Ive never thought of plastic as "rugged" before... but to each his own... I much prefer metal.

On a truck... Absolutely. <--- " : m e t a l : "

 

A couple of remarks......

The Black edge on the tailgate is there for a reason.....for sealing the bed against water intrusion.....take it off, and there go the seals...there's a whole system to keep water out......and the tonneau covers can support a substantial amount of weight. (like me on them breaking up ice.........from a snow/ice storm......

There's a big difference in ride betwn. Silverado and Avalanche.....and that's because the Avalanche is on the Suburban Chassis and furthermore, the bed is not separated from the cab as on a pickup truck.

As to the appearance.....the original Avalanche Concept was really brutal....big....muscular.....I thought it was great...however, to make the business case, Zarella (remember him???) I believe, mandated the use of Suburban sheetmetal.....and thus, it no longer has the look...and cladding was a big part of the original design............

I had one last winter as a company vehicle and was really surprised at how great it really was. (I had memories of early beta units longgg before it was released for production.) Great acceleration (no, not an LS1...but no slouch, either...quiet, great smooth ride...even with 4WD.....great leather seats...and lots of comfort features.......)

Like it or dislike it.....hey, we all have our opinions....but they're selling very well. With Cladding? IMHO, Dark Gray is the color..without cladding? SilverBirch Metallic (2004 color)

 

I like both versions.

The only think I didn't like about the original Avalanche styling was the squared off wheel wells. For this reason I prefer the WBH and Escalade EXT looks better.

 

Maybe they can revive the original big, brutish look without resorting to cladding when Avalache comes due for a exterior freshening?

 

I like it with cladding better too. The main problem with cladding is not really the cladding itself, but the hard line that disturbs the fender flares on the vehicle. You have a change in material, color, and texture that is so abrupt and in a place where curves are more natural. This is why when everything is painted the same color, the sudden transitions are gone, everything flows nicer and looks more pleasing to the eye, and it looks really good in my opinion. So my suggestion would be, have a painted cladding option...............a lot of people already do it aftermarket.

 

The 2003 change in cladding color made a big difference too. THe 2003+ have a much darker grey color than the 2002

 

http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...nocladding.jpg

That actually looks halfway decent, and much better than the overly-cladded plastic units.

My opinion, of course.

 

I for one am not a huge fan of the body cladding on the Avalanche, but I do love the truck. I kinda touched up a pic of the Avalanche Z71 WBH (Without Body Hardware), bigger wheels, low profile tires, chrome exhaust, silver striped side trim pieces, and a lower front lip. I think it looks pretty good:

http://homepage.mac.com/bond2/images/Avalanche.jpg