- Asking Price
- $10000
- Condition
- Used
This is a 1988 chevy astro ( gmc safari ) on a 1986 3/4 ton chevy truck chassis, shortened to fit the van’s wheel base.
this has a built small block chevy 355 , 10:1 cr, gear drive, headers, edlebrock carb, and dual exhaust with flowmasters. It also has an aluminum 4 core radiator with dual electric fans.
The transmission is a turbo 350, with a NP 203 transfer case with full time 4wheel drive with hi and low lock. Both the engine and transmission were built / rebuilt in the last 8 years ( I have owned this about 10 years ) and I doubt its had more than 30,000 miles on it since built, and that’s being generous. Most of what ive driven this has been on road but have taken it off roading a few times, nothing crazy though.
The axles are 3/4 ton 8 lug, the front is a 3/4 ton dana 44 with a spartan locking differential and lock out hubs so it does have the option to be 2 wheel drive and street driven and actually drives great on road. The rear axle is a corporate 14 bolt semi floater with a stock diff. This set up worked really well off-road and can make surprisingly tight turns through trails even with the front diff locked. This is the first 4x4 ive owned that i locked the front diff instead of the rear and was very happy with the performance off road while not sacrificing any drivability on road. i have included a picture of the van next to two 3/4 newer trucks to give you an idea of the size of the van. You might think that the van is top heavy but its not at all, with the steel & iron used in the old '86 truck chassis vs. the sheet metal of the asto body, im sure the chassis weight far exceeds the weight of the body.
It has 6 inch lift, with new front springs, and blocks in the rear and new braided s.s. brake lines and pitman arm.
The interior is stripped down , mainly because it wasn’t in the greatest shape to start with and no carpet makes for way easier clean up ( also i liked the look of it all stripped down ). All the gauges do work, what factory ones don’t, there’s an aftermarket one for. The fuel gage is accurate but works backwards so full is actually empty and vise versa. Both front bucket seats have 5 point harnesses as well as the rear bench seat has two 5 point harnesses. Also has a nice cop-car spot light, and the head lights are LED,( not just the cheap LED bulbs)
the A/C works, or it did the last time I drove it in the summer which was a couple years ago, it might need charged now, and I will have it checked / serviced prior to final sale. Heater also works excellent and this thing is a blast to drive in the winter especially when snow is too deep for the average vehicle.
The wheels are 16.5” Military split rim bead locks and yes , they have internal bead lock rings but they
are not the heavy military run flats , they are the large plastic rings that clamp the tires in place but weigh 1/4 of the original run flat type. The tires are the 37” military’s and still have a good amount of tread.
I had really thought this would make a great camping / overlander / bug out vehicle. Its essentially a late 80’s chevy pick up with a van body, no electronics , easy to work on and parts are plentiful ( or at least they used to be ) but i never got that far with it.
there's very minimal rust in this and no work is needed that i know of, pretty much everything on this has been gone through, might be something from sitting but thatd be it. and like i said, i'll have a/c serviced and i'll put a new a new battery in it, give asking price and i'll even have an oil change done while its being serviced.
I kinda hate to get rid of it but I haven’t used it much in the last couple years, so maybe its time. Feel free to make me an offer but please dont waste time with low ball offers, a built small block chevy is an easy $5k just by itself. shoot me a PM if you have any questions or would like to see additional photos of anything else.
thanks for looking.
$10,000 o.b.o. not interested in trades
this has a built small block chevy 355 , 10:1 cr, gear drive, headers, edlebrock carb, and dual exhaust with flowmasters. It also has an aluminum 4 core radiator with dual electric fans.
The transmission is a turbo 350, with a NP 203 transfer case with full time 4wheel drive with hi and low lock. Both the engine and transmission were built / rebuilt in the last 8 years ( I have owned this about 10 years ) and I doubt its had more than 30,000 miles on it since built, and that’s being generous. Most of what ive driven this has been on road but have taken it off roading a few times, nothing crazy though.
The axles are 3/4 ton 8 lug, the front is a 3/4 ton dana 44 with a spartan locking differential and lock out hubs so it does have the option to be 2 wheel drive and street driven and actually drives great on road. The rear axle is a corporate 14 bolt semi floater with a stock diff. This set up worked really well off-road and can make surprisingly tight turns through trails even with the front diff locked. This is the first 4x4 ive owned that i locked the front diff instead of the rear and was very happy with the performance off road while not sacrificing any drivability on road. i have included a picture of the van next to two 3/4 newer trucks to give you an idea of the size of the van. You might think that the van is top heavy but its not at all, with the steel & iron used in the old '86 truck chassis vs. the sheet metal of the asto body, im sure the chassis weight far exceeds the weight of the body.
It has 6 inch lift, with new front springs, and blocks in the rear and new braided s.s. brake lines and pitman arm.
The interior is stripped down , mainly because it wasn’t in the greatest shape to start with and no carpet makes for way easier clean up ( also i liked the look of it all stripped down ). All the gauges do work, what factory ones don’t, there’s an aftermarket one for. The fuel gage is accurate but works backwards so full is actually empty and vise versa. Both front bucket seats have 5 point harnesses as well as the rear bench seat has two 5 point harnesses. Also has a nice cop-car spot light, and the head lights are LED,( not just the cheap LED bulbs)
the A/C works, or it did the last time I drove it in the summer which was a couple years ago, it might need charged now, and I will have it checked / serviced prior to final sale. Heater also works excellent and this thing is a blast to drive in the winter especially when snow is too deep for the average vehicle.
The wheels are 16.5” Military split rim bead locks and yes , they have internal bead lock rings but they
are not the heavy military run flats , they are the large plastic rings that clamp the tires in place but weigh 1/4 of the original run flat type. The tires are the 37” military’s and still have a good amount of tread.I had really thought this would make a great camping / overlander / bug out vehicle. Its essentially a late 80’s chevy pick up with a van body, no electronics , easy to work on and parts are plentiful ( or at least they used to be ) but i never got that far with it.
there's very minimal rust in this and no work is needed that i know of, pretty much everything on this has been gone through, might be something from sitting but thatd be it. and like i said, i'll have a/c serviced and i'll put a new a new battery in it, give asking price and i'll even have an oil change done while its being serviced.
I kinda hate to get rid of it but I haven’t used it much in the last couple years, so maybe its time. Feel free to make me an offer but please dont waste time with low ball offers, a built small block chevy is an easy $5k just by itself. shoot me a PM if you have any questions or would like to see additional photos of anything else.
thanks for looking.
$10,000 o.b.o. not interested in trades
