I'm on my 3rd Avalanche that I've had since 2008. Was thinking of getting an add-on tent for some coastal camping, but after seeing this video - for now, I see how I can sleep without any fuss. Thanks for posting.
I just bought my second Avalanche. This time I bought the second Gen. I love it and plan to do some Overlanding soon. These are the only trucks on the planet that you can do this with. :)
When I was 16 to 18, use to car camp, like this, in my dad's Avalanche, back when they were new and overlanding was not even a trend or coined term lol. My dad had a rack on the roof and on the back, so we had tons of storage, so didn't need to move a lot to sleep. My sister and I are 4ft10 twins, so we were able to keep our food stuffs safe inside, safe from Grizzlies and Black Bears. I miss this rig! I have a 4Runner TRD Off Road now, and it has 60/40 fold flat rear seats and is an amazing car camper! I live in heavy duty bear country lol. Car camping is a must lol Very nostalgic! Thanks!
Dope shit bro. I have fond childhood memories camping with my dad like that and even sleeping like that while he would drive when we would take long trips to Florida.
I've owned 3 of them, they are the swiss army knife of trucks. Get a Viair air compressor, do the dual battery conversion and get the Waterport for a warm shower and you're set !
I bought my Avalanche new in 2004, and it's great. Just a foot note, I can't drive with the back seat down. Both the front seats need to be all the way forward to keep the bed feature. It's ok if you need to move a big load temporarily, but my knees ride on the dash and is uncomfortable. Not a major issue, you just have to close the bed door going from the cab, and lift the back seat into sitting position while driving. No one can sleep long ways while driving with that door closed if the tall guy is driving.
Whe,re about to take a trip across Canada (alberta ) to Nova Scotia and have a 2006 Avalanche which isn,t the best on fuel ( love it in spite ) but sleeping in the back part will definitly make the trip more affordable . Thanks for the post on this truck
@@hiphophomesteading3650 Do you think it's a good choice? In Russia, this is a very rare car. Everyone looks like a dinosaur. Not everywhere is ready to repair. And there are no body parts at all!
@@alexanderbanteev5960 I don't know how practical it may be in Russia if there are no parts to find. It's a very good vehicle of you keep up maintenance on it. Ours is running 313K miles but it has had work done to it here and there.
yep..that what we did too in my o4 z71 off-road pkge went to b.c canada only thing different was i had ALOT more stuff in the back lol but very clean n tidy guy.so i ended up buyin another avanlache 2012 fully loaded LOVE THESES TRUCKS ...still got my o4 too
Definitely give it a try if you can. it's a sweet easy set up. I didn't know about the storage bins/coolers on built into the side panels of the bed until I went to see my truck when I bought it and it made me like mine even more as well. These trucks were way ahead of their time when they came out.
i have totally thought to do the same with mine however my rear cover is a little bit leaky (thats florida) but looking forward to getting a bed tent for it but for now we just pitch our tent!!
We carry all of our gear in it, but we tent out. I recently picked up an Avalanche tent and I’m looking forward to trying it for the first time. She gets claustrophobic sleeping under the Avy bed covers, but I don’t mind. They’re fun rigs.
Nice! Yeah I think she will like it better. My wife likes the tent a lot and we both like how we are off the ground and don't have to worry about animals, bugs, rocks etc. Congrats and if you make any vids with it let me know! I'd love to see how it works for you as well!
Matt here, that is great! It's very similar to Michael's set up, which he loved. He was always first set up at camp and first ready to go. That cooler though....AC feature!?! That's the bees knees! Great video!
Rustic Trail Overland Hey Matt! Thanks! Yeah I like Mike's avalanche body style a lot too. YES! This cooler is a super bonus in the summer. I used it in the Texas Summer and it has been awesome!
