B4ZINGA

I'm confused. How in the world does a 2013 have only 6 miles on it? Are you sure it isn't a 2015 with 6 miles, or are we talking about a 2013 with 6,000 miles? Regarding the suspension... I'm probably not the best opinion but I feel the suspension on my R/T, which is stiffer than that of the SXT and the old Crew models, is just fine even on Detroit roads. Of course, I've only ever owned Intrepids, a Grand Prix, a 300M Special that is my fun-in-the-twisties car, and the Charger R/T Road & Track sport package that I traded for the Journey... I've always owned sport sedans with stiffer suspension systems than most cars. The 2013 Crew I tested in the late winter of this year was certainly more cushy than the 2014 R/T I wound up buying, but by no means is it uncomfortable. I know first hand that the SXT has a nice suspension is neither too soft nor too stiff.

Are they the same color temperature as the rest of the interior lights? Honestly if I could, I would replace my map, dome, and puddle lights with warm white LEDs. I can't stand the cool white since it is horrible for seeing details at night, but when I upgrade my hatch lights I'd like them to at least match what I have already.

I've always checked my oil 5-10 minutes after a trip. Get home, open the hood, then come back and check it. If you check the oil while it's cold, then the level should be at the bottom of the thatched section, where many cars dipsticks say COLD. What I find interesting is more than one person has told me it's normal for a car to burn a quart or so of oil every few thousand miles. Maybe 40 years ago that was normal, but I'd be seriously concerned if a modern engine burned oil at such a high rate. No car I have owned has shown a drop of more than 1/4 quart of oil, even after 120,000 miles (first 70,000+ abused as a fleet car).

Hello all, I'm doing some research on adding remote start to a Journey that does not already have it as a holiday gift. I'm getting some conflicting information from various dealers, so I thought I'd reach out to you all. The vehicle in question is a 2014 Journey SXT Blacktop, 2.4L FWD, no factory-installed remote start system like the one in my 2014 R/T Rallye. Some dealers say aftermarket systems will void the warranty. I'm calling BS on that one. The one I contacted today said the aftermarket system itself would not be covered by the vehicle warranty, which I knew already, it would be covered by whatever warranty the manufacturer of the remote start offers (for example, Viper, my preferred supplier). He also said that he has seen aftermarket remote start systems cause problems with the computers of newer cars. I'm not prepared to call BS on that since the newest car I've modified is a 2007 Charger, which had ancient technology from the Mercedes parts bin of yesteryear. Can you guys confirm or deny these claims? I'm of the opinion that any good remote start system, a la Viper, will neither void any of the factory warranties on the vehicle nor cause problems. Am I wrong on either count? If I'm correct, are there any good aftermarket systems to look into that are known to work well? Hoping to find something with decent range and a feedback system to state that the car has indeed started. One thing I hate about my Mopar system is it gives no feedback and half the time I walk outside of the lab after work to find a silent and chilly Journey... Last question: How much trouble will I run into finding someone to install it? Dealers tend to be hit or miss on their willingness to install anything not purchased through them, same story on local mechanics. Best Buy will certainly install anything bought through them, but their installations are sketchy. I had my Charger done there after they swore there would be no wire splicing. A month later a random 6" length of wire fell out from behind the drivers knee bolster with no indication of where it came from. Nothing stopped working... very strange.

2005 and newer Grand Cherokee wheels have the same bolt pattern. Grand Cherokee WK SRT8 wheels are a fit.

AFAIK, those are specific to the Charger bolt pattern, 5x115mm. Journey uses 5x127mm.

I'll probably end up going the HIR route. I had HID on my Charger for the 3 years I had it and it was a big headache. I have no interest in screwing around with trying this thing or that thing to solve problems presented by HID on a canbus vehicle that was never intended by dodge to have anything other than halogen (had my charger been one month newer it would have been a 2008, which was designed to accept HID without issue, as an optional extra). My DD doesn't need to be giving me headaches... my toy does that enough already with all the mods I've done to it lol.

