Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[doebedoe]

Anyone drive an Astro?
Found a tempting one, but going from an 06 Forester to a 93 Astro has me a bit worried? Seems old.
Both have about 100k miles.

I'm on my second '01 -- what do you want to know.

'93 is first gen. You can find them 10 years newer, for not a whole lot of money. Second gen has more space, and in '03-'05 you get 4 wheel disc brakes.

Engines in all of them will last to 300k if taken care of. Lower intake manifold will fail, just plan to replace it ~150k, probably sooner if yours hasn't been done ever. Once a good Felco gasket is in you're fine. Transmission is next weakest point esp if you start lifting/adding big tires/cargo boxes. Fuel pump will also fail, just plan to replace. Dropping the tank sucks, so if you want just cut a hole in your floor and bolt in a piece of sheet metal to replace. Not sure about first gens, but later gens have a few different gear options in the back, and some have a G80 LSD.

They eat idler arms. Put in Moog parts and it'll last 50k between them. Not hard to replace.

[mcphee]

I had a 93 RWD Ext Astro. Engine and trans were bulletproof. Best road trip vehicle I've ever owned. I wouldn't be worried at all about 100k miles. If you're looking at an AWD, i can't speak too much on the reliability of the pre '96(??) system. It's not a terrible design by any means, but the '96 and up was simplified and less prone to issues.

[byates1]

ive always thought the astro awd a cool vehicle, no experience but it checks some boxes for me.

i'm so stoked on my promaster, daily driver. so far so good..

[Brownski]

Anyone drive an Astro?
Found a tempting one, but going from an 06 Forester to a 93 Astro has me a bit worried? Seems old.
Both have about 100k miles.

Astros are awesome. I had an ‘85 that I drove all over the continent and put over 200k on and later an 02 AWD that was mainly a work car/baby wagon but occasionally did some fun stuff (also went over 200k). A 93 is pretty old but the 4.3 v6 lasts a long time if the oil is changed regularly. An 05 AWD with lowish mileage would be ideal but if the 93 looks/sounds good and the price is low, I say go for it.

[kungpow]

Anyone drive an Astro?
Found a tempting one, but going from an 06 Forester to a 93 Astro has me a bit worried? Seems old.
Both have about 100k miles.

Had an 02 AWD for 5 years. Basically just changed the oil and a battery during my ownership of 50k miles, (150-200k). It was a tank for the 50k I drove it and if I had kept it, only needed some minor work.

Def need good tires, espec for snow, but handling was much more stable and improved when I upgraded. When I bought the car it had some standard touring tires that were hell the few times I drove in snow, and felt a little scary at any speeds just over the speed limit. Once I put on the BFG AT's it was night and day. Great cars. Hard to find affordable AWD's now. Let's just say I put 50k miles on mine and sold it for more than I paid

[mcphee]

I had a 93 RWD Ext Astro. Engine and trans were bulletproof. Best road trip vehicle I've ever owned. I wouldn't be worried at all about 100k miles. If you're looking at an AWD, i can't speak too much on the reliability of the pre '96(??) system. It's not a terrible design by any means, but the '96 and up was simplified and less prone to issues.

I definitely got it wrong here about the AWD. 1st gen AWD system (up to '99 models) used a viscous clutch system in the transfer case that was a 35/65 split at all times, then 50/50 when slip was detected. 2nd gen AWD system ('00 models and up) used a transfer case with an ECM and wheel speed sensors to detect slip, RWD only until slip was detected.

[skysos]

We have had no issues here in Oregon with my Chevy Silverado pulling our 24' trailer. I have chains for it but have never felt the need for them. I have thought about getting all-season tires on it just for a little peace of mind but to this point I have been amazed and that is with about 15 trips in the snow with it with a 2 hour drive of which a 1/3 was in snow and deep winter conditions. I have all-season tires on my truck(Bliz).

I'll second that as far as running normal ST trailer tires, with the warning that you have to know what you are doing to trailer in the snow. The trailer is fine as long as you are tracking straight, but locking it up in a corner because your trailer brakes are set too high will cause the trailer to do all kinds of interesting things. Set your brake voltage low and watch the corners and it should be fine. Pulling the trailer up a hill with any deep snow will require lots of traction so chains or snow tires for your tow vehicle are more important.

