VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1990-Current Where to find info about my van?e with this.

I hope someone can help me with this. I bought a '94 G20 extended cargo van from a government auction. When I picked it up I dealt with an elderly lady at the administration office of the county that had owned the van and she knew NOTHING about the van's history or any info about it. There was no owner's manual. I don't know for sure what kind of engine it has, or tow package if any, or really any specs on it.

When I try to google it I just get so much garbage and conflicting and flat out wrong answers, and I just need one reliable, knowledgeable website that can tell me for certain (perhaps from the VIN?) what it is that I bought? I know I can get a carfax report but I'm less interested in it's ownership or accident history, and more just about the specs of the van. I should be able to find that for free, right? So I don't want to pay for Carfax.

Help?

Oh, I should add that the sticker inside the driver's door is so faded that it's completely unreadable.

OK, I found vindecoder.net which has lots of specs....problem is that at least 2 are wrong. I know I have the custom-ordered 33gal gas tank, not the standard 22gal, and my wheelbase is the extended 125" (I measured it), not the 110". So how do I trust anything else it says?

If anyone cares to reply.... I called GM customer service and they were able to research and tell me my van 1) does NOT have a tow package, 2) has a 5.0 L engine, and 3) the gear ratio is 3.42. Based on that does anyone wanna hazard a guess what the tow capacity would be?

1994 Chev G20 Van

ENGINE:
Type: Regular unleaded..Cylinders: 8..Horse Power: 200..Torque: 310..Size: 5.7..Valve Gear: OHV..Total Valves: 16..Engine Configuration: V..Displacement: 350

Gross vehicle weight 6,600

HD Trailering Option $508

Since the G20 shared much of its mechanical components with the Chevrolet C/K Series pickup trucks, then you might look for the towing capacity of the pickup trucks.

A couple of good link:

http://www.web2carz.com/chevrolet/chevy-van/1994

http://www.web2carz.com/chevrolet/chevy-van/1994/cargo-van-110-in-wb-ld-g20/USA40CHV193A0

Thanks for the reply! But some of it doesn't match what Chevy customer service told me. They took my VIN and put me on hold for like 10 minutes while they researched it. Came back and said the engine was a 5.0L, and the hp is 170 at 4000rpms.

See, everybody I ask I get a different answer! Who do I believe?

As far as towing goes, I guess I'll just err on the side of extreme caution, like 4000lb. I read somewhere that it could tow 9000lb but ain't no way I'm tryin' that!

I tried to list the "standard" components. Obviously you have some options added (eg. larger engine). I suspect that the VIN record will list SOME of the options that were added -- but probably not ALL of them. So you will NEVER find a source that completely describes your van. Not even from Chevrolet.

I gave you a hint. The vans were largely built upon a truck frame/combination. And there is a lot of information about truck capabilities, and towing capacities, MORE than for vans. If you really want to nail this down, find the exact TRUCK configuration that matches your van and then look up the specs for that.

I would agree that 9k is WAY TOO MUCH for you to consider towing. I suspect that you might be able to go as high as 6k, but that's just my gut feeling based upon a 2000 that I owned.