Yup. 2" projectors. Placing my order as soon as I can figure out what type of connector is on my OEM foglight harness, for the HD relay harness. The M uses H3 bulbs, but the capsule I think uses a 9006 connector...

Also check center bore. They should be 5x127.

I certainly will... time to get a matchbox projector stage 3 kit for my 300M's foglights.

7-passenger cannot have the cargo cover. It doesn't have the necessary slots in the cargo hard trim to hold the cover assembly and lock the cover into place. You would need to replace the cargo hard trim at a bare minimum, which may eliminate features unique to third row vehicles for the third row seats.

I have an ELM 327 Mini BT adapter that works with my '14 R/T Rallye AWD. Sadly it does not work with my '02 300M Special, which is the car I intended it for (I have a Nexus 7 installed in place of the radio with Torque Pro installed). I'll be looking for a different adapter in the future after I've created another bezel for that car. Not a priority at the moment.

Definitely not simple. You might even need to add new rear suspension as well. FWIW I used my AWD for the first time yesterday and the day before while it was snowing in Metro Detroit. I could feel the AWD kick on around corners to correct understeer. Once or twice it overcompensated and I had to use opposite-lock to maintain control. I came from a 400 ft-lb RWD Charger last year with bald tires, so that was nothing new to me (I prefer it, much better control). Before said Charger I owned only FWD cars, and my 2.5-season toy is a FWD 300M Special, with which I had almost no traction issues, so I can't say I even need AWD now. I bought the car used wth 2000 miles on it, so whatever it was built with is what I got.

The large black-painted boxes, to which the chrome exhaust tips are welded, are the resonators. Cutting them off and installing straight pipes will produce a lot of drone. A friend of mine with a 300M Special did that initially and hated it. He replaced the straight pipes with Thrush glasspack (straight-through) mufflers and it improved significantly. He got the louder aggressive tone without much drone. Personally, I hate his exhaust note because it's very raspy, but he loves it. I would look for a flowmaster or magnaflow resonator or straight-through muffler and mount it in place of the rear resonators before I cut out the muffler. On my own Special I plan on dumping the whole exhaust system and replacing it with an x-pipe and two Borla Pro XS mufflers at the back. Having them in the back and with an x-pipe should produce an aggressive note without much drone. We'll see. I haven't looked at my Journey's exhaust but I imagine the transverse engine design demands the unfortunate circumstance of one exhaust pipe and cat...

Most people with wagons (especially Magnums) paint their pillars a gloss black. The intent is to create a single continuous window effect. I'm surprised Dodge thought to do it at all. Mine is PX8, so I have no pillar vinyls to start with. If I had a different color, I'd look into removing the vinyls and painting the pillars gloss black.

Probably not. I highly doubt 16" wheels will clear the calipers.

I have access to both engines in 2014 Journeys. 14 R/T Rallye AWD and 14 SXT Blacktop. My experience from a performance standpoint is the V6 and I4 are roughly similar from launch in power. Unfortunately the V6 is gutless from a standstill, likely due to Chryslers programming for Journey. Once you get up in the powerband, however, the I4 continues putting along while the V6 pulls hard. I still amazes me how easily this wagon passes other cars on the highway. I still miss my V8 for its ability to spin the rear tires at a moments notice, however the highway power more than makes up for it. Highway fuel economy is slightly better with the I4. We get 30+ easily in the Blacktop. The R/T Rallye is no slouch as it easily returns 27 and is capable of 28+. City driving gives a nod to the I4 Blacktop, as it consistently gets 20-22 depending on traffic (occasional stop-n-go). My commute is 3 miles with lots of stop-n-go and my V6 R/T returns 16.5-17.

Typically that's what I do, one corner at a time to get all four off at once for wheel and tire cleanings, wheel well cleanings, brake component replacement, caliper and spindle repaint, etc. Easier to ensure the lifted vehicle is level that way.

Every car has a sweet spot in between the front and rear axles that enables you to lift the front and rear wheels of that side simultaneously. On my special, it's just rearward of the center of the front door. Journey might be a little further back depending on the weight distribution. As jkeaton pointed out, only jack the car via the frame or side rails. Never on floor pans, oil pans, tranny pans, etc. My Special has a pinch weld along the rockers that I use (I plan on buying a rubber pinch-weld adapter for my floor jack to prevent damage).

