Well.. I finally found the perfect Aerostar! It's a 1994 Eddie Bauer Extended AWD with only 112,000 miles! Brought it home.. had it checked out... a little play from the outer tie rods.. got those fixed.. oil change etc.. all ready to go! This one will be restored to new condition.. almost no rust! I will post pictures as this unfolds! This is the only one after the "redesign" in 92 that I've ever found with the Graphic Equalizer. Love my Aerostar!!

 

They've still got the cult following.

I had to buy a single 215/75R14 tire yesterday.
Most of the local places don't stock the size and very few places can even order them.
I found a hole-in-the-wall service center that had two of them in stock.
I kidded the owner (I actually went to high school with him) that the tires were old enough to vote. He checked the serial number and it was made in '07.
That's new enough for me and I'll probably buy the single tire that he still has in inventory.

 

Gratz. The simple fact of the matter is, and why I keep buying Aerostar and keeping them running.

#1. There is no other van that offers as much available cargo room while simultaneously offering legroom and overall passenger room.

#2. The only other van with truly comparable towing and hauling capabilities is the Astro, which is shorter, less reliable, and less safe.

#3. Grand Caravans are booth smaller, but also less heavy duty. A 120,000 mile Caravan is generally considered old, many of them act old. They are approaching the end of their life, few will make it past 150,000.

#4. The Odyssey is too expensive. It is reliable.

#5. The Flex is great for passenger space and towing, but its cargo room is limited.

#6. Many of the Aerostars shortcomings can be corrected. Example, the trans can be upgraded to make it more reliable. The rear suspension can be lifted and stiffened to reduce body roll.

#7. They are easier to work on than most other Minivans. Anyone here changed plugs on a Windstar? How about a starter?

#8. In terms of long term reliability, they seem to rank supreme, smashing every other make. It is not uncommon to find Aerostars with over 200,000 miles. There are even some that have exceeded 500,000 miles.

#9. The only good alternatives for Aerostars are much bigger heavier gas guzzlers that cost more in the first place and cost more to maintain. The Aerostar seem to offer an ideal compromise between size, cost, maintenance costs, manueverability, and fuel economy.

Ok, so those are 9 good reasons why many of us drive and buy Aerostars. Could a Suburban or half ton van do the job? Yes, but they would be bigger, heavier, and they cost more to maintain. I'm not just talking about engine repairs, I'm talking about the routine stuff too, like brakes, tires, wheel bearings, etc. Bigger vehicles tend to have more expensive parts.

 

One of my favorite stories is when I drove to a big-box hardware store to buy a riding lawn mower. I pointed to the mower and told the lady that I wanted that one and paid for it. She told me to bring my pickup around to load it up. I said I had an extended Aerostar mini van. She went on to tell me that the mower wouldn't fit in a mini van. I had already measured it, but to make sure I didn't look like a fool, I again measured the mower and went out to again measure the van. I came back in and told her that it would fit. The whole time an employee and I was pushing it outside, she told me that she had seen "many" people tell me the same thing and that I was wasting my time. We used a couple of 2" X 4"s as ramps and pushed it right in.
The employee was behind her back laughing when I thanked the lady for her expertise and told her to have a good day. She was still glaring at me when I drove away.

I'm on my fourth Aerostar. It will probably turn 200K miles this week. My previous three all lasted over 250K before I purchased another one.

 

Khan...you're preaching to the converted here...love my Aerostar and maybe when this one gets too rusty, I'll seek out another - plenty left in Canada as we didn't dive as deep into the "cash for clunkers" craziness.

One point I'd question -- #2. The Astro is less safe than our Aero? I'd like to know your thoughts as to why, Khan...I would think they'd be fairly equal. Airbags, although I can see where the footwell intrudes into the driver's cabin - is that what you're meaning?

Load stories...

- I helped my brother get his all-metal lawn furniture into my van...2 lounges, a big table with all 6 chairs in 1 trip and the thing wasn't even near the bump stops.

- I loaded all the lumber I needed to build the footings (not the rails) of my deck, an L - shaped one which is like an 8x8 box and a 8x4 box. I was at the bump stops then...

