Calif Bill wrote:
"trainfan1" wrote in message
...

Calif Bill wrote:


"Tim" wrote in message
egroups.com...


JR North wrote:


PS: your Windstar is a POS. And you know it.
JR


Not near a POS as the Aerostar and it was Rear wheel drive. same basic
drive train as a dinky POS Ford Ranger pickup. the Windstar is
better, with the basic drive train as a Taurus.

a three mi. tow shouldn't be bad. on the tranny IMHO especially w/ an
extra cooler, but the ramp Idea is still giddish.



The Aerostar was OK except for the POS tranny. I got 85k before I had to
have it reworked. But I only towed a 14' Aluminum skiff with a 15 hp
Mariner on it.

The AeroStar tows like a truck. The 4WD AeroStar had a HD version of the
A4LD as found in the Explorer and tows very nicely.

The last WindStars, & subsequent FreeStars, have most all of the bugs
worked out and can tow well with the 3.8/3.9/4.2 and the AX4N
transmission. A cooler is a requisite. Going over a ton will eventually
torture the van, though.

A good friend did tow a heavy older pop-up camper with the early 3.0
Windstar. Everything went wrong with that POS EXCEPT the transmission(&
nothing relating to towing). They had to give it away - running, no rust,
but so many little problems including the CEL/MIL/SES DTC light coming on
for so many things it wasn't worth fixing.

Rob


My Aerostar was an 89. Had a lightweight Mazda tranny.



All V-6 Aerostar automatics were Ford A4LD models, originally a
French-designed 3 speed slush box, and modified to provide a 4th OD
gear. It was also used in Explorer, Ranger & (similar)Mazda pickups &
Navajo, & Merkur.

Ford modified the gear train clutching again to bring about a 5 speed
auto, still available today in the Explorer as the 5R55.

Rob