Well our faithful 93 T&C will finally have to be released from our garage. With the odometer just over 200k miles the wife called from the mall saying it would not start. Fuel pump. While doing the gas tank r&r I happened to grab hold of a frame area and noticed quite a bit of metal falling off. After examination the main part of the frame where the lift pad is was nearly gone. So the rear of the vehicle would collapse if hit. I was really hoping to get 300k out of it (this was a personal quest). The engine ran flawlessly everything still working and NO rust on the body but the frame went. Go figure. Actually if the pump hadn't gone out I doubt I would have seen it. Noticed on my 99 they changed the frame design so maybe it will get 300k? we'll see..... Larry
200k and it has to go.
Nov 25, 2003
7 Replies
Just picked up a new 2004 Chrysler mini-van two weeks ago. I drove to my local body supply store and picked up a spray can of 3M Rust Proofing, a semi-clear, waxy coating material. It will prevent the "frame" and other rust prone materials from rust. Worth its weight in gold. (IMO).
Richard.
I would get a quote on what it would cost to re-weld/fix the section if the thing runs well.
It's gone. I traded it off yesterday. where it went bad there's nothing that can be done and I'm afraid even if it could it would have cost me a left cajone and I'm sure there would be no guarantee of it's safety. We still have our 99 T&C and I think after that there will be no more mini-vans as I'm already getting spoiled by the Chevysaurus (Suburban) we bought. I'm kind of mini van'd out. They're good vehicles and I certainly get my money's worth out of them. Really the only one I didn't find reliable and durable was the 88 GC I had with a mitsushitti 3.0 and 3 spd. trans. That one was awful. Our 92 GV which went to mini van heaven after a serious wreck had
I own a K1500 extended cab pickup in addition to my two minivans and, trust me, you'll get tired of driving the Burban after a while as well. Especially parking it, paying for gas and tires, especially if it has the large tires like my truck (265/16s) as they cost a fortune for good ones.
I don't like driving minivans either, but they sure are practical to haul kids and stuff around fairly economically. However, give me a Vette or my motorcycle any day! :-)
Matt
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