- Towed a utility trailer that we calculated later to have about 4000lbs of gravel inside...didn't even break a sweat even at 300,000kms.

As for 14" tires, my Firestone rep has plenty - Firehawk Indy 500's come in "our" size (I just checked - mine are 225/70R14's). I have 4 on there now and it corners as well as can be expected for a vehicle that weighs as much as it does.

Good luck on your "new" Aerostar!

 

Ok, allow me the explain. The Astro is built on the S-10 chassis, which has a history of rolling. The chances of an S-10 based platform rolling have proven to be quite high. In fact, when you look at insurance studies on the subject, the 2 door S10 Blazer is rated one of the most dangerous vehicle on American roads in terms of rollover hazard. The study concluded that nearly one third of accidents involving an 2 door Blazer at speeds over 55 mph resulted in a rollover, and an average of 50% of the occupants of said Blazers suffered fatal injuries.

The reason the S-10 chassis rolls is when you corner, especially hard corners, the chassis twists like a spring, which combines with the mushy suspension, which does the same thing. When the spring is unwound, it releases with enough energy to tip the vehicle pasts its COG, and a rollover is the result.

One example is a story of tires, the point of the story is about old tires being sold as new. But the example story involved a college student who was driving with a friend to some event or reunion or something don't remember. Anyway, one of the tires blew out, and the vehicle rolled. I've had a bad blowout on my vans, guess what, it wasn't even exiting, it was just annoying, especially as I had taken the jack out to work on another vehicle had had neglected to put it back in the van. I ended up with the highway patrol stopping by. They had a big floor jack which made short work of it.

Some of the early years of the Aerostar had a higher incindence of rollover accidents, but it took a combination of things going wrong, namely, the vehicles were overloaded, the vehicle suffered a tire blowout or collision, and the driver overcorrected.

Sorry not meaning to preach to the choir about Aerostars, but someone, not a member may look at these reasons for choosing one, and then join and contribute to our Aerostar family.

I'm in the process of partially repainting and restoring mine. I'll tell you what, paint work is time consuming. Its mostly the well known rocker panel rot. Mostly because some bozo smashed the rocker panels in with a 2 post lift. Anyway, I've got most of the prep work done, just a few more spots to fix, then the paint can go on.

I plan on painting the rocker panels themselves with Reflex liner, dark grey color. I plan on doing the same on the bumpers.

 

I got my rocker panel crushed in as well. What's the best way to push them out?

 

You have to pull them out. I haven't fixed that part on mine, I just fixed the rust damage and fixed where water was getting in.

The way to fix them is to pull them out, which needs to be done at a body shop. They can attach various fittings and stuff to the area and then pull it.

 

Thanks for the explanation, Khan...now that you mention it, I do know of someone with an S-10 Blazer who had an inexperienced person behind the wheel 4x4'ing, and she put it into a gulley, overcorrected to get out, and had it land bang on the driver's side, then on the roof, then skidded to a halt on the passenger side.

Basically from the beltline up it looked squashed sideways and down, but he was able to put it back on its wheels and drive it out. Insane!

 

never cared for the looks of the Astro. still remember driving my Aero home the first night on an intown freeway with the passing headlights gleaming and glistening on the sides. darn pretty rig.

Astros ride like lumber wagons compared to the Aero and the driver seat is a hemorrhoid machine.

the 4.3L V6 is a torque monster but sucks gas.

thought about trading in the Aero on a last production year Astro, glad I did NOT. the old girl just sets out there waiting for me, she starts everytime and runs like a Queen

 

The one I just bought for my mom will need to TLC on the body. Still in the process of parting out the old one. I have dibs on the bumper, and I think I'll use the slider door on my mom's van cause the new one has some damager. Looks like the PO got too close to a tree. I just need to repaint the slider door to match the new van.

 

I live on a small island with plenty of salt spray from the ocean. There is only a hand full of each Astros and Aeros, but the Aeros seem to withstand the salt better.

My Aero has barely any rust even though it was stored outside and forgotten for nearly five years.