Re: [A/S] Towing Question

["Jim Nasium" <flatt@xxxxxxx>]

   Kelly,

I've towed lot's of trailers with many different tow rigs.  So has a buddy
of mine.  He turned me onto the Astro.

Here's my experience, then my opinion.  Yes it is rated for 5,500 to 5,850
depending on year, and rear end gear ratio, and AWD or not.  There are 4
ratios available.  You can find your gear ratio by asking your dealership
service guy to decipher it from the sticker on the glove box door.
(easiest)  (hardest, I can send you the codes - you figure it out)  The
bigger the number, the better off you'll be.

As for pulling the Airstream...
I pulled my 23' twin axle, moderately loaded from Chicago to Seattle.  About
5,000 lbs total trailer weight.    Never Again.!! will I go that distance.
23-28 miles an hour was a good average on the 3 big passes comming across on
I-90.  Any hill at all knocked me down to 45 without a problem.  None of the
passes were very high, ( I think like 3,500 ASL ) unlike the passes you can
find in Colorado or the South West, at 6,000+, where density altitude starts
robbing you of power.  My Astro is a 90' with 190 HP.  With a 5,000 pound
van and a 5,000 pound trailer, that's 52.5 pounds per horse power.  =
dumb...

The big trucks suck the trailor first, then the van, leaving you swaying all
over the road.  And it wasn't from having too much weight in the back end of
the trailer, either.

Flat lands it is fine.  You can cruise right along.

My buddy Scott has a 91.  He pulls a box trailor loaded at  7,500, and his
van at 6,500, California to Alaska.  I think he's a idiot.  He claims he
doesn't have problems, although I've seen the rear of his trailer sweep the
sides of the road like a tail wagging a dog, becasue he loads incorrectly,
too.   73.5 pounds per horse power?  think about that one.  He has 265,000
miles on it and does not have trannie problems.  Same trannie cooler/fan
set-up as mine.  But, he changes 1/3 of his trannie fluid every 10,000
miles, too.

Our friend Judy from the club here, pulled a 27' with her Astro/Safari,
ONCE.  She burned up her breaks too, I think.  She now has a big Ford Power
Smoke, with a matching license plate.

I replaced the rear fiberglass single leaf spring, with a replacement metal,
heavier duty 4 leaf unit, from a spring shop in Seattle.  The city of
Seattle uses a lot of the vans because of the carrying capacity, but they
first replace the rear leaf springs, so that shop keeps them in stock.  The
glass ones will splinter and fail right at the axle connection point.
Originals are rated at 850 pounds each.  My replacement ones are rated at
1100 pounds each.  A very nice trade up; they ride beautifully.  With a 650+
tongue weight, they are really nice.

Mine has the 700R4 trannie.  Get a transmission cooler added to your van.  I
got the biggest on I could get, and sometimes on big hills, it will still
start to warm up.  At 190,000 miles on van, the Chicago trip took it's tole
on 4th gear, and now it will slip when under load.  Most people won't tow in
4th, but...  Most of the vans got the optional electronic locking torque
converter.  In 4th, when not under heavy throttle, or breaking, it will
"lock" up.  When it is locked, it does not circulate fluid.  The pump is not
turning.  Every once in a while, lightly tap the break pedal, which will
un-lock the converter and circulate fluid.  When going up steep, long
grades, watch your trannie temp guage you put in when you got the trannie
cooler.  When it starts heating up, pull to the side and stop, put the
trannie in nutral (it pumps more fluid that way) and let it cool off.  I
even added an electric pusher fan to the trannie cooler, so when stopped,
like in traffic, it still has air moving over the fins.

At 214,000 I lost my 3rd gear; it now will start to slip when under load.
But for that many miles, I think it did it's job.  B&M has a "trannie in a
box" kit that replaces all the worn parts, with the heavier duty parts found
in the 700R4's in the bigger trucks.

So, to answer your 2 questions; Yes,  I''ve done it.  and  Yes, from my
experiences,  I believe it to be unsafe.
There ya go.  Write me if you have any questions...


flatt@gte.net