Dodge Journey: How bad could it be?

Back in 2019, my daily driver/kid hauler was a 2000 Dodge Durango with about 200K on the odometer. It was in surprisingly clean condition for the mileage, but that tired 5.9 was incredibly thirsty and it was becoming less and less reliable over time. Electrical gremlins had started to plague it occasionally and I was tired of chasing them down. With three young kids, I needed something that would hold a family of 5 comfortably, be more reliable than the old Dodge, and preferably something that could be driven in snow and ice with a little confidence. 

Here was my checklist of wants, in no particular order:

• AWD/4WD
• Third row seating
• Midsize Crossover or SUV
• Not terrible gas mileage
• As new as possible
• Sub 50K miles
• Sub $20K
• Not horrible to look at
• Adequate power

After looking at some Mazdas, Toyotas, Jeeps, and a bunch of others, I kept coming back to the Dodge Journey. It was the only vehicle on my radar that could honestly cross off every single item on that list. I had done a bit of research and knew to avoid the first few years and I wanted nothing to do with the 4-cylinder, 4-speed auto, FWD base models. My spouse at the time had a 3.6 V6 powered Dodge and I found it to be a great little engine. It was reliable and I found the power delivery to be acceptable.

Fast forward to January of 2020 and I discovered a 2018 Journey Crossroad that was about an hour from my house. The Crossroad trim was preferable because had the black housing headlights and taillights that I preferred. It was on a Dodge lot, which was a plus in my book, and it was a one-year only color called "Bruiser Gray" which I thought looked pretty cool. It had almost every option I wanted, 36K on the odometer, and they were asking exactly $20K for it. I made the trip up there and took it for a test drive. It was quiet, smooth, comfy, roomy, and it had some great little cubbies and storage spaces. The only issue I found was that the headlights were full of water, but that was an easy fix. Overall it was relatively unremarkable, but I genuinely liked it. I bought it with cash on the spot and drove it home. 

Here it was when I first bought it:

So there seems to be a lot of hate for these things online, but I don't see much of it as justified, really. Granted, if someone had a legitimately bad experience with their Journey, that makes sense in their case. But I see a lot of people in comment sections, E36 M3ting on these things for a lack of excitement, or perceived build quality issues, even though they've never owned one before. First off, I don't think anyone looking for an exciting or engaging vehicle is even considering a Dodge Journey to begin with, so those comments don't matter to me. I will say that after almost five years and about 35,000 miles, the Journey has served incredibly well as my daily driven, kid-hauling, reliable, if not slightly boring transportation. I decided to chronicle my experience with the Journey, just in case anyone was even remotely interested in hearing honest, long-term, firsthand experience with one of these things, from a lifelong automotive enthusiast. 

Everyone who knows me, is well aware of my inability to leave anything alone, as well as my obsessive attention to detail (see my other vehicle for proof). This being my daily, and still under factory powertrain warranty at the time, meant that mechanical mods were out of the question. I decided to make some small visual improvements to keep me occupied. I started by completely de-badging it, because I had badges in general and this thing had a bunch on the back. I also installed a new set of factory-style headlights to alleviate the moisture issue.

The interior came with the LED lighting package, which was great, but for some reason, there were still a few incandescent bulbs left in some odd spaces, so I decided to swap out all of those bulbs for LEDs. I also swapped all of the external bulbs to LED as well. The fog light housings are the same as the ones found on the Jeep Wrangler, so I had a million options for those, instead of just bulbs. I opted for these nice, black LED housings to match the headlights and they turned out great. 

At 70K, I really wanted to replace the spark plugs. Unfortunately, they decided to completely bury the coil packs and plugs under the top half of the intake manifold and the rest of the system. Since I had to remove all of those things, I decided not to put stock stuff back in its place. My powertrain warranty had just ended at 63K, so I started looking for some fun parts for the 3.6.

I discovered that there is basically zero aftermarket for Journeys, which is disappointing, even if unsurprising. The one great thing about Stellantis throwing the 3.6 into almost every vehicle they make, means that there were performance parts available for the engine itself, that would bolt onto my Journey. For starters, the throttle body is the same exact part number for every single 3.6 in existence, regardless of the rest of the drivetrain configuration or the platform. I settled on a Hemi throttle body swap, since the bored 3.6 units seemed to be of questionable quality and not as large. The factory TB was 64mm, but the Hemi unit is 80. That's a nice bump. I've put a lot of TB upgrades on cars over the years and I've always been a fan of the improved throttle response that they provide. 