[goldengatestinx]

This is the Millenial with no car loans plan as well. Just hoping the old Astro makes it to then. It's way the fuck better than sleeping in my buddies truck bed with a topper or shitty slide-in pop-top. Now if you've got a full-size truck that can handle a hardsided camper, that's a different story. But you're not buying a nice hard-sided slide in and an F250 for south of 15-20K around these parts.

My 5K all-in setup is simple. You don't get a pickup truck setup as comfy for 5k. I reach over and start it up in the AM to get my boots warm. Pull out the mimosas, make some coffee, and only get out once I'm bundled up and need to take a shit.

Attachment 292019
Attachment 292020

Maybe 7 years ago we bought a '04 F-250 crewcab for $10k to put under our 1992 $2300 hardside camper. Still going strong.

[goldengatestinx]

Agreed. We do lots of late night journeys and the best is that wifey and the pupper can go to sleep in the back of the van while I push on. After I get my sandwich and road soda of course

Hmmm...sliding into the back of a snowplow after dozing off while the wife bounces around the inside of the van like dice...My wife can doze in the passenger seat with a seatbelt on or we stop.

[goldengatestinx]

.....wtf.?.?.....

Can't pay more monthly until the 50 year $150k student loan is paid off...

[simple]

Hmmm...sliding into the back of a snowplow after dozing off while the wife bounces around the inside of the van like dice...My wife can doze in the passenger seat with a seatbelt on or we stop.

I'm sure your wife loves to call you Daddy as well. Mine does what she wants.

https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uplo...gain-gif-5.gif

[3PinGrin]

Hmmm...sliding into the back of a snowplow after dozing off while the wife bounces around the inside of the van like dice...My wife can doze in the passenger seat with a seatbelt on or we stop.

Yeah, someone mentioned kids sleeping in the back while travelling earlier. That seems like a great idea until you get in an accident and are remorseful the rest of your life over injury or death to your child.

I mean, my babysitter used to throw us all in the back of an old Ford truck to run errands, and my dad hit my sister in the eye with a lit cigarette butt in the back of the Chevy Apache, but we should know better now. I guess you could argue that skiing is inherently dangerous in and of itself and I get that. But I would never forgive myself is something happened to a family member because of an oversight on my part. Safety rant over.

[::: :::]

How we roll! Attachment 292352

Almost looks like MHM...except for the amount of snow

[3PinGrin]

I'm sure your wife loves to call you Daddy as well. Mine does what she wants.

https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uplo...gain-gif-5.gif

I get that too! lol

[babybear]

maybe some art inspiration for ACH's rig

[mooseknuckle]

Check out the ingenious camper this French guy built on a Land Rover. Pretty slick engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LS3BBdvnw8

That thing is AWESOME!

[ACH]

maybe some art inspiration for ACH's rig

Ha!

I do need a new spare cover.

I'm more interested in the black, vertical fixtures on the back though.
Edited to add: bike racks apparently now that I zoom in.

[Brownski]

Check out the ingenious camper this French guy built on a Land Rover. Pretty slick engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LS3BBdvnw8

That is awesome but how bout this?
https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/d...949045370.html

[babybear]

That is awesome but how bout this?
https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/d...949045370.html

needs a BBI sticker on that fire extinguisher

[North]

Needs moar mudflapz, duallys, and a bear mural. Like so:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...ationFlag=true

[babybear]

Ha!

I do need a new spare cover.

I'm more interested in the black, vertical fixtures on the back though.
Edited to add: bike racks apparently now that I zoom in.

ok this is like 1 block from my office (and bet rideit drives by it everyday and also within a third mile of Djongo's place) so I'll try to keep a look out for bikes-on bc those are unique

I just love that they did both the Tiger parent and youth too. I think I had a similar poster as a kid

[pano-dude]

I've had campers, trailers and now a camper van and they all have plus's and minuses. So far the van has been super handy, easy to travel in and comfy for the wife and I. Just finished a 5 day road trip through the West Kootenays.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Ed el Loco]

My "metal tent", not much room, not warm enough for real winter camping, but not much money either. Hope to upgrade in a few years


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[3PinGrin]

My "metal tent", not much room, not warm enough for real winter camping, but not much money either. Hope to upgrade in a few years


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

I think you're late. The powder left already!

I spent several nights in the trunk of my SL1 Saturn. Thank god for fold down seats!

[ACH]

ok this is like 1 block from my office (and bet rideit drives by it everyday and also within a third mile of Djongo's place)

A sound rationalization for a road trip.