Jeep guy making the switch

[ChrisG]

Hey folks,
I'm Chris from Sedona,AZ. Dan from OLV sent me to you all, let's wish him well. I have been an die hard jeep guy for years but I also love GM. In fact my current 83 CJ-7 is outfitted with a 4.3L out of a 1990 S-10. My wife and I have popped out two kids in 2 years and I must sell off the Jeeps and get a minivan. If you know anything about Jeep people you know how hard it was for me to just write that. I have been looking for a Astro/Safari for a few weeks and when I came across Dan's site I was stoked. Now I can have my minivan and keep my manhood. I plan to sell off a 2001 Grand Cherokee and make the van purchase. I know this forum is to introduce myself but I also want input on what to look for. This may open up alot of varied oppinions so bring it on, I am leaning to AWD but here in Sedona the wheeling isnt too intense, so a RWD with a locker may suffice. I also wanted to know if there are any other folks selling lifts and accessories like Dan, He said he will be out of commision for a few months and he is also trying to sell the business. Its great to know there is a site for these vans.

[Rebel]

Welcome to ASV's. You're in the right place,,bunch of raised vans here and they will have all the answers for sure.
Know you hate to get rid of the GC. My wife had a 2001 we traded a couple of years ago and she's still talking about how much she misses it.
Hang around and the lifted guys will be with you I'm sure.
For me, I'm so low in the front I can hardly get out of the garage. Of course I don't get out of there much. Kind of a private joke. You'll find my van is a life long project.

[Cobra]

welcome aboard the lifted folk will shime in soon i'm sure but for now.... my 2 cents
i'm not lifted or anything and don't intend to be but i'd say go AWD you wont regret it lifting them might require a tad more thought but you'll be amazed at what they can do. i know i've been surprised more then a few times by the capability of my 98 AWD

[ihatemybike]

How many Jeeps ya got? My wife recently lifted her Libby and we've gone to a couple OHV Parks already.

As far as what to look for. These vans don't really have any major trouble areas if they were taken care of. Probably the three biggest problems are idler arms, fuel pumps, and oil cooler line.

Astros eat idler arms, keep them well greased, replace with Moog when needed as they last longer and have a lifetime warranty.

Fuel pumps can last forever or die after a year, if you plan on keeping a van long term buy Dephi/ACDelco pumps. Cheapest I could find when I put a new pump in Green was $280 after shipping, but it you are hard up and the van has a Dephi/ACDelco pump in it you can get a scary cheap rebuild kit for $30 plus shipping. Grumpy has one and it works so far.

The oil cooler lines suffer from crimping that doesn't hold up to the test of time. I replaced the lines twice on my '94 that I put over 175K miles on before I sold it with 211K (should've kept that van). It's been posted that you can fix the leak by removing the crimping and added hose clamps, but I've yet to try it (Grumpy needs it done). Some have just disconnected the oil cooler and removed the lines all together.

These are all are fairly easy to repair by someone willing to take the time and turn a wrench.

[mdmead]

I'm not aware of any other business building lift or off-road parts for these vans. (I take that back, Dean here on this site makes bumpers and rock sliders!)

But several on here have engineered their own lifts, with 4-5" steel body lift spacers (for the front subframe) being the easiest. (The rear can be evened up with blocks, shackles, overload springs or a combination of the above.)

I'd also go with an AWD over a RWD as these AWD vans are plenty capable. (The problem is ground clearance and low hanging oil pans and gas tanks!)

Welcome and good luck with your project!

[ChrisG]

Thanks for the tips, I Have a line on a 95 AWD and it is already lifted and it is about an hour away. However I need to hold off on the purchase until I sell the Jeep. Right now I only have two Jeeps , The Grand Cherokee and the CJ, at a point in my life I had a 97 Wrangler with an automatic for my wife, a 1981 Scrambler, and a 1972 cst Blazer. Those were just the 4x4's, add in the 72 Cutlass and the VW jetta and the driveway looked like a used car lot. The car hobby has definately had to take a back seat to the kids, In fact the Scrambler and the Blazer had no back seat so they were sold to make way for the Grand Cherokee. All other vehicles were sold before we moved from Virginia.
It looks like there were not alot of changes through out the years on the Astros so I assume whatever year I find is OK.








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[ihatemybike]

If you are looking at AWDs 98+older viscous clutch, 99+newer electric clutch. I prefer the dash/console of the '96 and later vans.

[ChrisG]

I saw a post somewhere else on this site about viscous vs. electronic and it seemed like the older mechanical was prefered.

[ScottS]

That was probably me- I have an o6 Trailblazer which as, I am pretty sre, the same type of transfer case as the 99+ astro. My 98 and my 97 had the viscous. So I can make direct comparison, at least in snow, the viscous is far superior - the electric case seems to allow the rear wheels to slip before it kicks in the front. So you end up sideways anyways, which defeats the purpose of the AWD. Maybe I am not using the Trailblazer right, but I never slip in the Safari. It does do cool 4 wheel burnouts in snow though.

[GEJ]

First off Chris-welcome to the site.Here you will find the most giving crowd of people you can find anywhere.So ask away in the topic sections you find on the forum.

[kings-x59]

welcome to the asv family. I'm rather fond of Jeeps myself. they're dang near indestructible. Funny you gave up the grand cherokee with two kiddos. I gave up my ford ranger and bought a cherokee sport because two car seats on the bench made for steering challenges. you are in the right place.

[ChrisG]

The Grand Cherokee was purchased when the first boy was born and then wham, boy number two came along. The GC has room for the two boys, but add in a 70lb lab and some camping gear and I'm looking like Clark Griswald in the family truckster. As I get further into my van search I will definately have questions. Thanks in advance for helping me out.
Chris

[dunedog]

the viscous is far superior - the electric case seems to allow the rear wheels to slip before it kicks in the front. So you end up sideways anyways, which defeats the purpose of the AWD. Maybe I am not using the Trailblazer right, :

Maybe......
I have a '99 and plow snow with it.Every storm I plow 5 driveways and NEVER have had anything like this be a problem.
These vehicles are great in either form and I would not be influenced by anything other than asking price.

[mdmead]

My only thought on the two designs is I like the simplicity of the viscous units. They do occassionally go bad, but have proven service lives of 200K+ miles. I've seen posted problems with the electronic units... and to me, it seems they are more trouble-prone... but on the other hand, I don't know how many of these units also can run to 200K without a bit of problem.

I'm a creature of habit, have 160K+ miles on my viscous case, and absolutely no personal experience with the newer units... so there is my bias.

[ihatemybike]

I found if fun when I had my 2000 AWD to remove the fuse for winter parking lot hoonage.