I have the air mattress and tent that gm offered. Pretty cool. Remove panels,up goes the tent. Great truck. To bad not available anymore. Maybe someday
I keep hoping they will bring it back someday. The new Siverado EV will have the midgate so I'm glad to see they are brining that option back somehow but I still hope the Avalanche makes a return too
I used to have a Chevy trailblazer.. me and my ex would travel up and down California sleeping in the SUV at rest stops and spending the days in different cities.. Now I have an avalanche and last winter my then gf and I drove to Ohio from vegas doing the same thing... then we shot down south and went through the bottom states.. The exhaust keeps you warm for a good 8hrs... some nights we had to crack the windows it was so hot... even though it was like -8 outside. We were in the mountains in Colorado
lankyeric nice! I haven't used the heater when we were sleeping before because I've heard you can succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning if you're not careful. That being said I have a carbon monoxide detector for the truck but haven't really used it. If you were sleeping in yours like that though it must not be anywhere near as bad as I had heard. I definitely want to do both of those trips in the future that you've done. Did you enjoy driving up the coast more or did you enjoy driving to the southern states more?
HipHop&Homesteading I also have remote start. If it does get to cold I start it up and it turns off after 10mins.. but no need for the heater since the exhaust pipe is right under the bed
I had to put weather stripping around the seal on my tonneau cover to keep rain out. I wouldnt trade my Avalanche for the newest most modern RV on the market for traveling.
Dude, if you haven't bought the bed covers yet, go to a junkyard! I just picked up covers for my '04 for $100 at a local junkyard. All is great shape - faded like the rest of the cladding too, so it matches perfectly!
Awesome...I got a used 2003 z66 got quite a bit of odds and ends to do on it but in the long run will be awesome...does anyone know any place to get some good used avy parts? Big one would be the hinge for the midgate....
Thanks! You should sign up for the Chevy Avalanche lifestyle Facebook page and ask that question is well there. There are a lot of guys who have a lot of good information and leads all over the country for parts and additional options. I was referred to it by another guy on another comment and I really enjoyed being part of the group. Congrats on your new truck! You're going to love it!
I just did a weekend trip. First night we slept in a tent and the second night in the truck similar to what you did. I gotta say, with the same air mattresses and sleeping bags the truck was more comfortable. Not super sure why
For us I think it just feels more secure. I think the idea that you're sleeping inside of a vehicle up off the ground instead of in the tent just has a more comfortable feeling and it's probably more familiar since we're in the truck all the time anyway. At least those are my thoughts on it. We went to Yellowstone this year and slept in our truck for 2 weeks it was amazing!
@@hiphophomesteading3650 what did you use for blacking out the windows? When we slept in the truck it was in a Walmart parking lot with lots of lights.
@@jwmmitch we took a series of windows covers that we bought from Walmart. The front windshield is a dickies brand one that is nice and rigid. The front windows are the collapsible round ones that wedge well in between the the door handles and the top of the window. The backseat windows were an accordion style windshield cover cut in half They fit into the windows pretty well. The back windshield is a piece of reflectix cut to size and clipped into place with the clips that hold the window in place. That all gives us complete privacy and are easy to store in the truck. Hope it helps!
@@hiphophomesteading3650 I did it and it was awesome. Great sleep. Opening that back windows made a nice breeze too. Thanks for the tips, I'll be doing this much more often!
Hey thanks for the comment Ronny! I got the cooler at my Home Depot. I have also seen them for sale at Direct Tools Factory Outlet. I seriously love this cooler and I'm going to do a review on it very soon.
We use ours for kayaking too. We fit two 8 foot kayaks inside with the tailgate locked. I believe the bed is a total of 8.1 feet lengthwise. I'm not sure how much clearance we have from the bottom of the bed to the tonneau covers.
But I’m also curious if you sold yours? Trying to find a southern truck pre-style change which I think was 2007? That’s been well kept or at least has lower mileage and I consider low anything below 130,000 miles. But if it’s very well-maintained, I’ll consider higher mileage.
@Clarence Gilbert Yosemite is one I still want to see too. If you have an avalanche the tent that goes on it is a lot cheaper than a rooftop tent and works fantastically too. We use ours on a lot of trips too!
We've used several different versions for mattresses including a full-size futon mattress. In this video we were using sleeping mats that were from a travel trailer that I own that I used to live in. You can buy really nice memory foam send mattresses with different hardnesses at Ikea nowadays that provide even better comfort. We really enjoyed using the futon mattress because it fit perfectly into the bed of the truck and gave us a full-on bed to lay in. The mats from the travel trailer Warfare fairly thin but they were doable
I unfortunately can not find a website that has one of these for sale but here is the page for it on ryobi's site. Good luck and congrats on your new Avalanche! ryobitools.com/products/details/33287174515
@@Kill0trocity in this video's set up we used some cushions that we took out of an old trailer I used to live in. Nowadays we use a mattress that comes out of a bean bag set up. Before that we used a futon bed mattress. A full size mattress fits perfectly. When I first started experimenting with this idea I used a self inflating camp mat. All worked great. We stopped using inflatables because we take our dogs with us all the time.
