sheet metal at door hinge splits back into the firewall
Ok we have a 1995 Dodge Caravan SE. No bells and whistles, no power windows, no ABS. To me this is a major and highly dangerous as well as extremely expensive to pay to have fixed. Not only is it common for the plastic what ever to shred off the front door latches, but the doors sag as well. What has happened to ours I do not even know if it can be safely repaired or at what expense. The sheet metal on which the door hinges are mounted on have ripped, cracked torn or what ever. As a result the doors do sag and will not latch safely closed or at all. I have replaced both latches and tried my best to weld the sheet metal as best I could.
Now the sheet metal from the hinge mounting points has cracked all the way back into the bulk head of the firewall. Driving and going around a turn the doors can fly open. As a result we can not safely operate this vehicle any more and I am not going to sell it as a used vehicle or part it out do to someone thinking it will be okay to drive. I have seen many online posts about the doors being to heavy and sagging. Some say replace the hinge bushings. Body shops will replace the latches but the problem will happen again.
I can not afford a car payment to replace this thing so we are screwed as I know Chrysler will never do a damn thing about this problem. If they say no serious injuries or deaths have occurred as a result that is only because most sensible people will not drive a car that doors do not stay closed.
In order to have the bulk head welded the entire front end needs to be removed from the vehicle. How much does this cost? How many thousands of dollars? Compare the cars of yesteryear and the weight of those doors. I have never seen this problem with any other vehicle.
Chrysler should be ashamed of itself for knowing of this problem and not even so much as a word about it.
Again because what no one has died? How much have people spent throwing money at this very problem? $80.00-$100.00 for another latch till it wears out too? JB weld will not fix this problem. When we bought this van it was 6 years old and had 82,000 miles on it. It has been a great vehicle except for this problem which has rendered it unsafe for public roads. This this thing is a 1995, with less than 130,000 miles on it and it's useless because of cheap, sh*tty, problem recycled Chinese low carbon content, lousy and weak sheet metal.
Changing doors from a junk yard with good latches at around $2-300.00 bucks each isn't a fix either. Is a 1995 used vehicle even worth taking to a body to pay for labor that is just to get at the problem worth it? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would be around 25-40 hours full of disassemble and reassemble, with about 1 hour of welding, grinding and oh yeah touch up painting for sh*t you'll never see. Been to damn body shop lately?
And yes I sh*t you not the sheet metal is cracked going up inside to the damn firewall!!!!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
sheet metal at door hinge splits back into the firewall Ok we have a 1995 Dodge Caravan SE. No bells and whistles, no power windows, no ABS. To me this is a major and highly dangerous as well as extremely expensive to pay to have fixed. Not only is it common for the plastic what ever to shred off the front door latches, but the doors sag as well. What has happened to ours I do not even know if it can be safely repaired or at what expense. The sheet metal on which the door hinges are mounted on have ripped, cracked torn or what ever. As a result the doors do sag and will not latch safely closed or at all. I have replaced both latches and tried my best to weld the sheet metal as best I could. Now the sheet metal from the hinge mounting points has cracked all the way back into the bulk head of the firewall. Driving and going around a turn the doors can fly open. As a result we can not safely operate this vehicle any more and I am not going to sell it as a used vehicle or part it out do to someone thinking it will be okay to drive. I have seen many online posts about the doors being to heavy and sagging. Some say replace the hinge bushings. Body shops will replace the latches but the problem will happen again. I can not afford a car payment to replace this thing so we are screwed as I know Chrysler will never do a damn thing about this problem. If they say no serious injuries or deaths have occurred as a result that is only because most sensible people will not drive a car that doors do not stay closed. In order to have the bulk head welded the entire front end needs to be removed from the vehicle. How much does this cost? How many thousands of dollars? Compare the cars of yesteryear and the weight of those doors. I have never seen this problem with any other vehicle. Chrysler should be ashamed of itself for knowing of this problem and not even so much as a word about it. Again because what no one has died? How much have people spent throwing money at this very problem? $80.00-$100.00 for another latch till it wears out too? JB weld will not fix this problem. When we bought this van it was 6 years old and had 82,000 miles on it. It has been a great vehicle except for this problem which has rendered it unsafe for public roads. This this thing is a 1995, with less than 130,000 miles on it and it's useless because of cheap, sh*tty, problem recycled Chinese low carbon content, lousy and weak sheet metal. Changing doors from a junk yard with good latches at around $2-300.00 bucks each isn't a fix either. Is a 1995 used vehicle even worth taking to a body to pay for labor that is just to get at the problem worth it? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It would be around 25-40 hours full of disassemble and reassemble, with about 1 hour of welding, grinding and oh yeah touch up painting for sh*t you'll never see. Been to damn body shop lately? And yes I sh*t you not the sheet metal is cracked going up inside to the damn firewall!!!!!
- Jerry F., Canon City, CO, US