Ultimate Avalanche Status Update - Dirt Every Day Extra

On this episode of Dirt Every Day Extra, Fred Williams gives us an update on the shape of the Ultimate Avalanche after he and Dave Chappelle raced it.
We’ve provided this free episode on KZbin to give you a taste of Dirt Every Day Extra so you can decide if you'd like to subscribe for more episodes.
www.motortrendondemand.com/su...

[@Ibedrunkalot]

Weld the door on and Hamer the hell out of it until it it won't go any more

[@iliveincostco69]

dirt every month or so

[@joshuacosby8905]

iliveincostco69 true

My comments are on demand. Here's yours: Thanks.

[@LUNITICWILL]

if it's too far gone, give it to roadkill.

[@wickedmuffin76]

Seems too nice for Roadkill

[@jaycrank8163]

get the gremlin from ro ad kill and make i dirt every day

[@matts490]

Make a tube frame buggy with the drive train of the avalanche

[@chriskue3285]

something like that would be great

[@coopermello361]

Take everything out and put it in a Prius

[@joannaatkins822]

Wupdog 21 this, or even a Pontiac Aztec. I want to see a genuinely awesome "crap" car

[@octaviochavez3262]

agreed

[@paulakapablo1749]

Wupdog 21 I'm feeling the Prius Concept. A 8.1 liter rock crawling Prius.

[@BIGSMOKE-bl2lq]

Take all the drive train and make a budget tube chassis rock bouncer crawler desert hack type off roadie cool thing

[@JoeMalovich]

with AC

[@kingawags]

RlCK SANSHEZ Beautifully spoken.

[@AnthonySvt_]

RlCK SANSHEZ You sir need a trophy

[@trackntrail2869]

Yessss

[@thompy97]

Definitely, they need to do this idea

[@chadb.749]

Bent frame = strip it for parts.

[@rrpostalagain]

Chad B. Yep, I'm fine with buying salvage stuff. my dd truck is a newer salvage. But I wouldn't mess w a bad frame, even if I was a lot better wrench than I am. There's great stuff to strip from this thing, though

[@michaelnaisbitt1639]

rrpostalagain You,re wasting your time the cost of straightening a bent B pillar and frame is going to be prohibitive Get another car and use this one for parts

[@homersapienne2356]

Well it is a truck frame, which can be considerably easier to fix or correct than a unibody frame. So it's not impossible. But reasonable? If this were insurance for an accident than yeah, you just part it out and go find a new shell. The reason why he's considering a frame repair however is because of how many modifications he would have to transplant, which in itself is also a whole lot of work. If your options are 80 hours in the auto shop fixing a truck frame or 120 hours in the garage swapping out drivetrains, transaxles, suspensions and off-road reinforcement...suddenly bending the frame back in place makes more sense.

[@brokenacoustic]

Bent frame = beat it into the ground, *then* strip it for parts.

[@imchris5000]

you can bend the frame back straight with machines or even just bottle jacks if your creative enough

[@damienmccormack2789]

Weld some steel sheet over the hole and drive away. Simple and cost effective

[@brandonevans4142]

weld the door on, ratchet the frame back halfway square & brace it... doesn't need to be perfect to drive it & beat it up even more

[@wobblysauce]

+

[@murraypcakes1250]

Fred your updates are the BEST on Ten, always educational and beneficial thank you

[@Ihateironyanddumbusernames]

easy, convert the truck into a single cab. it seems the gods are trying to tell you something. the four doors are giving you problems and the warped frame is near that fourth door. a two door avalanche would look sweet

[@aaronlandau7946]

find a 50's panel van and swap the driveline into that.

[@888johnmac]

ooh yes.. I like that idea

[@MADBONE0]

like the old FORD Transit vans that were in every old movie as a getaway van :)

[@kingawags]

Had an 89' xf panel van, what had an xy GTHO drive train..

[@Masocisa]

Trav Mihelich why would anyone do such a thing to a gtho?

[@kingawags]

Sorry, not *an* gtho drive train, but the same as. 😓 No xy's were harmed in the making.

[@WOWayne325]

sounds like time to upgrade the army truck....

[@nickscaring2170]

One of my favorite builds glad to see it didn't die

[@shehrirahian2577]

love you guys

[@redneck2994]

Best off-road truck starter truck? Kinda considering getting go of my old 79 2wd f150 regular cab and getting something 4 door.

[@bondonutz1]

@Fred, May I suggest that you pull the existing body off and your body guy make the frame square again then you can reinforce the frame (box it or whatever) and put the body back on and pull the B-pillar out till the doors work again or replace the B-piller? You can pull that damaged pillar out with a home made pull plate that will bolt onto the hinge spot and use a come-along.

