How bad is rocker panel replacement on 05 mopar minivans?

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about picking up an 05-era town and country/caravan. I live up here in rust country (CT), so they all have rust on the rear rockers in front of the wheels.

It looks like the (few) fords in the area don't suffer from anything like this, but I don't trust that era transmissions, nor havei been impressed with their accessory quality (door sliders and whatnot)..

How big of a job is the mopars' rust repair? I've got a welder, and in comfortable patching in a new exterior panel if that's all it is. I know replacement panels are available for ~$50ish.

Thanks!

It wont last. Even if you built a whole new van from scratch it would be rusty again in 8 years. But no, seriously...

I would be way more likely to fly south and drive one home, than grind/cut/weld/paint my way into a minivan.

Eh, it's not worth it to me to fly south for a minivan.. I did that for my miata, but I'm looking at a $1400 2005 t&c. If I could throw 4 or 500 at it, and have it fixed good enough to last, say, 4 or 5 years, that would be perfect.

I'm not looking for something to keep my whole life, just long enough to last until I can justify dropping more money.. Right now, it would have to come out of my racing budget, but this one could be swapped even money for my 96 Subaru wagon (worth about 2k)...

From what I've been reading, rocker panel replacement seems to be pretty much the same for any uni-body car: cut, treat, weld, paint. The guys who do it all the time make it look easy.

Cool, that's what I wanted to hear :)

For sure, fix it before it gets bad.

We do a good number of door wiring harnesses for the Caravans, so be forewarned. And Ford trans quality has gone up significantly since the 80s.

How much/how are the door wiring harnesses? Do they just fail because of the sliding mechanism?

I have no fear of modern fords, but based on my experiences with the numerous generation Tauruses (taurusi? Tauruspoda?), I'll steer clear of any v6/auto combination up through 2008ish..

If rust is what you're worried about, the things I've heard about the strut towers and seat latches on Freestars will pretty much eliminate those from contention too.

The dealership repairs for the "recall" are dire too, so don't expect them to really be fixed: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/07/total-recall-update-rustectomy-successful-but-change-is-in-the-wind/

Is the rocker replacement just for looks because I dd a car without them and my parents old minivan was droping chunks in the driveway before well scrapped it?

Ssswitch - I had forgotten about all the recalls and buy backs on the wind star line... Ok, double up that "not getting a windstar" thing.. Thanks for the link.

Bikerbenz - I'm not interested in the van if its structural, only if its cosmetic.. And if I can make it look better for a few Benjamin's, it's worth it to me. It'll make my wife feel better about the van as well :)

That rust repair was as bogus as it can be.

No doubt...

WonkoTheSane wrote: but I'm looking at a $1400 2005 t&c. If I could throw 4 or 500 at it, and have it fixed good enough to last, say, 4 or 5 years, that would be perfect.

All I can say on this is to wish you the best on your pipedream. Good, cheap, and reliable, choose 2.

The idea of buying a chrysler minivan because you're fearful of a bad transmission is enough to render me unable to process any thoughts about rust.

All minivan transmissions suck, but I believe the Chrysler ones suck less :)

Ranger50 - I always heard l "fast, cheap, reliable"as the triumvirate, so I figured I was ok since I didn't need fast :)

Seriously, I don't know of any data that says that one of the 05 won't get me through two or three years, but I'd love more data if you have it!

Around here I give any rust repair job, no matter how thorough, three winters before it looks worse than when you began.