SurfVan
New Member
- Joined
- November 1, 2013
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Texas
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- Looking at Aerostars
Hello -
I'm going to check out a couple of 97 vans in my area & I'm wondering what I should be looking for on Aerostars. I know the basics like checking the engine fluids, & visual inspection. But what are the quirky things that I should check for with this model? The typically failures that might be a pain to find the parts for or might take some money to fix? I know rust is a problem on these but I don't think its something I need to worry about here in Texas.
My last van was an 87 Toyota that I was restoring until a drunk driver smashed it while it was parked.... of course that was right after I sunk loads of money into it & the insurance company didn't really see the value in my van... It was hard to find parts for the Toyota but searching through the junkyards was kind of fun.
I'm hoping the Aerostar can be a good replacement van. It's similar in some ways & seems much easier to work on. After some research it seems like nearly all of the modern vans made today, outside of the Sienna, are pretty unreliable. I like that the Aerostar was made for so long & used technology that hadn't been changed for some time. Reminds me of the volvo 240 in this regard.
& the Aerostar still has that 80's space radness to it. I guess everyone was just so into Star Trek, Star Wars, & Nasa back then.
Someday I would love to have an old 60's era econoline club wagon but right now I just need something a little newer...
Does anyone know the cargo dimensions in the van? I've searched for them but it's hard to find. The toyota was able to take my 9'4 & 9'2 surfboards inside. Since I live a few hours inland - this is kind of an important feature because they are fiberglass & suffer a lot of abuse from traveling on roof racks. I get the feeling that the worst case scenario is I load them on the side w/out the bench seats & up between the front seats.
But I'd like to build a bed in the back or maybe find the fold downs - my Toy had them & they were so comfy - especially when one is use to sleep in the back of crumby station wagons.
Also, I know I've seen these lifted... do they have adjustable torsion bars that can raise the chassis a little bit? sure makes nice to be able to clear the sand that big trucks leave on the beach.
Other than the interior are there any changes or differences in the Cargo panel version? I'd assume it probably has a better rear end suspension? I think they are pretty cool looking & might go with the cargo version but I'm not sure what I might be missing out on. Maybe some insulation? Louder ride? No rear a/c?
Anyway, thanks for listening, I'm pretty excited right now about having a van again, so sorry about that.. & thanks to anyone who helps point me in the right direction.
I'm going to check out a couple of 97 vans in my area & I'm wondering what I should be looking for on Aerostars. I know the basics like checking the engine fluids, & visual inspection. But what are the quirky things that I should check for with this model? The typically failures that might be a pain to find the parts for or might take some money to fix? I know rust is a problem on these but I don't think its something I need to worry about here in Texas.
My last van was an 87 Toyota that I was restoring until a drunk driver smashed it while it was parked.... of course that was right after I sunk loads of money into it & the insurance company didn't really see the value in my van... It was hard to find parts for the Toyota but searching through the junkyards was kind of fun.
I'm hoping the Aerostar can be a good replacement van. It's similar in some ways & seems much easier to work on. After some research it seems like nearly all of the modern vans made today, outside of the Sienna, are pretty unreliable. I like that the Aerostar was made for so long & used technology that hadn't been changed for some time. Reminds me of the volvo 240 in this regard.
& the Aerostar still has that 80's space radness to it. I guess everyone was just so into Star Trek, Star Wars, & Nasa back then.
Someday I would love to have an old 60's era econoline club wagon but right now I just need something a little newer...
Does anyone know the cargo dimensions in the van? I've searched for them but it's hard to find. The toyota was able to take my 9'4 & 9'2 surfboards inside. Since I live a few hours inland - this is kind of an important feature because they are fiberglass & suffer a lot of abuse from traveling on roof racks. I get the feeling that the worst case scenario is I load them on the side w/out the bench seats & up between the front seats.
But I'd like to build a bed in the back or maybe find the fold downs - my Toy had them & they were so comfy - especially when one is use to sleep in the back of crumby station wagons.
Also, I know I've seen these lifted... do they have adjustable torsion bars that can raise the chassis a little bit? sure makes nice to be able to clear the sand that big trucks leave on the beach.
Other than the interior are there any changes or differences in the Cargo panel version? I'd assume it probably has a better rear end suspension? I think they are pretty cool looking & might go with the cargo version but I'm not sure what I might be missing out on. Maybe some insulation? Louder ride? No rear a/c?
Anyway, thanks for listening, I'm pretty excited right now about having a van again, so sorry about that.. & thanks to anyone who helps point me in the right direction.