The Next Big Thing, '19 Grand Caravan

I had mentioned earlier in this thread that I am tired of and don't really like the black wheel thing.  As an example, my wife really hates the latest Flex look which is mostly black.  Sample:

We much more like the older looks such as this:

For Grand Caravans for 2019 like we were finding at Hertz they come two ways.  The lesser model SXT has chrome accents and the upper model, GT, has black out accents.  My wife would have preferred the SXT exterior but then you do not get heated seats, steering wheel, climate control, and leather seating, etc.  She wanted those features.  

So, this was todays project... 

I ordered up a set of chrome wheel skins.  These are more than hubcaps but rather exact fitting "chromed plastic" that goes right over your factory wheels.  I got them from here at a cost of $100/set

We now have gone from this:

to this:

She's happy.  I'm happy.  

Yes, they are pretty bright right now but I put similar on The Gov't Mule about 2 years and 10k miles ago.  They too were very bright originally but this picture taken today seems like they have toned down as they get dirtier.  However they still seem fantastic for the truck.  

I am impressed with the build quality of these caps on the Dodge.  To properly install them is to removed the wheel from the car.  Now, while off you can easily pop off the Dodge center cap.  These center caps then reside on the plastic wheel skin and look like they were made to go there.  .

The wheel skins are not held on via the lug nuts but rather there are tabs on every other spoke that clip on. Additionally there is some black foam backing pads that my guess are intended to eliminate any rattle.  

Pics:

I had considered other option like maybe sourcing some less black wheels from another year Grand Caravan but at $100 this got me mostly where I wanted to be for the cheapest route.  I had mentioned above that I like bronze.  Some of my thinking was that if the chrome was "too chrome" I might then paint these covers to bronze.  Maybe in the future but Mrs likes these so I will hold here.  

Sure, the factory wheels have some silver to them but from a distance, like these pictures they just come off as looking black.  

Now from a distance they don't look black...

Hi barney

Some more recent purchases for the new van...

I had watched a few CL/FB listings for used Weather Tech floor mats for the Grand Caravan.  They were asking $100 and $70 but each was more than an hour away.  I did some shopping an settled on cheaper competitors on Amazon.  Maxliner for $165 while Weather Techs are $229.  I like the 25% savings and I am happy with the quality.  I chose the gray version to try to lighten up the otherwise all black interior.  I am happy with that choice.  It makes things easier to find that might otherwise fall into the black abyss of the all black interior.  

I've never had Weather Tech style floor mats before but they seem like a smart move for this kid/family infested vehicle.  The van came with a full set of factory carpet mats.  I have put those on a shelf in the garage.  In 10 years they'll look like new!  

Photos from sale listing:

Next up, a Curt Class 3 hitch just $93.90 on Amazon.  Yeah, eTrailer prices were:

• $156 for house brand
• $159 for Curt
• $166 for Draw Tite

I also bought a Curt 4 pin wire harness for just $41.99 ($88 on eTrailer)

Tirebuyer.com had the 80k mile Continentals at a good (normal) price of $139 each.  They had a $75 rebate through 6-30.  On Monday 6-29 Tirebuyer sent me a 7% off anything offer for 4th of July.  This gave me a 2 day overlap of rebate and discount which brought them down to a net price of $112 each.  That made the long lasting tires from a major brand at or less than the "off-brands" and lesser wear models.

We purchased a 2017 grand caravan GT off of carvana a little over a year ago, $15,300 with 50k so it sounds like you found a good deal.  Ours has spent the last year halling 5 kids and it's been pretty good.

For the floor mats, we got the husky liner version for the front row as they seemed to cover further up behind the pedals, for the 2nd/3rd row we got the smart liner version.  It looks identical to the max liner.  We didn't trim the area for the "super console" and it still seems to slide ok. The only complaint I have is they make accessing the floor compartments a pain and really need to be removed to stow and go.  A minor inconvenience really as I don't see how any other floor mats could do better

The receiver sale seems like a good price, I just ordered one for ours.

