Neto

I apologize for the jab.  (There are actually a lot of people who join, make one post, then are never heard from again.  We do actually want to hear how this turns out for you - what you find under that carpet.)
Best wishes to you as you raise your children.  Enjoy them - they are too soon gone.  (Then you have to wait for grandchildren, the next great pleasure.  I am 65, and only have two grandchildren, both boys, the oldest is 8 years old, & the youngest is around 6 weeks old.)

Thanks all for the input! I work crazy hours, have a three year old and a three month old!, and won’t have time to get under that carpet for a few more days! I will keep you posted!!!! 

If anyone is in JT's area, I think he needs help getting out of the storage bin.  (Must have fallen in & can't get out to check the forum.)

I just took a look under our 09, and those storage bins are a part of the main floor.  That is, they were stamped as a part of the floor.  So the plate or what ever closes that up on the top side is either screwed, glued, or spot welded in place.  The reason it seems so crazy that they left it out is that our Journey is probably the most stripped down version available - no third row seat, no cruise, no remote door locks, etc.  If they still built cars with window winders and manual locks, I reckon it would have been built that way.  (Would have suit me just fine, prefer it, actually, but my wife would not have wanted the car.)

There was a guy in my older brother's HS class that had a trap door in the backseat floor of his car.  So when the cops stopped him and his buddies, the one in the back seat would just set their stash on the pavement, under the car.  (Then retrieve it when he was told he could go.)

There was a guy in my older brother's HS class that had a trap door in the backseat floor of his car.  So when the cops stopped him and his buddies, the one in the back seat would just set their stash on the pavement, under the car.  (Then retrieve it when he was told he could go.)

There was a guy in my older brother's HS class that had a trap door in the backseat floor of his car.  So when the cops stopped him and his buddies, the one in the back seat would just set their stash on the pavement, under the car.  (Then retrieve it when he was told he could go.)

My impression is that it is monitoring things like how many times you start & stop the engine.  (Someone told me that each time you start it, they count that as 500 miles.)  So like today, when I hauled some mulch for my wife, there were many startup, then going only a few car lengths, then stop & shovel out more of the mulch.  Then this afternoon I was loading some railroad ties on the trailer, and I started & shut down the engine numerous times while I was positioning the trailer to be able to load those heavy things by myself.  (I didn't leave it running, because I don't like breathing the exhaust.)

My daddy taught me this, and I guess I'm every bit as picky - I keep a small spiral notebook in all of our vehicles, and write the date, gallons, and mileage for every gas up, and for maintenance, the date & mileage, plus a brief description of what I did.  I tried to teach my sons & daughter the same practice, but I don't think any of them do it for their vehicles.

Edging closer to 100,000 miles.  Will let you all know....  
When does all this stuff typically start, anyway? 
My wife's dad was one to trade cars every few years, so she says something about it being time to get a different one every once in a while.  But I'm dragging my feet because she wants one from over the ocean next time, and I like to buy American.  [I'll admit, however, that I was taken aback when, just as I was signing for this one (back in 2010), I saw that it was not manufactured in the States.  But I don't hesitate to say that it's been a great vehicle for us.] (I come from a family where we drove them till they wouldn't go anymore, then put them in the back pasture, like an old horse going onto retirement.)

There was a time when American built automobiles were better quality (with the exception of certain European vehicles that were not really mass-produced), but that's not really my reason.  This will get a bit into religion, but when the Jews were in exile in Babylon God told them (through the prophet Jeremiah) that while they were there in exile they should "build houses, have families, and seek the prosperity of whatever city in which they found themselves".  That was of course a message for them, in that time and in that situation, but I think that there is a principle behind it, that I, as a follower of the same God, seek to follow - to as much as possible (within loyalty to Him as first in everything) support the economic success of whatever country in which I live.  So when we lived in Brazil we had a Brazilian-made vehicle (not a Brazilian company, as there are none) and bought Brazilian products as much as possible.  Now that we live in the States, I try to do the same.  It is certainly getting more difficult, and in some cases (like computer parts) virtually impossible, so I won't argue that, and I don't slavishly hold to it; it is just an objective.

You know, I get the blues reading all of the stuff on here (and on the Chrysler mini-van site - have one of those, too) about the issues many are facing.  It's mostly electronic stuff.  The connection to a cell phone, the electric window winders, or door locks.  The video players, etc.  Seems that's just about all there is anymore.  Makes me wonder when I will start having all of those issues with my 2009 Journey.....

You do have some time from what I hear, but just what I am was told but; once your hear the hum.....you know it is always there.  It is not a difficult job but it is a physical job, a lot of banging with a hammer , slide hammer, lots of penetrating fluid and maybe blunt chisel. The hub is rusted in place basically and needs to be broken free. I friend told me he uses the power steering ( pressure it generates) to break the hub free ? I assume he removes the large hub nut and four backing nuts then, puts tire back on and some how jam something on back side of tire and turns wheel left and right to break hub free ????? Not sure really but would be easier than swinging a hammer a hundred times. I changed both sides to be safe,  sorry to hear about your son, if I lived close to you we would help you out for sure.  hopefully some neighbours will lend you the muscle needed. If you watch a couple youtube videos I am sure with some muscle helping you could do it. hope everything goes well. 

about the same here, hell just keeping the leaves and other crap we get in the south out of there would be a pain

1946 Plymouth Special DeLuxe.  But... It's still in pieces after I started a rebuild back in 1980.  (Bought it as a "basket case".)

Take out the extra seats, carpet & padding, any extra weight.  Then go on a diet.  (Just joking.  But we have the 4 banger, so be glad for what power your V6 has.)
 

Take out the extra seats, carpet & padding, any extra weight.  Then go on a diet.  (Just joking.  But we have the 4 banger, so be glad for what power your V6 has.)
 

Yeah if I think of it or cross one in the wild outside of the hardware store, I will probably ask the guy if I can look at it. I've done weirder things in life, so hey. haha
I just went ahead and ordered one. I am still curious though since I not only bought a few screws, I also tried every single one I had in the garage + the 7 that came with it.
 
You know, I can tell the difference between a few 60's 70's era cars on a year by year basis. I have friend who can not only tell you the difference on all 60-70's Mopars but he can also tell you all the details of small things like door knobs, where the factory markings were etc... but also tell the difference by VIN's. It might not be a big deal now, but back in the day you could give him a VIN and he would tell you which car it belonged to, which engine it should have, and which options were on it.

I'm happy to help.  I'm sort of working in the opposite direction myself.  I don't know if anyone here remembers this, but older cars had an antenna that could be collapsed, you might say.  The thinner part slid down inside the main antenna mast, so that it was about 1/2 the full height.  Well, the antenna on my 46 Plymouth split open like the petals on a flower at the top of the part where the thinner part fits into.  I kept the antenna from a 93 Chrysler Town & Country I cut up for scrap, and got to looking at it, and I think I can make it work on the Plymouth, but fitting a bolt down into the stub of the original antenna mast, where I cut it off.  So I took the antenna to the hardware store, and tried all of the metric bolts.  None fit.  It turned out to be standard 1/4-20, so I don't even have to desecrate the Plymouth by putting something metric on it.  (Most fasteners on the 93 are metric, but the antenna somehow escaped.)

Mine is a 2009, so not sure if it will be the same.  There is a Do-It-Best hardware a quarter mile from my place, and since it's raining today, it's not hot.  So I walked up.  Metric thread.  M5 x 0.8 on the 2009 Journey.  

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 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 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.

Dorman is fine. I've used them on other vehicles. You will get the same life/performance as OEM.