I'm making a Vardo camper top for my Avalanche and I'm going to cut off those ridiculous angled pieces between the bed and the cab. They serve no practical purpose but I was told they had something to do with the aerodynamics of the truck.
What I did to fix it from leaking was remove the rubber gaskets from each tonneau cover and clean off all the old adhesive that they used to glue them on. I reglued them back on with a silicone glue which stop the leaking. The only thing I did was clean out all of the grooves and ports that the water is supposed to run into from the outside of the cover. The truck has very specific routes for water to escape from the top of the truck down through the ports and underneath the truck instead of going into the bed. I'm about to redo the silicone for a better glue because the one that I used a starting to wear down already thanks to this Texas Heat. I'll make a video of that when I do it. Good luck hope you get it fixed up.
When you go to put the midgate down skip the step where you take the window out. You pull the latch the gate will disengage from a center bar that holds the window in place and you can keep the window in place with the channel covers on and use the whole bed of your truck as an enclosed space. I'm going to post a video for you demonstrating this in just a minute because it's hard for me to articulate the idea well. LOL thanks for the question!
czcams.com/video/aZ1XouvccPM/video.html I have another video here where I show how the mid gate works with the window staying up. I hope it helps thanks for the comment :-)
Depends on how cold you're talking. If it's 30 something degrees outside you're going to want at least a good blanket. We have blizzard fleece blankets that we use sometimes in place of the sleeping bags and they work pretty good too
@@AoyagiAichou fo sho. I recommend blizzard fleece. That stuff is amazing. We slept in the cab of the truck last year in 20 degree weather with snow one night and the blizzard fleece was awesome then.
I paid cash for 2002 Chevy Avalanche did the midgate gaskets replaced under warranty. everytime it rain the floorboards were soaked with water after 230000 miles I had to give her up.
Payback ! We took the rubber seals off and reapplied sealant on each of the tano covers. It fixed the leaking we were having. We also took a blower and cleaned out all of the water catching trays that divert the water out. It makes a huge difference
Payback ! Hmm. I might just make a vid about that. Thanks for the idea! You should join the avalanche owners facebook groups. Pretty much any question you have for you Avy will be answered there. That's how I learned.
rallyfan555 the joints no longer leak because we took all the rubber gaskets off and reseal them with fresh glue. We used the Liquid Nails type of glue to bind them back on and that has stopped to the leaking. Also I learned from the Avalanche Facebook group of North America members that when you put your tanue covers on you want to always latch them in starting from left to right. Doing that also helps them create a better seal. We experienced leaks before we made these two changes and since then have not had any leaks between the joints. We also made sure to clean out the channels that catch water that get sent off to the sides and make sure that all the exit ports are cleaned out as well. The last time we were camping and it was about a month-and-a-half ago and we got caught in a storm out in Florida. We decided to just sleep through the storm and noticed after we woke up if there was a small leak coming from the window on the back mid gate. It didn't leak on to us however and ended up going out the exit port. I'm looking into how to fix that now. Thinking I might want to do a video on this topic because I've had a lot of questions about it LOL thanks for your comment!
rallyfan555 I can highly recommend it! We use it for so much and have made so many memories it has been a true blessing on all sides of Our Lives! Hope they put them back into production one day!
My ’03 wasnweathr tight for the first ten or so years then I had to add some caulking at the mid gate where the rain troughs are. Now it's back to weather tight
I was aware of the tent and have one. I was not aware of a special air mattress. we use an old matress set up I have from a travel trailer I used to live in for ours. you can see my other vids with our tent on my avalanche playlist. Thanks for letting me know about the mattress though! I will look into that!
@@hiphophomesteading3650 well... 5000km haha, calgary Alberta to moncton new brunswick. I figured I could setup something like this but this confirms it. Thanks for the video
I made a mold to make plastic caps for the inside of my mid gate that I cut to a 60/40 split. Both sides latch like the factory and seals out all the bed noise when both are closed. This is where Chevy Dropped the ball with the mid gate design.
