2003 Avalanche a good donor vehicle?

[rlrobinhood]

Hi all,

I saw a 2003 Avalanche (5.3) with 133k miles on it. It has front end damage, but not too bad. Would this make a good donor vehicle for swapping in a 5.3 into a grand wagoner? The grand wagoner will not be used for rock climbing or the like. Mainly paved roads and some minor non-technical off roading on established non-difficult BLM roads.

Aside from the motor, how would the transmission and transfer case be for this application? What would be the biggest issues with this setup?

Lastly, how much would you expect to pay for the motor, transmission, and transfercase? What if I just bought the whole vehicle? It is not roadable.

Many thanks!!

[GaJeep94YJ]

Yep

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[Cheap Hobby]

The advantage of buying the whole vehicle is you get all the original parts in the original locations. If you have to meet smog you will have all the smog parts as that will become the standard you have to meet. If it is in a yard it is usually cheaper to buy all as well. If it is a private party then you can offer the bonus of it is gone in 1 shot and they don't have to deal with parting it out.

[rlrobinhood]

Thanks for all the replies guys! So, I think I'm hearing from you that this would be a good donor vehicle. Does anyone know what transmission and transfer case this vehicle has? Will the push button 4x4 cause any issues?

Lastly how much should I expect to pay for the whole avalanche in this condition?

Thanks a million. I really appreciate the info!!