Next was the intake itself. There was one intake on the market, but it was just a replacement for the tube that connected to the factory airbox. They wanted $300 for a 3" pipe, two couplers, and some clamps. The factory airbox has a big inlet and it's routed to a little snorkel/scoop between the grill and hood. It's actually a great design, so I threw a K&N filter in there a while back, but I really wanted to replace the super pinched, restrictive-looking pipes between the throttle body and the airbox. The Hemi TB has a 3.5" inlet and the airbox has a 4" outlet, so I decided to go with 3.5" pipes for my own custom design. I took a bunch of measurements and ordered some generic aluminum piping pieces with clamps and couplers of various angles. 

Lastly, I found some aftermarket coil pack upgrades. The ones with the best reviews, that seemed to be the most reliable were called "SOS" and are made by Davis Unified Ignition. Basically everyone swears by them. I remained hesitant because I've never in my life seen a coil pack actually make an improvement in performance, but these were relatively affordable, so I figured I'd give them a shot. 

I got to work tearing everything apart and it honestly wasn't as bad as I was afraid it would be. My first hangup was the coils themselves. Despite the box clearly saying they were the right part, the ones in the box were actually meant for a Ford Ecoboost. So annoying. At least the stock units work fine for now. After I return these, I may not actually try them again after some more consideration. I just don't think a coil pack is going to make any difference and aftermarket units never, ever last as long as the factory parts. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Plus those logos look pretty berkeleying stupid. 

But holy E36 M3 am I glad I changed the plugs! That's what 73K looks like on some iridium plugs. 

With the top half of the intake manifold off, I covered the bottom of it with some heat shield. The incredibly complex casting on the manifold meant that the shield did not go on in an attractive manner. This didn't bother me because it's completely hidden when on the car and it's still completely functional. You can also see the Hemi TB and the billet adapter bolted on here. 

Here is the stock pipe system that connected the factory TB to the airbox. it looks fairly wide in some spots, but it's oval-shaped, so the size is deceiving.

The new piping is a completely round, free-flowing, 3.5" system with a smooth 4" adapter to the box. Lots of trial, error, and cutting to get it all to cram in there and line up properly. Quite the pain in the ass, to be honest, but it fits!

Before:

After:

And all buttoned up:

I have to say that I do indeed feel a noticeable difference in throttle response and pull throughout the entire RPM range, but especially up top. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to feel any gains because it's a really soft-shifting 6-speed auto and that kind of designed-for-driver-comfort E36 M3 tends to hide power gains and water down enjoyment. However, I would definitely call this experiment a success. More power was made and it's just a little less boring to drive now. I'm very happy with the results. 

Thanks for sharing! The deals at Dodge dealerships right now are pretty good, especially considering they are still sitting on 2023 models. It looks like you're having fun with your Journey.

When hotter coils went in my mustang, the most noticeable difference was a smoother idle.   Basically the lumpy cam sounded a bit less lumpy, hard to tell if they performed any better.

Good or bad, I'm sure it's going to be a decent journey.

I'll see myself out.

On a more serious note, there does seem to be some unnecessarily strong hate towards the Journey. Good to hear that most of it isn't justified.

Colin Wood said:

On a more serious note, there does seem to be some unnecessarily strong hate towards the Journey. Good to hear that most of it isn't justified.

Yeah, it's been almost completely trouble-free. The one and only mechanical issue I've experienced is that the front rotors had some mild vibes that became noticeable around 50,000 miles. Apparently these front rotors are prone to some mild warping. I swapped them with a fresh set of aftermarket pads and rotors back in May and they've been smooth and solid ever since. 

The factory battery died at the beginning of this summer and it is located in the absolute worst place that I've ever seen. It's behind the splash shield in the front, driver's side wheelwell. It was a huge pain in the ass to pull out and replace. I saw people online using like, three-foot long extensions to get to the battery tie-downs from under the hood, but I was able to access everything from below. Still not a fun process whatsoever. This is a picture I sent to a friend who texted me mid-job, asking how it was going. 

Colin Wood said:

On a more serious note, there does seem to be some unnecessarily strong hate towards the Journey. Good to hear that most of it isn't justified.

RE: Journey hate

I own a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan.  Its been a trouble free car however even when I bought it I had agreed to myself that its the product of a middle grade manufacturer.  In the minivan space, with the few choices there really are, the GC has some very redeeming qualities.   The Stow and Go and generally the huge "utility" of the vehicle.  

It could be said that a Journey is akin to being a short wheelbase Dodge minivan; a minivan disguised to look like a SUV.   But, the Journey then looses all of the "utility" of the GC.  So, it is a medium grade product without the redeeming qualities.  Where the GC excels in the small market category of minivans, the Journey tries to compete in the LARGEST vehicle segment - mid size SUV.  The competitors in the ultra competitive segment hold the market segment's redeeming qualities.  

TLDR:  Journey = mid quality product overshadowed by competitors with more redeeming qualities.  

This doesn't mean that it will not be perfectly adequate even potentially very reliable vehicle for you.  Likely just as reliable as my GC with which it share the same engine.   If you can buy a Journey cheaper than its competitors it could actually be a market category "value leader."

