Chevy & GMC Vans

How are the Astro based motorhomes by Tiger and Chinook etc.? Do they put frames under them or do they have their own respective unibody systems?

And unfortunately, no, I'm not buying one. My buddy and I were just wondering.

To be honest I have been looking at both motor home manufactures for sometime and I never found a good answer to your question.The web site that used to be a Tiger motor home owners forum on MSN was canceled.Provans that built them moved and doesn't have any info for them any longer.I do remember a member here(but not his user name)that owned one of these motorhome.Sorry I can't offer anymore to help out.

One other thing I remember reading over and over again in the Tigermotorhomeowners forum was around was how limited these motor homes where in terms of their ability to tow anything.Pretty much limited to the M/H's wt only.

I looked under one once and saw no difference in the subframe compared to a regular astro. I was thinking "AWD subframe swap" when I looked. My wife said "I don't think so.". it looked like the stock astro floorpan was fairly complete under the rear part also, seemed kind of weird.

If that thing is still for sale I'll get another look at it, as long as my wife isn't around.

Tom,my friend has a 98 AWD Astro Tiger,and no there is no special sub frame. Provan just cut the body behind the driver cabin down to the floor and build the camper body on top of it.I was often a rear passenger in the back of the rig off road and the flexing is quite severe.But some how it seems to stay together.We navigated roads where my other friend with a Quigly equipped Sportmobile got hopelessly stuck.My friend installed rear air bags which helps the ground clearance but not the twisting.Naturally his front torsion bars are maxed out.

kamenz wrote:Tom,my friend has a 98 AWD Astro Tiger,and no there is no special sub frame. Provan just cut the body behind the driver cabin down to the floor and build the camper body on top of it.I was often a rear passenger in the back of the rig off road and the flexing is quite severe.But some how it seems to stay together.We navigated roads where my other friend with a Quigly equipped Sportmobile got hopelessly stuck.My friend installed rear air bags which helps the ground clearance but not the twisting.Naturally his front torsion bars are maxed out.

Well that answers that! Thanks, K, and good to hear from you.

I thought I'd drop in to give some info on this subject. I have owned two of the Tiger motorhome versions. The Astro Unit ( XL model) and the truck version (the CX) There was an earlier version called the GT which was on the Astro chassis but it had a pop top. Both of the "camper" units are almost identical except the XL (Astro) unit was about 10 inches shorter and 8" narrower. The mounting was a bit different. The truck (CX) has 2" by 2" steel tubes welded to the frame and the "Camper" was positioned in place and bolted to the cross tubes. On the Astro (XL) the "Camper" is placed right down on the rear floor area of the van and bolted to it. The walls and roof having been cut off as described above. The "Camper" walls are fabricated from square aluminum tubing and jigged together and set on the flooring, which has been precut to accept the camper frame. They then add all the interior walls and the major components like Refrig, heater, stove etc. The bathroom is built as the camper comes together and very difficult to renovate or enlarge if one wanted to. After all electrical and plumbing is done the fiberglass roof section is lowered into place and attached. All the wiring and lights have been added the top as soon as it was delivered to the factory. Now comes the exterior Aluminum sheeting,( NOT FIBERGLASS as some believed) the windows added and on and on...I live one hour from the factory and spent quite a bit of time there when they moved from Northglenn, CO about six years ago. In 2004 the owner (back then) Dave sent me out on a sales trip with the factory demo. I drove it up to Ohio then out to CO. WY, NV, CA, AZ, NM, TX where I showed it to interested parties who had called the factory and showed some interest. I didn't sell any but have a great time in it. It was the CX version with 4 wheel drive. I told the new company owner that I'd do it for him if he wanted me to. If that happens, I'll post it here and maybe some of you guys can get a good look at it right from your own driveway.

Great Info! Would love to check one out!

Had to scour the net for these...but rustled up some pics. Also here's a link to one for sale in Nevada:

http://reno.en.craigslist.org/rvs/1480547556.html



SOFT TOP:


HARD TOP:

I saw a Tiger last September when I was coming over Snoqualmie Pass. I was towing a car to North Bend to deliver to the new owner who lives in Bellingham (not Tom L.).
I never knew such a critter existed.
Make mine AWD.

john

John,most of them are AWD.Was the one you saw a Astro or a full size truck? Mine is build on a 2500 Silverado and I was on the road at this Time.Yes I 90.

It was an Astro! That's what caught my eye. I only saw it for a few second as it went by the other direction...

I'd love to see that pop top version in a custom lifted and kitted out for overlanding. Even its if just photoshopped. ( If I had a million dollars... )

If I could ever find/afford an AWD Tiger, the first thing I'd do is lift it, V8 it and have it ready for serious Overlanding.
But I think the only pop-top I'll be able to afford is an Autohome OverZone...

http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/overzone.php