ManglerYJ
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2005
- Location
- Lexington, NC
So as a result of my wreck over the winter, the rear hatch on my minivan went from opening occasionally, to full stop. With the summer here, having to tote the kids to the pool without the benefit of the rear hatch to stow floats and crap, the wife had enough and sent me to the Pull-a-Part to seek out a new hatch. Mine is a 99 Caravan with the dark tint windows, wiper and defrost in sort of a mint green color (it was a smoking deal), so I was hoping to find one the same color, but really didn't care - as long as it's not Barney purple.
So I go take my toolbox and grab a wheelbarrow and head down to the Chrysler section in search of Caravan/Voyager/Town & Country vans from 96-01. There is quite the selection. A quick walk through and I spot two that have next to no scratches - one white and one black with a spoiler on it! So I get to work unhooking the wiring harness and then pulling the hatch struts off realizing that I had forgotten my Torx bits. The right size hex key fits, but it is slow work. Those suckers are TIGHT and have a lot of pressure on them. Once done with the struts, I get a feel for exactly how HEAVY this hatch is. I had already loosened the bolts on the hinges when the struts were on, but it was still rough to try to work also trying to keep the hatch propped up, especially since they have the van up on "jack stands" - two wheels welded together at each corner.
Finally at about 5:45, I get the hatch off and wrestle it onto the wheelbarrow using my ratchet strap to keep it secured to the wheelbarrow. I wheel it in, drenched in sweat and see the girl who tells me that she will have to charge me for the spoiler. I said, "Oh really? It was bolted to the hatch on the vehicle. I grabbed it because the other one had a couple of scratches on it and this one didn't. I'll go get the other one then." At that, looking at the clock, she says - "no... I'm not going to make you do that. It's closing time."
So now I have a mint green minivan with a black hatch and a "free" spoiler for all that extra down-force that you need if you have a performance mini-van such as myself. Who knows - maybe she was bluffing, too...
So I go take my toolbox and grab a wheelbarrow and head down to the Chrysler section in search of Caravan/Voyager/Town & Country vans from 96-01. There is quite the selection. A quick walk through and I spot two that have next to no scratches - one white and one black with a spoiler on it! So I get to work unhooking the wiring harness and then pulling the hatch struts off realizing that I had forgotten my Torx bits. The right size hex key fits, but it is slow work. Those suckers are TIGHT and have a lot of pressure on them. Once done with the struts, I get a feel for exactly how HEAVY this hatch is. I had already loosened the bolts on the hinges when the struts were on, but it was still rough to try to work also trying to keep the hatch propped up, especially since they have the van up on "jack stands" - two wheels welded together at each corner.
Finally at about 5:45, I get the hatch off and wrestle it onto the wheelbarrow using my ratchet strap to keep it secured to the wheelbarrow. I wheel it in, drenched in sweat and see the girl who tells me that she will have to charge me for the spoiler. I said, "Oh really? It was bolted to the hatch on the vehicle. I grabbed it because the other one had a couple of scratches on it and this one didn't. I'll go get the other one then." At that, looking at the clock, she says - "no... I'm not going to make you do that. It's closing time."
So now I have a mint green minivan with a black hatch and a "free" spoiler for all that extra down-force that you need if you have a performance mini-van such as myself. Who knows - maybe she was bluffing, too...
