Firestone’s chief n our gen 2 sienna. Worked great for towing or bikes.
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Firestone’s chief n our gen 2 sienna. Worked great for towing or bikes.
That would be my approach if I did it again. Maybe 20% stiffer. The other option is load sensing shocks like the Nivomats from Sachs. They're not cheap though. I don't know if there's something similar for Siennas.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brownski
Tell me more about Sienna Hybrids...my wife bought a Honda Ridgeline a few years ago and it's the one with the 6-speed transmission. It's now less than 10K miles from the expected implosion mileage for that tranny. Looking to trade it in on a more practical car. Liking the Sienna a lot.
BTW, I just got banned on the Ridgeline Owners forum for calling them a bunch of deluded phanbois for ignoring the obvious problems with their beloved Not A Real Truck.
Variable Cylinder Management that doesn't react fast enough in hilly terrain
A transmission that blows up 10K miles after the warranty runs out
Driver assist nannies that try to kill you
Poor QC where Honda left out a bunch of drain plugs so the cabin fills up with water shorting out all the electronics
No locking tailgate
The most worthless backup camera on the planet
Rear doors that don't open wide enough for even a medium sized Lab to jump in without banging the frame
Ignore the above, anybody want to buy a low mileage (under 50K on a 2019) Honda pickup?
^^^ this is really funny. The fanboy forums are pretty wild. I’ve had three BMWs and when I first was considering one, I was on Bimmerfest and e91, and just criticizing obvious design choices would spark all kinds of reprimanding.
Also… we still miss our minivan, they’re so practical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
carmax will buy that shit...
CarMax +1
I’m pretty happy with the Sienna. It’s a ‘22 AWD hybrid in a lower trim level. I’m getting about 34 mpg average- maybe 32 or 33 in winter. As I said below, the only things I would do differently is I would go for the factory hitch and skip the factory rack. Like all factory racks, it’s mounted too far back on the roof. I think I’d be better off with a Thule, Yakima or Perrycraft track system mounted as far forward as possible.
^^^ Yeah, I mounted the crossbars as far forward on the rails as I could get it.
Check with your local Toyota dealer. My son (lives in SYR) says they will add a factory hitch for under $300 to his brand new XLE.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brownski
Yep, most hitches are dealer installed, so it shouldn't be a big deal to do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
I got different info from my dealership. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had their head up their ass thoughQuote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
Please remind me of the model year where the Toyota Sienna changed their middle row so that they couldn’t easily be removed? Has anybody here done the hack to make the more recent version middle row removable? How difficult is it to remove and reinstall those seats? When did the awd start coming again (heh!) with a spare?
Our fwd 2006 sienna has under 170k miles, but continues to show heavy wear from our car abusive mountain rural lifestyle. The driver door really wants to fall off, one of the sliding doors (the one that used to be automatic) occasionally doesn’t want to open from the inside, and the steering rack really wants to be replaced.
Not considering the payments, we really like the awd hybrid. But, on our current van, we use it both as a cargo van and a people hauler relatively often. In the past 3 months, I’ve used it as a cargo van (front seats only) for hauling 5 times. Each of those instances, removing the middle row was required to fit the stuff.
Gen 4 (2021+) is when middle rows are not removable without significant work. Which is also the hybrid and AWD with spare
Gen 3 has middle rows are removable, though the trolleys remain. This makes it less ideal as a flat floor but isn't a significant issue for using it in cargo mold.
Thanks!!
Gen 4 (2021+) is when middle rows are not removable without significant work. Which is also the hybrid and AWD with spare
Gen 3 has middle rows are removable, though the trolleys remain. This makes it less ideal as a flat floor but isn't a significant issue for using it in cargo mold.
What I read was the side curtain airbags in the Gen4 Sienna are in the seats themselves and therefore cannot be removed. I'm sure someone with the proper knowhow and tools could do it but it's not a task I would try to handle.
