2004 Chevy Astro All Terrain Hellride aka Ferdinand the Family Van

irk miller

You've been mostly-dead all day.
DTT BOTM WINNER
Me being me, I can't buy something without doing a build thread on DTT. Enter my new to me 2004 Chevy Astro AWD. I came in at $4600 with 124k miles on the clock. It has it's dings and dents, and needs a few things interior wise replaced, but mechanically it's a solid truck with clean and well documented vehicle history. The plan is add a 3" lift, rims and all terrain tires. I fix the interior issues and the common seal leaks, especially on the rear dutch doors. Mechanically, it's pretty straight and has even had some good work done, like all new ball joints, the upper control arms, boots and bearings. I'll still go through it all from front to back. Pending my wife's ability to get two consecutive weeks off of work in the summer, we're loading it up and driving from Georgia to Utah to hang with my sister at their house on Bear Lake.


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Sign me up to watch, this looks fun. The AWD in these things is it from the S10 trucks?

Yes, plus truck frame, 4.3l Vortec V6, Silverado hubs and brakes. One way to lift the rear is with S10 leaf springs. 5100lbs towing capacity. It’s a truck with a van body.


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I thought so, I always liked these things while hating other "Mini-vans" real 4wd and body on frame = off road capable family hauler. I looked at lifting the Pilot for the 2-3 times a summer I'd like to take it off road to camp and fish but it's not the best platform to do it. The Bajaris is more capable once I get the AT tired under it.
 
We inherited a 91 Safari some years ago and it was a great race transporter. Pop the middle and rear seats out and it's the perfect way to get a bike to the dyno in the middle of winter. Or to sneak yet another bike home in relative privacy. They tow well too. Ours died at almost 300k miles with minor problems, but if the motor dies - unlikely - a 350 V8 slips more or less straight in. Just sayin'..
 
Yes, plus truck frame, 4.3l Vortec V6, Silverado hubs and brakes. One way to lift the rear is with S10 leaf springs. 5100lbs towing capacity. It’s a truck with a van body.

AND many of the components of the S-10/Astro are also from the Camaro/Firebird cars of the era so there's lots of availability of replacement and modification parts.
 
The dreaded “In-transit: Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility ATLANTA NORTH METRO DISTRIBUTION CENTER” tracking message.

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When tracking hasn’t updated within 24 hours like this, there’s a good chance the package will be lost for a month and travel to several other states before coming back to Georgia.

This is my lift kit. No telling when it gets here. Hopefully, I get lucky and it’s at my house tomorrow.


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Have you seen where USPS now has a premium tracking option!? They will charge you 2.99 or more to view the detailed tracking if something is lost.
Shipping is the devil.
 
FedEx - air or ground - all the way. No better shipping service. At least USPS is cheap and trackable, unlike Canada Post. You want ridiculous shipping times and non-trackable first class mail? Look no further.
 
Have you seen where USPS now has a premium tracking option!? They will charge you 2.99 or more to view the detailed tracking if something is lost.
Shipping is the devil.

I've been doing more and more eBay sales lately, and got bit when UPS broke a fin off of a NOS first year cr125m cylinder. I fought and fought with them, and finally was able to get $100 back from them so I was able to partially refund the buyer. I now spend the extra couple bucks on anything over $100 for the insurance. It burns me that I have to buy THEIR insurance just in case they don't do their job by safely delivering an item. Really is a ridiculous concept to me that you have to pay extra to a company to protect yourself from them not doing a job that you are already paying them to do.
 
Those interior photos really bring back memories. I can still feel the cold winter air weeping through those shitily sealed interior door panels.
 
I've been doing more and more eBay sales lately, and got bit when UPS broke a fin off of a NOS first year cr125m cylinder. I fought and fought with them, and finally was able to get $100 back from them so I was able to partially refund the buyer. I now spend the extra couple bucks on anything over $100 for the insurance. It burns me that I have to buy THEIR insurance just in case they don't do their job by safely delivering an item. Really is a ridiculous concept to me that you have to pay extra to a company to protect yourself from them not doing a job that you are already paying them to do.

Oh yeah, that reminds me; did you want the extra insurance coverage for the TW?
 
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