Dynamite72 Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Hello y'all! New here to this forum but excited for the interaction and input from everyone. I have owned my Journey for a couple months now and would like to see if some of the ideas I have for it are feasible. Yes, I fully understand that it is not a four wheel drive (suv/truck) and I don't plan on treating as such. I would however like to make it a bit more user friendly for some of the situations I get into with my line of work, public service and private life. Glad to be here and thanks in advance for any positive input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Solstice Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 welcome to the group did you get awd or just fwd?either way congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armando G Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavalLacrosse Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) From your image of a cold climate, this is probably this is old news for you, but: AWD, Snow tires will aid in your 'line of work', if by that you mean commuting around on un-plowed roads rural New York. I've added a 2" hitch to mine. Specifically, it's for a bike rack, but It's nice to be pulled/pull others out of snowbanks by a real hard-point on the frame as opposed to the little tow-hook. It 'Won't' tow over the 2500 lbs limit, but who will stop you! (That's joke, because if you tow overweight, and the brakes fail, Who will stop you?) Looks like you have an emergency light bar on the roof? depending on what your occupation is, maybe additional light strobes on the rear near the license plate/ under the grille in the front would both look cool and provide additional safety. Edited February 5, 2020 by NavalLacrosse Dynamite72 and Summer Solstice 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Welcome aboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daanv Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 The V6 Dodge Journey is the Chrysler Pentastar engine, which is used in the Jeep Cherokee and in the Dodge Durango as well in slightly different versions but only minor differences is in HP, albeit with different transmissions. The Cherokee comes with a version for towing up to 7200 lbs, which includes among other things extra cooling and special shocks for the rear wheels. However, the regular towing specs are up to 4000 lbs, and I see no reason why the V6 Dodge Journey should not be able to pull 4000 lbs as well. The Uhaul hitch install services installs a 4000 hitch standard for the Dodge Journey V6, which I had done recently. NavalLacrosse and Dynamite72 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavalLacrosse Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Daanv said: ..... I see no reason why the V6 Dodge Journey should not be able to pull 4000 lbs as well. Pretty much the general feeling about this car and towing summed up. FCA Says don't do it, but there are people who've done it and it's not been an issue towing boats or trailers with their 2011+ v6's, especially with Aftermarket brake controllers. The general consensus is that somewhere between 2010 and 2011, FCA nurfed the towing capacity from 3500 to 2500 probably due to some warrenty claim %. Although, there could be legitimate safety issues with towing more than 2500lbs; (the 2011's had undersized brakes, which was an issue resolved in 2013+) maybe it's as simple as Chrysler's old criteria for braking power was sufficient for 3500lbs, whereas the (newly merged) FCA's standards of braking distance and heat dissipation in the mountains might not have been met- so instead of an expensive engineering solution, they just dropped the towing rating in the user manual costing $0 to implement, and sweeping the issue under the rug once and for all. Rest assured, some bean-counter in Auburn Hills made a big bonus check on that decision. Digressing more; You could argue that marketing wanted to 'nurf' the Journey to push Jeep sales. [conspiracy music ] Edited February 7, 2020 by NavalLacrosse Dynamite72 and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamite72 Posted February 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 2late4u it is the AWD version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamite72 Posted February 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, Dynamite72 said: 2late4u it is the AWD version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamite72 Posted February 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 On 2/5/2020 at 10:07 AM, NavalLacrosse said: From your image of a cold climate, this is probably this is old news for you, but: AWD, Snow tires will aid in your 'line of work', if by that you mean commuting around on un-plowed roads rural New York. I've added a 2" hitch to mine. Specifically, it's for a bike rack, but It's nice to be pulled/pull others out of snowbanks by a real hard-point on the frame as opposed to the little tow-hook. It 'Won't' tow over the 2500 lbs limit, but who will stop you! (That's joke, because if you tow overweight, and the brakes fail, Who will stop you?) Looks like you have an emergency light bar on the roof? depending on what your occupation is, maybe additional light strobes on the rear near the license plate/ under the grille in the front would both look cool and provide additional safety. thanks for your input! the light bar is Bue strobe for volunteer fire service. I will be having add ons done to the light package with multiple strobes installed in numerous locations of the vehicle. I have a 2" hitch being installed next week so I can go pick up a pop up camper (1400 lbs) I bought for our family camping trips this summer. also adding a roof top cargo rack with fishing rod mounts for gear of many kinds for work, fire and life in general. may also be doing a wheel swap out to 18 inch TUFF wheels and BF Goodrich all terrain tires. we'll see what works out in the near future. 2late4u and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 I'm sure it could tow more. Towing is not the issue. Stopping is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 also the tongue weight is awfully low for our journey, a towing shop said that with my hitch and and the carrier i was going to use and also my wife's medical scooter i would be over the tongue weight and it would be unsafe, i added it all up and was over the listed max amount by about 25 lbs, but i am still using it and havent had any problems, except that i have had some problems with the rear alignment and replaced the upper rear control links with adjustable ones the oem ones are non adjustable. but have read a lot of other journey owners having problems with this as well my 2011 i never had any problems with them. oh well nature of the beast i guess jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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