I see from your pictures you are familiar and accepting of the mid-grade brand given that you have a total of 3 from them, and, all in the color Henry Ford intended.  

Please keep the updates coming.  I have been lax about updating my 2019 Grand Caravan thread.  Mostly because there has been little to update.  

Calling it a "medium grade product without redeeming qualities" is selling the vehicle quite short, in my opinion. The Journey has been a great vehicle for me and I find it to be incredibly useful and utilitarian. I regularly fit six people and copious belongings in it. The Journey and the GC share quite a few parts, from the engine to the brakes and many other pieces. Like I said, it was the only vehicle on the market that checked every box I was looking for, at the price point I had in mind. It handles snow and ice like a champ, it's comfy and reliable, it'll fit seven passengers, it handles and stops incredibly well for a crossover, the stereo is great, and I don't hate how it looks. I have no car payments. I have no regrets. 

Manual_Trans said:

Calling it a "medium grade product without redeeming qualities" is selling the vehicle quite short, in my opinion. The Journey has been a great vehicle for me and I find it to be incredibly useful and utilitarian. 

Actually, I called it:

Journey = mid quality product overshadowed by competitors with more redeeming qualities. 
and
If you can buy a Journey cheaper than its competitors it could actually be a market category "value leader."

Manual_Trans said:

Plus those logos look pretty berkeleying stupid. 

 

Yeah, it stands to reason that coils with a Dire Straights theme wouldn't be right for a Journey.

In all seriousness, most modern ignition systems are unlikely to be in need of help unless you are going past 10 psi of boost. And if you do add that sort of boost, I want to hear about it.

One other recent thread here noted the Journey shared much of its platform with the final generation Lancer Evolution. That might open up some possibilities for suspension and differential mods, although off the shelf coil-overs probably won't be stiff enough.

MadScientistMatt said:

One other recent thread here noted the Journey shared much of its platform with the final generation Lancer Evolution. That might open up some possibilities for suspension and differential mods, although off the shelf coil-overs probably won't be stiff enough.

It's funny you mention that, because I just recently came across a Taiwanese company that sells coilovers for the Journey, called SF Racing. For whatever reason, a lot of companies in Taiwan are making coilovers, including BC Racing. I've had a set of BCs on two previous cars and found them to be really decent for the price. I had no fitment or quality issues with them whatsoever. I've been lamenting the ride height on this thing since I bought it and not a single company makes drop springs for my specific year and drivetrain. The discovery of these coilovers is pretty enticing, but I'm concerned about the fact that I've never heard about this brand before. I also don't want my kid hauler to be super stiff, so I'd likely set these to full soft. I need to do some more research before committing to them. 

Manual_Trans said:

It's funny you mention that, because I just recently came across a Taiwanese company that sells coilovers for the Journey, called SF Racing. For whatever reason, a lot of companies in Taiwan are making coilovers, including BC Racing. I've had a set of BCs on two previous cars and found them to be really decent for the price. I had no fitment or quality issues with them whatsoever. I've been lamenting the ride height on this thing since I bought it and not a single company makes drop springs for my specific year and drivetrain. The discovery of these coilovers is pretty enticing, but I'm concerned about the fact that I've never heard about this brand before. I also don't want my kid hauler to be super stiff, so I'd likely set these to full soft. I need to do some more research before committing to them. 

Have a look at the time MaxPeedInGrods gave Flyin' Miata's Keith Tanner a set of their coil-overs to review, which was either serious overconfidence on their part or they didn't know who he was. I would not have high expectations for an unknown brand of coil-overs. I  would not even bet on them handling better than stock. It's better to discuss your needs with a more reputable builder and see if they can change the spring rate and valving on a set of EVO coil overs to match your van's weight.

Despite the fact that the Journey and Evo X were built on variations of the same platform, I don't think any suspension parts designed for the Evo will actually bolt onto my vehicle. 

Here's a link to the SF Racing coilovers for the Journey. They definitely look to be built a whole lot better than those god awful Maxpeedingrods things. They appear to be manufactured in the same region, cost about the same, and due to many similar specs, likely share components with BC Racing. As I stated earlier, I've had good experiences with BCs on two separate vehicles and know several people with them who were all very happy. I know BCs are not a gold standard in coilovers, but I have enough positive first-hand experience with them to say they're great units for the money and wouldn't hesitate to purchase another set. 

I've been doing a bit of research on SF Racing coilovers and I'm finding almost unanimous praise for them so far (including another Journey owner!), going back a couple of years. I've only been able to find one detractor so far and it looks like he was actually sent the wrong units. I'm definitely not looking for track-ready handling with my kid hauler, but I'd love for it to look better, without riding like garbage. I'm still filing these in the "maybe" category for now.