Chip

After 16 months and 25,000 miles, I really need to wash the windshield on the inside. I’ve been dreading and avoiding this task, unsure how I’m gonna reach way up front over the front-lawn size dashboard. But, gotta be able to see. I’d be interested to know if anybody has any hints for cleaning inside windshield, beyond windex and paper towels. I’m surprised that search didn’t turn up any threads on this topic. Am I the only one thinking this is a daunting task? I know, I know, just quit complaining and go do it.

This is about the humble step found inside cargo-Connect sliding doors. Do we really need it? What's inside the passenger version? I removed the step at the sliding door entry when I took the plunge under the cargo deck, and haven't had that step for over a month now. I don't miss it. I need to put something there to make it look more finished, but I don't plan to reinstall the factory step. I sometimes stand in that space while I'm tying gear on the roof. If I keep standing on it I think I'll eventually destroy the weather stripping, so it may be I just need to install a board there. But I really don't know what to do with that space. I've fashioned deck boards I can lay over the opening created after I opened up the cargo deck. When I do so, I like the continuation of the deck over the space where the step was. With the slider open, I like being able to sit at deck level with my butt where the step used to be, and it is more flat space. I used the steps when they were there. I think I even stepped on them. But I don't really step into the van. Usually take a knee. I'm over six feet. It's not like I can walk around inside the van. The steps were a good place to store water jugs, and I used to throw my shoes in there when I camped in the van. Do you think I'll miss the step if I eliminate it? What do you do with that space?

A bike is an unwieldy thing to keep in the van. I think about getting a folding bike, but IMO, they are not as fun to ride as a full size bike. I use a wall mount system to hold the bike to one side of the van. I’ve been working on a bed rack on the other side of the van. I pack my gear in milk crates, and the crates hold up the bed.

Team worker: nice install. Looks clean and simple. building in an arch seems like a great idea, has it worked out? If you have time, could you share: 1. How’d you attach the angle to the side walls, and can you still get your jack out? 2. I have a similar shelf in the passenger side, rear, blind, window cavity. Mine are attached to the wall with sheet metal screws. What’s holding yours on? 3. Is your fan powered by the van battery?

There's a reason to build with plywood. It's fast and very efficient. I might be done my project by now if I'd used plywood. Instead, I'm working with walnut lumber I had milled from a tree over 20 years ago. It takes a little longer when you start with rough-cut lumber and need to join boards to form a panel you could have just cut from plywood. I cut off about five inches of the big foam blocks that are under the seats. Near as I can figure the foam made up the support for the second row passenger's feet, so it must have some structural value. I sliced the foam to match the profile of the side-to-side beam and laid it on the bottom to support my floor boards. I'm going to stuff the empty spaces with foam peeled off the floor padding. With sound deadening mat, it's already getting quieter. I debated reusing the front-of-deck beam. I would have had to cut off the deck flooring and would be left with a jagged metal edge flange. The way Ford spot welded that beam, I would have needed to retain a one inch flange, because that's where the welds are. I decided to build a wood beam instead. It should look nice if I ever get around to varnishing it. I sandwiched a piece of oak lumber I had around between two pieces of walnut. That oak was very heavy, which is why the beam weighed 22 pounds! So, I am progressing, slowly. I left 3/4" lips on the beam and the rear side of my foot-well, so that I can add sheets of wood to span the opening. That way, if I want a full deck, I can have it, and I'll build in some grips for picking up the lid and getting to the under storage. I was planning to reuse a piece of the floor mat to cover the center hump (exhaust pipe tunnel), but found that the material was hard to work with. I ended up just putting a layer of 10mm insulation and carpet over the hump. Photos: 1. joining pieces of walnut to for the new floor 2. the opening with sound-deadening mat installed 3. Ford's beam and attached flooring were fabricated in a way that would have left an unwanted flange 4. Glueing up wood for a replacement beam 5. Current status Work remains to install a footstep entry and finish from the floor to the footstep. Also, make pieces to form hatches over the top.

