I will ask for some more details, like t-case, and trim heights. I am sure it was not rock-crawling capable, but was fine for logging road type use. The wheel wells were untouched, so it was not extra-large-tire capable. I think it would be fun to apply Jeep tech to an Astro. Armagedvan. The drug te...

I drove the Astro to have lunch with some GM friends who are still inside, including the engineer who developed the off-road package for the Astro/Safari in the mid-nineties. It looked terrific in Building 27 in Milford when I saw it way back when. Sadly, it was never offered. Then to the lab for th...

I drove my Astro to the Chrysler Proving Ground in Chelsea, Michigan, for an interview.

Yesterday, I blasted around Michigan snow-covered roads in my AWD Astro. I do not take it out everyday. The most exotic AWD vehicle I have ever driven was a Porsche 959, on a nice, dry, unregulated road, and the Astro in crappy weather makes me smile nearly as much. More snow tonight, more smiles to...

I rented an enclosed 6x10 trailer, and picked up a 2001 HD XL1200S about 50 miles away. The air temp was in the mid twenties (F), and the trans temperature never exceeded 140F according to the ScanGageII. I love my AWD Astro, even though it is an inanimate object, and loving an inanimate object is p...

I forgot to mention one of the best parts. They put it all in a package you can parallel park! The earlier versions of the Safari/Astro had a tighter turn diameter, because of the stops in the steering gear. Because of the poor Ackerman correction, there were tire wear problems, and the remedy was ...

No problem - I should have used the quote feature to avoid confusion.

Not at all offended. Just trying to get my head around explaining a $6k transmission to the Chief Domestic Officer.

Hey, it's only six thousand dollars! Isn't that as much as, or more than, many of us paid for our Astro/Safari vans?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/busin ... hoofinance

Minivans cool again? They were always cool.

The Astro/Safari is the best product that GM ever turned its back on. The final decisions were usually in the hands of the accountants. We lobbied for an Astro/Safari version of the Syclone/Typhoon, and for an off-road biased hi-low t-case. I remember seeing a pre-1995 built for off road in Building...

You've got room for a spare house battery or four in the wheel wells!

Exactly, Break. The trans cooling loop probably has insufficient area, and there is no forced "mixing" of coolant in the radiator when the thermostat is closed, so the heat transfer out of the trans fluid and into the engine radiator is limited.

Merry Christmas to my fellow vanatics!

My Trucool (same model & kit as timelessbeing's) went in a year ago, after the radiator loop, per Trucool's recommendation. Lightly loaded on the highway, the factory trans temp through a Scangage II is about 70-75 deg F over ambient. I haven't towed anything in over a year. The Trucool stacked ...