So, that comment stung a little. I bought the van from a rock climber who did woodwork. The cabinetry and framing inside is decent, but yeah, the van had been taken into some rough areas. I had the money to replace the rwd transmission with an awd transmission and I'm happy I did it, even if it makes me sound like a fruitcake.
Hey those Astros are tough I see them on the road every day cocking in the miles away.you got to rebuilt training let's keep some clean fluid in it hopefully you're running synthetic. I'm an old old auto mechanic. The front suspension on the Astro is from a b body car think Caprice Impala of the same vintage. The weak Link in the rear is tapered mono leaf springs. That 4.3 engine is just a a 350 with two cylinders cut off it'll run forever. General motors was very proud of that van and was pretty well built. They dropped the ball on the minivan market. and for the commercial market the Astro did about the same mpg as a full size van so kind of left it somewhere in the dark. So anyway that's my rant make sure you got clean antifreeze in it flush and lose the Dex Cool coolant. now might be a good time to get the differential fluid out of there and get some flush fresh stuff in there the axles are 1/2 of the bearings and if you're carrying any kind of extra weight you're loading that down a little heavier. I kind of miss my Astro it was a dark green metallic with silver trim with tan interior. But that was many many years ago and many cars ago best of luck to you and congratulations on the Astro it will never let you down.I believe the marketing for general motors back then for the Chevrolet trucks was biult like a rock believe it. River
