had one ... but the doors fell off

My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
happy". Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and
an alignment. I won't bother with the litany of other things that broke
that never should. My repair file is getting quite large...

I was miffed when the drivers side door fell off - well not quite off -
the upper hange tore itself away from the unibody and obviously the door
wouldn't close - which left the lights on and drained my battery. Had to
get a body shop to weld a plate so the upper hinge could be re-attached.

Todays interesting problem - the tailgate fell off - well again I
exagerate a bit - there is a bolt that goes through the middle of the
hinges on the tailgate - maybe it's for some sort of alignment or
adjustment or some such thing . Anyway , the bolt on one of the hinges
failed - shearing off and droping the tailgate to such an extent that
the van looked like it had been in a serious accident. Good thing my
wife was close to home at our local highschool. Someone found some rope
so my kids could hold the tailgate closed while my wife hobbled home. I
can post a picture if anyone is interested.

Can anyone tell me what thread and length for this bolt? I'm going to
have to careully drill out the sheared-off bolt, perhaps re-thread the
hole and hope that nothing was grossly twisted in this "event". The
local Chrysler says "this doesn't happen". Well, it did...

Any thoughts?

Thanks
peter

On Thu, 9 Dec 2004, peter denyer wrote:

> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
> happy".

Why are you getting any comment at all from Chrysler on a 10-year-old
vehicle? Surely you're not taking the van to a dealer for repair?!

> Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and an
> alignment. I won't bother with the litany of other things that broke
> that never should. My repair file is getting quite large...

I suspect the problem may have more to do with your repair facility
choices than with the original design of the van.

> I was miffed when the drivers side door fell off - well not quite off -
> the upper hange tore itself away from the unibody and obviously the door
> wouldn't close - which left the lights on and drained my battery. Had to
> get a body shop to weld a plate so the upper hinge could be re-attached.

What part of the world, specifically, do you live in? How many miles or KM
do you have on this van?

> Todays interesting problem - the tailgate fell off - well again I
> exagerate a bit - there is a bolt that goes through the middle of the
> hinges on the tailgate - maybe it's for some sort of alignment or
> adjustment or some such thing . Anyway , the bolt on one of the hinges
> failed Can anyone tell me what thread and length for this bolt?

The parts department can.

> local Chrysler says "this doesn't happen".

This sounds like another of the "little" exaggerations you admit to
making.

On Thu, 9 Dec 2004, peter denyer wrote:

> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
> happy".

Why are you getting any comment at all from Chrysler on a 10-year-old
vehicle? Surely you're not taking the van to a dealer for repair?!

> Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and an
> alignment. I won't bother with the litany of other things that broke
> that never should. My repair file is getting quite large...

I suspect the problem may have more to do with your repair facility
choices than with the original design of the van.

> I was miffed when the drivers side door fell off - well not quite off -
> the upper hange tore itself away from the unibody and obviously the door
> wouldn't close - which left the lights on and drained my battery. Had to
> get a body shop to weld a plate so the upper hinge could be re-attached.

What part of the world, specifically, do you live in? How many miles or KM
do you have on this van?

> Todays interesting problem - the tailgate fell off - well again I
> exagerate a bit - there is a bolt that goes through the middle of the
> hinges on the tailgate - maybe it's for some sort of alignment or
> adjustment or some such thing . Anyway , the bolt on one of the hinges
> failed Can anyone tell me what thread and length for this bolt?

The parts department can.

> local Chrysler says "this doesn't happen".

This sounds like another of the "little" exaggerations you admit to
making.

