New Member in DFW

[altozwei]

Greetings, all!
My name is Patti and my husband and I live in the Dallas area. We don't have an Astro/Safari yet but are currently in the market. We had been towing our popup with a Nissan Quest but when the timing belt broke, it left us without a tow vehicle. I've been reading about Astro/Safari vans for several years on the trailer forums but had this site recommended to me as the place to get ALL the info. I'm pretty good at
checking the basics on a used vehicle but does anyone here have a list of things specific to A/S vans that we should look for while shopping? There is one particular van in the area that says it comes with a "Tow Package" but how can we verify that this is really a "package" as opposed to just an added hitch?

There are many different discussion categories on here so if I need to move to another one, just point me in the right direction.

[Kidhauler]

the trailer tow pack came with a factory trans cooler and a 3:73 rear axle ratio. The RPO code for the axle is GT4 you also want to look and see if it has the code G80 that is for the posi traction rear axle. I couldn't find the code for the trailer tow pack itself I think there isn't one you just need to look for the right back axle and the trans cooler.

Most of the vans the codes are in the glove box up till about 94 then they moved the sticker to the passenger door. If you don't know what a RPO code is it basicly is the build specs for the van so they know what parts to put in at the factory. It will have a whole bunch of 3 digit codes usually one letter and two numbers but some of them are Two letters and one number.

The other really funny thing is to go to a dealership and start reading the RPO codes off the door to see what options the van has in it. If the dealer thinks you have the codes memorized it puts the fear of god into them its really funny to see the look on their face when you start telling them what options it has so they can't play the power hand of Mr. Knowitall about the van.

Good luck on your purchase. I know that others will get upset but I would look for a 96 and up van with the trailer tow pack and a posi. The 95 seems to have fuel spyder problems that cost a fortune to fix if it dies they seemed to have fixed this in 96 and newer. Plus you get the more powerful vortec engine in those years.

Oh and Welcome to the board.

[6spd_monte]

Welcome! I don't have your answers, but someone here surely will and I'm certain they'll be along shortly.
Happy hunting for your new van!

Edit: See! Kidhauler already came in with the info! This place is great!

[oldsmoker]

Welcome!

[mdmead]

Welcome!

While I do recommend the tow package if available, you won't have any problems towing a pop-up with just about any Astro/Safari van. Our van is a '96 AWD Hi-Top Conversion with 3.42 axles and we used it to tow our pop-up and also during the winter to tow a light two-place enclosed snowmobile trailer. I bought a hitch at U-Haul for it. A trans cooler would be a good addition... but we never added one... and can be easily installed.

Bottom line, any Astro/Safari will be an upgrade for towing over a Quest. (Nothing against the Quest, but front drive vans/vehicles don't make stout tow vehicles.)

[altozwei]

the trailer tow pack came with a factory trans cooler and a 3:73 rear axle ratio. The RPO code for the axle is GT4 you also want to look and see if it has the code G80 that is for the posi traction rear axle. I couldn't find the code for the trailer tow pack itself I think there isn't one you just need to look for the right back axle and the trans cooler.

Most of the vans the codes are in the glove box up till about 94 then they moved the sticker to the passenger door. If you don't know what a RPO code is it basicly is the build specs for the van so they know what parts to put in at the factory. It will have a whole bunch of 3 digit codes usually one letter and two numbers but some of them are Two letters and one number.

The other really funny thing is to go to a dealership and start reading the RPO codes off the door to see what options the van has in it. If the dealer thinks you have the codes memorized it puts the fear of god into them its really funny to see the look on their face when you start telling them what options it has so they can't play the power hand of Mr. Knowitall about the van.

Good luck on your purchase. I know that others will get upset but I would look for a 96 and up van with the trailer tow pack and a posi. The 95 seems to have fuel spyder problems that cost a fortune to fix if it dies they seemed to have fixed this in 96 and newer. Plus you get the more powerful vortec engine in those years.

Oh and Welcome to the board.

Great info! I had run across some information about checking codes but it wasn't specific enough to be useful. This will be very helpful.
Thanks!

[altozwei]

I will definitely agree that the Quest wasn't the ideal tow vehicle, but it did OK. It came with a tow package and did handle things pretty well on most of our shorter trips. It struggled on a trip out west, when we drove from Dallas to Yellowstone. It didn't care much for steep climbs. We probably would have gotten it repaired but our other car blew a head gasket just a week after the timing belt incident and it proved to be the less expensive of the two cars to repair. The other car is a Subaru Forester, however, and has no towing capacity. It would be nice to buy something new and nice but new cars just aren't practical for us. We hope that an Astro or Safari will serve us well for a few years without breaking the bank. We have found several in the area that have decent Carfax reports and are low enough in mileage that we think there is life left in them. A tow package isn't a requirement, but is just a nice perk if available. Most have no hitch but if we can find a good enough buy, adding the hitch plus auxillary coolers should be doable. Our trailer is small and lightweight. If the Quest could pull it, I have no doubts that an A/S will have no trouble.

[Kidhauler]

If a quest pulled it then any Astro will have no problem. I think a quest can pull max 3000lbs. A Astro can pull 5500lbs with a trailer tow pack. You can look up the rpo codes on google

[LiftedAWDAstro]

If you find a 96 or newer with the GT4 and G80 RPO codes and it is in good shape but has no hitch, jump on it. The towing package for the 96 and newer only came with the 7 pin wiring and trailer receiver hitch. The transmission cool is standard as well as engine oil cooler and they are both integrated into the radiator. No matter what you get, add an auxiliary transmission cooler and the tranny will live long especially while towing in the Texas heat! The other things to check are the transmission fluid for color and smell, brakes, rear axle for noises, steering components and see if it has rear A/C.

[altozwei]

Thanks for the nice welcome, everyone, and thanks so much for the great tips. We go shopping tomorrow so we'll see what we can find.

[alexalexanders]

Welcome to the forum!

[altozwei]

Well we found a van that we could live with. We looked at quite a few that were really tired or looked as though they had been beaten with a hammer. We looked at three that claimed to have a "towing package" but turned out to have only an added hitch and none had the tow rating necessary for our trailer. Most we looked at were real dogs. One 2004 van was in such bad shape that it would not shift out of first gear when we tried to drive it and another had an enormous hole eaten through the carpeting in the back from a bleach or chemical spill. We finally settled for a 1997, white and gold, single-owner van with 80,000 miles on it. We were skeptical of the mileage but the CarFax report agreed and the price was right. It has captain's chairs in the front two rows and a bench seat in the back. It has a few minor cosmetic issues such as tiny cracks in the dash and on the driver's arm rest but nothing that doesn't seem to be reasonable wear and tear on a vehicle this age. The AC was not working when we looked at it initially but the seller runs a garage and agreed to fix it. There is a short somewhere in the system causing it to blow fuses but that will hopefully be rectified soon. It doesn't have all the fancy bells and whistles that we saw in several heavily customized vans, but if we can add a few things like a DVD system and some extra speakers, I think it will be quite adequate for family trips. My kids are already thrilled at the thought of not being crammed into the backseat of the Toyota.