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Av setup for my formula boat n trailer


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Posted

My questions are similar to ryr8828.  I am contemplating an Avalanche purchase.  I'm looking at the K2500 Pewter/Graphite with 8.1L and 4.10 gears.  I know that ScottS and someone else has a similar spec'ed rig.  I found this exact Av except it had 3.73 gears.  The salesman said it would cost a lot of money to switch it to 4.10's.  I spoke with my brother the "mechanic" and he said around 1,200 bucks.  I'm not sure I want to wait to order one (could take until March or April) and may pay the difference to upgrade to 4.10's.  Would this be a wise decision or just wait for the factory installed 4.10?

The reason for the Av purchase is the fact that I LOVE it more every time I test drive it!!!  The other reason is that I need a truck type vehicle to pull a 7,000 pound 26' Formula Cabin Cruiser.  I have it sitting on a 2,100 lb triaxle EZ loader trailer with trailer brakes.  I have a 97 gallon gas capacity and 24 gallon water capacity.  I recently weighted the boat and trailer as 10,500 pounds.  3.73 won't work.  Am I too close to the 12,000 pound limit with the K2500 8.1 Av with 4.10?

 

Sorry about the book but I really am hoping for some honest insight.  I'm getting an awful lot of "you want that ugly rig?"  Has anyone else gotten that response from others?

 

thanks to all responses in advance.

 

Nathan :D

Posted

There's a couple of things here Nathan.

 

First, Welcome!!!

 

Second, how far do you tow and how often???

 

There is no difference in the tranny/suspension/brakes/etc.. when you buy the 4.10's on a 2500 Avalanche.  The big difference between the Av and the trucks is the rear suspension is "coils" instead of leaves, therefore a slightly lower towing capacity.

 

With the trailering package I think you could move the behemoth of a boat with the 3.73's and also enjoy the fuel economy when you're not towing.  That is if it's not too far to the lake or ocean.  I certainly wouldn't recommend towing in OD though.  I have a 6.0L and a 32' 8K plus pound travel trailer, and with the 4.10's it tows great!!!  Not like a diesel or bigblock, but I'm happy!!!

Posted
There's a couple of things here Nathan.

 

First, Welcome!!!

 

Second, how far do you tow and how often???

 

There is no difference in the tranny/suspension/brakes/etc.. when you buy the 4.10's on a 2500 Avalanche.  The big difference between the Av and the trucks is the rear suspension is "coils" instead of leaves, therefore a slightly lower towing capacity.

 

With the trailering package I think you could move the behemoth of a boat with the 3.73's and also enjoy the fuel economy when you're not towing.  That is if it's not too far to the lake or ocean.  I certainly wouldn't recommend towing in OD though.  I have a 6.0L and a 32' 8K plus pound travel trailer, and with the 4.10's it tows great!!!  Not like a diesel or bigblock, but I'm happy!!!

Thanks Shaners for the welcome. I've been watching this forum for quite a while and can't tell you how much I appreciate all the input.  the k2500 8.1 with 3.73 is listed at 10,100 lb towing capacity and the 4.10 at 12,000 lb.

I'm not sure what long distances are?  I will probably tow between 50 to 100 miles in the very near future.  But I am in on the east side of the cascades here in WA state and would like to pop over to the coast on occasion.  Do you think the Av will do it or do you think a short box crewcab or excab would do the job better.  I do want to be able to fit this rig in my garage :D

thanks again.

Posted
Sorry about the book but I really am hoping for some honest insight.  I'm getting an awful lot of "you want that ugly rig?"  Has anyone else gotten that response from others?

 

No problem with "book posts"...  (Have you read some of mine lately?  My 10th grade English teacher called me 'verbose'...)

 

Anyway, I have some on-topic anecdotal material to add.  Our best friends moved from CA to PA (we moved from CA to OR).  Recently, when we visited them in their new house, my friend and I were looking at the latest Car&Driver or MotorTrend he had laying around.  There was either an ad or actual article about the Avalanche, and I said "Hey, what do you think of this new thing?"

He said, "Ugghhhh--can't stand it.  Think it's the craziest thing since the Aztec."

"Oh," I humbly replied, "I almost like it..."

He couldn't believe it.  "Serious?" he said.

"Yeah, sorta...", I said.

 

Later, he told his wife when all four of us were together, "Hey honey!  Can you believe Brendan actually likes this thing?"

 

Well, the very next month, we ended up buying one!  I sent him the picture below of our Avalanche in the front yard with the email subject "Ack!" and got quite a response from him.  But he has slowly come around to say it "looks good".