Thanks. And thank you for the offer! I am actually a gospel rapper lol you can check out a song we did that's going to he on a project we are releasing soon, here: czcams.com/video/e0NWRaIf7c8/video.html God Bless!
One of the best Avalanche videos on CZcams.
Thanks!
💯 true I was going to make a video similar👍🏼👊🏼❤
I'm on my 3rd Avalanche that I've had since 2008. Was thinking of getting an add-on tent for some coastal camping, but after seeing this video - for now, I see how I can sleep without any fuss. Thanks for posting.
The Tent definitely increases your room inside but its not necessary if you don't need it. We enjoy both set ups and the options.
I just bought my second Avalanche. This time I bought the second Gen. I love it and plan to do some Overlanding soon. These are the only trucks on the planet that you can do this with. :)
Escalade EXT is the same truck though right?
@@reallyhappenings5597 Except only a few thousand EXTs sold lol
When I was 16 to 18, use to car camp, like this, in my dad's Avalanche, back when they were new and overlanding was not even a trend or coined term lol. My dad had a rack on the roof and on the back, so we had tons of storage, so didn't need to move a lot to sleep. My sister and I are 4ft10 twins, so we were able to keep our food stuffs safe inside, safe from Grizzlies and Black Bears. I miss this rig! I have a 4Runner TRD Off Road now, and it has 60/40 fold flat rear seats and is an amazing car camper! I live in heavy duty bear country lol. Car camping is a must lol
Very nostalgic! Thanks!
I just bought my Avalanche! Thanks for the video. 10/10 funny.
The best Stelth Camper on the planet.
Agreed! we still love it
Dope shit bro. I have fond childhood memories camping with my dad like that and even sleeping like that while he would drive when we would take long trips to Florida.
Thanks fam. That's awesome. I wish we had one when I was growing up lol
I've owned 3 of them, they are the swiss army knife of trucks. Get a Viair air compressor, do the dual battery conversion and get the Waterport for a warm shower and you're set !
That's exactly what I have said about them. Waterport?
I bought my Avalanche new in 2004, and it's great. Just a foot note, I can't drive with the back seat down. Both the front seats need to be all the way forward to keep the bed feature. It's ok if you need to move a big load temporarily, but my knees ride on the dash and is uncomfortable. Not a major issue, you just have to close the bed door going from the cab, and lift the back seat into sitting position while driving. No one can sleep long ways while driving with that door closed if the tall guy is driving.
Been doing that for years....especially when I go snowboarding.....
No better truck on the planet
Kevin Mesa couldn't agree more!
Kevin Mesa got that right!
Best all around truck.
2005 2500 AVI here.
Kevin Mesa yep. I don’t know why they don’t bring it back. I love these trucks.
Lol
Whe,re about to take a trip across Canada (alberta ) to Nova Scotia and have a 2006 Avalanche which isn,t the best on fuel ( love it in spite ) but sleeping in the back part will definitly make the trip more affordable . Thanks for the post on this truck
That sounds awesome! Enjoy! It makes a huge difference
Hey, your channel inspired me years ago. I’ve been making a lot of Chevy avalanche content since. And trying some things I hadn’t thought of.
That's awesome! I will have to check your content out!
I just bought an old Chevrolet Avalanche 2004. And I have a lot to do! Good luck with everything! Greetings from Russia!
Right on! Greetings back from Texas! Enjoy your new rig! We still love ours.
@@hiphophomesteading3650 Do you think it's a good choice? In Russia, this is a very rare car. Everyone looks like a dinosaur. Not everywhere is ready to repair. And there are no body parts at all!
@@alexanderbanteev5960 I don't know how practical it may be in Russia if there are no parts to find. It's a very good vehicle of you keep up maintenance on it. Ours is running 313K miles but it has had work done to it here and there.
@@hiphophomesteading3650 thanks!
I was repairing the steering system today. I will test the car in practice . Have a nice day !
Great video! My wife and I are planning a road trip at the end of the month - hopefully this can convince her to skip the hotel and stay in the Z71!
