2500 avalanche

THE BIGPUNN · February 5, 2003

chevy's website was down at this time. i am curious about 2500 3/4 avalanches. are them the same as 2500 HD as far as size-height, weight, chassis, towing brakes and so fourth? thanks

JimWilson · February 5, 2003

No. The 2500 Avalanche is base upon the 3/4 ton chassis and parts, whereas the 2500HD is the 1 ton chassis and parts.

Colorado Kid · February 6, 2003

Jim Wilson is correct. The Av 2500 is a derivative of the Suburban 2500. GVWR is 8,600# and Max Towing is the the ball park of 10,000#. The Av 2500 and Suburban 2500 are not available with the Allison Trans. They use a beefed up 4L80-E 4 speed automatic sometimes reffered to as a 4L85-E.

Having said that, through the '00 model year 8,600# GVWR was considerred a Heavy 3/4 ton...The Trans/brakes/frame/axels etc on the Av 2500 are only wimpy compared to the 2001 and newer 2500HD...they are all better than or at least equal to older Heavy Duty 2500s.

bigkite · February 6, 2003

GM has a bunch of variants on the 3/4 ton line.

Last year, there was a 1500HD Silverado crew cab which I think was equivalent to a 2500 crew cab. There was also a 2500HD crew cab which was probably closer to the 1 ton.

The Avalanche 2500 seems to fall into the 1500HD or original 2500 family. I was pleasantly surprized to find that the Avalanche 2500 comes with the 8.1 engine as standard equipment, is several thousand $s less than the Suburban and it does not require the Allison transmission.

With the agressive rebates available now, it is one of the best big block bargains around. A base '03 4x4 2500 sells for less than $34k before rebates. Some older 2002 2wd 2500 can be had for under $30k before rebates.