 

So yes, my fair share of "Really?  You like that thing?"  (My brother thought it was ridiculous too...  My dad drives a Silverado and calls my truck the Transformer.  Yeah, okay, so?)

 

If you determine that the Avalanche meets your towing needs, I say go for it.  You won't regret how it drives, handles, pulls, etc.  And it's so comfortable.  We thought we'd only drive it ~4000-5000 miles per year for "long trips" and "load hauls", but we've already got 2800 miles in less than 2 months!

 

Brendan

avalanche_on_driveway_small.jpg

Posted

If you were to get a crewcab with the 8.1L then you would get the Allison too.  It might cost a little more than the Av but I doubt it.  My crewcab short bed is approx 20' long.  However it is still shorter than an excab longbed!!!  The Av is about 18.5' long for comparison.

 

The cabs on the Av and the crewcab are identical.  So you wouldn't be giving up anything there.  What you would be giving up is ride quality.  These trucks ride very nice for something with 9200# GVW.  But they have leaf springs in the rear, so the ride wouldn't be as nice as the Avalanche.

 

You could save yourself about 1/2 ton of weight by gassing your boat up after you get accross the mtns.  This might not be a bad idea no matter what your tow vehicle is...

 

See if your dealer can locate a another Av for you with 4.10's if you are concerned about the 3.73's, or look for yourself at GMBuypower.com .  GMBuypower doesn't give a complete listing though, because not all dealers are in the network.  Nevermind about Gmbuypower because I just checked and the 2500 isn't listed.

 

Good luck!!!

Posted
If you were to get a crewcab with the 8.1L then you would get the Allison too.  It might cost a little more than the Av but I doubt it.  My crewcab short bed is approx 20' long.  However it is still shorter than an excab longbed!!!  The Av is about 18.5' long for comparison.

 

The cabs on the Av and the crewcab are identical.  So you wouldn't be giving up anything there.  What you would be giving up is ride quality.  These trucks ride very nice for something with 9200# GVW.  But they have leaf springs in the rear, so the ride wouldn't be as nice as the Avalanche.

 

You could save yourself about 1/2 ton of weight by gassing your boat up after you get accross the mtns.  This might not be a bad idea no matter what your tow vehicle is...

 

See if your dealer can locate a another Av for you with 4.10's if you are concerned about the 3.73's, or look for yourself at GMBuypower.com .  GMBuypower doesn't give a complete listing though, because not all dealers are in the network.  Nevermind about Gmbuypower because I just checked and the 2500 isn't listed.

 

Good luck!!!

I think Shane is on to something here. The HD will give you the Allison and the bed space would be more useable for the trips. 12k is alot of weight so I reccommend the 4.10 no matter what you get. I think the HD ride would be OK over a long trip with that much weight strapped to it.

Posted

If you really want to get an Avalanche, I think you could get away with the 3.73 gears.  I have heard of several guys who have a gross combined weight of right around 22000lbs with 8.1 and 3.73 gears in their 2500Hd pickups.  I've never heard of one complain about power, and thats the only thing you would lose with 3.73's vs 4.10's.  Like Shane mentioned, the rear suspension, and brakes are the same.  I personally think you would be alright to tow with the 3.73's for the type of towing you are looking at.  If you go up in tires size, you might end up spending more time in 3rd gear, but that probably won't hurt anything.

Posted
If you really want to get an Avalanche, I think you could get away with the 3.73 gears

I am currently looking at a K2500 Av with 3.73 gears.  If I decided to get the 4.10 gears later, would it be simply going to the service department and asking to switch to 4.10 ($2,200 + tax) or is there something else I would need to change out?

 

And by the way, thanks again for all the input.

 

Tires are stated to be E rated.

Posted

when/if you were to put 4.10's in, I would think the computer would have to be recalibrated for the speedo/odometer.

Posted
An HPPIII would be the easy route to go on that, a dealer would charge more to reprogram your computer for the new gear ratio

I figured if he were to have the dealer do the work they might reprogram for nothing.  If an aftermarket shop does it then the dealer would probably charge for it...

Posted

If you believe that you will need to the 4.10 diff, then get it now.  The AV will cost the same from the dealer with either diff.  Buy what you need now and save the $2200 for more and/or better trips with the great boat.  If your dealer doesn't have what you want or can't get it, shop around with other dealers in your area or use the internet.  The AV you wnat is out there and probably not that far away.  Good luck and good hunting.

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