Did you neglect to say how many times it was in the body shop?? Caravans
dont have tire wear problems, and doors falling off
"peter denyer" > wrote in message
...
> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
> happy". Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and
> an alignment. I won't bother with the litany of other things that broke
> that never should. My repair file is getting quite large...
>
> I was miffed when the drivers side door fell off - well not quite off -
> the upper hange tore itself away from the unibody and obviously the door
> wouldn't close - which left the lights on and drained my battery. Had to
> get a body shop to weld a plate so the upper hinge could be re-attached.
>
> Todays interesting problem - the tailgate fell off - well again I
> exagerate a bit - there is a bolt that goes through the middle of the
> hinges on the tailgate - maybe it's for some sort of alignment or
> adjustment or some such thing . Anyway , the bolt on one of the hinges
> failed - shearing off and droping the tailgate to such an extent that
> the van looked like it had been in a serious accident. Good thing my
> wife was close to home at our local highschool. Someone found some rope
> so my kids could hold the tailgate closed while my wife hobbled home. I
> can post a picture if anyone is interested.
>
> Can anyone tell me what thread and length for this bolt? I'm going to
> have to careully drill out the sheared-off bolt, perhaps re-thread the
> hole and hope that nothing was grossly twisted in this "event". The
> local Chrysler says "this doesn't happen". Well, it did...
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks
> peter
>
>

Did you neglect to say how many times it was in the body shop?? Caravans
dont have tire wear problems, and doors falling off
"peter denyer" > wrote in message
...
> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
> happy". Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and
> an alignment. I won't bother with the litany of other things that broke
> that never should. My repair file is getting quite large...
>
> I was miffed when the drivers side door fell off - well not quite off -
> the upper hange tore itself away from the unibody and obviously the door
> wouldn't close - which left the lights on and drained my battery. Had to
> get a body shop to weld a plate so the upper hinge could be re-attached.
>
> Todays interesting problem - the tailgate fell off - well again I
> exagerate a bit - there is a bolt that goes through the middle of the
> hinges on the tailgate - maybe it's for some sort of alignment or
> adjustment or some such thing . Anyway , the bolt on one of the hinges
> failed - shearing off and droping the tailgate to such an extent that
> the van looked like it had been in a serious accident. Good thing my
> wife was close to home at our local highschool. Someone found some rope
> so my kids could hold the tailgate closed while my wife hobbled home. I
> can post a picture if anyone is interested.
>
> Can anyone tell me what thread and length for this bolt? I'm going to
> have to careully drill out the sheared-off bolt, perhaps re-thread the
> hole and hope that nothing was grossly twisted in this "event". The
> local Chrysler says "this doesn't happen". Well, it did...
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks
> peter
>
>

"peter denyer" > wrote in message
...
> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
> happy". Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and an
> alignment.

You don't say when you bought it, but I presume it was well used. Did you
check for collision damage when you bought it? I've had a few of various
generation vans and not one had a hint of these kinds of problems. I hope
you didn't pay much for it.

"peter denyer" > wrote in message
...
> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now and all Chrysler can say is "sorry you're not
> happy". Can't keep it in alignment - evey 6 months new front tires and an
> alignment.

You don't say when you bought it, but I presume it was well used. Did you
check for collision damage when you bought it? I've had a few of various
generation vans and not one had a hint of these kinds of problems. I hope
you didn't pay much for it.

"peter denyer" > wrote in message
...
> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now

I know this isn't helpful, but it sounds like the problem is more you than
the van. Good heavens. They made millions of those things, and nobody's
broken a door off, and you've got two? What are the odds?

As for the steering rack, it should be obvious that it isn't your van
"killing" the racks repeatedly. It's not haunted. For heaven's sake, think a
little bit.

"peter denyer" > wrote in message
...
> My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> steering rack 4 times now

I know this isn't helpful, but it sounds like the problem is more you than
the van. Good heavens. They made millions of those things, and nobody's
broken a door off, and you've got two? What are the odds?

As for the steering rack, it should be obvious that it isn't your van
"killing" the racks repeatedly. It's not haunted. For heaven's sake, think a
little bit.

a little maintenance goes along way!!!!!!!!it may even keep doors from
falling off
"Joe" > wrote in message
...
>
> "peter denyer" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My 1995 Town and Country has been a mechanical nightmare sice I bought
> > it - love the form factor, but it's a dud otherwise - replaced the front
> > steering rack 4 times now
>
> I know this isn't helpful, but it sounds like the problem is more you than
> the van. Good heavens. They made millions of those things, and nobody's
> broken a door off, and you've got two? What are the odds?
>
> As for the steering rack, it should be obvious that it isn't your van
> "killing" the racks repeatedly. It's not haunted. For heaven's sake, think
a
> little bit.
>
>