Newbie with an Avalanche Question

[Stryder106]

Hi,

I'm new here. My family and I are relatively new to overlanding (trail-riding likely to most of you). My vehicle is a 2002 Chevy Avalanche North Face Edition, 4WD, 1500 with a 5.3L. It has been modified, with more mods coming, but I have a question for you guys that I'm hoping I can get some help with. The mods in the exhaust and engine are: (I'm in CA so everything is CARB compliant - this is my daily driver also) Doug Thorley shorty headers, Super Chips tuner, S&B CAI, MSD wires, Magna-Flow muffler and rerouted exhaust (tucked up high to avoid getting smashed), dual Optima batteries (isolated).

With that said, there are limited options of things for my particular vehicle - so after doing some research for approximate fit, I purchased a Safari Snorkel (SS81HF) for an 80 Series Land Cruiser as that looks to be the closest shape to mine that I could find. S&B air filters was kind enough to send me a completely sealed airbox to fab the snorkel to. Today, I just heard from someone that the ram air effect of the snorkel COULD trip MAF sensor and cause trouble lights.

Has anyone encountered this or know whether or not I would have an issue? I would like to know BEFORE I drill a hole in my fender. As mentioned, we are new to this, we camp and hike so most often we are by ourselves so I'm looking to make my rig as bullet-proof as possible. When we are not by ourselves, I'm never the lead vehicle so we are in the dust cloud - tyring to get the air intake slightly above that.

Any help is appreciated. Many thanks (and this site is AWESOME!!! - I'm pretty blown away reading the articles and adventures).

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Hi,

I'm new here. My family and I are relatively new to overlanding (trail-riding likely to most of you). My vehicle is a 2002 Chevy Avalanche North Face Edition, 4WD, 1500 with a 5.3L. It has been modified, with more mods coming, but I have a question for you guys that I'm hoping I can get some help with. The mods in the exhaust and engine are: (I'm in CA so everything is CARB compliant - this is my daily driver also) Doug Thorley shorty headers, Super Chips tuner, S&B CAI, MSD wires, Magna-Flow muffler and rerouted exhaust (tucked up high to avoid getting smashed), dual Optima batteries (isolated).

With that said, there are limited options of things for my particular vehicle - so after doing some research for approximate fit, I purchased a Safari Snorkel (SS81HF) for an 80 Series Land Cruiser as that looks to be the closest shape to mine that I could find. S&B air filters was kind enough to send me a completely sealed airbox to fab the snorkel to. Today, I just heard from someone that the ram air effect of the snorkel COULD trip MAF sensor and cause trouble lights.

Has anyone encountered this or know whether or not I would have an issue? I would like to know BEFORE I drill a hole in my fender. As mentioned, we are new to this, we camp and hike so most often we are by ourselves so I'm looking to make my rig as bullet-proof as possible. When we are not by ourselves, I'm never the lead vehicle so we are in the dust cloud - tyring to get the air intake slightly above that.

Any help is appreciated. Many thanks (and this site is AWESOME!!! - I'm pretty blown away reading the articles and adventures).

IF it does trip the sensor due to too much air you can simply turn the head around for a bit less ram air effect, it would still suck in much cooler air than you would otherwise but simply have the air flow based on the needs of the engine without excess. Let me know if that made sense.

 

[Stryder106]

Hi - Thanks for the reply. YES - that makes perfect sense. The scenario made me really nervous because once the hole saw hits metal I'm committed.

 

[Martinjmpr]

You might also want to check in at a Chevy or Avalanche-specific forum to see what others have done. I have seen a few lifted Tahoes/Yukons with snorkels (I presume home-made.) Nice thing about Chevies is there is a TON of institutional knowledge on the internet.

 

[justcuz]

Agree with Jeep n Montero, make your intake elbow so you can turn it 180. I don't think, do to the extra length of the intake tubing you should have a problem, but if you do, you can spin the elbow 180 degrees.
Maybe use a couple of 1/4 20 rivnuts on the front and back sides of the tube with a single hole in the elbow under the air intake.

 

[chilliwak]

Lets hope HenryJ chimes in here. He is our resident on site Avalanche specialist...

