Van questions for the collective

[riff]

Maybe this would be better in who’s sleeping in rv’s, but summer boredom and lack of fresh reading in tech talk compels me.
I drive a full size truck- it gets crappy mpgs, but is reliable. I have a popup camper for ski trips, but dealing with condensation, setup and huge snowfall is less than ideal. I could just refine my approach and improvise, but vans are so hot right now.
Here’s the questions: i see Chevy Astro vans going pretty cheap, awd and low enough miles to be of interest. Are they a pain in the ass or decent to work on, maintain, etc? Fuel economy seems ok. Clearly not standing height though, which is a huge bonus after living in a truck canopy for thirteen years of seasonal work.
Which leads to the next question- are 2wd sprinters ok in maritime snow, or will i be chaining up every day? I could hunt down a cheap specimen and use it for commuting too....
Lots more details to come, gotta go for now.


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[babybear]

sprinters are rear wheel drive so they are not going to be strong winter drivers (that was our biggest catalyst for going for the promaster vs sprinter)

don't have intel on astro mechanics but they seem to run as strong as any others since you still see them out there relatively frequently. Also dont forget to consider older toyota sienna's - awd too to boot

[wwwllw]

The overland explorer CAMP will take care of your condensation problems if you wanted to stick with a pop up.
https://overlandex.com/pop-up-truck-campers

[MakersTeleMark]

There is a resident Astrovan guy on the board. Hopefully he will chime in. I know they are bombproof engine wise and do great in snow (I've been terrified in one). Do an astrovan search and pm him. Sorry I forgot his name. He's had a couple and mods them quite extensively. Definitely more capable and affordable than the current crop of life.

[Sirshredalot]

Just buy this. No chains required:

http://www.duncanimports.com/used/Is...e53784e997.htm

[Tailwind]

I have a 170” wheelbase sprinter with Blizzaks on it during the winter. I’m driving in Colorado and literally never touched the chains all last winter. Even driving up to Jackson in a storm with icy roads outside of Lander the thing grips like a champ. Not sure about Maritime snow but I was blown away by how well it did with just snow tires. We would regularly drive up roads with 8-10 inches of unplowed snow to find places to camp. No issues.

The moral of the story is that Mercedes didn’t mess around with the traction control system. The vehicle just won’t spin. Also weight + good tires takes care of a lot of issues. I almost bought a 4x4 sprinter because I was worried about the snow but now I’ve decided that isn’t needed at all.

[riff]

Yes! As usual, answers are interesting, and lead me to new mental exercises. If i was ready to buy new, I’d definitely go promaster, BB. I’m at work, I’ll check back in soon after some searches, etc


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[doebedoe]

I'm on my second Astro. Both higher mileage (~150-180k mi) 2001s. Here's my take.

- AWD is good in snow IF you have good snow tires.
- It's capable enough for a bunch of FS roads. But don't expect to rage over washboarded shit. Suspension ain't truck level
- Common failure points are fuel pump ~150k mi, front suspension wears quickly especially idler arms (replace with quality parts and you're good for 50-60k), transmission may fail if used for a lot of towing -- compared to the engine its the weak point. Oh yeah, the power motors in the windows will eventually fail. Not hard to replace but kinda a pain.
- The lower intake manifold gasket will eventually fail. Its a pain in the ass to do, and most shops will charge around 1K because of the labor involved. But the Felco gasket you replace it with will last forever.
- Engine work generally blows because of how compact the front end is. You have to take the dog house off and work from inside a lot. Good news is the engine is the strong point. Plugs / distributor usually all you need until 250k plus.
- Suspension are simple, and there are small lift kits available. Honestly, I'm not sure I need the 3" lift, and I can tell it slowed the van down since its already has the aerodynamics of a toaster. With a 3" lift, roof box, and upsized AT tires I get ~14-16mpg driving in the mountains.
- If you're getting weird, a blazer t-case is a pretty straightforward swap from what I understand that gives true 4x4.

