The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Chevy Titan 90/GMC Astro 95

Anyone familiar with the post-Crackerbox COE's?

Good points? Bad points?

Help me educate a friend of mine (That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Hi Peg )

Thanks,
John

I pulled the 8V71 and 13 speed out of an astro.
Don't know much about the trucks, but I would go for the crackerbox before the astro.

Grigg

Why? Looks? To each his own, but to me the only thing uglier than a Crackerbox is a '39 Ford :confused_smile:

:whistle:
John

While the cracker box is ugly it is pretty because it is so simple.
An Astro, at least for me, is starting to get to new and ugly, hard to explain why, but mostly because it's not simple any more.
Looking over the one I was taking the engine from gave me the idea that they were unnecessarily complicated, and that's not good for an easy restoration.
Again, I was not looking to buy one, and those are only my first thoughts, and half formed ones at that. If I knew ahead of time that I was going to be quizzed I would have studied harder.

Grigg

only drove two of the astros, the first had a cummins with a 10 speed. seemed i was lost in space felt like a lot more room than the 4070b international i was driving at the time. the second was a 8v71 with a 13 speed alot of fun but only bobtailed with it as the rears weren't right and the only way i could go was with them locked in drove it 40 miles home . it was a high milage truck. the wiring was jury rigged both doors had rusted along the bottom edges seems like the luggage dooors had issues with shutting properly. the ride was pretty stiff on springs airride might be better. the 73 astros were available with airconditioning and power steering and airride seat all pluses they also had a nice wrap around dash which as grigg pointed out started to get more complicated. i had intentions of getting it roadworthy but never had the time and had to get rid of it junkman cut the rears off instead of just starting it and driving it so had to find someone else to rescue the rest

the earlier astros had a small grill the later ones had a grill that took most of the front usually mostly chrome don't know about interior differences as the 2 i drove were early models.

I drove a heavy-haul wrecker built on an Astro with an 8V92 Detroit and a 13-speed Roadranger. Good rig, minimal problems, and it could definitely pull a load. I think the 8V92 was rated at 430 HP, or something like that.

Like with all Detroits, I just needed to slam a couple of fingers in the door first thing in the morning, get good and PO'ed, and drive it wide open all day! A lugged-down Jimmy won't pull a greasy string out of a cat's behind!
Jerry

Jerry, That's a very memorable metaphor -- thanks!

Grigg -- get busy and study every possible truck I might ever have questions about. Jeez, quit slacking! Seriously, I don't really think Crackers are ugly -- I was just blowing you some static.

Thanks for the input. I'm just doing some research at the moment...

Regards,
John

The one kb3csw mentions is the one I pulled the engine out of, actually it was already cut out, but sitting where it landed, and the cab was on its face in front of it. I just had to hire a wrecker to set it on the trailer. A friend has the engine and trans now, and I believe they are available again...

Grigg

so whatcha wanna know john? i used to own one, and have driven several.

they are:
1. g.m.'s first and last attempt to make a "luxary" cabover by adding automotive features. it was lame attempt, and came late as the laws regarding overall length were about to change, which pretty much ended the era of the cabover.
2. dash is easy to read, guages are big and bright, but the dash was so low oncoming traffic could see the driver scratch his nu----well, the big winshield and low dash made visibility pretty good.
4. for a big guy who has to drive a long distance, the seat won't go back far enough. guaranteed backache.

5. air conditioning system has some lines that fit only the asteroid. if they break, and they do, whoever fixes them needs to know how to improvise. done right, the a/c could freeze you out, but not if you were parked facing the sun. "greenhouse effect".
6. many cab things are proprietary to g.m. and g.m. only. parts are scarce. as with all big trucks, what wears out on one, usually is worn out on another.

on the whole, the truck is fairly easy to work on. not many things are "hidden", but under the dash isn't a fun place to be to work on things. still, a person can. remember under the dash means you are not standing on the ground, or thefloor of the truck. adapt, and overcome is all i can say. not alot of "goodies" for the astro to dress them up from the factory. mostly chrome bumpers, big marker lights, and aluminum tanks, but remember g.m. was never into custom trucks, and they built them on the same assembly principle as their cars. (a mistake). they were good fleet trucks, but most owner operators didn't like the things as they were #1 a cabover, #2 were sorta plain, and #3 didn't feature many options aside from the drivtrain.

what else ya wanna know? i know where i few are sitting.

