Just thought I'd ask you guys. I am hopoing to buy one in a year or 2 and am wondering about the gas mileage pulling a fishhouse in winter & a boat in the summer. And just reg gas mileage running dry. I am seriousy considering one because I can get the kids in it its still a truck and its a full size for towing power. A couple people said it wont get very good mileage because its a tank. Right now I have a dodge dakota with a v-6 and get 16 mpg dry but if I pull my fishhouse or a boat I can see my gas gauge drop. Any info would be appreciated.
Larry

I don't have an answer for you on the gas, but my son-in-law was over with his bosses Avalanche z71(?). They look pretty sweet. Room for 5 pretty comfortably.

pulling a boat you can expect approx. 14-15 mpg out of the 5.3L and regular unleaded. That will drop down to about 10-11 with E-85 and towing.

Without towing, I can get an average of 19-20 burning regular unleaded and 14 with E-85.

There is one exception that I can't understand with the E-85. I filled up (tank was almost dry)with E-85 from the Cenex in Battle Lake and averaged 18 mpg over the course of 210 miles, including driving down I94. I can fill up at the Cenex in Le Sueur and only average 14 driving 169 to Shakopee without the rush hour traffic and stop lights to worry about.

I would obviously rather be using E-85 and getting the 18 mpg consistently at $2.50/gallon.

My dad gets on avg 17 with his. He wishes he had bought an F-150 now. He got over 20 with his old 5.0 F-150.

i had one, and i average around 16 mpg wiht the boat behind. They ride great, just was to much money for me to keep it.

It doesn't matter what you have, when towing, gas mileage is out the door. My friend is a mechanic for a chevy dealership and he told me to tay away from the Avalanche. He sees alot of them come in because the removeable rear window likes to leak on them

The avalanche and the silverado have the same motor(in most models). Get yourself a nice crew cab 1/2 ton and you'll be just fine, you'll get a real truck and be much happier in the long run.

I have a 2007 Silverado with the 5.3L with active fuel managment( no flex fuel). When towing my 8x20 (24ft total length) Fishhouse/Toyhauler with 2 Polaris ATV's in it brining the total package with gear to about 7000lbs I average about 10 miles per gallon. When I am putsing around without a trailer the active fuel managment is nice operating on 4 cylinders, when you step on the pedal it is seamless going from V4-V8.

BTW, one more thing about the Avalanche. We had to haul a daybed once in the middle of winter. The bed in them is an absolute joke. We had to remove all that plastic, maneuver the back seat and window in order to make it a full bed. Then, we had to freeze our **** off the entire way home because the back end was wide open.

Ya I looked at them and if you want a "Truck" then get something else. I mean if your the type of guy who hauls stuff with your truck, gets loads of dirt/rock or your going on trips with lots of gear dont get a Avalanche. The bed is small and to make it of any size your playing around with the back window etc. Then when thats gone you lose your heat.
I would just do as other said and get a nice Siverado or the GMC equivalent with the tow package.
Or the new Fords are very nice as well.
I havent seen or heard of anyone getting the 20 mpg that Chev claims so thats not a factor to me.
My next truck will have a hard lift cover or a big cover. I hate having to tarp stuff on trips and taking stuff out that I dont want people messing with on trips.

I agree with somethingfishy,

Go with a 1/2 ton chev. crew cab. One of my guides has a 03 avalanche and he hates it anytime he needs to carry a load of stuff, usually means twice as many trips as he plans because the bed is so tiny.

If you want a full length box on the Chevy or GMC, you'll also have to either go with the Extended Cab or go with a 2500HD to get the full length box.

Crew Cab Sierra's and Silverado's come with an EXTREMELY SHORT BOX.

5'8" on the crew cabs if I remember correctly. 6'6" is a regular (used to be called short box), and 8' on the long box. Extremely short box is a good way to look at it

5'8" is correct on the crew cabs in a 1/2 ton. If you have the tailgate down you can fit a full size Atv in the bed, I added a bed extender which is nice to secure some of the extras.

the reason they dont like the Aval is becuase of the box size?

Not just size, just USING the box is a pain.