Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Thinking about one of these to lightly mod for backroads/ overnight camping duty. Arizona has a ton of exploring that doesn't need 33 inch tires and a ton of clearance to get to. Big enough to sleep in with the dogs, smaller than a full size, RWD, easy to lift a couple of inches, AWD t-case to true 4wd hi/lo t-case supposed to be a switch-out. The last refresh 03-05 apparently had worthwhile upgrades in undercarriage and brakes. Nothing else seems to be in this little slot.
Any glaring flaws or trouble spots you know about with these? GM slams not needed.
No slams from me, these vans are totally great for the peculiar niche they fit into of mid sized RWD vans. Reliability of major components tends to be a strongpoint - at least of basic powertrain. (littler things sometimes an annoying issue, and the astros were heavier than the s10 they were based on and sometimes using the same parts for both was an issue) The 4.3 v6 is the classic definition of a last forever being 3/4 of a small block chevy, and the 4L60/TH700-R4 derived transmissions i've not heard to be a troublespot contrary to another poster. I endlessly see/hear of Astros with well over 300,000 miles on original transmissiosn without a problem (and would likely go longer if rust doesn't claim them or you still want to be driving it that much), and in the chevy caprices the same transmission would do a hard life of 150,000 miles cop duty then another 350,000 miles of nonstop taxi duty on the original transmissions with a more powerful engine. If there's evidence of trans trouble i'd love to see a reference.
Everything else on them should be S10 based which alot of off roaders love - if it's not strong enough stock, there are used aftermarket parts available - find someone upgrading his 32 inch tires to 36 inch tires and buy whatever he takes off the truck kind of stuff. If buying brand new for it all it can get a little spendy...
AWD ones are common in the north but so is the rust on them. Especially on a van that seems to rust a bit worse than others of the era. Converting to a shift-box 4WD shouldn't be hard because the Astro AWD box was used in the Bravada so i'd be surprised if everything doesn't just bolt between S10 parts and here.
A few things majorly in favor of the astro over others would be that major parts are widely available, cheap to replace, cheap to rebuild etc. I could get into an old astro and find rebuilt or low mile engine and trans for cheaper than any other van probably after which it would outlast every other van.
