[bufmatmuslepants]

I bought a 2003 Avalanche Z71 with 165,000 miles, fully loaded for only $3250. It has a couple things the previous owner let me know about and now I'm trying to fix them. I have AAA free 100 mile towing so a quick call to AAA had them tow it home with only a white lie about not trusting it got it home without making my pregnant wife and 2 year old help me get it home.

The PO was an older gentleman and said the trans was replaced in 2011 at 130k miles right before he bought it. I crawled under it and the paint pen marks and darker painted trans case verify that. However he said that 4wd doesn't work. When I put it in 4hi, the lights do go to 4hi, and I can hear it make the noise as it shifts, however if you go to hit the gas or turn slightly (just feeling for the expected bind to verify its engaged, not enough to really bind it) you get a slipping, grinding kind of sound, like the front driveshaft isn't fully engaged. In 2wd I can spin the front driveshaft freely, and in 4wd or Auto it can't spin by hand, verifying the front diff is engaging, but it's not fully engaging at the T case. If I go to 4lo, it's definitely in low range, but if I turn I can tell it's not engaged with the front and it's not in 4wd. Is that the actuator motor not fully going through the full range of motion? My first guess is to replace the actuator for $100 but I wanted another opinion on what to look for or test before I throw money at it.

The front shocks are SHOT. Going down the road it's just bouncy below 65, but if I go 65 I get a wicked vibration like the tires are bouncing up and down and out of balance, or it's just losing control of the wheels, it's really bad. The tires are brand new, but they are some off brand like MERICA or something cheap, so if when I swap the new front bilsteins in if it doesn't fix it, I was thinking to pull the wheels and have them rebalanced. The tie rods look good, there's no play in the steering, is it possible it's just that the shocks are so bad they can't keep the front settled or do you think it's the pitman arm or idler arm or out of balance tires?

Someone tried to break into the truck at some point and jacked up the key hole in the drivers door so you can't get a key in it. Not a big deal, I use the fob, but I want to replace the key lock. How do I get a new key lock to match my key? Dealership?

It has horrible wind noise as you go faster. With the sunroof open I get awful buffeting, and I found the little flap thing that's supposed to go up has both arms broken. I am going to JB weld them back together, but sunroof closed it still has horrible wind noise. Next guess is removing the roof rack, but what the heck else could cause so much wind noise? Is that just inherent with the truck?

The oil pressure gage is pegged at 80, even key on engine off. My 05 Tahoe has the same problem, and I've been reading it probably needs a new oil pressure sensor and it's not the gage. It goes to 0 key off, so I don't think it's the stepper motor.

Other than that it feels just like my 05 Tahoe, and should be a great truck. It has a ton of hours on it, 6000 at 165k miles, vs only 3300 at 130k on my Tahoe, so I'm guessing it spent a lot of its life as a short commute DD, explaining why the trans went at 130k. It sounds perfect though, the PO used only Mobil 1, and the motor is great.