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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/10/2020 in Posts

  1. Been slammed busy so had no time to get on here and see all the great info added... jrm223 I WANT YOUR TIRES! But, so far no joy here. Shortly I am making a run to the main island of Puerto Rico (I live on a small island called Vieques) to go on an over-night adventure (if needed) to find some. Seriously doubt there will be any, but have to look. Being "over seas", we don't get vendors who want to ship things like racks and tires down here! But I NEED tires better than these jokes of Conti's on there now! These things are a serious safety threat for me. Twice now I have slid down what are normal residential hills (paved streets) simply due to the fact there was a puddle with "brown water" in it. Not a mud bog, just dirty water! The last time almost cost me the van! I went through the puddle and started up the hill. Tried to be a little more agressive than a previous attempt (I admit I was trying to "tractor" it up slowly that time). The slight running start did let me get about 30% higher, but then this time when the wheels started to spin, the van went backwards before I had a chance to back off the throttle. I lightly applied brakes to stop but it kept going. More brake pressure and no change. Full brake pressure and no change. This time it was all four wheels not holding, and I was able to get the car behind me to back down in a hurry before we hit and bounced me over the side! The time before, I just could not climb at all after about 50 feet up the incline, so I wasn;t sliding all the way down the hill! The hill is moderately steep. Nothing a regular car can't go up with regular tires. My Suzuki (non-4x4) goes up it all of the time! ANd I have been on much steeper in San Francisco. The tires... with front wheel drive, a "cargo load" in the rear, a hill, and water, and you're in danger! WHAT THE HECK WAS FORD THINKING HERE???? I am used to the concept of "take offs" when you buy a new vehicle, but in this case YOU CAN'T TAKE THEM OFF! There is no other choice for the "recommended" size tire than what comes on the van, thus we're all going after these 215-65r-16 tires. This was clearly "a deal" between Ford and Conti! A joke for us. Wish me luck on the tires... At least I know buying the Promaster City would have been the same issue... same sized tire, front wheel drive, and "choked" fender wells. So, at least I can still be happy with the rest of my little van, and not wish I had bought the Fiat. I finally did put up a rack on top, but had to fabricate my own kit. I live on a small island apart from Puerto Rico, so NONE of the vendors anywhere would ship a rack kit down here. I tried every source I could find over about a week searching. Finally gave up. MY new rack is a simple construction but worked out to be a lot tougher than I was going for. When I carry solar panels, to avoid damage (they like to slide around a lot if stacked), I carry them on the edges, which means they go inside. My Astro is now designated for panel transport and is otherwise empty at this point, when I need to do a warehouse run. It has been modified to one-ton, and can fit 30 panels inside. When I get the panels on this island (from PR) the Transit moves no more than 6 at a time, so I don't need to unload most of my tool boxes, plus the space with the passenger seat folded forward is about all I have to play with at a floor length of about 74 inches. 60 cell panels fit completely inside. 72 cell panels stick out the right door; left door closes fine. I have two vertical columns inside that the panels strap to in order to keep them secured upright. Being here, I travel no more than four miles in any direction, so it does not matter about multiple trips at six at a time. My rack is just two cross bars for my Gorilla ladder. It is one of those convertible A-frame types that unfold and become an extension ladder. Six foot a-frame can become a 26 foot tall single span. The rack is two 5 foot pieces of stainless unistrut (used for electrical conduit) we took from a dump site after tearing down power conduit on a cell tower that was destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Never thought they'd end up in this kind of use. To go along with the trim of the van, I went ahead and painted all but the very tops (where ladder meets their metal) with black paint. As the van in pre-drilled, this made it easy to just stack three pieces of 1" square aluminum tube I had laying around on top of one another to make the corner supports for the rails. There is a single Grade 8 bolt going through the stack, and tightened pretty good. I layered the stack in a pyramid configuration to keep the whole thing from trying to lean forward or back. The compression of the bolt and slight angle the stack sits has made and side to side movement a non-issue. I think at this point I'd do serious damage to the roof pan before anything will be loose or move on the rack. The ladder weighs all of 50 pounds, so I'm nicely over built for what I need. The only other thing that goes up there are the solar panel mounting rails, and they are just aluminum.
    1 point
  2. I've been looking into his as well and as far as I know do Focus sets NOT fit in Tourneos. That's what the vendor told me. Another thing I was thinking is fit a double facia in it with an Android tablet behind it hard wired but I've not worked out what to do with the original radio. Since you'll need that for the bluetooth connection. Maybe re-run the cables to the glove box and put the radio there.
    1 point
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