 

[Stryder106]

Thanks for the info guys. The good thing about Chevys - as mentioned - is there's a lot of knowledge, but the bad thing about Chevy's (especially the older Avalanche) is there is a lack of parts specific to it. The snorkel I bought (Safari SS81HF) is that it is for an 80 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. It seems to have the most appropriate shape and size for my Avalanche. But, because it isn't specific to my vehicle - the nice folks at Safari won't answer a single question I have.

Really would love to find someone who has modded an Avalanche............HenryJ you say?

 

[TheGuyJones]

You can look at the build thread for 02TahoeMD. He put a snorkel on his 2002 Tahoe with the 5.3. http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...itionary-Vehicle-quot-Under-Construction-quot

 

[Stryder106]

You can look at the build thread for 02TahoeMD. He put a snorkel on his 2002 Tahoe with the 5.3. /QUOTE]

Hi - yes I have PM'd with 02TahoeMD on a different forum (before I found EP) - that's how I got to the SS81HF (his is a SS60HF). Many thanks again to all for the replies - I'm mustering the courage to take a hole saw to the side of my Avalanche...............................

 

[jeep-N-montero]

You can look at the build thread for 02TahoeMD. He put a snorkel on his 2002 Tahoe with the 5.3. /QUOTE]

Hi - yes I have PM'd with 02TahoeMD on a different forum (before I found EP) - that's how I got to the SS81HF (his is a SS60HF). Many thanks again to all for the replies - I'm mustering the courage to take a hole saw to the side of my Avalanche...............................

The good thing is that if you regret cutting the hole you can usually find a replacement fender without looking too hard, the fenders are not too hard to swap out on GM trucks.

 

[Uboatcmdr]

I cant help much with the snorkel, but my dad has an 03 North face edition.(With cladding, i think all north face have cladding)

We put an ARB front bumper on it, Was the silverado one. I had to bust out the grinder and remove some sheet metal on the front fenders, but it was just the section that hangs down below the lights. Not a big deal. Fits great outside of that though.
Hes running a 6" rough country NTD kit, Im not a huge fan of rough country, but this kit is honestly quite good. Soaks up some pretty rough terrain with ease and still drives great on the highway.

With that lift 35x12.50's clear on a 4" backspacing rim, with just minor rubbing at full lock over bumps. Think turning tightly while driving over a curb.

 

[ExplorerTom]

I would seriously doubt the snorkel would have any effect on the MAF. The engine can't take in any more air than the throttle plate will allow. My Explorer has a MAF and I also run an 80-series snorkel and the only thing it's done is keep my filter significantly cleaner.

 

[DirtbagOverland]

Hey stryder, you've definitely got my interest. I'm on my 2nd Avalanche now. First was summit white 02 z71. Just spend some time on chevyavalanchefanclub.com if you haven't already, it's been done a few time. Personally I kind of gave up on the snorkel idea, but I'm curious to see how you do it.

 

[Roody]

^^ agreed on CAFCNA, when I had my Avalanche (7 years of ownership) that site was incredibly helpful and saved me tons over the years.

Z71Tahoe-Suburban.com is a good resource as well for GMT800/900 trucks...might find some useful info on there as well

 

[Stryder106]

Yes - I'm on CAFCNA as well, but the snorkels that were done on that site are handmade PVC stuff - I'm a little more picky than that, although the guys who did it actually expended quite a bit of effort to make them as nice as they can be.

I spoke with Rough Country engineering on the phone about their kit - my only concern with it is to get 6" of lift - it's actually 4" in the rear and 4" of lift in the front and THEN you have to turn the torsion keys all the way up to get the to the full 6". That puts me back at the top of the shock travel fully extended. I'm already at that - so I'm trying to get a true lift that puts me back in the middle of the travel arc to take full advantage of the suspension.

With that said, my buddy at Eibach who built my shocks (if you guys with Avs are interested in them - check their website - shocks are AWESOME) has been talking to CST (for front) and FabTech (for rear) engineers about having them build a custom lift for my truck. We'll see how that pans out.

In the meantime, a question: How do I post pics on this site?