what astro or safari is the best?

[Chkou Moon]

i wish to buy an astro AWD (model 2000-2005) newer than mine and the question is :

what is the best year of chevrolet astro? is one year better than an other??

my goal is to find a convertion with not too much miles (max 60k)but not whith the hi-roof cause in europe its esyer to stay under 2m for going in parcking lot and cheeper on hiway!
i wish to lift 2" because i like off-roading.

[Cobra]

If i had to buy a new one it out be 97-98 year i and a couple others on here believe they are the best years

[Chkou Moon]

what is different?

on what i have to look for ? and how a see what year it is?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

1998 was the last year for the Borg-Warner 4472 mechanical AWD transfer case. The transmission was also beefed up slightly from previous years. The front differential gets a drain plug as well.

You really can't go wrong with any van from 1997/1998 to 2005. If you really want 16" wheels and 4 wheel disc brakes, then 2003 -2005 is what you want. You also get 6 lug wheels. The bodies were exactly the same from 1996 to 2005. The 1999 to 2005 AWD vans used the New Venture Gear 136 transfer case and this is prone to more problems as it requires more regular maintenance than the older BW-4472. The NVG-136 requires GM Auto Trak 2 fluid every 25 - 30 thousand miles where the BW-4472 only requires Dexron 3 ATF, same as the transmission.

No matter which year van you get, you really need to fit a HUGE aux trans cooler to the front end.

[Cobra]

and the ASV AWD guru speaks the tranny cooler seems to be about the only thing EVERYONE agrees on and stupid me hasn't done it yet(even though i have one at home) and i know i've had my temp WAY above safe.....

also alot of people say(I'm one of them) the newer ones 2001 and up lack power i know for a fact the 2001 my old man has you have to put the petal to the floor just to pass and it still doesn't come anywhere close to my 98's get up and go

[Chkou Moon]

Thanks for information

[dunedog]

simply put, I want a 20th century rig....................

I love my,'99 ........................!!!

[crash]

I'd also go earlier than 1999. my 93 has way more power than my 99 does. so did my 94. the 99 runs and shifts smoother but seems to have struggled with power, acceleration since the day I purchased it around 3 years ago.

[thevalleyboy]

Just my 2 cents..

a buddy of mine has the exact same van but it is a 1998 - both AWD except he has leather seats - and as far as power goes I believe them to be exactly the same - we accelerate the same - can pull out to pass the same - I know this because we have followed each other on a road trip and drove both vans. While I am not going to call the performance of a stock 4.3 in and Astro good, I will call it adequate. Once I strap on my tent trailer fully loaded, I really understand why people do the V8 conversion.

I have the New Process T-Case - I haven't done the next fluid change (as I bought it used) but first thing I replaced was all the fluids in the diffs, T-Case, installed the tranny cooler. Had no issues with the van yet, and hope not to.

Had to replace the front brake pads, and rotors - that was before I found this site - next time I will go looking for the brake upgrade parts.

As for my 2001 - I am very happy with it - other than currently the interior stinks like campfire after last weekend.....

Cheers!