This is the reason im picking up a used one. Didnt know it transformed like that. Thx
Nice. Yep its a fantastic feature and I use it all the time for so many things not just camping
yep..that what we did too in my o4 z71 off-road pkge went to b.c canada only thing different was i had ALOT more stuff in the back lol but very clean n tidy guy.so i ended up buyin another avanlache 2012 fully loaded LOVE THESES TRUCKS ...still got my o4 too
Been thinking of doing this myself. Thanks for sharing
ZeeTwentyFour anytime. Thanks for watching. I would highly recommend it. It is super easy and super fun
I didn't know about the midgate until after I bought my Avy. Made me even more happy. Haven't camped out in it yet though
Definitely give it a try if you can. it's a sweet easy set up. I didn't know about the storage bins/coolers on built into the side panels of the bed until I went to see my truck when I bought it and it made me like mine even more as well. These trucks were way ahead of their time when they came out.
This is so awesome!! This is exactly what I want to do
I highly recommend it. We love it!
i have totally thought to do the same with mine however my rear cover is a little bit leaky (thats florida) but looking forward to getting a bed tent for it but for now we just pitch our tent!!
Mine too. Not horrible but a little leaky. 2003.
Been doing this a few years now - love my lanche for quick fishing trips!
💯👍🏼SAME. . Tailgating at a drive-in movie theater pop the window down it's like you're at home in the bed
We so this all the time too! Best ride for drive in movies!
Thank you for sharing the easy set up
You're welcome. Hope it inspires you to go out and enjoy your truck
Thats a smart idea, and avalanches are the best at that
Great vid. We take ours camping quite a bit, but we only slept in it a couple times. Thanks for sharing.
Hilltown thanks!
Hilltown what type of camping set up do you use with your Avalanche?
We carry all of our gear in it, but we tent out. I recently picked up an Avalanche tent and I’m looking forward to trying it for the first time. She gets claustrophobic sleeping under the Avy bed covers, but I don’t mind. They’re fun rigs.
Nice! Yeah I think she will like it better. My wife likes the tent a lot and we both like how we are off the ground and don't have to worry about animals, bugs, rocks etc. Congrats and if you make any vids with it let me know! I'd love to see how it works for you as well!
Ok bud. Thanks
Matt here, that is great! It's very similar to Michael's set up, which he loved. He was always first set up at camp and first ready to go.
That cooler though....AC feature!?! That's the bees knees! Great video!
Rustic Trail Overland Hey Matt! Thanks! Yeah I like Mike's avalanche body style a lot too.
YES! This cooler is a super bonus in the summer. I used it in the Texas Summer and it has been awesome!
I like it men great set up
Thanks boss
I have the air mattress and tent that gm offered. Pretty cool. Remove panels,up goes the tent. Great truck. To bad not available anymore. Maybe someday
I keep hoping they will bring it back someday. The new Siverado EV will have the midgate so I'm glad to see they are brining that option back somehow but I still hope the Avalanche makes a return too
Cool video
I used to have a Chevy trailblazer.. me and my ex would travel up and down California sleeping in the SUV at rest stops and spending the days in different cities..
Now I have an avalanche and last winter my then gf and I drove to Ohio from vegas doing the same thing... then we shot down south and went through the bottom states..
The exhaust keeps you warm for a good 8hrs... some nights we had to crack the windows it was so hot... even though it was like -8 outside. We were in the mountains in Colorado
lankyeric nice! I haven't used the heater when we were sleeping before because I've heard you can succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning if you're not careful. That being said I have a carbon monoxide detector for the truck but haven't really used it. If you were sleeping in yours like that though it must not be anywhere near as bad as I had heard. I definitely want to do both of those trips in the future that you've done. Did you enjoy driving up the coast more or did you enjoy driving to the southern states more?
HipHop&Homesteading I also have remote start. If it does get to cold I start it up and it turns off after 10mins.. but no need for the heater since the exhaust pipe is right under the bed
lankyeric oh man remote start sounds awesome. Your exhaust warms up you bed? That's wild. I dont think mine does that.
I had to put weather stripping around the seal on my tonneau cover to keep rain out. I wouldnt trade my Avalanche for the newest most modern RV on the market for traveling.
I would love to see pics of that install! I'm with you on the RV too.
