in hog heaven when he got to use a cut-off wheel and air chisel to remove the rear spring shackle hangers. The others guys in the shop were less than excited since an air chisel in the hands of a novice is very, very loud.
Maurice Rozo, the owner of Off Road Unlimited, even let this knucklehead cut some parts of

To fill the housing, turn the wheels, and keep power to the tires on the ground, we enlisted a set of the always-faithful Detroit Lockers from Tractech. This is the old standby for locking differentials, and we were ready for something we could put in the housing and just forget about. Around the Detroits we bolted a set of 5.13 gears from Randy's Ring and Pinion. Since we are running such a big engine and are planning on tires that will be knocking on the 40-inch door, this ratio should be just fine for highway and trail cruising.
To fill the housing, turn the wheels, and keep power to the tires on the ground, we enlist
If you have never seen an axle being built from scratch with all new parts, as Dynatrac does, then you have missed out on a cool array of technical wizardry. Being into machines and metal and all that stuff, we had a blast watching the Dynatrac crew put our 60s together. The first major step involves a bunch of measuring and math to figure out lengths of axletube, shafts, and parts so that each piece fits together perfectly. Our front axle has the same dimensions as a '79 Ford front 60 with a 69 3/4-inch wheel-to-wheel mounting surface.
If you have never seen an axle being built from scratch with all new parts, as Dynatrac do
Then the machine work starts on the tube with Dynatrac's stronger, properly forged (not cast), tube forks welded on and the tubes turned down so that they are ready for oil seals and to be pressed into the cast-nodular-iron differential housing. When the tubes are ready they go into a press and get stuffed with up to 1,500 psi of pressure. Even a very tight fit will move under that type of load, and the press doesn't stop until the tubes are seated.
Then the machine work starts on the tube with Dynatrac's stronger, properly forged (not ca

The cast-nodular Pro-60 knuckles on our Dynatrac 60 will be of the ball-joint variety, but with design that surpasses the strength of an OEM knuckle. We'll explore the merits of the ball joint versus the kingpin in the future, but we felt that the ball-joint style would work very well on our Avalanche. One thing that we like about the ball-joint design is that the tube forks have a larger spread to help deal with the leverage of large wheels, and we have heard of very few problems with wheel shimmy on ball-joint 60 axles with big tires. Another aspect is that all the parts we are showing can be purchased alone or as a completed axle.
The cast-nodular Pro-60 knuckles on our Dynatrac 60 will be of the ball-joint variety, but
Though most new Dana 60 axles use a unit bearing, we find this to be a detriment to anything other than a full competition vehicle. The unit bearings are reportedly less reliable, cause more damage when failure occurs, and are much more expensive to replace. Dynatrac uses the more economical fixed-spindle design with serviceable bearings like in previous years of OEM production.
Though most new Dana 60 axles use a unit bearing, we find this to be a detriment to anythi
We let Dynatrac convince us to keep the antilock braking system, and that is seen with the wires on the front axle spindle. Removing a safety feature didn't seem like a good idea to us or our lawyers. We are interested in seeing how it is affected, if at all, by the larger tires. It just might come in handy during the cross-country trek to the beginning of the Adventure.
We let Dynatrac convince us to keep the antilock braking system, and that is seen with the

Once the rotors were on, it was time to bolt on a set of Warn Premium Hubs. Though designed for a Dana 70, this set works great with the 35-spline stub shafts on our front axle. That was followed by the installation of the dual piston brakes, and it was time to hit the road back to ORU.
Once the rotors were on, it was time to bolt on a set of Warn Premium Hubs. Though designe
It was quite a sight to see many thousands of dollars worth of beautiful axles getting slid into the back of our free rust-bucket farm truck. Be sure to tune in next month when we install our axles under our truck, and we reveal the secret of our rear Dynatrac 60.
It was quite a sight to see many thousands of dollars worth of beautiful axles getting sli

SOURCES
Rhino Linings www.rhinolinings.com	Randy's Ring and Pinion 8-00/-347-1188 ring-pinion.com
Chevrolet	Trailready 4-25/-353-6776 www.trailready.com
Detroit Locker Madison Heights MI 800-328-3850 www.detroitlocker.com	Tuff Country www.tuffcountry.com
Flowmaster 8-00/-544-4761 www.flowmastermufflers.com	BFGoodrich Tires 877-788-8899 www.bfgoodrichtires.com
Poison Spyder Customs	Warn Industries 1200 SE Capps Rd. Clackamas OR 97015 8-00/-910-1122 www.warn.com
Dynatrac	Off Road Unlimited www.offroadunlimited.com