Upside is that parts are cheap, junkyard scavenging is easy, maintenance is relatively low for what it is, not hard to find info on modding them. And most importantly -- their fucking cheap compared to other adventure vehicles. If you can find a 2003 or later with AWD that;s the best option as prior models only have disc brakes up front and drums in the rear. They come with 16" wheels instead of 15" which is a wash as you can just upsize the 15" tires anyhow.

I expect to get another couple seasons out of mine. If you're not solo traveling, swivel on the front passenger seat is key for optimum hanging out. We like that ours is always setup for us to camp, but we can also easily carry 5 passengers legally, 8 if we take 5 minutes to pull out the little table and put in the middle seat.

In a few years though there will be promasters in my price-range available. I'll definitely be giving up some off-road chops, but the trade off for a bit more room and standing height will be worth it. Not to mention something made in the last 20 years. Astro has taught me I don't want a super long wheelbase van for my needs, it's size makes it certainly easy to move around than the big Sprinters I see.

Oh yeah, and I have a bigger "truck bed" than most my buddies with trucks. With the seats out I have an 8' long bed that I can full enclose.

In short, good started van or weekending van. Not something I'd dump a lot of money into. But I've probably spent about 150-170 nights in mine over the past 5ish years, half winter and half summer.

Let me know if you have other questions. Overall good ski vehicle. Even my dentist friend likes it.



And some pics before I beat the shit out of it the last couple years: https://imgur.com/a/ZS5IY

[doebedoe]

Just buy this. No chains required:

http://www.duncanimports.com/used/Is...e53784e997.htm

That thing is titties. We drove our similar vintage Rodeo to 320k until the floor literally rusted out.

[phattypowpow]

I bought a low mileage 2001 Astro last Sept and just finished a 6 week road trip in it with the GF. Overall, we couldn't be happier. It's a little cozy for sleeping but there's room for a full size camp pad (Exped Duo 10) on top of the folded down rear bench and home-made platform and another couple feet in front. Takes about 5 min to convert to day/office mode where there's lots of space for hanging out/working on the lap desk/etc.

We've got a roof box for extra storage up top and the best bike rack I've ever owned, the Rocky Mounts Backstage Swing (or something like that). As far as I know it's the only swing-away tray style rack out there and it makes loading/unloading bikes and getting into the back of the van a breeze. Additionally, the AWD Astro with AT tires does great in the snow and it's easy to drive around urban areas. The GF was skeptical at first but is now a convert.

Downsides include crap gas mileage (14-19 mpg) and it's not tall enough to stand up in but, for us, it's pretty close to perfect. Plus it cost us about 1/10 of the cost of a built-out Sprinter type rig. Since it's a 2001 Chevy, I suspect something bad with happen mechanically/electrically at some point but so far, so good after one year. Depending on your needs, it could be the rig for you. There is sadly no other AWD/4WD midsize van available in the US.

FYI, I am not THE Astro van guy in these parts, just a recent convert. My philosophy is minimal build out (new tires and shocks, all weather mats, no heat/AC/fridge, no lift, etc) and making it work with the basics (portable cooler, sleeping pad) but I know some guys who love building them up. There are quite a few of them here in Jackson.

Camping in the Blue Mountains of NE Oregon last month:

[riff]

Strong Astro stoke; it definitely sounds like a contender in the budget realm. I’m surprised the fuel economy drops so hard with a roof box and tires, but maybe I shouldn’t be. I’m going to keep looking and there’s a solid chance I’ll consider one before used promasters get cheap enough.


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[riff]

And doe, that write up and the pictures were awesome! I dig the van box.


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[thefortrees]

Let me know if you have other questions. Overall good ski vehicle. Even my dentist friend likes it.



And some pics before I beat the shit out of it the last couple years: https://imgur.com/a/ZS5IY

You know you’re a dentist when you bring along a 12 pack of coconut lacroix for the #vanlife

Thanks for the pics and write up, this is inspiring and I’ll probably be stealing your ideas soon!

[doebedoe]

And doe, that write up and the pictures were awesome! I dig the van box.


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It's proven pretty useful. Though I would in retrospect build it with better contruction techniques and resize a little bit to put in some drawers for toiletries/dining shit/etc.

