(10-03-2011, 05:20 PM)ben2go I thought the Asstros were full framed like an S-Ten.
According to wikipedia, the early vans are using the front suspension from the GM B-body station wagons, like the caprice. I don't know if its a stand alone subframe made for just these vans or not, but the rest of the van is a quasi unibody with a pair of fiberglass leaf springs in the rear.
I was surprised too, I thought they just dropped a van body on an S-10 frame, but its apparently been adapted from the large station wagons, which would explain why the vans are so wide. Then they took the S-10 drivetrain to power them
Design certainly makes it easy to deal with the subframe, its balanced enough that you can grab the back bar and push it around like a wheelbarrow
1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van