Vannin' Community and Forums Forums General Discussion Readers Rides Disastro 1998 Chevrolet Astro AWD

Is this your first AWD?
I've heard for years they were unstoppable, until driving my '05 I had never driven one in bad conditions, this winter I had the opportunity.
I carry a good bit of weight, tools and hardware, my ladder rack empty is an additional 150 lb. the 6 liter adds another 100 lbs. I've been off road / dirt road pulling my 6x12' landscape trailer loaded w/ demolition debris in 6 - 8" of snow and didn't notice.
Absolutely awesome.
I've done a little snow plowing with heavier 4x4 trucks and would compare my astro to any of them.

I had a '86 Safari and drove it anywhere, really liked that go cart ... gave it to my ex and she blew it up. no maint.

Looks great!

Only had a 4x4 once, but never took it offroad. I'm not much for offroading. Dirt roads is as far as I go. I used the truck hauling heavy equipment. Miss it. I might get the van out there once or twice.

Nice

Well, the time has come. For Sale

Today I became the owner of a Tahoe!
LS SWAPPED ASTRO COMING SOON!
Starting my research after I post this. I successfully swapped the motor from my push mower to a new deck, last week. So, I think I'm ready. Any tips, tricks, links, or info would be greatly appreciated!





The Astro is a 1998 AWD, 4.3 "W" balance shaft. I was told it has a 7 inch body lift. From the center of the weld to the top of the block is 5 inches. 6 inches to the top of the bushings. Tons of space under the hood.
The Tahoe is a 2003 2WD with a 5.3 about 200,000 miles. Very mild front passenger side damage. Possible frame damage.
Good to be back!

You'll have a bunch of parts collecting in your future, I haven't done an LS swap but I own one, my '05 AWD has the 6.0, my '93 I swapped a 350 TBI.
The info on my '05 is very limited as the guy that built it had it done by a shop and my '93 thread is useless to you as it is a 1st gen. but you can find them all in my signature at astrosafari.com. The thread on the '05 has links to what Teddy put up as a build thread and his FS thread, I contacted him immediately when he mentioned "for sale" lol.

Copperfiremist did one of the best write ups of an LS swap I recall, alot of good info for you.

https://www.astrosafari.com/threads/ls1-swap-1998-awd.72617/