The SVX hauler suffered an injury :p

[1986nate]

Thursday night pulled into a rest area to catch some Z's. Being overtired and not thinking enough, pulled up a bit too close (about 5 feet) behind a big rig and trailer and was out of his view. (Pulled up that close to get the van and dolly fully parked in place and out of the narrow lane of traffic) And because a dolly can be a bit of a pain to back up and again, way too tired, just figured, i'm parked, it's good.
Well, a few hours later, heard a truck start up and there was a trailer slowly coming back towards me, quick tried honking, etc but it backed into me and pushed me backwards a good few feet. (van in park mind you) The truck driver then pulled into a parking spot, I went and looked at the damage, got back in, started it up, made sure the transaxle wasn't damaged, and then didn't really care. It would have been viewed at 50/50 fault anyway and I could have talked to the driver if I had cared enough. But seeing as it just did slight cosmetic damage, I continued on my way and it made it the 250 miles from the KY/TN border to Indianapolis just fine. Now it just has some battle wounds

[httrdd]

Chicks dig scars!

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by httrdd

Chicks dig scars!

speaking of which, the back of my wrist looks pretty gnarly

[SoobCrazy]

Even if it seems fine, the transmission in these vans is a weak spot and many of them fail. Sort of a similar situation to the SVX actually.

[subeman90]

Originally Posted by SoobCrazy

Even if it seems fine, the transmission in these vans is a weak spot and many of them fail. Sort of a similar situation to the SVX actually.

trust me he knows this. Last trip he carried a spare trans with him.

[aust92pearl]

Originally Posted by subeman90

trust me he knows this. Last trip he carried a spare trans with him.

nate did you happen to be a cub scout as a kid ?
your prepared for almost anything
haha

[subeman90]

Originally Posted by aust92pearl

nate did you happen to be a cub scout as a kid ?
your prepared for almost anything
haha

I'm telling ya this guy has what it takes to become a legend. Too bad you aren't here to meet him.

[aust92pearl]

Originally Posted by subeman90

I'm telling ya this guy has what it takes to become a legend. Too bad you aren't here to meet him.

haha oh i know , he already is a legend in my eyes
one day i shall come over to meet him and the rest of you guys if i get a chance

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by SoobCrazy

Even if it seems fine, the transmission in these vans is a weak spot and many of them fail. Sort of a similar situation to the SVX actually.

Yes, the early version of the A604 transmission was arguably much worse than the SVX transmission issues. The main problem was that Chrysler advised that Dexron fluid was ok in a tight spot to be used when in reality, that led to imminent transmission failures. They underwent many improvements over the years similar to the Subaru transmissions. That said, The van immediately made the 250 trip to Indianapolis, and then the 200 mile trip to Rockford, and then the 130 mile trip to Plymouth, WI. Anything that would have been damaged would be the parking prawl, not any actual transmission parts.

BTW, just snapped this on the way into WI...


This is the original transmission, torque converter was replaced about 8 years ago, I purchased it in May of this year with just a bit under 130k. I replaced the trans fluid and filter with genuine Chrysler ATF+4. I had everyone at the Reading meet laughing and making fun of me for thinking I could tow an SVX with a caravan. Well look who's laughing now! These 16k+miles in the last 5 months have all been HARD miles by even a truck or SUV standard, and way more than a caravan was ever designed for.... The worst tank of gas I have ever gotten is 15 mpg with the a/c on and a combined total weight easily over 11k lbs, and that is a "gentle" estimate.

This trip, I just got done unloading the van, just the van and here are some pics of me slowly taking stuff out.
(Keep in mind, I have heavy duty shocks)
Rear end is a bit saggy










You can imagine how much I could see

[1986nate]

And after, Holy crap! Ground clearance


And basically empty enough.

BTW, even with a starter failure in Florida on this trip from driving through over a foot of water, I still have less than a total of $900 into this van. Even including maintenance costs. Look who's laughing now.

the list of stuff in the van that I can remember is as follows
3 windshields
2 pallets
1 hood
1 fwd 5 spd and needed swap parts
1 complete AWD 5 spd swap parts
1 SVX auto transmission
2 torque converters
3 flywheels
a complete set of struts and hubs (all 4 corners) from an SVX
2 complete rear Legacy strut assemblies
4 SVX rims with tires
3 extra tires
SVX midpipe
pair of control arms
Front differential
air compressor
way too many tools
complete dashboard
2 intake manifolds
lots of random bits
quite a bit of luggage
Honestly, can't remember what else

Inside the complete SVX I was pulling there was
an extra leather driver seat
a complete engine
tons of other random bits

I traveled just a bit over 7000 miles on this trip (don't ask how much gas I spent ). And for the entire trip, loaded/unloaded(90 percent of it there was the van loaded or a vehicle on the dolly and averaged about 19 mpg overall.

[Chuckls]

Unpacking that thing looked like we were having a yard sale.

I will never forget, repacking most of it at 4'oclock AM.

[Subix]

Both ways I seen it only full to the brim of stuff... on the way back, it had even more after all your stops lol.... that van is a trooper!

[Turbone]

I'm certainly impressed.
More so now that you were able to find the parts I needed and get them shipped while on your road trip.