why the astro van deserves to be in the trifecta....

trifecta argument, smifecta argument.

The P71 can't do this.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48396

Oh damn. That's sweet.

Oh, and the P71 heathens left with P71's P71.

My P71 left? Then that was an awfully fat Miata I drove today!

(Sssssshhh!! I sold it though, it leaves on the 26th )

thats pretty much what i am doing with the 96 astro

my 95 is being retired as i wore it out. bought my mom a 98 a few weeks ago.

my 99 p71 rusted out around the 77k miles of drivetrain, it is being a donor. astros are more fun at this point, because the 4.6 has chevy 4.3 v6 power and i can put lots of stuff in an astro. i'll admit though i did have my table saw, miter saw, air compressor, a bunch of air and hand tools, plus the full size spare and a bunch of construction garbage in the p71 because i didnt feel like driving my van to a job in july.

I'd say Cherokee beats Astro for the trifecta though.

I saw a P71 on the road today being driven by a little old lady. Silver hair just peeking above the steering wheel, you know the drill. I can just imagine how much chaos she causes when she cruises the Interstate at 10 under.

And I have to agree - the old square Cherokee is the '91 Civic of the off-road world.

Keith wrote: I saw a P71 on the road today being driven by a little old lady. Silver hair just peeking above the steering wheel, you know the drill. I can just imagine how much chaos she causes when she cruises the Interstate at 10 under.

Sure that it was a P71 and not a regular Crown-Vic?

The Astro is what you use to tow your Miata or E30 to the track. Quick! Name something with 4+ real seats that is rated to tow a car and trailer, and can be purchased less than 10 years old for <$5k!

Even my acquaintance with a Carrera, RUF, and Miata uses an Astro as a tow vehicle.

I like mine. Only issue is fuel around town. I've pretty much permanently removed the way-back row. Tows my race car, tires, gear, food, everything to the track. Unload it when we arrive. The mid seat comes out and becomes a relaxing bench. Then the girlfriend, dog, and I sleep in the back. We love the back hatch, too. Just open the back, and the small dog gets plenty of air, but doesn't jump out.

I really like the back of that one. Is that a bunch of camping and climbing gear? I'm going to have to show the girlfriend that (we camp and climb). What kid of wheels and tires are those?

Javelin wrote: I'd say Cherokee beats Astro for the trifecta though.

Exactly. A Cherokee can do that plus go off road. You give a compelling argument though.

I don't think you can lose with either for the costs. In the Cherokees I've been in I always feel a bit tight for headroom -- I think because the windshield is quite short and I end up looking through the top third.

ZOO wrote: I don't think you canlose with either for the costs. In the Cherokees I've been in I always feel a bit tight for headroom -- I think because the windshield is quite short and I end up looking through the top third.

The Grand Cherokee is bigger and I think, nicer looking. And you can get one with a 8 cylinder. That is what I use as a tow vehicle.

Salanis wrote: What kid of wheels and tires are those?

those look like cragar soft 8 wheels.

Taken from here:
http://www.astrosafarivans.org/bb2/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8&start=30

that astro is compelling

Another interesting version which claims to be awd.
http://dayton.craigslist.org/rvs/1911051969.html

Here is an example of "how can you go wrong?"
AWD, Hightop, 87k miles
Asking price $1,195
http://columbus.craigslist.org/ctd/1905001020.html

Here's a local one with a third pedal. Now all you need is a SBC!

http://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/1929892280.html

and check out those awesome graphics!

Salanis wrote: The Astro is what you use to tow your Miata or E30 to the track. Quick! Name something with 4+ real seats that is rated to tow a car and trailer, and can be purchased less than 10 years old for <$5k!

Well, that's only because they made the Astro up 'til '05. Otherwise you could buy a Bronco, which has 4+ real seats, is rated for a car + trailer and then some, and can easily be found under $5k, and it even has the option of the 300 I6.

jrw1621 wrote:

That's ZAV material, right there.

Joe Gearin wrote: Here's a local one with a third pedal. Now all you need is a SBC! http://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/1929892280.html and check out those awesome graphics!

When I worked for the local Coca-Cola bottler we had an entire fleet of Astro. I do remember the first one we even got was a 4 cyl automatic. Wow, talk about labored. Just imagine and Iron Duke trying to move that big box if you weight it down with too much?

I drove a mid '90 cargo version for 3 years as my only car and with the 4.3L and HD suspension that thing could haul a ton, litterally. I do remember placing a full pallets of 12 packs inside. That is 96 cases which are are roughly 20lbs each or 1920lbs. That's damn near 1 Ton.
Braking distances were notably increased.
Funny thing about hauling liquids...you have the initial braking followed by the sloshing forward of the liquid that then really stresses the brakes!
Get that sloshing going side to side and you can quickly find yourself in a ditch on the roof.

Some of my earliest car experiences were tooling around like looneys in a 1990-ish 4.3 Astro. The car that replaced it was a 95 4.3 blazer (2wd) and for some odd reason i remember thinking the Astro was a lot more sporty.

Im all about the caravans right now (just dropped a turbo 2.5 /5spd drivetrain into a 95 last night) but the Astro does still have some appeal to me.. It's a terrible van compared to the Caravan but it does have that whole rwd and v8 swap thing going for it.

i respectfully disagree with the terrible van compared to a caravan comment. the astro is an exceptional van compared to a caravan, because an astro is a real van and a caravan is a car based soccervan. i have caravan #3 and astros #3, 4, 5 right now. for work you can not beat the astro. for hauling kids to soccer practice maybe caravan wins, but it's an apples/oranges argument anyway. two totally different platforms suited for different applications, each with its own merits. but for hauling or towing, give me an astro. plus more height to get stuff in.

Thanks for the respectful part.

My beef with astro's as a passenger vehicle: load floor is very high compared to a caravan, so step in height is higher, and that floor height also detracts from total interior volume. With the tall roof, the interior volume might be similar or better, but i like the low floor and seating of the FWD/AWD dodges. Also, i dont like the footbox area of the driver. It's just not as comfortable. I dont have any great love for the doghouse either. I guess the biggest thing is that engine access is NOWHERE close comparing astro/caravan, and thats a big deal to me because my vans tend to be engine swapped

On the plus side, Astro is even MORE sleeper than the dodge vans. Obviously it's RWD. the 4.3 has a power advantage over MOST of the engines caravans came with, and v8 swaps are neato. Id say the 4l60 can hold more power in stock form, but the dodge van transmissions can all be built to hold similar power to a built 4l60. AWD astros are easier than AWD caravans because the caravan AWD system has to be adapted to run anything but the original motor and the Astro AWD will work on anything with a SBC bolt pattern.

I like each for different reasons.. i may pick up an astro if i run across the right one, and have one (or more) of each

Feedyurhed wrote:

Javelin wrote: I'd say Cherokee beats Astro for the trifecta though.

Exactly. A Cherokee can do that plus go off road. You give a compelling argument though.

cherokee can't tow an is a horrible race support vehicle. The Astro was chosen because it can do both of those things for cheap.

mtn wrote:

Keith wrote: I saw a P71 on the road today being driven by a little old lady. Silver hair just peeking above the steering wheel, you know the drill. I can just imagine how much chaos she causes when she cruises the Interstate at 10 under.

Sure that it was a P71 and not a regular Crown-Vic?

I suppose it's possible she added the POLICE INTERCEPTOR badge and drilled holes in the roof and trunk for the look. But I'm going with P71.