Yeah, please let us know how the Curt hitch install goes. Right now the only vehicle I own with a hitch is the Manic Miata. It would be nice to put one on the Concert Coach. 
 

In reply to Duke :

The video on this page makes the hitch install look to be a 7 bolt affair.  The hardest part should be getting my wife to hold the hitch so I can get a bolt started on each side. Maybe I'll hold it while she gets the bolts started. 

On this page there is a video of wiring kit install on a black Caravan.  Mostly plug-and-play

The harness installation was my concern so thanks for sharing the video.  My primary concern was routing to get the power wire from the battery to the harness.  I was considering adding a cigarette lighter pigtail to the harness and simply plugging into the rear row outlet when needed.  In the past on other vehicles I've found it best to keep wireing in the cabin/trunk I'd possible so I plan to check out the potential of keeping the box/pigtail in one of the rear compartments like with the jack.  As needed you should be able to flip the pigtail out and shut the hatch.  I haven't ordered a harness yet as I have no immediat need.

Depending on what you plan to tow it looks like you can pick up the load leveling rear shocks for $220 a piece off rock Auto.  From the owners manual it sounds like a total passive system. I would love to hear if you think that's worthwhile or if you have a better solution or if it's even a problem you need to solve.

On a different topic how's everyone like the headlights on their grand caravan?  I think they are a bit disappointing, and I started to look into the led type Bulbs but don't want to be one of those guys that blinds everyone else.  The t/c had optional HID's and I wonder how difficult those would be to retrofit.

John you seem very knowledgeable about the g/c I look forward to your future updates.

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

In reply to Duke :

The video on this page makes the hitch install look to be a 7 bolt affair.  The hardest part should be getting my wife to hold the hitch so I can get a bolt started on each side. Maybe I'll hold it while she gets the bolts started. 

On this page there is a video of wiring kit install on a black Caravan.  Mostly plug-and-play

I just installed that hitch on my van solo a couple of weeks ago, although I did use a floor jack. I wedged it up above the lowered muffler, then used the jack to roughly get up into place.  Reattached the bolts. I cheated a bit using my cordless impact wrench.  

Getting the back of the van up on jack stands to get working room is more of a PITA than installing the hitch.

The Caravan is great, but please explain why you have 3 nearly identical Prii in your driveway.  Are you starting a Spec Racing series that you haven't told us about?  

In reply to nocones :

I own a medical transport business. Three Prius shown, four currently owned (out of five.) Two silver, two light green.. 

Nearly 4 years of multi-Prius ownership and salvage rebuild detailed in this thread

The F250 is The Gov't Mule.  The Montero is The Sumo Wrestler 

My hitch plans are probably mostly bike carrier, but, as a contingency plan, I have access to a friend's utility trailer and a tow dolly.

The combo of a mini van and a trailer might just be as good (or better) as an open bed pick up truck 

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

I used this hitch on my 2008 GC with a H-F aluminum moto carrier.  Even with a DRZ400 on the back and probably close to the tongue weight limit, it was solid and the van drove like it wasn't there.

When you think about it - these vans were designed to haul 7 adults plus some amount of cargo.  So the cargo capacity is higher than one might expect.

Found on this Canadian Dodge Dealer site

The trailer tow capacity of all models of Caravan and T&C is a Max. of 3600 lbs. 

It breaks down as follows: 

• 3600lb + 2 persons + 50 lbs. luggage ea.
• 3350lbs + 3-5 people +50lbs luggage ea
• 3000lbs + 6-7 people + 50 lbs luggage ea   
• (Single person weight = 150lbs.  luggage est  50lbs/person or… occupant and luggage weight of 200 lbs) 
• Transmission fluid change if towing is 104k.  

This then seems to imply that one person would lighten the load by 200 lb (150 + 50) and move the towing to 3800lb.  

