Neto

The way I checked for the caliper issue I mentioned was to jack up the wheel, then have some one engage the brake while I rocked the wheel. You shouldn't be able to move it, but if it does, you'll likely hear the clunking sound.

This is an old thread, and the original poster never returned to say what the problem turned out to be, but I have had similar noises on a couple of different vehicles, although not on our Journey. Sometimes the caliper slides become loose enough that the floating side can rotate just enough to bang back & forth against the stops when going over a bump, or through a pot hole. When the brake is just slightly engaged, then the floating part of the caliper is held against the stop, and there is no clunking noise. (The two vehicles I had that did this were a 98 Dodge Neon, and a 98 Chevy S-10.)

I have a 2009, and not sure it is the same, but a lot of hardware stores have a display that has all of the different thread sizes mounted on it, like studs for matching a tapped piece, and long nuts for matching a threaded piece. I would assume that it is metric, and so I'd take the antenna into the store, and see if there is one that matches. If not, it may be some sort of proprietary thread, but I doubt they'd go to that extra expense.

I need replacement washer nozzles. China has cheep ones, but reviews say they have a poor spray pattern, like either a single stream, or it just spits a bit. OEM costs way more. (Like 5 x) I see the Dorman brand offered by USA parts stores - any input in regards to their quality, in comparison to MoPar OEM?

The deal about it being built in Mexico was just an aside, not intending to make any point at all. It's just a personal quirk, I guess. One might say that there is a general principle taught in the Old Testament, that no matter where you live, you should seek the prosperity of the country where you live. So when in the USA, I try to buy American. I did not intend it as a criticism. (I am a systems builder, and almost none of the parts I use are manufactured here in the USA. But that seems unavoidable. I know that it is a world economy now-a-days. I just got off topic on my own thread, on the first post.....)

I don't think I've seen one here, but many forums have a thread where folks sort of brag about how many miles they have on their vehicles. This is the opposite in our case. We purchased our 2009 Journey in December of 2010, and it's been one of the very best vehicles we've owned. Ours is the 4-banger, and sure, it's a bit wimpy on the hills, and you don't get into races with this thing. Anyway, we bought it low miles, and it just passed 80,000 miles. (We don't travel a lot to start with, and we've taken my work vehicle, a 2010 Dodge Caravan on several longer trips since we bought it a few years back.) My only disappointment was when I was signing the papers, realizing that it was not built in the USA, but in Mexico. Nothing against Mexico, I just like to drive vehicles built in the country where I'm living. So when we lived in Brazil, we drove a Brazil-built vehicle.

I would be interested to hear how an ionizer performs for this task. I have wondered in the past, and tried to get my father-in-law to go that route to defume an apartment the family manages for him. (We ended up pulling all of the carpets and flooring, and painting the subfloor with an oil-based paint. The carpet had to be replaced anyway, as did the flooring. The smell was still there to some degree, under the paint smell.) A friend who has a bed-n-breakfast has one, and tells me that they work well. I've heard of others say (real) charcoal left in a vehicle will help. I bought a used PU some years ago that reaked of cigarette smoke, and since the seat was broken down anyway, I pulled it out & replaced it with one from the salvage. While I had it out I used a commercial carpet cleaner my wife had rented anyway to do the carpets in our home, and shampooed the carpets, headliner, and door panels. It did a pretty good job of it, but interestingly, the time when I could still smell it the most was on a real cold morning - more than when it sat outside in the summer. (I would have thought that the heat would bring it out more than the cold.)

It sounds like a good deal as you've priced it, but I guess I'm just too far away. I've heard of people shipping via Greyhound, but that was 35 years ago. Hope you can find a buyer closer to you. Thanks for trying, though.

I tried to enlarge the photo of the invoice, to see what the total weight was (234?). Wondering what it might run to ship to Ohio, zip code 44610.

I have mine fastened on with pull ties. Now 6 years that way. I just cannot bear to drill holes in the bumper skin.

I think this post has a clue as to what the problem may well be. I've had several vehicles (none were Journeys, but all with disk brakes in the front) that had this clunking noise when going over some irregularity in the road surface. Raise the vehicle under the lower control arm. Have some one hold the brakes, then see if you can get the clunk by rocking the wheel back & forth. What I have encountered on these other vehicles (Some Chrysler products, others not) is that the sliding half of the calipers is banging back & forth against the stops. So when you are on the brakes a bit it won't do it, because the extra drag will hold it against the one side. It may be the slides or pins that are worn out, but in my case I needed to replace the calipers for other reasons anyway, and it stopped the noise. (I do live in the "Rust Belt".)