Strong Astro stoke; it definitely sounds like a contender in the budget realm. I’m surprised the fuel economy drops so hard with a roof box and tires, but maybe I shouldn’t be. I’m going to keep looking and there’s a solid chance I’ll consider one before used promasters get cheap enough.


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Fuel economy isn't great to begin with maybe 15-20 on an unmodified AWD astro. The RWD version gets a little bit better. Then minus 1mpg for bigger tires, minus 1 for the lift, minus 1 for the roof box. I probably forget to calculate in difference between actual traveled vs record by odometer set for smaller tires traveled, but thats like 3-4%.

Once you start doing the math on how many miles you have to drive to make up the price difference between an Astro vs a new van (which get s abit better mpg) -- it's too many miles.

Honestly think phattypowpow is right on in how he built his. Minimal build, just tires and baseline-ing makes a lot of sense in these vans.

You know you’re a dentist when you bring along a 12 pack of coconut lacroix for the #vanlife

Thanks for the pics and write up, this is inspiring and I’ll probably be stealing your ideas soon!

Got to stay hydrated man. Coconut LaCroix is the shit.

[TAFKALVS]

Riff, buy my f350/Northern Lite combo so I can start on my 4wd RV project. Got a legit 17mpg driving to harts pass and back with the camper last weekend. 20+ on the highway.

That aside, my dad had an AWD Astro van. It barely got mid teens fuel economy unless you were going 60 mph on a flat highway, felt like a death trap (in a head on collision it seems like your legs WILL get broken since your foot is resting on the wheel well), and I thought it was generally a huge pile of shit. The lack of low range, tall gears (and lack of torque) made mountain road driving less than ideal. Also, that 4.3 V6 doesn't have enough umph to pull passes, it was 45-50 mph up Stevens without the engine revved up to 4000 rpm. Forget pulling a sled trailer. That said, it would make a good camper rig for a solo traveler, and the AWD was good in the snow.

If the van life is attractive, I'd be looking at 4wd full size vans, either the converted Ford e250/350 or the AWD Chevy 1500/2500 vans. The v8s will get 15 mpg but at least you have some power.

[doebedoe]

Keep in mind that there are various gears available in the Astros. If you can find one that was built with the tow package they usually have lower gears more suited to life in the mountains and the g80 rear end. It's not a great LSD, but its better than nothing.

But yeah, going up hills, especially at altitude ain't the fastest. The Chevy 1500 (Express / Savana) with AWD are a nice option.

[Norseman]

Riff, buy my f350/Northern Lite combo so I can start on my 4wd RV project. .

Haha. Why am I not surprised...

[XXX-er]

I had true mini-vans, full sized GM's and a couple of Asto's back in the day that I drove for work, it was suprising how bad the mileage was compared to the real mini-vans not much better than the full sized and there really wasn't that much more room than a true mini, i would have to agree with leavenworth skier's view of the Astro ... not one of GM's better ideas

I would go either fullsized or mini over another astro

[TAFKALVS]

This this is pretty sweet: https://www.expeditionportal.com/for...60-f-r.196933/

[toast2266]

Riff, buy my f350/Northern Lite combo so I can start on my 4wd RV project. Got a legit 17mpg driving to harts pass and back with the camper last weekend. 20+ on the highway.

Soooo...

you got a northern lite for sale?

[doebedoe]

All these options are nicer vehicles than astros no doubt. But at the end of the day, you can get an low 100k AWD astro for south of 5k. It takes a long time for 5mpg difference to make up 10k in costs with gas at 3$/gal.

Of course if you need more space, or more off road prowess, or nicer-speedier driving, yeah, don't get an Astro.

[TAFKALVS]

Haha. Why am I not surprised...

Wife said to me today, why do all your damn hobbies need to grow so big?

[detrusor]

Please tell me you said something like “that’s not all thats growing big”


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[skiing-in-jackson]

Just buy this. No chains required:

http://www.duncanimports.com/used/Is...e53784e997.htm

Great link!

[Sirshredalot]

Great link!

They have diesel Delicas, too!