I know the eTrailer website makes the statement that the hitch is rated for 4,000lb and 400 tongue weight but then says to check Dodge specs.  It seems like they are saying, "4,000 is okay but we didn't tell you that!"   The eTrailer site even goes as far as to say 5,000lb and 500lb tongue if you have a load level hitch. 

Another interesting contradiction is the 3,000lb with 7 people.  If 7 people = 7X150lbs each = 1,050 lb and then their luggage is 7x50= 350 that is then 1400lbs.  So, then 3,000lbs plus 1,400lbs = 4,400lbs

Sure, what I wrote above is all simplified but it's probably all a mute point anyway since I am not a 150lb person!  

I've been searching for a RV trailer that has the features I want and is within the weight limits. Pickings are slim, but I've narrowed it down to a Forest River R-Pod 180. The choices are all single axle as well, so I plan on running a weight distributing hitch to add a bit more of a safety margin .

xxsportscar said:

On a different topic how's everyone like the headlights on their grand caravan?  I think they are a bit disappointing, and I started to look into the led type Bulbs but don't want to be one of those guys that blinds everyone else.  The t/c had optional HID's and I wonder how difficult those would be to retrofit.

Not sure about retrofitting, but mt '12 T&C has the optional HIDs, and they are pretty nice lights.  In fact, the HIDs are one of the primary reasons I bumped the budget a little and started looking for the Limited trim.  They do come with auto dimming, etc, so I don't know if the control wiring might give you trouble on a retrofit.

Buying utility vehicles is for me more like figuring out what tools are the best or which refrigerator has the best reviews - a utilitarian approach far distanced from the amount and kind of attention lavished on the possible purchase of a new sports car, but I have always been impressed with the Chrysler minivans (we have also owned GM).

Had a stow n' go version for awhile - brilliant.

If we ever bought  new utility vehicle (we probably won't as she has a Mazda 3 Sport) it would probably be that van.  If you don't live at the top of a snowy mountain, or don't have roads to your house and actually need an SUV for logical purposes rather than testosterone pumpage, a minivan just makes so much more sense than a 4 WD truck

I dedicated Saturday morning, July 4th, to hitch and wiring install.  The wiring was very straight forward and very true to the video posted above.  

The big box for the hitch popped through a bit in shipping.  The one side of the box was a little broken

This resulted in a little bit of black coming off the hitch.  With myself living in the rust belt, this hitch will surely rust, the quiestion is just how quickly will it rust.  

I decided to add an ounce of prevention and I hit the exposed metal with some black spray paint I had on hand.  If some is good, more is better?  Not my best painting effort but effective.

The wiring calls for a wire run to the battery.  I ran the wire under the car using the included zip ties to secure the wire to the brake lines running under the car.  I then used a carpenter's ruler as a fish wire to pull the trailer wring up from the ground. 

Installed with included fuse holder.

Finished.  No trimming of fascia required.  A nice tight fit with the receiver all staying under the bumper.  Nothing protruding or anything you could bump your shin on.  My wiring was just the simple 4 pin version.  I chose to just store the wiring on the chain hook, using the wiring dust cover as a retainer too.

I made one rookie mistake. For the hitch, it secures to 3 bolts on the D-side and 2 (of 3 bolts) on the P-side.  Like the video shows, you have to loosen the hangers of the muffler to get some muffler drop.  Even with the muffler dropped is is tight working around the muffler.  After taking out the 2 P-side bolts, I realized that I had not taken out the correct 2 P-side bolts.  So, I then took out the correct one.  What I did not realize is that I now had out every bolt that hold on the bumper rails.  With all three bumper rail bolts out...in one of the many times getting up and down, I leaned heavily on the bumper as an aid of getting up off the ground.  Oops.  

Putting my personal heft on this unsecured bumper then moved the bumper.  This movement or sag then meant that none of the bolts were lining up correctly.   This required a technique of laying on the ground looking at a bolt hole while pressing up with my knee on the bumper to persuade the bumper back into place.  Once I got a bolt to take properly on each side I then left in that one bolt on the P-side to keep everything aligned. In the picture below, I circled the part that says, "be sure to leave P-side bolt in frame to hold bumper."  