My avalanche Tono cover is completely watertight I’m curious why yours was leaking
Mine leaks to. I would love to know how you fixed yours!
super cool i guess i need to buy the bed covers for mine so i can do that too👌👌🤙🤙
HDWRENCHHEAD EVANS its definitely worth it I think.
Dude, if you haven't bought the bed covers yet, go to a junkyard! I just picked up covers for my '04 for $100 at a local junkyard. All is great shape - faded like the rest of the cladding too, so it matches perfectly!
Super cool.
Thanks man
Cool setup. Wish my Nissan Frontier did that!
Thanks! It is an amazing feature. I hope they bring it back someday. I like the look of the frontiers especially the luggage bars on top.
Thats a really good idea
Lindsey Murda thanks! It saves a ton of money to when you're trying to drive long distance
Awesome...I got a used 2003 z66 got quite a bit of odds and ends to do on it but in the long run will be awesome...does anyone know any place to get some good used avy parts? Big one would be the hinge for the midgate....
Thanks! You should sign up for the Chevy Avalanche lifestyle Facebook page and ask that question is well there. There are a lot of guys who have a lot of good information and leads all over the country for parts and additional options. I was referred to it by another guy on another comment and I really enjoyed being part of the group. Congrats on your new truck! You're going to love it!
I just did a weekend trip. First night we slept in a tent and the second night in the truck similar to what you did. I gotta say, with the same air mattresses and sleeping bags the truck was more comfortable. Not super sure why
For us I think it just feels more secure. I think the idea that you're sleeping inside of a vehicle up off the ground instead of in the tent just has a more comfortable feeling and it's probably more familiar since we're in the truck all the time anyway. At least those are my thoughts on it. We went to Yellowstone this year and slept in our truck for 2 weeks it was amazing!
@@hiphophomesteading3650 what did you use for blacking out the windows? When we slept in the truck it was in a Walmart parking lot with lots of lights.
@@jwmmitch we took a series of windows covers that we bought from Walmart. The front windshield is a dickies brand one that is nice and rigid. The front windows are the collapsible round ones that wedge well in between the the door handles and the top of the window. The backseat windows were an accordion style windshield cover cut in half
They fit into the windows pretty well. The back windshield is a piece of reflectix cut to size and clipped into place with the clips that hold the window in place. That all gives us complete privacy and are easy to store in the truck. Hope it helps!
Dope! Gonna do that tonight!!
Right on! Enjoy!
@@hiphophomesteading3650 thanks! I shall 🙂
@@hiphophomesteading3650 I did it and it was awesome. Great sleep. Opening that back windows made a nice breeze too. Thanks for the tips, I'll be doing this much more often!
@@XaYaZaZa nice! Hey I'm happy to share! That truck has been a major blessing to us. Stay blessed!
What brand of cooler do you have? I like you vid, thanks for posting!
It's a ryobi 18v one plus cooler.
How did you keep the wondow up but the gate down???????? Please tell me that would kick butt
I made a video for that too
czcams.com/video/aZ1XouvccPM/video.html
Nice truck! Ever need to replace the heater core on that beauty?
Thanks! The heater coil has never gone out but I have had to replace sections of the air conditioning unit before.
@@hiphophomesteading3650 you got it! Guess it’s not a bad idea to flush that system on an annual basis.
Great vedio!! Where did he get the cooler??
Hey thanks for the comment Ronny! I got the cooler at my Home Depot. I have also seen them for sale at Direct Tools Factory Outlet. I seriously love this cooler and I'm going to do a review on it very soon.
Thanks I now have an avalanche
Congrats!
I'm thinking to buy one for my kayak and fishing outings. How much clearance do you have when you have the mid gate down like you do in the video?
We use ours for kayaking too. We fit two 8 foot kayaks inside with the tailgate locked. I believe the bed is a total of 8.1 feet lengthwise. I'm not sure how much clearance we have from the bottom of the bed to the tonneau covers.
What is that cooler in the rear?
its a ryobi 18v cooler
But I’m also curious if you sold yours? Trying to find a southern truck pre-style change which I think was 2007? That’s been well kept or at least has lower mileage and I consider low anything below 130,000 miles. But if it’s very well-maintained, I’ll consider higher mileage.
