Time was ticking and the Ultimate Adventure was growing near. All we had to do was finish the Ultimate Avalanche, pack our gear, drive 2,500 miles across the country from California to North Carolina, and then do all of the initial off-road testing of our big red hulk in the mud and trails of the Southeast. So it was, of course, business as usual.
Some people think that building a conservative rig in the allotted time and then getting some testing in would be the way to go. We, on the other hand, had certain goals that we needed to reach, and as crazy as they were, we wouldn't be happy until they were accomplished, even if this meant no sleep and living off of coffee and doughnuts for our daily allowance of vitamins and minerals. We can honestly say that when the truck hit the trail, it was as ready as possible without any testing, and most everything we planned on was installed.
Unfortunately, the DVD player with surround-sound didn't make it, but we felt that that was one concession we would sadly make, plus it may have been a bit excessive. So to all of our sponsors and shops, we want to say thanks for the jobs well done. As for any damage incurred on the trip, well, we hate to lay blame, but Pw did it.
Our Avalanche is pushed around by an 8.1L engine, but the exhaust made it sound like 49.6 cubic inches rather than 496. While we were in Santa Rosa, California, we visited the headquarters of Flowmaster Exhaust to put some rumble in our jumble. It seems that many OE exhaust systems these days have the efficiency and flow just about perfect, but the sound leaves quite a bit to be desired. Lee Thompson from Flowmaster quickly had our old tubes torn out with the help of a plasma cutter and a Sawzall. | 
Our stock exhaust sent the fumes on a wild goose chase through the baffles of the muffler (top), and in turn muffled every grunt the engine made. The Flowmaster 50 series muffler (bottom) has dual 3-inch inputs and a single 3 1/2-inch output, plus a more direct flow to get the gases and some more sound out. |
The tailpipe was one of Flowmaster's four-piece universal kits and went together with a small bit of cutting and welding. The installation tucked the exhaust up nice and neat to clear the rear suspension and then capped the end with a shiny 4-inch chrome tip, so we could be cool like all the kids these days in Hondas. Did you hear the one about how our lug nuts have more torque than import cars? | 
We headed to KC Customs for a paint job. Bryan Kinney had our truck cleaned with lacquer thinner and grease remover and taped off in just a few hours. This was followed by a wet sanding with 800-grit paper and then another cleaning. You may wonder why a wheeling truck should have a good paint job, and our only answer is identity. Paint doesn't make a truck perform better, but it does make a rig stand out and can give it personality. Here is a tip for you guys trying to get in the magazine--bright colors usually show up better on film than blacks, browns, and darker shades. |
With the tape removed, Kinney grabbed his airbrush to give the silver scallops some extra kick. With some simple details and slight shadows, the new design seems to jump off the red background. Some light buffing followed this and within 24 hours we were done. It was pretty amazing how quickly Kinney and his crew worked, plus they had helped us out by convincing Santa Rosa Chevrolet to lend us a car during the paint and rollcage work. | 
A few months back we showed you these billet aluminum fuel doors from Amp Research in our New Products section. Though we usually hate shiny things, these caught our eye. Again, no better performance, but hopefully it will make us look a little bit cooler. |
In order to make our 130-inch wheelbase steer like 100 inches, we took a lesson from GM and had a custom rear-steer Dana 60 axle built by Dynatrac. For strength, we installed the CTM axleshafts and U-joints. But what's really tricky is steering that axle around obstacles. For this we contacted Performance Off-Road Systems (POS) about a double-ended ram and mounting setup. But first we mounted a bridge over the rear differential made of 1 3/4-inch tubing with a 0.120 wall thickness. | 
The ram we got from POS has a 2 1/2-inch bore and a 1 1/2-inch-through hardened chrome shaft and looks like it belongs on a tractor. With an 8-inch stroke, we should have enough throw for quite a bit of rear steering, definitely more than on the GM-equipped trucks we tested in the past. |
First we mocked up the exact location of the ram so as to not block the differential cover and still be within reach of the Dynatrac high-steer arms. Though the ram usually comes with either steel or aluminum brackets for mounting, ours were not ready yet, so we improvised with a steel clamp and some gussets. | |