Otto Maddox wrote: Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast!
Where did you get a grenade?
Otto Maddox wrote: Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast!
Where did you get a grenade?
Trans_Maro wrote:Grizz wrote:That's not an argument, it's just contradiction.Trans_Maro wrote: Buy a station wagon or a good, mid-sized SUV and you can do the same stuff only better.No you can't.
Nope. 
Honestly, it's a fact. Like pretty much everyone else in this thread said, you can't do half the stuff a minivan does with a wagon or an suv.
I've seen my mom pull along 6 more people on a two hour trip to a bowling alley AND all of their bowling balls, and you couldn't do that with any wagon or suv without people thinking about murder. I also pulled the seats out of an older square caravan and loaded it up with 80 lb concrete bags and some bricks. The back suspension sagged what looked like two inches, but it was built to haul large numbers of fat americans so it had no issues getting back home.
I've put car parts, trash, furnaces, wood, sheetrock, tools. furniture and lord knows how much other crap into the vans my mom's owned, and not one of them broke or even complained about it. Hell, the number of small companies using minivans for electrical and plumbing work is rising a good bit around here.
The people I know who mock them or swear to hate them generally stopped when they rode in one and notice how comfortable they are, how much you can see out of one, and just how much E36 M3 you can stuff into them.
So to go back to Lesley's post about the announcement of the Caravan R/T: I'm looking at my dodge.ca website, and they say the R/T features manly stuff like red stitching on the unique leather seats, streaming Bluetooth audio, and a remote USB port (remote from what? and why?) but not a word about upgraded sway bars or stiffer springs. Anybody out there with Dodge fu who knows what happened to the useful stuff in the original package? Can you still get it? Am I missing something I ought to be able to see?
With all the positives I'm reading (many of which, like hauling lumber etc. we haven't dealt with save for carrying two adults and three kids) coupled with the minority of naysayers, I do believe I'm gonna take over our '06 Caravan when the wife needs to buy a newer model.
That red Caravan in this thread had me at hello!
PS, not that I want to nitpick but please leave the Special Olympics jokes for the people on other sites. One never knows who among us has family that participates in said Olympics (hint, hint). Just sayin'.
Sorry about that, my bad.
Shawn
P.S. I'm more than a bit out of shape, I doubt I could get a medal in anything.
In reply to ebonyandivory:
Thank you.
ebonyandivory wrote: With all the positives I'm reading (many of which, like hauling lumber etc. we haven't dealt with save for carrying two adults and three kids) coupled with the minority of naysayers, I do believe I'm gonna take over our '06 Caravan when the wife needs to buy a newer model. That red Caravan in this thread had me at hello! PS, not that I want to nitpick but please leave the Special Olympics jokes for the people on other sites. One never knows who among us has family that participates in said Olympics (hint, hint). Just sayin'.
I couldn't love GRM the magazine or the website more...
T.J. wrote: In reply to ebonyandivory: Thank you.
You're welcome! (I'll admit that I'm not sure what the thank you was for... Either the thread itself or my post about the Special Olympics... Either way, you're welcome.)
Anyone that remembers my past several threads will recognize I have the worst automotive ADHD of anyone I know.
I've found a few AWD Caravans for cheap and now can't get the idea of aggressive tread tires and an inch or so extra height out of one, roof racks, cargo basket etc etc out of my head...
Just thought I'd throw that out there!!!
Just gonna leave this right here....
[URL=http://s114.photobucket.com/user/hotrodhabit/media/1a803_zps009ae585.jpg.html]
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I've found a few AWD Caravans for cheap and now can't get the idea of aggressive tread tires and an inch or so extra height out of one, roof racks, cargo basket etc etc out of my head...
Are you talking having fun with your family car or building a race van? Because you can take the older 84-95 vans and easily take a LOT of weight out of them. You can even lose a bunch of weight by replacing all the rear windows with simple DIY lexan or plexi because the windows are flat! Some people have gotten the FWD ones into the ~2400 lb range. The AWD drivetrain adds several hundred lbs over a 4cyl FWD, but it would still be punchy even at 2900-3000 lbs with a ~200hp 3.8.
I'd be looking at up to 2004 AWD Caravans. I'd like to make something I can get to some fishing spots in and handle the snow we get. Plus the utility it brings of course!
Mostly because I'm worried an E250 van will suck too bad in snow...
In reply to Trans_Maro:
Hater.
EDIT: Didn't realize this was a months old thread. I must have been too busy working on my van to see it before.
pretty sure mustang wheels might bolt right on. i definitely saw a caravan with cobra wheels on it today. probably can find a set cheap on craigslist.
This thread is relevant to me since my third child is due any day now...
failboat wrote: pretty sure mustang wheels might bolt right on. i definitely saw a caravan with cobra wheels on it today. probably can find a set cheap on craigslist.
You are correct sir!
Aeromoto wrote: Just gonna leave this right here.... [URL=http://s114.photobucket.com/user/hotrodhabit/media/1a803_zps009ae585.jpg.html]
Too bad that is a 1st gen Windstar and not a Caravan. Awesome interior, for a minivan, but let down everywhere else.
Ranger50 wrote:Aeromoto wrote: Just gonna leave this right here.... [URL=http://s114.photobucket.com/user/hotrodhabit/media/1a803_zps009ae585.jpg.html]Too bad that is a 1st gen Windstar and not a Caravan. Awesome interior, for a minivan, but let down everywhere else.
I wasn't trying to pass it off as a Caravan, I was just trying to make the point that minivans can be fun
bgkast wrote: This thread is relevant to me since my third child is due any day now...
Congratulations!
I've got three and we just went to NH from MA last week for seven days and I can't imagine doing that in much else. Both from a gas at $3.65/gal and the space we needed standpoint.
I would however like to explore creating something a bit different to make dd-ing a Caravan more fun as well as the whole snow-travel issue.
Like I said, if not for winter up here, I'd own an E250 already. So many conflicting opinions on driving in the snowstorms I will inevitably find myself having to drive in.
One thing that may or may not be obvious, but remember that on the later AWD caravans, AWD and Stow-n-Go are mutually exclusive. The space below the floor that the seats would fold into is occupied by AWD parts.
So, you'd have to take the seats out the old fashioned way, which i actually prefer because the old vans have an extremely durable floor (weight carrying wise, if it wont punch a hole in the carpet, you dont have to worry about it) and a bunch of built in tie-downs where the seats attach instead of a semi-durable floor made by a bunch of thin plastic folding panels covering holes in the floor.
My hate for minivans comes from them being a pain to work on. I have no doubt that they are great people movers, and I'll probably have one someday when we have more than 1 kid, but man I hate working on them. If they would put 4 cylinder engines into minivans I'd be all over it.
Looks like a Turbo PT cruiser engine would bolt in. 
And I guess I should say I'm mostly referring to Japanese vans--Sienna, Odyssey, Quest. Timing belts stink on older ones, and it's just crowded and annoying under the hood. Mazda5's are awesome, but are a true "mini" van...not nearly as big as what we call minivans today.
sethmeister4 wrote: My hate for minivans comes from them being a pain to work on. I have no doubt that they are great people movers, and I'll probably have one someday when we have more than 1 kid, but man I hate working on them. If they would put 4 cylinder engines into minivans I'd be all over it.
Huh? WAY more room to work on/in minivans then the family sedan.... IF there is a 4cyl up front, it damn well better have a turbo strapped to it in order to move 4k#'s down the road.
I'm already looking for the 120-150k mile Caravan with the blown up trans, rod knock, or leaking HG's for cheap to repair as the upcoming family addition nears closer.
bgkast wrote:
Oh, it will...... 
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