[@ExploringCabinsandMines]

Can't get enough DIRT EVERYDAY!!

[@glasstree1986]

fine work

[@James-qq2vq]

I love free stuff!

[@overzealousmaverik]

get a 2500 burban and swap everything into it including the seats.

[@jeffanderson7256]

OverZealous Maverik why? You can just buy a burb with an 8.1?

[@ivannicholas5029]

My dad has a 1500 Avalanche with the 5.3 vortec. Good truck, but I think these things look better when they aren't stock. Bigger tires and some offroad accessories make these things look like such a beast.

[@philipthomas9309]

how come the passengers door works if the b pillar is so bent ? any how just weld the sucker on 3 door will do.

[@lankey6969]

Thanks for the extras, but we'd really rather have the episodes. Thanks.

[@johnmcwade222]

What year of Ultimate Adventure was the Avalanche first in, I can not find it online anywhere.

[@sketchyfabco]

Put the drivetrain in a Ford or Chevy 15 passenger van with about 6 or 8 bucket seats and take a bunch people wheeling.

[@6door6four96]

Sketchy Fab Co yea I was gonna say get a 2500-3500 safari express van swap the body onto this frame after straightened reinforce the frame and have a bad ass big block 4x4 15 passenger machine or find a old early 2000s small school bus and put this drivetrain under it the coolbus ;)

[@Milsparro]

Oh! Nice... yah

[@headcas620]

Someone's been watching too much shitty haggard garage.

[@sketchyfabco]

headcas620 Someone is a butthurt. For your info haggards van is 2wd and not capable of anything but some easy trails. Howbout you do a Google search for 4x4 Econolines. There are real examples of a sick 4wd vans capable of real offroading

[@BadLogan426]

Fred,try heating the frame,put the largest cabel or chain you can in the right front corner and put the cabel around the largest tree you can find ( i prefere oak or berch) then just give it full throttle reverse. With a little luck you will fix both body and frame problem. BUT you must reinforce the frame and body after if it works,if it doesnt strip the good parts and build a new Ullitmate Avalache (have you been chased by bagerers latly? )

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

Fred, we already know you are going to keep it. In my opinion, you should 1). Put it on a frame straightener then think about why it bent and reinforce that (Offroad racing skills are a thing that can be reinforced too, right) 2). Get rid of the 4 new doors and go full mad max with tube doors with an expanded metal skin. Fix the B pillar if needed, but if you are making the new doors I don't know if that would be necessary. 3). If you decide to fix the B pillar, then redo/install the/a roll cage (can't remember if it already has one) and tie the roll cage to the A, B, & C pillars; or keeping with the mad max idea go with a external cage. That is my $0.02. I think you will like it.

[@burman982]

Fab all the goodies into a pre-67 suburban? I have always really like seeing the earlier stuff turned into 4x4s as they are not anywhere near as common. Hell a pre-72 van would even be cool. Play with what could be done and build something unique and capable.

[@MrChaotic89]

This might be a rediculous question, but Fred, do you have the right rear cladding piece still? Or has it been gone forever?

[@Curryolla]

Forget the Suburban or Tahoe, get a Cadillac Escalade or Escalade EXT and put all that running gear on it! I'd like to see someone go off road in a luxury lounge! Just remember to put lots of chrome bling...

[@reggien737]

All they would have to do is change the front clip and it would be an escalade ext.

[@Curryolla]

Yeah...I thought about that after I commented...oh well...

[@wickedmuffin76]

That would be pretty funny, and it would make a 4WD Escalade, not the AWD they gave it stock. (I understand why, but I still think it's stupid).

[@bradleywilliamson3057]

Take out everything you said you want to take out and put it in one of those 2000 Express vans. Always secretly loved the way those looked and then you would have a badass van you could bomb around in.

[@leeschannel6977]

YASSS! Get a GMC 3500 van with the same wheel base and make an overland van. One that has rear air. And dude it up like the A-Team van or paint it ugly green and call it Vanalanche or something as a call back to the Avalanche.

[@Hugo_Stigl1tz]

Where can I find the video of this thing in action? Ive looked all through your channel

[@altonsteel2613]

You can use a frame puller on it. I have pulled worse had one that was S shaped from a wreck and we got it to fit like the factory.

[@jeffreyhansen2419]

It's a damn chevy set fire to it!

[@trevorjones1406]

what year and model doors did you interchange with?

