Quote:
Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest
Having owned an Astro van and an S10 with the 4.3L motor and having towed pop-ups with both there is no way I would pull our TM with either. Here in Florida you could get away with it barely but any other state with a minimum interstate speed limit of 50 mph and anything to climb other than our small sand dunes the astro and s10 won't be able to do it. The S10 could not handle the pop-up on I77, I81 and I64 in WV and VA. The S10 had 4.10 gears and a 5200# TC pulling a 2600# pop-up. The Astro had 3.73 gears and made the last long pull into Ashville, NC on I26 at 40mph. We just got back from almost 7 months on the road and pulling the TM with 4.7L v8 was no problem. We did avoid the interstates as much as possible. We spent two months with the TM above 3000 ft which is nothing compared to the 9000 feet plus we towed the pop-up last year.
Just my $.02 worth
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Your experience is very different than mine.
I believe in using the appropriate tool for the job.
No sense in using a chain saw to cut butter in other words.
I have towed our 3124 all over the western half of the US with a 1996 Astro Van. For 4 summers we lived in our TM, towing it over many high passes in the west.
I had the TM weighed at the 2000 Jubilee in Rapid City, SD by an outfit that specializes in weighing trailers and tow rigs called A'Weigh We Go.
Out TM weighed 4820 lbs and I was towing with the Astro's stock axle gearing of 3.23, giving me a tow rating of 4500 lbs so I was basically overloaded and yet we hauled from there to WY, up the Olympic Penninsula, down the Pacific Coast and back to FL stopping at the Grand Canyon. I think the toughest haul we did on that maiden voyage was up Hualipi Mountain outside of Kingman, AZ.
I never had one problem with the Astro Van.
When I returned to FL I had the axle gearing changed out to 3.73, increasing the tow rating to 5500 lbs which really improved things.
I tow in 3rd as recommended (4th or Drive is actually an overdrive ratio) in the owner's manual and I get 15 mpg.
I installed an aux tranny cooler before I started towing the TM.
I had the trans rebuilt in 2006 just for the peace of mind before starting out on another X country trip.
We moved to OR in 2008 and the old Astro with 175K on her still tows the TM over the Cascade passes just fine.
I keep my speed down to 60 when towing. No sense in wasting gas just to get to camp a few minutes earlier.
Your mileage may vary as they say but my experience is that the Astro makes a perfect tow vehicle for us. We like to bike and the cargo van style that we have just swallows up our tandem and a couple mt bikes with plenty of room left over for camping gear and our dog crate and everything stays locked up and protected and easily accessible.
Too bad that GM discontinued making the Astro. There is not a mid size van on the market today that can replace the Astro.