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southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 7:19 pm
by C11MAN
Figured it was time to introduce myself a bit after stalking the forum for awhile. So I have a 2002 AWD LS Astro with currently 117,000 on the clock. the van's been in the family for all but about 10,00 of those miles and its been an amazingly reliable vehicle for us. Currently its basically stock except for a Viair 400c air compressor and that I mounted above the jack storage.

and now some pics for the fun of it (I have always loved this color blue...)

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no pics of the compressor setup right now as I had the back loaded up ready to go back to school and could not access it, but I will grab a picture or two later

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:23 am
by okie1
You have a very nice van, & I like the color too. =D>

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:58 pm
by LiftedAWDAstro
That is a nice clean van! I like the color too.

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:37 pm
by C11MAN
Thanks guys. And this weekend I am going to be turning what normal is a 1 1/2hour drive into a 4+ one by taking all the backroads. not all are paved so it might not be so clean when I get done with it though....

also I cant wait to get started modifying the van more!

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 11:54 pm
by C11MAN
As promised, more details on the onboard compressor, comes in quite handy

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I had also notice a few weeks ago that the top of the plastic cove on my running boards was pulling away and there was rust behind it. Fearing it was rocker panel I had left it go until I had more time. But today I took the boards off and to my surprise it was just a separate bracket that was disintegrating .

here's was it looks like under there, guess this is what all that salt on the roads does :yikes:
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so I decided to make up some of my own and this is what I came up with

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it bolted right up and work quite well. Ran out of time so driver rear and the passenger side will come in the next week or so

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looks a little different without the running boards on :)
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Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:04 am
by mdmead
Welcome! Very nice van! Your onboard air system is pretty slick.

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:13 am
by T.Low
What agreat idea, to put the air compressor in the jack cubby! I've always thought about the wasted nooks and crannys behind the interior panels, but never that.

Congrats on finding a late van that isn' Pewter like too many of us!

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:14 pm
by C11MAN
with the air compressor I was told to keep the compressor hidden and that's just were it worked out! it would have gone on the driver side where the tank would have fit in with it except the rear a/c took up too much room. that space is not reserved for the future power inverter.

in other news, I got the van dirty again, and found the Mississippi.
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Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:30 am
by icebrrg3rd
Welcome from someone on the lake side of the state. Nice looking van. Was that rust only the bracket or had it starting rusting the rocker? If so, did you treat it with anything? Hate to see a nice van rust away.

-Andrew

Re: southern wisconsin AWD astro driver

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:48 am
by C11MAN
icebrrg3rd wrote:Welcome from someone on the lake side of the state. Nice looking van. Was that rust only the bracket or had it starting rusting the rocker? If so, did you treat it with anything? Hate to see a nice van rust away.

-Andrew
fortunately it was just the bracket and the rocker appears to be fine. I didn't do any treatments yet but I will this weekend when I take it back off. I'm thinking spaying the bracket and panel with a bed liner or something to prevent this again. not sure what to use yet but im open to all suggestions!