Be cautious and test a small out-of-sight section first. If the seats are cloth (I'm assuming they are since no one has mentioned proper leather cleaners), there is a chance the foam under the cloth could become wet and bleed into the cloth. I haven't had to clean cloth seats in probably 7 years, but I would start with using a shop vac to clean the seats, spray a dry foam on the stained area, let it dwell a few minutes, scrub it with a brush, wipe away with MF towel, and shop-vac it again. May take a few hits if the stains are old/bad. I clean my leather using that method and leather cleaners. Vac, spray cleaner, brush it on (I use a soft-bristle tooth brush), wipe away with towel, apply conditioner (not needed for cloth).

Sounds like black trim. Personally I use Adams VRT and Stoner Trim Shine. The Trim Shine worked well to bring back my faded grey plastic on my 300M Special. I used VRT for years to bring back the dark grey plastic in the upper and lower grilles. This year I got good grilles from the junk yard and plasti-dipped them black. One less thing to do at shows... but I've noticed the VRT lasts longer than Mother's Back to Black. BTB washes off in the rain faster. The Stoner product is available at Advance, possibly AutoZone and O'Reillys. I usually pick up the Adams at car shows, but it is expensive. normally $18-20 per bottle. I'd get the Stoner product for daily driving use (applied with every wash).

Trying being an engineer in the US. Living in the US day-to-day I have to use the imperial system. When I step into work, I have to switch to metric. Being bi-lingual isn't fun, especially when a non-engineer friend or family member asks about those details and they get glossy-eyed. Part dimensions are in mm. Test chamber temperatures are in C. Only once did I get to stick to one system, the one day I had to travel to WAP (Windsor Assembly Plant) for work. I have faith that those silly Canuckistanians will learn the error of their ways and come back into the fold! (I kid, I prefer metric to imperial) It seems like the biggest hurdle to the US making the switch is getting all of the mathematically-challenged citizens (98% of the population) to accept it. As it is, bolt sizes on cars and many structures are metric. I've only ever used imperial-sized sockets on corroded or worn bolt heads to get that fraction of a millimeter difference for better fitment.

That does look cool in there.

Everytime I visit friends and family Jersey, FL, PA, MD, DE, etc, I never see a Journey. Not one. As soon as I return to MI, Journeys are rolling around as far as the proverbial eye can see. No idea why. I recall seeing commercials for the Journey in 2008 for the 2009 model year. I thought it was a nice enough vehicle, but didn't consider buying one since I didn't need one. Then I started getting interested in wagons, and when I decided to take the plunge and look at them, Journey was second to the Grand Cherokee in my mind, having seen so many of them around here. Value is what won me on it. Sadly, most of the people I know who aren't already Mopar or No Car types look at it and ask me why I bought a minivan at 27 years old. I think there is a stigma attached to it since the first two model years were indistinguishable from the minivans at the front and were designed to be alternatives to the minivans, which themselves are stigmatized as family haulers that people trade in sports cars for when they start having kids. Fiat did an amazing job redesigning and separating it from the vans, but I don't think it will gain national attention at least until it's re-engineered for 2016 and falls more in line with Dodge's performance image (with Caravan being dropped in support of that image).

Behind-seat space is one of the reasons I opted for a 2-row Journey. Since I have zero need for a 3rd row (unmarried, and my two kids are the furry four-legged variety... no I did not mate with big foot's daughter), I'd have it folded 24/7, which defeats the purpose and eliminates the storage below the load-floor. The only reason I'd want the flexible-seating group is to have HVAC vents behind the first row, which 2-row Journey's strangely do not have. But Bear, my Nova Scotia Retriever, loves all the space he has behind the second row in the absence of a third row. If I needed a third row vehicle, I would get a Durango without hesitation. I'm not the type to even entertain the thought of a minivan... but it's your call. There's no question how versatile the Grand Caravan and Town & Country both are.