OT/ 2001 Dodge Caravan-or what is it?

My son in law picked up a 2001 Caravan. Was a stolen recovery, salvage title because of that supposedly. He is unable to get parts to fit it based on the year, make, and model. First was front brakes. For some reason, the rotors rub on the calipers. At an auto parts store, they tried every rotor they had for every year of Caravan, never did find any to fit. (16 inch wheels). Same with new calipers. He was down to trying to grind a little out of the calipers to allow the rotors to work with it when the brakes are applied. They only rub with the brakes are used. Front struts are bad, he can't get any of them to fit based on year, make, or model either. Even the dealer can't provide parts that fit. Has anyone ever run into anything like this before?

Paul,

Does the vehicle still a VIN tag either in the dashboard or on the driver's side door jamb? If so, you can probably go to a Chrysler dealership and find out exactly what you have.

Good luck,

Tom in TN

Find a better parts store or verify what he is working on . there are no "mystery caravans "

Unfortunately even the dealer can't figure this thing out. My son in law is a mechanic by trade and works with auto parts stores daily. It appears this thing has been cobbled together using unknown parts of some sort. They spent a ton of time going through every rotor in the auto parts store. I guess I was hooping somebody somehow had a similar story and had come up with a solution!

Was just bout what I was a thinking, go by the vin # ON the VAN, not what's on the title

2001 dodge Caravan stolen recovery-- that is the problem there, the "recovery" of previous stolen vehicle after how long? and who stole it- a drug runner who modified it to do hidden product transfer? Or someone who had some paper to use on a dodge caravan for awhile? Obvious the basic vehicle identity somehow found to be "recovered"- but while it was stolen it likely had a lot of parts fitted to use and avoid going to a dealer for repairs where it might have been identified as stolen. Forget the dealer for now, go to a fair sized salvage yard and have the yardmen look at the parts, get the police reports on the recovery, see if it was running on plates from a couple years different say from a unreported wreck or blown engine vehicle that might have provided some parts as well as a VIN tag and plates. 2001 Caravan was derived from Mitsubishi, VW or K car drive train? some bits and pieces used on same body shell depending on engine options came from different family and might be interchanged useably or put on to fit for a sale of stolen vehicle. Mini vans are popular in market, stolen often enough for resale and utility use by mechanically inclined light fingered pack rats with welders and chop shop back room parts. You might have Mitsubishi parts fitted, maybe 2005 parts, maybe 1998 parts-- Ford and Chevy parts may have been fitted by old hotrodder. RN.

(quoted from post at 03:47:09 04/06/12) My son in law picked up a 2001 Caravan. Was a stolen recovery, salvage title because of that supposedly. He is unable to get parts to fit it based on the year, make, and model. First was front brakes. For some reason, the rotors rub on the calipers. At an auto parts store, they tried every rotor they had for every year of Caravan, never did find any to fit. (16 inch wheels). Same with new calipers. He was down to trying to grind a little out of the calipers to allow the rotors to work with it when the brakes are applied. They only rub with the brakes are used. Front struts are bad, he can't get any of them to fit based on year, make, or model either. Even the dealer can't provide parts that fit. Has anyone ever run into anything like this before?

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My first thought is it has the wrong hub's (hub & bearing assy.) I have seen this with replacement hubs but don't zackly remember what vehicle... Their may be a difference tween 14 and 15" rims with the hub/brake parts :idea:

As generic as that front end is I spec allot of mix and matching could happen... I have swapped out complete van front ends to cars local folks use on mail RT's...

I don't think I would go with the grinder for a fix... I would use the engineers fix and find the correct combination...

Even though they may be for a different model or even a different make, if any of the existing parts are factory parts they should have some type of ID stamped on the part itself. If they are aftermarket parts, well, that's a different story, but sometimes even they have mfg numbers stamped on them. Just a thought, and good luck.

Wasn't one of them Jonny Cash type of cars was it? You know "49,50,51,52 automobiles"

I do know on my 2001 caravan. you gotta order the right parts. mine has 15in tires and takes different parts then the ones with 16's. also there is a big difference between a sport and grand caravan. mine has a 3.3 non-flex fuel; which can sometimes cause a parts mix-up. I use rockauto.com to look up lots of parts to see what interchanges!

Yeah. I bought a pickup on an auction once where the VIN on the bill of sale didn't match the one on the cowl.

Seems someone had changed the driver's door and the auction company copied the VIN off the door instead of off the cowl.

One of the reasons I will NEVER own a Chrysler product is I worked as a mechanic in the 90's. One I worked on for a tranny problem had 28....yes 28 mods in one year model! Only place to get parts or a reman was Chrysler and they were on the spendy side. Tranny had to be matched to the VIN. Shop cost for the tranny in 98 was 1800 with a mandatory markup to 2100 (if we got caught selling a MOPAR part for less we would have lost our discount). At the same time we could have gotten a GM or Ford reman for half.

By the same token the 1970 IH Scout I owned had 3 different tie rod ends for one year model.

Rick

I find it hard to believe that a mechanic who works on cars/trucks on a daily basis could not ID the parts. Now - parts people at parts stores? Often all they know is what the computer screen tells them. To make things worse . . that depends on what they ask.

I've got a 98 AWD Grand Caravan (16" wheels) and a 2001 FWD Caravan. I know when it comes to front brakes - there are at least three different systems and sets of parts used. All depends if - disk brakes on all 4, or disk in front and drum in back, or with front disk and ABS. May even be more possibilities depending on 1 or 3 engines, standard or long van, AWD or FWD, etc.

Being a theft recovery, it might have been stripped. When someone put it back together, they probably did a mix and match of what they were able to make fit or had on hand.