DZ's Astro Tow Vehicle "Build"

[The_Lobbster]

This thread will be a bit of a "build" of the Astro I picked up to tow my Samurai. In the past, I've owned a 2nd gen 24 valve dodge 6 speed, a 2008 2500 Duramax, a 2007 Suburban, so you may ask, why on earth would you choose an Astro then? The reason? I don't know. My parent's had an Astro I drove in high school, and wanted another, because you can haul 7 grown adults somewhatish comfortably. I really wanted an express van, but the Astro square body style kept calling my name, and I couldn't find an express cheap enough.

What I ended up finding was an '02 Astro on Copart. Ended up paying more than I should've. Said it "runs and drives", which, was true. I knew there would be issues, but, I couldn't get the van to go over 10-15mph. I checked the shifting, and verified it wasn't stuck in 2nd, so I started to suspect the cat was clogged. I also noticed the coolant was low. I managed to contact the previous owner, and found out that he had replaced the spider injector at some point, which are known to leak, and can cause a cat death pretty quick. Seeing the coolant loss too, instantly made me think intake gaskets as well, excess coolant burning can do some damage as well.

So I chopped the y pipe out, and this is what I found. The upstream cat blew apart and blocked downstream. Strangely, I never had any codes except for a mass airflow fault, which could also be caused by a clogged exhaust, which is why I took the sawzall to it.

 

[The_Lobbster]

No pix of replacing the y pipe and cats, but it was difficult without a vehicle lift, so I did it in my driveway with jackstands. I had to drop out the whole transmission crossmember that the torsion keys ride in, and they were seized in. I finally ended up getting it apart and off with one bar still seized into the crossmember, but it was enough for me to replace the pipe without chopping and welding my brand new cats.

Next order of business was to be like every other "overlander" in the 50 states, and put some vinyl on the back windows. Unfortunately I messed up on the passenger side, so I will need to order another one yet.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I drove it for a couple months, and monitored the coolant level. Previously the radiator was leaking, so I replaced it along with the cats, and I hoped it was just that, and not the intake gaskets, but alas, if it has the possibility of being something else even worse, it will be. Levels were still dropping. I finally just pulled the trigger and ordered up the gaskets. I ordered a whole kit, but after some research, found out that if you are careful, you can pull the whole manifold as one, without even touching any of the other gaskets. So I did just that.

Prior to that though, I had decided I wanted to lift this thing. Journey's offroad in Arizona sells a lift, but it's $235 for the basic 2-3" kit, which I wouldn't want to go any bigger anyways. Did some googling around, and found I could get shackles on eBay for about $50, body pucks for the front subframe for about $25, and then bolts for another $25. I did the minimum lift I could do on the shackles and only the blocks in the front, but I have the ability I can raise it up another 1" comfortably if I decide to crank the torsions. Then I will need bigger tires though, and the Michelins that are on this, were almost brand new when I bought it, so I have decided to just stay where I am at for now with it.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Next order of business was to be like every other "overlander" in the 50 states, and put a snorkel on it.

I believe this is what you meant.

 

[Hickey]

I had a 2001 GMC Safari in that same color. I really liked it a lot. Earlier models had a full frame to the rear, but these later models are unibody in the back. You'll want to research a hitch that's tied into a ton of that unibody rail.

 

[bryson]

So the front subframe can be separated from the rest of the body via the body lift? Interesting.

 

[Greg]

I'd be curious to know what it would take to make subframe connectors to tie the front frame into the rear frame and stiffen up the entire chassis.

 

[The_Lobbster]

So the front subframe can be separated from the rest of the body via the body lift? Interesting.

Yep, there is 6 mounting bolts. The way the diff is integrated into the subframe, there's not really a way to drop it, so the solution is the pucks. I've never heard of any issues doing it, all the commercially sold kits utilize the same setup.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I had a 2001 GMC Safari in that same color. I really liked it a lot. Earlier models had a full frame to the rear, but these later models are unibody in the back. You'll want to research a hitch that's tied into a ton of that unibody rail.

I have the OEM hitch, which is by far the strongest. All the aftermarket setups only use 4 mounting bolts, but the OEM one uses 6. It is rated specifically for the Astro by GM at 6,000 lb capacity. The Samurai and trailer will probably weigh a max of 4,000-4,500 at the absolute most. I don't plan to tow anything heavier than that.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I'd be curious to know what it would take to make subframe connectors to tie the front frame into the rear frame and stiffen up the entire chassis.

I'll go snag a pic, but I believe the rear subframe runs almost all the way up to the front crossmember. Even some 2x3 tubing integrated would be a big improvement. That said, I've been browsing the Astro forum for a while, I have never heard of anybody having any sort of unibody issues while towing, or offroading. Not to say it can't happen though.

 

[Rot Box]

This is going to be sweet! Dang I’d like a van just like that for moto camping and such 😎

 

[The_Lobbster]

This is going to be sweet! Dang I’d like a van just like that for moto camping and such 😎

The plan was to use it to camp out of as well when I first bought it, but now my wife is pregnant, so that idea has kinda fizzled out for now haha.