I swear I have the same issue with all of my toys/vehicles, they know the exact moment I have some $ and quickly proceed to deplete it.

Probably not related, but some of the older mechanical fans run the opposite way. I had this happen with a FSC, it was a late 90s K1500, was hit in the front before I bought it and when they replaced the fan, they used an older fan. It was quiet at idle, and until the clutch kicked in, then it sound...

If I were looking for a new Astro/Safari I would be looking for 100k miles and below if possible, though a lot depends on condition. I'm also partial towards the 03-05 years with the upgraded brakes, tow/haul button, no egr valve, etc. In addition to what mdmead said, I would also check/replace the ...

Amazon often has the Dorman 600-906 Transfer Case Encoder Motors on sale for ~$100 w/shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C10D3G

You can take it apart and bypass the thermal cutout(at your own risk), or replace it with a new unit.

Where do you see it arching? That has to be taken care of first. I would check the gear at the bottom of the distributor, they wear out and then you get exactly what you are experiencing. You don't have to pull the distributor to check it, just the cap, then grab the rotor and twist back and forth, ...