I tend to think that if they designed it into the body structure from the beginning, it shouldn't add too much material or cost. I'm thinking that if it was done that way, that structural member would serve for some other functions as well. And if you've ever pulled the side panels on these vehicles, you know that it is a good deal of work. Small planes (like the Cessna 206 we always flew in) are not built real hefty inside - they can't be and stay as light as they are. The grass airstrip we always flew into was only a bit over 500 meters. The planes all had the STOL (Short Take-Off & Landing) modification, but it could still be touch & go, if the grass was wet, or if the wind changed directions on you just as you landed. (Happened one time. The pilot did a ground loop, where they spin the plane around and use the prop to stop it.) I should look at out Journey in the back, to see if I can tell where the third row seat belts would have attached. (Ours came w/o the 3rd row.) The net itself would be the biggest expense. The easiest place to install something like they have in small aircraft would be in the floor. They have these runners set into the floor, and you use special clips to attach at any place along the length of the runner.

Speaking of hazards in case of a collision (or roll-over), this is something I've been concerned about since we got our first minivan (1993 T&C, in 2000). We did a lot of traveling back & forth to a remote village in the Amazon via Cessna, and all baggage was always secured or covered with a net. I have always wondered why this is not a concern in vehicle safety. A 50 lb suitcase could do a lot of damage to passengers. Just wondered why it is not at least an option. All they would have to do is design in some latch points along the side just below the windows.

The whole idea of driverless cars.

2009 with no 3rd row. I have never missed it, and like the extra storage space back there. It's a 4-banger, & I imagine the weight difference helps the MPG, and acceleration. (But I have a 2010 Caravan for work that has the stow & go, so we have another option in the rare cases when we need more seating.)

I just said: "Welcome! (I am an American, but I lived in Brazil for 18 years, the majority of that time close to Porto Velho, in the state of Rondonia. We returned to the States 13 years ago.)"

Seja bem vindo! (Sou Americano, mas morei no Brasil para 18 anos, o maijoria perto de Porto Velho, RO. Estamos de volta nos EUA uns 13 anos agora.)

In the years since I got my first car (1976, at age 20, almost 21) I have never once taken a car in to get the oil changed. I like to evaluate the oil myself, its color, viscosity, any grit or shavings, etc., and to let it have enough time to drain out as completely as possible. I won't argue one brand over another, but always use the same brand consistently. (I also use the largest filter I can find that will fit the engine. Again, I won't argue about it, but it's what I do.)

In general I would be pretty leery of a modern uni-body car that had been wrecked, because there can be all kinds of hidden tears & stress in the metal that might compromise its normal & proper performance in another accident. (Older uni-bodies were more like integrated chassis - the body itself was not so much of the actual structure of the body as a whole. Now even the windshield is considered structural.) But all that said, this one appears to have been damaged only behind the rear axle, so it might not have any of these problems. So if the doors operate correctly on the right side, maybe there is no damage to the main body structure. But as already said, I would also think that it should be regarded as a long-term purchase, possibly to be driven until it is totally spent (because of limited resale value due to the salvage title).

We have a 2009 with the 2.4 4 banger in it (since December 2010), and while yes it is under-powered in comparison to the V6s, it has been a good engine. It is a base model with no third row seating, which helps weight-wise. We do only have 70 some thousand miles on it, and it is regularly maintained. (Our previous MoPar family cars were a 93 T & C w/ the 3.3, a 2000 T & C with the 3.8, and my current work vehicle is the 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan w/ the 4.0. So yes, I know the difference.)

I guess I will if I have to, but didn't want to use two different sizes of tires. Do the 17 inch ones have a shorter sidewall, to prevent throwing the odometer & speed off?

I'm still searching for a second set of 16" steel wheels for our 2009 Journey, and found the following information on a site called GetAllParts DOT com. Is this a correct list? I would have thought that 16" wheels would be all over the place, considering how many people think that the smaller brakes used on the early Journeys were insufficient. (We have had this vehicle since December 2010, and have never found the braking to be subpar.) I can find new ones for sale, but no used ones at reasonable prices. Vehicle Fitment This part fits the following vehicles: 2008 Chrysler Town and Country 2009 Chrysler Town and Country 2010 Chrysler Town and Country 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan 2009 Dodge Journey 2010 Dodge Journey

I ran all weather treads on all of my cars from about 78 on (before that, I had just regular summer treads, and that was in Minnesota) until my wife found out about Blizzacks, when our oldest child started driving (around 2003). I still have them on my work car, but last winter will probably be the last time she lets me get by with it.

Either they have an extra car, or she got her spokes figured out. Here & gone.

On my 46 Plymouth the access is from the top. People used to complain about the mess it made when you pulled the filter element out of the canister. One of my Uncles had one that used a roll of TP as the filter. But back then an oil filter was an option, and if they did have one, it was a bypass filter, like on my Plymouth. (It would be inteesting to know how much of the oil goes through the bypass valve on the modern engines, and if & how much that changes as the miles since last filter change mounts.)