Chevy & GMC Vans

Been welding and cutting all day trying to make my bumper conform to my wishes. I need additional tail lights and signals because my spare tire will soon cover the drivers side indicators.



The towing mirrors are full size Chevy truck mirrors. They require some mods to fit as well as drilling all new holes and making some interesting gaskets to make them look like they belong on the van. It was a bit of work. Someday I might post up how I did it but that could be some time from now. I have so much to do. The next few weeks I'm building a custom swing out tire carrier/ladder that will bolt to my new bumper. I literally have thousands of photos of my last few mods so it's gonna be hard not to share at some point.

I can tow now too! I'm thinking with 11" drums, 7+2 leaf pack and a 3" steel tube reinforced rear end I might fit into the 5,000 lb. towing range...maybe? I purchased a 5K# lb hitch and ball. Who knows.....I might only be towing a bike rack. I guess I need to buy something to tow now.

I thought these vans could tow 5k lbs stock (with a class 3 hitch)?

That is a nice setup btw. I like the bumper. I need a bigger front bumper on mine. People keep hitting it.

Also, a few days ago while my dad was driving it, some hood rats tagged the left front corner of my van with their beater and kept going. Thankfully theres no damage except a very small paint scuff.

safari kev wrote:I thought these vans could tow 5k lbs stock (with a class 3 hitch)?

Correct! According to my manual:

2WD: Axle ratio / Max Trailer Wt. (lbs)

3.23 / 4500
3.42 / 5000
3.73 / 5500

AWD:

3.42 / 4500
3.73 / 5000

I have 4.10 gears so I guess I could go beyond 5000lbs if I had some sort of death wish. The hitch came with a sticker that specified maximum capacity on an S-10 or Astro would be 3500lbs even though its a Class III/IV. No matter, the most I would ever tow would be a small trailer that housed my telescope. I have a BIG telescope and soon hope for a mobile observatory.

97CargoCrawler wrote:

safari kev wrote:I thought these vans could tow 5k lbs stock (with a class 3 hitch)?

Correct! According to my manual:

2WD: Axle ratio / Max Trailer Wt. (lbs)

3.23 / 4500
3.42 / 5000
3.73 / 5500

AWD:

3.42 / 4500
3.73 / 5000

I have 4.10 gears so I guess I could go beyond 5000lbs if I had some sort of death wish. The hitch came with a sticker that specified maximum capacity on an S-10 or Astro would be 3500lbs even though its a Class III/IV. No matter, the most I would ever tow would
be a small trailer that housed my telescope. I have a BIG telescope and soon hope for a mobile observatory.

I know the P.O. of my van towed a 5k lbs boat with it equipped with a class 3 hitch (I also know he grenaded the motor.) That scares me considering the shocks and front springs were toast and the brakes were worn. Also, I have no idea why GM only put 8" drums on the back. They should have had 11"s standard (especially considering that they knew people would be towing with them).

Filled in some holes and cut out some new ones. There's gonna be a thin layer of diamond plate laid on top of the bumper that will cover and conform to the round shape of the rear of the van. I filled in the corners with steel since these are the places I will attach accessories like tire carriers etc.



The holes are for tail and turn signals:





Time to make a tire carrier...

Cut a hole in my roof

Got the Astro-mino out of storage yesterday and did a trial fit of the '89 Silverado tailgate. Looks promising BUT It's rained all day today.

Made my own tool to release the T-bar. Then rebuilt the LF suspension. All new bushings and ball joints. Today I attack the right side.
Now that I understand how it's all done, I should go a bit quicker.

John

My tire carrier swings!





Now I just gotta weld the stuff to hold the tire.

Great A'Tuin wrote:Made my own tool to release the T-bar.

Ditched work and welded all day.

Just a few steps away from mounting my tire:

timelessbeing wrote:

Great A'Tuin wrote:Made my own tool to release the T-bar.

I went down to my local spring shop and had this 5"x5/8"x9" spring shackle made. While trying to explain what I wanted made, I noticed they already had one on a work bench! We just copied it. I guess these are common for Chevy trucks. I got the shackle, two sections of threaded rod cut from a scrap shackle, 4 nuts and a couple of washers for $24. I bought the 1/2"x2.5"x8" bar from a metal shop for $6 and drilled the three 3/4" holes. I had a buddy Tig weld the nut in place on the bar and the other on the base of the threaded rod. Later I had to weld the small tip on the rod to fit into the torsion key pilot hole. Completely over built for the job but it works great!
I'll put up some pics and a video when I do the other side this weekend.

Awesome. Thanks!

Yesterday:
97:replaced seized alternator, replaced battery, reconnected fuel lines , secured gas tank
98: seized passenger side caliper, removed alternator and battery
Today:
97:freed seized throttle plate, blew rear brake line above gas tank, removed battery
98:canged front calipers, installed new alternator


boy oh boy what's next #-o

van got hit again (I know....not again) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)
got hit from bumper to bumper by someone who changed lanes without looking (the car that hit the van literally looked like it lost a fight with a white concrete wall.....the whole side was pancaked/ shoved in and covered in white paint.) Other person admitted fault, so insurance will be covering it.