The hitch/wiring install took me from about 9-Noon.  This included interruption from inquisitive 5 yr old.  Also included delay of waiting for my wife to come out and help.  Her help was once I had the bumper re-aligned, I laid under the car and bench pressed the 40 lb hitch while she got one bolt started on each side.  Pretty easy.  

Another interesting note.  I tightened all the bolt by hand tools to what I thought was very tight.  The instructions include torque specs.  I figured what the heck, the torque wrench is right here, I'll tighten them with it but I don't expect they will need any more tightening.  Boy, was I wrong.  I was very surprised by how much more tightening it took to meet spec.  

When I was done, my thought was that I wanted to test the wiring.  I imagined there was nothing wrong but wanted to be sure while I had all the tools out.  I don't have a trailer here but I could take it over to a friends.  They sell trailer wiring testers but I really didn't want to buy something for a one-time use.  Then it hit me, Just outside my neighborhood, on the main road is a Uhaul dealer and all their stuff is 4 pin style.  I popped my head in their office and stated that I just spent the morning installing a wiring harness for a future Uhaul rental and just wanted to test the connection.  All worked as intended!  

By 1:30 we were down the road at a friend's pool for the remainder of the day!

Today, the Grand Caravan's hitch did it's first work.  I needed to go 1 hour away to pick up a car.  I could have taken the Super Duty truck but I wanted to test the van.  The internet tells me a 2010 Mercury Milan 4cyl weighs about 3,300 lbs and a Uhaul dolly weighs 750 lbs.  That puts me right at 4,000 lbs.  This is the hitch manufacture, Curt's, stated max capability.  

The van towed very well in a combo of urban and rural settings.  If I am to believe the on-borad computer, I got 21mpg in the first hour with an empty dolly.  Then reset the on-board and it was telling me 19 for the return hour.  In general, I towed at about 60 mph but not much faster.  For a brief period in the rural highway setting I took her up to 75 mph.  This required a downshift at most all throttle inputs and generally was not as "personally comfortable" as the 60-65.   Nothing felt unsafe or uncapable.  Though, it required much more of my attention than pulling with the Super Duty.  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

I don't think there is a better long trip car.  I've rented dozens for work.  All with the 3.6 vvt.

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

IIRC that's a Hertz offload, correct?  Does it have a towing package?

My 2015 T&C has the load leveling suspension but not the towing package.  I've been wondering how it would do towing the Manic Miata (2400 lbs) on an aluminum single-axle trailer.

I don't have pics but I've towed a lot with my 06 and now 14, the 14 was an enterprise offload and it is the heavy duty trans cooler but no actual hitch. When I took it apart to run the wiring the harness was tucked behind the light so it had the package minus hitch. Towed rabbits and X1/9 on dolly's and single axle landscape trailers with no issue at all.

In reply to Duke :

Yes, Hertz. 

No, it does not have a tow package verified by the window sticker for this vin as showed on page 1.  Looking up the vin for a mopar is easy.  Maybe look up yours to verify on yours (if you did not buy new.)  

My tow was easy even if at the top end of the limit.  I was impressed that the rear of the van does not seem too "squat" with this load.  We had some minor stuff in the van so it wasn't empty but it was no where near full.  Onboard was myself at 250# and daughter at 50#.   

As far as I can tell, the max tow rating for the Grand Caravan is the same whether base model or tow package equipped.

The Uhaul tow dolly behind the Grand Caravan is such a great combo for a 3000lb towed car, if I didn't already have a small trailer I would be looking for my own tow dolly to buy. 

The ride and handling is much improved with this kind of load on the car too. Driving completely unloaded you can tell it was engineered to be capable of hauling all adults in the rear passenger seats. 

My wife, "what's so interesting on your phone?"

Me, "Looking at trailer hitches for my van."

Her, the look of confusion.