Emoryville's!.....now THAT was one u-g-l-y truck. And don't forget the Dodge crackerbox with those gawd awful gooogle eyed headlight trim.

Kool -- Thanks for the insight! Plain with not too many options sounds right up my alley.

At a lot of the ATHS shows, it seems like you can't swing a dead cat without whacking a crapload of Kenworths, Petes, Monkey Ward Freightshakers, etc ... I don't see too many Astros and I can't remember when the last time was I saw a Titan. I think a sleeper Titan with a roadranger and 6V71 would be just the ticket -- the ultimate Big Bolt!

I may take you up on the offer to scope one out -- but not just yet. I gotta get rid of the little red car first!

But then again, there\'s a really sweet looking Binder on ebay right now ...


John

pretty slick corn picker john. short wheelbase and reyco spring suspension will beat yer a$$ though. i suppose you could stretch it. that would also make it pretty unique too.

there's 2 astrroids behind a house trailer place. both are toters, and i think retired.

buy one get one free?

john the 4070b pictured is similar too the 78 i drove in the 80's. it had the 290 with a 10 speed. got about 6 mpg avg running 71 mph when i could get away with it everything was 55 back then. as koolkar said they were made too carry a load and rode prttey stiff. it doesn't say if that one has it but mine had a air operated cab jack so you could just hit the button and it would tilt. jus don't forget your in a cabover the first step is a big one if you do. the dayton wheels on the rears are easier for the average person to deal with than the inner and outer nuts that were common at that time for budd type wheels

I had a 74' 'binder 4070A with a double breasted yamaha in it and the RTO913. Brings back some good memories. I always like the looks of these.

There was an outfit called George Smith out of Winnipeg, bought a fleet of Astros to replace half of their Freightliners. All the astros retired before the last of those earlier Freightshakers were sold off.
At this end of the country there weren't many Astros, and the few there were, got old very quickly.
Here's whatcha need, John:
[img]http://thumb11.webshots.net/t/30/31/2/23/78/2495223780096215731xzGiEb_th.jpg[/img]
They're ugly, they're everywhere, but neither makes 'em a bad truck. This one has a Series 60 Detroit, the best engine anyone ever built - as opposed to the 2-strokers, which were.. uh.. perfectly acceptable.

Not to far away, looks decent.
8V71 Detroit

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Anti...itemZ250165586855QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Grigg

that craker box is pretty sweet looking

buddy of mine has a early 80's i think Chevy Titan 90 pretty neat lookin truck but he says it needs shot of ether on a 70 degree morning he doesn't mind it but its just a pain to get in and out of it, and its not road legal he just uses it to move trailers around and he trailer fixin business

Nate

Go ahead and buy one John. I mean tell your "friend" to buy it. Crackerbox was a good looking truck in it's own way but the Astro and especially the Titan were slick. IMO. Actually the GMC 9500 with a short or long nose is even better. The 2 headlight variety, not the four. And a Detroit v-8 working hard sounds better than anything else out there, regardless of the Detroits pulling ability. Again IMO.

A Detroit V-8 sounds like a chainsaw on steroids. Now, a Cat 3408 pumping out about 500 HP, that's a real sweet sounding Diesel!
Jerry

heck just get that cannonball setting on 81 about 6 miles north of winchester while you're there a for your friend of course

kb3 -- You went by there and didn't stop in and see us all???? That Cannonball is owned by fred Craig and it's a sweet truck. If I drove off with it, I think he'd be a bit put out

Grigg -- thanks for the ebay link but that one won't do -- need a sleeper with at least a double bunk. Remember the "Peggy Transtar Fit Check" at Winchester?? Good thing no one took any pictures... (caption: How many Bolters does it take to get Peggy up into a Transtar cab?")


John

john i was thru there last monday so was a bit ahead of the rest of you. cannonball was standing watch though. plan to make the local atca show in salisbury oct 13.

2 bolters to get Peggy in the cab and just the Grand Poohbah to get her out.

Hey John and Grigg, I will be checking out a 55 or 57 cab/chassis this Friday, sitting not to far from my house, I will keep you posted.

John Gott