Nope I still have it and still use it. Mine has 359k now lol a little higher than 130k
@@hiphophomesteading3650 well, that’s awesome. I’m about to post a video of the camping/overlanding set up.
what make is that wicked cooler u have.
shawn cardinal it is made by ryobi and runs on their 18v one+ battery system. It is real wicked.
I wanna do that and get a roof top tent for the rear.
I've seen that set up too and I thought it was pretty sweet.
@@hiphophomesteading3650 I saw a video how to do it plus my neighbors had a Sierra built for camping and off roading. I wanna experience that
@Clarence Gilbert dude I highly recommend it. It's so much fun! We did Yellowstone last year for 12 days and it was amazing
@@hiphophomesteading3650 one of the many places I wanna see. Yosemite as well
@Clarence Gilbert Yosemite is one I still want to see too. If you have an avalanche the tent that goes on it is a lot cheaper than a rooftop tent and works fantastically too. We use ours on a lot of trips too!
What did you use for a mattress? Looks pretty thin. I’m planning on doing something similar with my 2002.
We've used several different versions for mattresses including a full-size futon mattress. In this video we were using sleeping mats that were from a travel trailer that I own that I used to live in. You can buy really nice memory foam send mattresses with different hardnesses at Ikea nowadays that provide even better comfort. We really enjoyed using the futon mattress because it fit perfectly into the bed of the truck and gave us a full-on bed to lay in. The mats from the travel trailer Warfare fairly thin but they were doable
Please link me your A/C cooler, I just got my 2nd avalanche 2013 black diamond edition Ls and this video has inspired me to go camping again.
I unfortunately can not find a website that has one of these for sale but here is the page for it on ryobi's site. Good luck and congrats on your new Avalanche!
ryobitools.com/products/details/33287174515
@@hiphophomesteading3650 Thanks mate you’ve inspired me to go camping again. Have fun if you still have her
@@hiphophomesteading3650 By chance do you happen to know if you used a board or a cushion for you guys to lay on?
@@Kill0trocity in this video's set up we used some cushions that we took out of an old trailer I used to live in. Nowadays we use a mattress that comes out of a bean bag set up. Before that we used a futon bed mattress. A full size mattress fits perfectly. When I first started experimenting with this idea I used a self inflating camp mat. All worked great. We stopped using inflatables because we take our dogs with us all the time.
What is that monster wind break on top?
LOL you mean the cargo topper? That thing is awesome.
I'm making a Vardo camper top for my Avalanche and I'm going to cut off those ridiculous angled pieces between the bed and the cab. They serve no practical purpose but I was told they had something to do with the aerodynamics of the truck.
Think twice about that. The flying butresses that they call wings, are actually designed to serve as an effective roll bar.
Nice
Thanks!
Yes mine is
Does your bed cover leak? Mine leaks like crazy and makes it useless for this setup which sucks cause I want to do this
What I did to fix it from leaking was remove the rubber gaskets from each tonneau cover and clean off all the old adhesive that they used to glue them on. I reglued them back on with a silicone glue which stop the leaking. The only thing I did was clean out all of the grooves and ports that the water is supposed to run into from the outside of the cover. The truck has very specific routes for water to escape from the top of the truck down through the ports and underneath the truck instead of going into the bed. I'm about to redo the silicone for a better glue because the one that I used a starting to wear down already thanks to this Texas Heat. I'll make a video of that when I do it. Good luck hope you get it fixed up.
Is the bed cover water tight?
At the time of the video recording it was. I have a leak again and just haven't redone the seal this year yet.
how do you keep the back window in?
When you go to put the midgate down skip the step where you take the window out. You pull the latch the gate will disengage from a center bar that holds the window in place and you can keep the window in place with the channel covers on and use the whole bed of your truck as an enclosed space. I'm going to post a video for you demonstrating this in just a minute because it's hard for me to articulate the idea well. LOL thanks for the question!
czcams.com/video/aZ1XouvccPM/video.html
So how does the window stay in by itself.
There is a switch inside the bar that decides of the nar comes out or not. I talk about it in this video.
czcams.com/video/aZ1XouvccPM/video.html
I don't understand how the window stays up while the wall is dropped?
czcams.com/video/aZ1XouvccPM/video.html
I have another video here where I show how the mid gate works with the window staying up. I hope it helps thanks for the comment :-)
It's designed to say in place. There is a cross piece that you ain't need to remove unless you choose to.