There’s a YouTube,(or 4), about it. Too bad. My Honda Odyssey probably spent 75% of its time with only the two front seats in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
The rails that remain seem like a bit of a pita. Are the rails the same for the gen3? Do the middle row seats if the gen3 and gen4 trundle forward to open up space w/o removal? And any company doing pop top conversation?
The middle seats fold and slide pretty far up against the front seats. I have found this to be sufficient for my purposes. I can even sleep back there since I’m not too tall. There’s a company called GTRV that does pop tops…Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
https://gtrv.com/
https://gtrv.com/faq-s/
I wish my Caravan wasn't such a POS, I'd love to make it a pop top.
When ya finally put it up on blocks you can build a permanent top outta plywood, no need for a pop top.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
Hahaha
Sent 2 Grand Caravans back to Chrysler under 2 different states' Lemon Laws in the 90s. Never again.
Now torn between an Odyssey or another NART Ridgeline. The newer RLs have a much better transmission. Ima test drive one tomorrow to see if the electronics have gotten any better than the POS 2019 I currently have. It was my wife's car but she doesn't drive any more. I got used to having a truck bed and I don't haul anything heavy or tow for that matter. I tow my sail boat about 150 yards in the spring and another 150 yards in the fall and the boat + trailer weigh less than 1,000 lbs.
Odyssey if you're road tripping with a family at all. That thing rules for eating up miles.Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest
My sister and bro in law's garage is Odyssey + Ford Maverick (well, that and a farm truck cause they live on a small farm.) So much utility between those two cars.
Thank youQuote:
Originally Posted by Brownski
Ford apparently showed dealers plans for a van based on the Maverick platform. One of my friends is a GM of the local dealership and got to see it. He said what was show was in cargo configuration, but that it had the cut outs for windows, so he wouldn't be surprised if it came with a passenger version too. I'm hoping. I like the hybrid Siennas, but I think they're optimized as passenger haulers (which is their main purpose of course). For all my gripes with my Transit Connect, I don't think there is a better mid-sized vehicle for hauling gear around shape-wise than a small boxy van. My van has more cargo space than the Sienna despite being over a foot shorter. Toss a few mountain bikes in the back wheels. Pack ridiculous amounts of camping gear. Maybe a small kayak. And still have a reasonably sized vehicle around town (the current Transit Connect is shorter than an Outback).
So, I'm really hoping they make a passenger version of the small van with a hybrid/AWD similar to the Maverick's system. I think it could basically be a supersized Element and really be a hit with outdoor folks. But I admit that I have somewhat unique vehicle tastes that don't always correspond to broader market trends, so we will see!
I’m in sticker shock for new or lightly used sienna’s.
If they take the production out of Turkey I'd consider it. I really like the Transit Connect and that was my first choice when I got my current POS, it just needs to be made somewhere else. If it was a hybrid with AWD I'd do stupid things to get one.Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcusBrody
Yeap, the idea is that it will be moved onto the C2 platform and be produced in North America in the factories geared up for similar models (Mavericks are currently produced in Hermosillo, MX). The most recent generation of Transit Connects were made in Valencia, Spain, but they had to do all the weird import as passenger then convert to cargo to avoid the chicken tax, so this is supposedly going to be made in a NAFTA country plant to avoid that.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
But I'm with you. A hybrid, AWD little van is my ideal vehicle.
I need as close to 8' inside as I can get and a flat floor is important. I rarely need more than one seat in the back so they need to be easily removable. A 4' high rear door opening is important, I hate having to take the front wheel off bikes to put them inside.
