Skip to main content

Oddities and Oddballs Chevy Avalanche 2500




If your into cars (well trucks I guess) you likely know that GM offered 2500 versions of the Suburban and Yukon XL. Most of these heavy duty people haulers were bought by government fleets for everything from security to Fire and Police command cars. Whats a little less known is that the open backed Suburban better known as the Avalanche also had a 3/4 ton 2500 version during it’s first generation.
Oddly, enough the first (and possibly only) one of these I have seen in person was actually the first Chevy Avalanche I ever saw in person. Back at the time of its release I was working at a marina, and we were having some grounds work done and the owner of the landscaping company showed up in a brand new Avalanche 2500, towing a Bobcat skid steer of all things. I remember  walking up to it thinking that’s an odd load for a new fangled truckUV to be towing. Then I saw the 8 lug wheels and made a mental note to crack open AOL and look it up at home that night. Even thou it’s often ridiculous that mass market auto makers go down a rabbit hole trying to find buyers for niche products they would have been more profitable without, as a car guy I love the wake of oddities it leaves behind.
So what did ordering a 2500 get you over a 1500 Avalanche? Well mostly it got you an open bed Suburban 2500. GM was nice enough to give you a Big-block V8 the vortec 8100 (8.1 liter displacement) standard on the 2500 where as it was an option on the Suburban (the 6.0 was standard). It also gave you a slightly less cushy ride with leaf sprigs swapped in for the standard coils. You also got a full floating rear axle and of course those cool 8 lug wheels. The frames were also different the 2500 closer to the pickups then the normal Suburban/Avalanche setup.
Now why would you order this? My guess is Chevy was targeting the RV and big boat crowd with this one. Unlike the 2500 suburban with it’s somewhat automatic government orders the avalanche had little use in fleets (thou I have seen a few in fire dept livery). It could however tow 12,000 pounds with the optional 4.10 gear-set and 10,000 with the 3.70 gear-set. Making it the perfect truck for towing your fountain executioner or that tag along toy hauler to the desert. It was also likely one of the last big block sedans you will ever see.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interesting boat Albin 24 Getaway

1990's Albin's why do I like you so much. There just something about the classic but up to date styling, with a good dose of practicality that's just hard to ignore.  The 24 is an oddball in some respects with a relatively few examples (48) made for a 24 footer. It's basically a scaled down version of the 31-34 foot command bridge models Albin built over the years. Having the raised helm area nets you more cabin in the larger boat.  Here it gets the engine under foot instead of in a box in the cockpit, as would normally be the case on a 24 foot boat with a straight shaft inboard.In actuality the straight shaft is one of the more unusual parts of this boat. While the arrangement was common in the pre stern drive era, it was very uncommon by the early 90's. The only other production cabin boat under 26' with an inboard of the time period I can think of is Shamrock (I'm sure there are others but I'm not going to spend all day finding them).  In the ...
3 comments
Read more

Mid-size pickup bed and payload comparison

Mid-size trucks, they were a thing in the 90’s thru about 2010 when the segment collapsed (lack of new product didn’t help). Well now they are a thing again. Over the past 5 years or so (starting with the release of GM’s current generation Canyon/Colorado twins) with Tacoma, Colorado/Canyon, Frontier, Gladiator and Ranger making large year over year gains in many of those years. One of the biggest reasons for the increase of sales in the segment is using the trucks as lifestyle vehicles (which has always been the compact / midsize trucks biggest draw) the increase in overlanding style off-roading, camping, boating, fishing, kayaking, biking, and many other outdoor activities has people looking for a vehicle that’s small enough to drive everyday while still being able to handle all their other duties on the weekend. Filling the bed or towing toys are some of the biggest truck uses. While we can get into towing another time, I think it would be a good idea to compare and contrast the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aistream B 190 Class B motorhome

  The Airstream B190 is a somwhat uniquie Class B motorhome made between 1989 and 1999. The B 190 was made on a Ford Econoline E350 one ton van. The Fiberglass top section was made by Okanagan to start with, later ones being made by airstream themselves. Okanagan made baiscally the same vans as the B190 startng in the early 80's. The most interesting thing about these vans is they are a true Class B with van sides but feature a upper bunk above the drivers area. Few others have ever done this design. I like the design for operning up more space even if the bunk has limited headroom.  These bridge two generations of econoline vans so the early ones are more square before the aero style econoline updates were introduced in the early 90's. These also featured a number of Ford engine options over the years. The 351 V8 was standard The 460 big block V8 was an option and in some of the early years a pre powerstroke 7.3 diesel was available. Later in the aero years the V10 triton was...
Post a Comment
Read more