Yes, but can you sleep in that when it's cold outside even if you don't have some hardcore sleeping bag?
Depends on how cold you're talking. If it's 30 something degrees outside you're going to want at least a good blanket. We have blizzard fleece blankets that we use sometimes in place of the sleeping bags and they work pretty good too
@@hiphophomesteading3650 Thanks, freezing point is about what I had in mind.
@@AoyagiAichou fo sho. I recommend blizzard fleece. That stuff is amazing. We slept in the cab of the truck last year in 20 degree weather with snow one night and the blizzard fleece was awesome then.
I paid cash for 2002 Chevy Avalanche did the midgate gaskets replaced under warranty. everytime it rain the floorboards were soaked with water after 230000 miles I had to give her up.
Man that stinks. You should try another one. Ours has been great
@@hiphophomesteading3650 Im looking at a 2013
@@daviddempsey172 nice. I love the look of the black diamond edition.
how you keep water from coming in mine drips
Payback ! We took the rubber seals off and reapplied sealant on each of the tano covers. It fixed the leaking we were having. We also took a blower and cleaned out all of the water catching trays that divert the water out. It makes a huge difference
HipHop&Homesteading thanks a million wish you had a video
Payback ! Hmm. I might just make a vid about that. Thanks for the idea! You should join the avalanche owners facebook groups. Pretty much any question you have for you Avy will be answered there. That's how I learned.
HipHop&Homesteading thanks & I'm subscribeing to you're channel...let me know when & if you make it👍
Right on thanks! Will do!
What about rain? Are the joints between the tonneau cover panels and rear window weather tight?
rallyfan555 the joints no longer leak because we took all the rubber gaskets off and reseal them with fresh glue. We used the Liquid Nails type of glue to bind them back on and that has stopped to the leaking. Also I learned from the Avalanche Facebook group of North America members that when you put your tanue covers on you want to always latch them in starting from left to right. Doing that also helps them create a better seal. We experienced leaks before we made these two changes and since then have not had any leaks between the joints. We also made sure to clean out the channels that catch water that get sent off to the sides and make sure that all the exit ports are cleaned out as well. The last time we were camping and it was about a month-and-a-half ago and we got caught in a storm out in Florida. We decided to just sleep through the storm and noticed after we woke up if there was a small leak coming from the window on the back mid gate. It didn't leak on to us however and ended up going out the exit port. I'm looking into how to fix that now. Thinking I might want to do a video on this topic because I've had a lot of questions about it LOL thanks for your comment!
Thanks! I've been looking at an Avalanche as a possibility for my next truck.
rallyfan555 I can highly recommend it! We use it for so much and have made so many memories it has been a true blessing on all sides of Our Lives! Hope they put them back into production one day!
My ’03 wasnweathr tight for the first ten or so years then I had to add some caulking at the mid gate where the rain troughs are. Now it's back to weather tight
Are you aware there is a tent and an air mattress made specifically for an avalanche. That’s what I use to camp in mine.
I was aware of the tent and have one. I was not aware of a special air mattress. we use an old matress set up I have from a travel trailer I used to live in for ours. you can see my other vids with our tent on my avalanche playlist. Thanks for letting me know about the mattress though! I will look into that!
I'm about to road trip an avalanche 3000 miles 👍
Nice!!! Where at and to?
@@hiphophomesteading3650 well... 5000km haha, calgary Alberta to moncton new brunswick. I figured I could setup something like this but this confirms it. Thanks for the video
@@snider519 very cool! Glad the video could help. Have a great trip!
I thought the window had to be out before you could drop the mid gate
Nope you can put the midgate down with the glass still in. I have another video showing that too. Hope it helps. Thanks for the comment!
I made a mold to make plastic caps for the inside of my mid gate that I cut to a 60/40 split. Both sides latch like the factory and seals out all the bed noise when both are closed. This is where Chevy Dropped the ball with the mid gate design.
Nice setup. May I share the gospel of Jesus Christ with you?
Thanks. And thank you for the offer! I am actually a gospel rapper lol you can check out a song we did that's going to he on a project we are releasing soon, here:
czcams.com/video/e0NWRaIf7c8/video.html
God Bless!