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Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:20 pm
by RobbVII
Hi
I'm Robb from the Mid-Michigan area.
Well this was a rescue. I never seen myself driving a van but a friend called me and said "you want a van?" My first answer was "no". Then he explained to me that one of his family members had this van that he needed to get out of his parking lot or he would be fined. He said you have a car trailer so I called you to see if you could haul it out for him. He said it's been sitting under a car port for the last 2yrs and he didn't know what kind of shape it was in or even if it ran. When I got there it looked a lot better than I thought it would. It is a 1999 SLT AWD. It had wrinkles in the dr side front fender, the mirror was tore off and the window was gone from the mirror hitting it so hard(All the damage was outer panel). Other than that it seemed to be in really nice shape. When I got it home I rolled it off my trailer and left it sit for over a week before I had the time to mess with it. When I got to it, I put a battery and 5gal of gas in it and it fired right up. The guy told me that the reason he parked it was because the brakes didn't work and he couldn't afford to fix'em.

I found an Astro on Craigs list that was being parted out, and it just so happened it was the same exact color as mine. The guy sold me the complete door and fender for $150. I replaced the front rotors, brake pads, and calipers. I also replaced the driver's side idler arm, the front wheel bearings on both sides, and rear drums and shoes. All together it cost me under a thousand bucks.
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Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:09 pm
by astroturf
Robb,

That is a great story.

Thanks, and Welcome to the Forum.

Jim

PS How does it feel now that you are a Van Man?

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:28 pm
by 6spd_monte
That's a good looking van, and a nice rescue story!

Welcome.

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:08 pm
by badassastro
Welcome from a fellow Michigander.

It looks in really good shape for a Michigan van

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 3:43 pm
by astrozam
Great score! and welcome to the forum Robb :cheers:

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:37 am
by RobbVII
Thanx for the welcomes!
astroturf wrote:Robb,

PS How does it feel now that you are a Van Man?
I have to admit, it's convenient and comfy. My wife drives it most of the time. We have had it since December so after the first good snow, my wife told me "I hate to admit it, I love this van! :-$ But... Can I call it a truck?"

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:45 am
by astroturf
RobbVII wrote:Thanx for the welcomes!
astroturf wrote:Robb,

PS How does it feel now that you are a Van Man?
I have to admit, it's convenient and comfy. My wife drives it most of the time. We have had it since December so after the first good snow, my wife told me "I hate to admit it, I love this van! :-$ But... Can I call it a truck?"
Robb,

If she loves it, She can call it anything she wants.

Now, if I could just get mine to love it.

LOLz, Jim

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:45 am
by doyoulikeithere
Welcome !!
Yes the AWD vans are great in the snow!
Thats a really nice van you found, thanks for rescuing it.
If you get lots of snow, a great improvement is a set of beefy lug snow tires, and maybe a bit of a lift too!
She can call it a truck , or Bessie, or whatever she wants.. LOL.
Dont some of those safari vans say "GMC Truck" on the back door?

Heres to many awesome adventures in the 'truck' :cheers:

Re: Hello from Mid-Michigan

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:43 pm
by Spaceward
It looks like you just drove it out of the show room! It looks brand new to me!