Well, I've been holding off on this one. I was in an accident on Nov 10th with my Freestar. I was rear-ended by a Jacked-Up 1994 Dodge 3/4 ton diesel 4x4 with bull guard. The guy swerved to the left and caught me in the left rear quarter, spun me sideways and continued to hit me in the left front. This impact knocked me into a 2007 Dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 gasser which took out the right front. The 1994 Dodge was boogered up pretty good in the front and the 2007 Dodge was just a little banged in the rear. Initial repair estimate was for $7300. Just got my buggy back yesterday and the total repair was $8518. Love ALLSTATE and my $200 deductable. Was hoping they wouldn't total the van and to my surprise, they didn't even blink an eye to repair it. The van looks and still runs and rides like a new buggy. No squeeks, rattles or chirps. I had the rear seat and one middle seat folded downand about 20 pieces of 2x2 unistrut on these 2 seats. The impacts moved these about 3 inches forward, butnever came unstacked. However, the impacts did splash my coffee a little. The van took the hit with no internal injuries and I drove it home. This is one of the main reasons I purchased the Freestar, it's safety rating. It was the safest minivan on the market until it was dropped. I still think Ford needs to come out with a minivan that has the towing and interior space of the Aerostar and the drivetrain from the new Taurus/Sable and provide FWD/AWD models.

 

When you referenced wrecked, I feared the worst knowing that you have put some time and energy in to your motor with the water injections, etc. I did not relize you tow with it. Are you using any helper system in the rear suspension? I have been running the Airlift 1000 bags in mine. It helps keep me at the normal attitude when I drop the popup on which my only weigh 1800 loaded but has a tongue weight of around 250+ lbs. If you look into the the install instructions are (in my opinion) wrong. The bags should be mounted fill valve up. And as not to drill the body for the filling valve, I modified a stake pocket from a build it your self trailer kit, clamped it with hose clamps and mounted it on the tow bar just as is done with the 7 pin couplers. I do like my 06 Freestar, but it will be the last, my boys will be near or heading tocollege by the time I pay it off and I do not need the seating space and capacity for my wife and I. My question is when do we get moved to the "Past Models" forum section.........

 

The van held up quite well considering what hit it at about 35 MPH. Our 2 youngin's are grown and my Son has a son of his own (1year old). So we will be keeping this for a while as it has the entertainment system I installed in it even though it's easily removed. I installed a PYLE PLVW1040R 10.4" screen and a PYLE PLTDVCR600 which plays VCR tapes, DVD's, CD's, MP3's, VCD's, has a built in TV tuner and has inputs for digital games, cameras, cable and so on.

I have a set of Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks with overload coils. Monroe part #58624. These actually made the ride even smother when unloaded and only raised the rear about 1/2". I actually run a slightly taller tire. I'm running a P225/75R16 verses the stock P235/60R16's. I also pattern my tires, thus run a higher than fatory PSI setting. My tires MAX PSI is 44 PSI, I'm running 42 PSI in the front and 40PSI in the rear. This gives me an even wearing tire with a flat foot print for MAX tire surface contact when driving.

 

I have stock tires (self sealing option) that are rated for 44psi cold, however the ride was to harsh in NJ for normal use. I would push the rear to 40-42 when towing. I had not thought about testing the ride quality (and possible improved handling) here in the Albany area. I do agree (and argue regularly with tire shops) that increased psiprovides better traction and tire life. I am at 39K and will be looking at replacements this spring due to the normal edge wear from running the tires at 35psi (door spec) which I beleive is under inflation.

 

I run snow tires year round as they have better siping and will grip the road better in any condition due to the softer compound of the rubber. No hydroplaneing in the rain no matter how deep the water. They tend to last 3 years as long as one maintains the tires properly. I also go with a tire that has a higher load capacity. The factory spec tires are a 100 which is a 1764 lb load rated tire. I go with 101 or higher and a speed rating of "S" (112 MPH)or higher. This is a better combination. I presntly have 61,500 on my Freestar. The tires I have on it are at about 50% tread left. I put these on the van when it had about 3,000 miles on it as I hated the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires. They had no wet or dry traction. Just a cheap tire. This will be their last winter and I will run them thru the year and replace them in November. Not bad for having 57,000 miles on them. Since HANKOOK doesn't make this particular tread in 16" any more, I'll probably go with the Hercules Avalanche Extreme tire. It's basically the same tread design, just reversed due to patent requirements. Hercules are Coopers, so these are a good tire. I am looking at the SUV version in a P235/70R16 sizing. These have a service rating of 106S rated at 2094 lbs. They also have a tread depth of 15/32" verses the normal passenger 13/32" or less.