[@Meemanjack]

This is like watching a hangover

[@BUDDYLEEisME]

I fucking love you guys sick avalanche build just put all parts in and on another avalanche

[@El_Chompo]

Can't you just weld that door on or something and then spray foam around the inside so it's sealed? I mean 3 opening doors is plenty and that's really all that's holding you back from using this thing. Does the bent frame under the truck really affect it that much? That's a lot of work swapping everything out.

[@jfr55man]

just weld that door in... how often does passenger side rear get used anyway

[@akneal]

I would love to see a K-5 build. This seems like a great donor drivetrain.

[@StrainingDingelberry]

Find a late 80s suburban and make a good over lander out of it. Like the dante's peak suburban but better.

[@cynzhero62]

wise man fred! strip it and do what you do! build something awesome. thanx.

[@justinbarney8198]

I always wanted to see an Avalanche with a turbo-diesel :)

[@413boosted8]

i like to see it put on some kinda desiel dually or something like that

[@Sspawn26]

Tube frame rock crawler with Avalanche parts!

[@MoisesLegend]

Thinklikemo!!! Keep doing you . Follow your dream

[@roywhiteo5]

Id say strip and scrap. How is that yellow and green land cruiser? i bet that thing would kick ass with a 8.1l engine

[@dog283spec]

that drive train in a K5 Blazer!

[@lukeflanders8953]

I second the Idea of turning it into a 2 door Avalanche by shortening it!

[@ptrckfx669]

Weld on the door and abuse it until it breaks in half. Then you can start thinking about parting it out.

[@forestlawrencegrading9154]

is there any way to shorten it make it a 2 door shorty

[@Alvin13JG]

weld suports on the frame to keep it from warping. weld on the door and cut out a square to add a accessable toolbox for the pasanger. run it till the truck quits

[@hotrodderrecycler3202]

Corvair van and truck mated together for some sitting over the front wheel seat of pants driving. Bent frame, once the body is off is just a chance to build a stronger frame to length. 50s and older truck with and extra cab, and make the crew cab they never did with AC. P10-30 van that will keep gear dry with a full body zombie nerf bar cage.

[@Roks4life]

put it on a frame rack and weld in cross braces then build half doors with removable uppers and lowers.

[@joshb1997]

Cut out a section of the frame rail and weld a new one back in. Heating and bending will just leave it prone to bending again in the future.

[@harlandvaught1177]

Make it a fully off road camping truck and find out how much it will cost for a camper shell on the back I'm looking for one myself 2002 Chevy Avalanche camper shell for camping

[@buzzj89]

fix it. I love avalanches and this one is so cool, could be a great project. Weld the third door on or something and add some cross members to the frame

[@randomlemur8623]

Cut the frame at the back of the cab, weld on new custom frame rails to support the bed, and give it long travel suspension like on professional Baja trucks!

[@roadhog29389]

Nick frieburger's jeep he'll never do anything with and dump all that stuff in it

[@jaredtanner2738]

i was also thinking a jeep would be a great idea

[@aleek4481]

if the chassis can't be saved you could build a tube frame chassis, drop the drive train and good bits in it, body optional and have a light offroader/rock crawler/whatever you like...

[@scottbenhart7852]

Put on a full exoskeleton of protection on it along with turning that door into a tool box door similar the 80 series gullwing window mods

[@butre.]

here's a thought, build up an old model t or model a or something for off roading using that drivetrain

[@kevin2m4]

measure the door openings compared to the other side. tie the b pillar to a tree and back up until it matches enough to get the door on so you can weld it shut if it wont hang right. why get fancy with collision repair stuff.

[@letsdoit7630]

Build your own sub frame, and bold the body "parts" back onto it. Make the frame strong enough to be used with a lot more bodies to come.

[@tanners.6524]

Tube chassis rock bouncer/desert rig with avalanche drive train!

[@MabiVonluke]

Any chance of swapping Ultimate Avalanches drive train into the Alabama Army truck?

[@skuz34]

i want that interior for my truck!

[@fraserhenderson7839]

I didn't miss it at all last week. Not even a little.

[@2-old-Forthischet]

Make a video of it going through a metal shredder, now that would be cool!

[@larrykittell726]

Straighten the frame and bolt/weld the door shut for safety and thrash it until it gets too beat up to fix again. In the mean time keep an eye out for the next body to swap parts into.

[@thewindowsxp32]

That voice crack at 0:22

[@Caincard]

Go beach brono with it? cut out the b pillars, and weld in a hoop to add rigidity; leaving the back half of the cab open. OR take the drive train and drop it in an old monte carlo.