8 feet on one or both sides? The Transit Connect is only about 6'2 with the to the driver/passenger seat backs, the passenger seatback is hard so you can easily put longer things on that side. The current gen's rear seats are super easy to unbolt and take out. I usually have them out when we're traveling. The middles probably come out too fairly easily, but I've never done it and the floor isn't completely flat like in the back. I usually have one middle seat folded up and roll my XL Ripmo in and lean it against the middle seat with no issue, but it's hard to get more than one bike in when I'm using one middle seat (well if one of them is my mountain bike. No issues with my wife and son's bikes going in together).Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
We have a 2013 Sienna, which is the generation previous to the current one, and you can put a 4x8 sheet in the back with the middle seats out. Though as someone else mentioned, the tracks for the middle seats are still there so it’s not a flat floor.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
Some of the boxes I move approach 8' so I'd probably go to the roof if I had to but dry and cozy is better. If that's the only miss with whatever I get to replace this pos I'd live. I should clarify, it doesn't need to be flat like plywood because I can always lay a sheet down, I just don't want a couple of inch shelf or exposed seat hooks if I can avoid it for the times when I don't have a floor in it. That 6'2" is the bare minimum I could work with, the 10x10 tent I use for my biz events is 6'2" when it's folded. Again, it could go on the roof if absolutely necessary but damn that's a gas sucking lump of shit up there. I'd hate to feel like I need to go back to a ChryCo van to get the couple of important features I need, I'm so tired of constant maintenance and replacing parts over and over. I'm replacing the motor mounts for the fourth time in 55k miles on Thursday.
It will be interesting to see how long this new small van is. The Transit Connect was 190in, whereas the smallest current Transit is 220 in. The Maverick is 200in, with a larger hood and rear overhang than most vans. I could imagine them ending up around 195 in, with a shorter hood and less rear overhang.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
I'm only approximating on 6'2" as when I had a sleeping platform in it, I had to slide the front seats up just a bit to sleep. With the seats slid up, it's probably a bit more, but the center console doesn't slide so that's the limiting factor if you have something big enough that if can't go to one side of it.
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Yep. Done it many of times.Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Barron DeJong
As for the seat tracks - I bought some 1in thick foam floor tiles and cut out shapes to fit over the tracks. With a rug over them it works like a flat floor.
Square rear opening would be nice. It does irk me how Toyota made a nice roomy van but decided to artificially restrict what you can put in it. I'm all for box shaped vehicles.
Yeah, I mean, we've already accepted that we drive a minivan so why not go for all-out functionality? It kinda doesn't matter what it looks like, you cant see it when you're in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by riser4
Most of the time it's just 2 of us in the car. My friends and I take turns driving to go skiing (when Magic isn't open) so there could be up to 5 of us but the RL does just fine with 5 (2 are smallish women). I've got grandkids but I'm not buying/mounting car seats that only get used 1 or 2 days per year. My kids all have the necessary grandkid-mobiles.Quote:
Originally Posted by doebedoe
The reasons I'm considering the Odyssey over the RL are:
* It's less expensive...to the tune of more than $2,500.
* I can sleep in it.
* When necessary, I can haul more than 4 friends with ski gear.
* I'm fine with FWD. I already have Blizzaks on separate rims for the RL and it's the same wheel. If it snows deep here in VT, I'm walking to the lifts anyway.
* You can actually haul more cargo under cover than with the RL which has a really shallow/short bed.
* Did I mention that it's less expensive than the RL?
Only thing it falls short on is a stock trailer hitch to launch/pull out my boat. Once per year each...
Isn't the RL the minivan of trucks anyway?
Picking up a 2024 Odyssey on Wednesday. Got the EX-L which is the bottom of their trim levels next year (2025). Mostly because it has the same size wheels as the Ridgeline I'm getting rid of; have Blizzaks on rims that will go on the minivan in the winter. I like a heated steering wheel but I have to give them an extra $10K to get it. Fuck that. Honda's nav sucks and don't need that either since all trim levels have CarPlay and Android/Auto.
I think you can retrofit the the heated steering wheel on Honda odyssey. I watched sone diy bits it’s probably $1k at the dealer.
https://www.hondapartshq.com/oem-par...ed-8u97thr111a