Greetings

MadMike · August 24, 2004

Hello from Georgia.

I have a couple trucks but I'm better known for my cars. I play with Camaros and started www.nastyz28.com

I use my trucks mainly to tow and travel. I've gone through a blazer, an Astro and we're on our 2nd Suburban. My 1st Suburban was retired with 232,000 on the clock. I took the engine/trans out for one of my cars and gave the truck away to someone who could use it.

It's looking like the 2nd Sub isn't as bulletproof as the 1st but I'll whip that into shape with the help of this forum and the other chevy forums I hang out at. I was excited to do my "low-buck" air intake mod with a $25 K&N and a paint can cap, but when I went to do the maintenance on my cooling system I realized I should probably replace the intake gasket.

I'm 100% Chevy. Always have been. I'd rather push a chevy than drive a **** but most of my stuff normally works so that's not a problem. My wife learned why we own Chevy vehicles last year when our Astro van saved our familys lives. We used it all up. The window switch was broken and the steering creaked and the thing was a sluggish box (unlike those other cute mini-vans available), but when the frame started buckling and the airbags blew and the seatbelts locked it did everything we needed it to do. Our 1999 Astro

I bought a bunch of stuff for our 1990 suburban which I never got around to using, so I'll probably try and unload that later. I also just posted something elsewhere so I figured I should say howdy. I'll probably keep my mouth closed and read.

Regards,

MadMike

Here's a nice pair.

LikeaRock14 · August 24, 2004

Welcome to GM-Trucks

OUCH! That wa a VERY hard crash! I'm glad to see everyone survived and wasn't seriously injured. I just sent the link to my neighor, just so he can se how well his Astro will hopefully hold up if something of the sort ever happens. It looks like someone upstairs likes your family and the fact you drive a Chevy!

I gotta give credit to GM though. My friend was rear ended by an f-350 going 70 mph. His frame took it like a champ, it bent a tad, but was still considered a total. The Ford, TOAST!

Ad once again, welcome to GM-Trucks!

Frank S · August 24, 2004

Welcome

TROYROBO · August 24, 2004

antig24 · August 25, 2004

welcome to the site

ToeJam · August 25, 2004

Welcome aboard. Growing up my folks had an Astro and it ran like a champ. Used to race a buddy of mine in his Dad's early '80s 1/2 Chevy with a 350. Nothing serious, just kids screwing around. That 4.3 would get smoked on the streets, but could keep up on the highway.

I can't count how many times someone slammed into the trailer hitch and did zero damage to it while messing up their bumper. Astro's rock

And don't worry about keeping your mouth shut...do a search and if you don't find what you need then just ask away!!!!! There are a number of topics that come up over and over and over and no one cares (unlike other boards)....so just start asking!!!

MadMike · August 25, 2004

Thanks for the welcome.

I bought the suburban in 1994 (so I could tow). For a couple years it was my wifes primary vehicle. Then she wanted a "suv" and I told her the truck was an "suv". She wanted a jeep. suv jeep suv suv suv.... so we bought the blazer. It worked ok but didn't carry enough people. So she wanted a mini-van. I told her the suburban hauled 9 people and cargo. "It's too big we need a mini-van". mini-van mini-van windstar mopar windstar windstar. I wasn't too keen on the FWD mini-vans so I explained to her why I would prefer an astro if we had to get a mini-van. So that's what we bought. Ironically, it got 2 MPG more than our suburban. The astro served its purpose while we ran up the miles on it until the last day the astro was functional.

3 out of 5 of us were severely injured, but survived. The only reason why I wasn't killed is because of the airbag and seatbelt. After reflecting on this, and thinking about the non-airbag and sticky seatbelts (along with 233,000 miles) in my 1990 suburban... that became expendable. So we replaced the astro and the 1990 suburban with a 1999 suburban. If I didn't need to tow I probably would have gotten another astro, but I need the towing capacity. I really wanted a 3/4 ton diesel suburban but I couldn't find one equipped the way I wanted and I don't want (well, I'd want one, but can't justify a dually).

The suburban is awesome. I also realize what our astro did wasn't typical. It's also ironic that my wife nearly burned to death curtesy of the guy who hit us because he ignited, blew up and burnt to the ground 20 feet away from our astro while the astro didn't burn.

Here's a picture of what was left of our astro at the impound yard. The closing speed at impact was just under 90mph.