[@michaelm6574]

What kind of off roading havent you featured yet? I've seen a ton of trail trucks some desert racing and rock crawling even and underwater jeep but no mud bogging or amphibious trucks or more awesomely turn it into a tank and crush some cars.

[@kenlambdin1381]

Do a K5 blazer build with the same power plant

[@DonBishopDonSongs]

Thank you for showing me. That I don't want an Avalanche, after all. I use to think, they were kind of cool. And it looked pretty tough, in the show. Now, I think you should take all of that cool running gear. And put it under a 1976 Chevy Blazer... Don

[@mattb6001]

put it all in a tahoe. shorter wheel base + 8 lug heavy duty stuff = lots of fun. you'll probably want to reinforce the frame though. if you screwed up a 2500 avalanche frame then a tahoe frame wouldn't last long. Tahoe will need a 2-3" body lift i believe to accommodate the engine i think. I know the duramax swapped ones need the body lift to fit under the hood.

[@jeepcollector91]

If you decide to scrap it, get a Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana van or cutaway to swap the drivetrain & suspension over to.

[@franciscogonzales2690]

I have a 04 Chevy avalanche for sale non 4x4 you can use and swap everything out to the truck just an idea

[@natewilfong316]

Y'all should do a geo tracker on dirt everyday

[@mechanicsteve2320]

I would pull all the good parts off of it and use on a new build. A ratrod 4wd would be cool.

[@1939GNASHED]

Swap all that stuff into my '53 Chevy 5-window pickup. It is in dire need of a refresh!! 👍😉

[@IKnowStuff]

I'm not sure of your roll cage design or the chassis/frame layout, but here's my idea: Forget the door. Get the old door or even a piece of sheet metal and weld into the missing door area. It's pointless making it pretty, let's just keep it functional. The bowed frame is a concern. The concern is that it would flex upwards in the middle. Solution: A large central pillar in line with the B pillars, welded to roll cage extensions at the top and the structural assembly in the chassis at the bottom. The cage should distribute the compression forces throughout the length of the vehicle and keep it in one piece.

[@jewllake]

nice power folding mirror on the passenger door. You can sell that for good $$$$$$! Put a standard mirror on that beater.

[@CycleAccurateRetardSimulator]

Chop the body up, build roll cage, and make it a desert buggy. Straighten the frame with come-alongs/jacks/pullers, trees, etc. You can do it man!

[@zabzinski]

JUMP IT!!!

[@ryandorman8005]

bent frames can be straightened but they will never take a high level of abuse again, as dirt cheap as you can pick that gen gm up for with grenaded motor/trans just swap the parts onto something new, crewcab, burban, whatever, it's what most of us regular folks do, build a beater with killer drivetrain, thrash it till it's used up, swap the parts onto something not fubar and go again...

[@Rockisland1955]

I have a 2wd Avalanche I will give you (it has been rolled but still has many good bits and pieces) If you would assist me in finishing my 5.3 and trans swap into and 81 Chevy.

[@Jason33901]

That could be a good episode, how to fix your trail beaten rig. We always see modifying rigs for off-road but what about after they've been built and then destroyed.

[@ericdesmeules8117]

install all those cool power train parts onto a full size van

[@generalfield]

I want that thing :/ i want to get a suburban 3/4 ton with a 6.6 duramax, sas with triangulated 4 link and make it a sick ass chase truck or recovery rig

[@corcobater]

If you ever decide too sell the hole thing I will be interested in buying it

[@zososldier]

Take the body off and convert it into a tube buggy. Won't ever be a commuter but it should make for a pretty nice dedicated truggy. Or get a single cab/extended cab and make it into a prerunner

[@Syritis]

Pull the body off and frankenstein the frame into a rock bouncer/buggy beater thing.

[@LS1FREEK]

I think you should take the body off, get the frame straightened as best as you can, then build an exoskeleton onto it turning it into a one off rock crawler/trail machine.

[@jaredbusch4898]

Just keep running it hard how it is

[@grobballer]

use it to make an overland truck/van etc for you and your dogs

[@godsangryhands4499]

Hi Fred, if u can't fix it, get another one and at least HANG A DIRTEVERYDAY DIRTBIKE(or quad) on the back and DO DOUBLE THE DIRTEVERYDAY at each destination!!! Love the show, I want to build a Diesel Jeep like the one you used on the trip with your Mom, my Mom would love that!! Thanks!!

[@brianwatson3705]

weld the back doors, make a little sleeping/storage area. backwoods mud camper !

[@bonvivant55]

Ok, NOW you know enough to say it was worth it or not. It looked brutal watching you guys destroy that rig.