With a 5'3" cargo box, it will be little stacks of 4X8 lumber and sheetrock as most of it is going to be in the cab with you. With a 5' 3" box, it will have to be a little bitty ATV or motorcycle to fit. My motorcycle has to sit at an angle in my 6'6" bed to fit. If you leave the plastic tailgate down to fit your bike, you can't tow your camper. The capacity of the F150 beds range from 55.5 cf to 81.3 cf while the Avalanche has as capacity of 41 cf. The Avalanche is either a SUV with an open area in the back or a SUV with a trunk. With a turning circle only 2' shorter than a Supercrew, is it really easier to handle?

 

You make some excellent points about why an Avalanche wouldnt be right for you, bu all that is a mute point to me. As for gas mileage I cant imagine it would get worse MPG than the 12.8 I am averaging now but even if it didn't I could care less since work pays for my gas anyway. And like I said in my previous post I never haul anything in the bed of my truck anyway...putting lumber or sheetrock or whatever in the bed would dramaticaly increase the chances of scratches and I don't do scratches. Besides I have 3 different trailers that will carry anything I need to haul. This is were my 4-wheeler rides and it fits just fine:

 

i saw one of them new avalanches today, and i like them actually....havent seen a new one till today

 

Well...
I had a little chat with a Car Collision and Paint Workshop and they just confirmed my toughts about the conversion.., that it just ranges from Too difficult and expensive.. to impossible he he.
Oh well

Salutes

Giorgio

 

sucks

mabye you can convince whoever makes the escalade conversions to do it.

 

With the midgate down the Avalanche will hold the roughly the same amount of sheet rock as a 8' F150 bed. Also with the midgate dropped you can tow a bike and a camper, I've been in one while doing so. You can also carry a 4x4 with the Midgate up, again I've been in one while doing so. The new Avalanche is much easier to maneuver and outhandles even my Scab. The Avalanche is a very versatile vehicle and will fit many consumers needs. I would love to see Ford do something similar on an F150 chassis.

 

The new 07Avalanche would likely do much better than 12.8. You also wouldn't need to worry about scratching the inside of the Avalanche bed as it comes with a built in bedliner and tonneau cover. I love my F150 but since one of my close friends has had his Avalanche I am continually amazed at how versatile that vehicle is.

 

Motor Trend has a 2007 GMC Yukon SLT 4X4 with the 5.3 in their long term test. Even though it has an EPA rating of 15/21, they have averaged 11.9 MPG in the first 3,681 miles. 12.8 might not be so bad for an Avalanche.

 

It'll go up once the engine is broken in, my 5.4 averaged about 10 until I got up over 10k then I started seeing 20-21 highway and am currently getting an average of 17. My buddies Avalanche just gave us nearly 23 after a 900 mile road trip across Texas.

 

fwiw, from someone who has owned both, the avalanche is indeed versatile, but there are a couple of quirks that detract from the practicality for some of us

however, i do like the avalanche, and from the needs you described, you'd probably really enjoy one

for me, much of the convenience was lost on stowing the cargo panels whenever i needed the open bed, pushing the front seats up to clear the midgate in down position, stowing and unstowing the removeable rear glass, and the slick, slippery surface of the rear seats when folded down with midgate up...and the 49" wide bed kept me from moving a 5' square painting once (i loaded it into the supercrew box a few weeks later)

as a pickup owner before the avalanche, and a pickup owner after, i discovered during my ownership that i lean more heavily towards a pickup than an suv--but from what you are saying, you would probably lean towards the suv side, in which case, i'd recommend the avalanche--because you'll retain the ability to haul cargo in the bed, abeit at lower capacity, but it should cover 99% of your needs

as far as maneauverability, the short wheelbase supercrew is about the same as the avalanche...i like the fold-up rear seats in the rear of the ford better for because i can place interior cargo on the floor...the ride of the avalanche was outstanding--very comfortable and car-like, but the steering and suspension was a bit soft

the new-generation av will address the steering and suspension issue though

i would recommend 4.10 gearing or the 6.0L--imo, the 5.3L vortec needs low gearing

ps--i get better mileage consistently with the ford, 15.5/20 vs 14.5/18.5--but i attribute the lower city mileage in the av partially to the tall gears