Can an astro tow an astro

I just bought a 99' Astro and was wondering if it has the tow capacity to tow my 91' Astro. I know this depends on the total weights, which I don't know off hand, but if anyone has done it lemme know. My 99' is the extended body 8 passenger all windows. All seats in with some stereo weight too. My 91' is the shorty, all metal panels, walled at B pillar. Approximately 1000-1200 over stock weight. Don't have a trailer but I'm hoping to borrow a buddy's. If this seems like a stupid idea feel free to tell me so because honestly this scenario would be last resort. I've got a friend with the truck to do it for sure, but Im not sure he really wants to spend the time cause he's got a newborn and he's always workin n stuff. Oh and it's only about a 1.25 hour drive normal driving conditions.

eloudazztro91 wrote:

I just bought a 99' Astro and was wondering if it has the tow capacity to tow my 91' Astro. I know this depends on the total weights, which I don't know off hand, but if anyone has done it lemme know. My 99' is the extended body 8 passenger all windows. All seats in with some stereo weight too. My 91' is the shorty, all metal panels, walled at B pillar. Approximately 1000-1200 over stock weight. Don't have a trailer but I'm hoping to borrow a buddy's. If this seems like a stupid idea feel free to tell me so because honestly this scenario would be last resort. I've got a friend with the truck to do it for sure, but Im not sure he really wants to spend the time cause he's got a newborn and he's always workin n stuff. Oh and it's only about a 1.25 hour drive normal driving conditions.

i would say yes go ahead an try it.also take it easy and make sure the other person is knowing how to be pulled and know what they are doing.

I'm not talking about tow rope here. No one would be in the towed 91'. It would be on a car trailer. So add something like 1500 to 2000 lbs for that. Correct me if I'm wrong on that estimate. All in all I'm thinkin it'll be about 6000 lbs+ towed weight.

I would just be worried because my daily driver gets wobbly sometimes going down the hwy ...I couldn't imagine it with a trailer .. its a scary thought. I used to tow my caravan with my explorer. That dang thing got crazy on the trailer ..transfered the wobble to the trailer...then to the explorer..then to to the ditch on the side of the hwy lol. Im just saying ..it could be scary. Maybe a dokky would be a better choice? I dunno

with a dolly wouldn't he have to take out the drive shaft with those van's being rear wheel drive. if i am right.

no dolly. car trailer. locked down. no tires turning. 0 miles on 91' van in transit. It sounds like I've got a buddy who will do it with the car trailer. He's got a 06' HD Sierra. So no problem there. I guess I was basically asking if anyone has attempted this in the past. It appears that would be a no as far as this forum is concerned so I will not be risking this. thanks for the input guys.

nope i towed panky from st loui to junction city ks about 360 miles on a dolly with drive shaft in man

stick her in neutral and walla

i dont know jeff i think ya got lucky .....i towed my s10 with drive shaft in and tranny blew up about 50 miles into trip ...

Ok so it sounds like maybe the dolly thing would work but the problem is I don't have one, nor do I have access to one. The easiest thing for me is going to be just pull er up on the trailer and reverse the process. I know that dropping the driveshaft isn't difficult but that's still more work than just going from P to D to P and P to R to P. I don't wanna risk blowing up my new daily driver either, so.....

So will I see any of you guys in Perryville Missouri for the regionals event August 28th?

Team420 towed their streetmax astro from new hampshire to daytona and every other trip jesse made w it being towed by another astro if I recall. Ive towed w mine many times bedore but never another van. I did tlw my probe on a car hauler w my astro . I say go for I tg just ma,e sure ur weight is cengered or it will cause u to sway

Thought you retired? I see havebt been practicing your typing either ...

we are having a couple shows here in springfield this year hit me up if u want more info as i diont see them on the website!

if you town it with the van you will have to do it in drive not over drive it will burn up the tranny unless you put external coolers on it and not includding the one in the radiator some pull better than others and ya not pulling the drive shaft will burn it up to if yo dolly it

wrong i just told you guys i towed 400 miles with it in neutral, and didnt kill the tranny

this was at 85mph with my bmw x5 as well

and funny thing is i still got 25mpg lol

Jeff i believe the effects are long term. Not that it tears something up the first time. But ive known people who do it both ways. I personally would put it in nuetral..if its a spl van that dont run good enough to drive.. then i dont see the big deal

ok here is what happens when its running you have a pump inside the tranny that circulates oil in certain models not all

dependant on what year you have this may or may not be an issue

neutral is thye only way to do it unless you pull the drive shaft


funny thing is i googled the year and model of panky before i did it to ee if it was an issue or not and well google gave me the answer that way i didnt have to rely on people opinions that didnt know what the hell they were talking about


have a great day

I know this may not be a fair comparison, but when i used to be an electricians helper, i would drive my van (05 Ford E350 turbo diesel) and pull a 16 ft car trailer that had a scissor lift on it. The van was completely loaded down and I'm no sure what a scissor lift weights, but the bases of them are extremely heavy. Anyways, never had much of an issue.

I used the '87 astro van to pull the '93 astro that competed in Mod 901-1800. The van only weighed 7000-7500 lbs. We added a transmission cooler and heavy duty shocks to the tow vehichle.

Nine times out of ten the tranny will burn up or get damage from towing it with drive shaft in.....I work at a transmission shop and we see this often.....epecially bigger trucks with standards. Automatics are not as finicky as a standard but if it was mine I would either have the pulling wheels off the ground or the drive shaft out.

or van running and it neutra so the transmission pump id pumping lol

Has anybody put the rear wheels on a dolly before? Thought about doing this with my S-10 so I don't have to use a car trailer.

My only concern is the steering lock breaking which would let the wheels turn.

i used a tow bar and a dolly for my s10, and the tranny still worked like a charm in fact with the tow bar i would cruise near 90mph towing it lol

just put some wheel dollies under the back tires.. 5" casters can handle 70 mph on the interstate.. it will be ok

sanman wrote:

i used a tow bar and a dolly for my s10, and the tranny still worked like a charm in fact with the tow bar i would cruise near 90mph towing it lol

Yeah, as this thread has shown, it seems to be mixed results with towing in neutral.

My S-10 has 330,000 miles on the trans, so I don't want to take that risk. lol.

XFL-Leader wrote:

I used the '87 astro van to pull the '93 astro that competed in Mod 901-1800. The van only weighed 7000-7500 lbs. We added a transmission cooler and heavy duty shocks to the tow vehichle.

This is the reply I was really looking for. thank you. I'm still not going to take any chances being that this is my only daily driver(which I just bought) and my buddy will be available to do it with his HD Sierra. Im trying not to dump money into my new dd till I get the spl van totally ready. I know the heavy duty shocks and tranny cooler aren't that expensive but I still have a lot of work to do on the spl van, and my stereo budget these days is TIGHT. I wish I made more money cause this sport is hella expensive, but too much fun and exciting to quit. Same reason I can't buy a dolly. I can borrow the car trailers but i don't know anyone with a dolly. But for future reference I know what that entails if I were to use a dolly.

To Ryan: man I wish i could make your shows but unfortunately the regional in Perryville will prolly be my only comp this year due to funding. But hopefully I'll see you in Pville. I see your numbers have been going up so I look forward to seeing what you're gonna do next. And hopefully you won't be seeing me compete with a blown sub this time. Shootin for 155+ if all goes well.

charlesestes wrote:

Team420 towed their streetmax astro from new hampshire to daytona and every other trip jesse made w it being towed by another astro if I recall.

They towed with a full size Blazer IIRC.
I've owned Astros and I wouldn't chance it.