JackG, I like the way you recaptured that curved depression next to the rear door post. You took a largely useless space and made something out of it. I see you reused the door threshold/step-in. I've been thinking of replacing the threshold with a 5" wide board, but might end up with pieces of the original threshold, like you did. I'm shooting to put in a floor such as yours. I've got some boards cut to length that I will join to make the deck. The deck will be bolted to the holes for the seat mounts, if I can ever score some M10 bolts of proper length, and will rest on pieces of foam salvaged from the foam pads that fit under the seats. Those 4" thick rigid pads extend almost all the way back to the second row. I'd be interesting in hearing from anybody who has been under the floor mats of a second row passenger seats. It looks to me like the factory pad, with the inch layer of foam under it, lies right on top of the foam pads the extend from under the front seats. So all passengers stand on, as much as they stand, is the pad/foam on a block of foam. I'm assuming that the blocks of foam are okay for weight bearing. I'm salvaging chunks of that foam to fit under, and support, my floor boards. Seems flimsy. We'll see. At least it provides more sound insulation, too. The original, cargo-van deck is supported in front by a bridge beam that runs side-to-side, immediately behind the front seats. I go back and forth between reusing that beam or building a wood replacement beam. To reuse the beam, I'd have to cut off the 10-12" of decking attached to the top, and that would leave an ugly metal flange (it's spot welded on the flange, so you need it) sticking rearward about an inch. It might be easier and I think will provide a better result to use the original support beam as a pattern for a wood replacement, and I think I will move in that direction. With a wood build, can add in a recessed lip to catch a deck/hatch piece that extends to the original deck. There are only two bolts holding in the bridge beam.

There's a rattle that has been driving me nuts. I'm always driving, but to me it sounds over my left shoulder. I thought maybe there is some movement in my rack system, but haven't been able to put my finger on it. Today, I moved the Connect while the slider was open, and the noise was more pronounced. I think the noise may be the plastic, chain/cable housing that protects wires going to the door. Perhaps these wires are for a "door ajar" sensor, IDK. But when the door is closed this chain is in the door-slide track and may be rattling against the track or housing. I can't think of a way to prove it is, or isn't, my rattle. Just wondering if others have a door rattle, and ended up on this thread.

I ordered the tool and rivet assortment. I'm busted on using existing holes that measure about 5/16, around the sliding doors. M5 is too small and M6 is just a tad too big, though I guess I could try hammering them. It would be easy to expand the holes to fit M6. That would leave a raw metal edge that I'd feel compelled to paint, although it's hard to imagine rust being an issue since these holes are all on the interior. Photo shows holes I'd like to fill with rivets. Two on the angle bracket, top center, three along the door sill--two covered by molding and one at extreme top right. Does anybody know if there is a rivnut that works for those holes?

Hi, I have a '21 and like some things about it, dislike other things. All vehicles are compromises, right? After 20k miles, no problems. I like that it tells me when I need to change oil, only twice so far, so I'm saving compared to my old vehicle that I used to change every 5,000 miles. Not a fan of questionable design choices: seats are low down yet the windshield is huge. Gets hot driving west in the afternoon. Why so much windshield?Why did they put the ignition switch behind the steering wheel where you can't see it? There is a paucity of storage space within easy reach of the driver. Side pockets are tiny. Very small bin between the seats. There is overhead storage, and a lot of empty space over the driver's head. What the heck, it's a tiny van and storage is at premium and there's all that space over my head that is useless. And then there's the 6+ cubic feet hidden under the deck immediately behind the driver. All they had to do was install a hatch door in the floor and you'd have about half a sedan-trunk of storage in there. These are largely knit picks, right? It's a very noisy van. Road noise. It's got a good, stock radio, but you need to turn it up to hear it over the road noise. The engine is tiny but the tranny will find a gear to get you over the hills. Another knit I have is the transmission shift is always looking for the most efficient gearing, generally a good thing. Sometimes, I just lightly touch the gas and it drops a gear and takes off. Sometimes I'm just trying to idle along in traffic and the transmission seems indecisive about what gear it should be in and you get a little clunk before it figures out the gear. But, overall, it's okay. Fuel efficiency is, IMO, just okay, I usually get 28-29, although I've gotten 30+ on long highway drives at 70mph. Mileage quickly drops if you up the pace. My first choice for a van would have been a Toyota Sienna. They have more power and get better mileage. They are quieter. They have storage and cup holders all over. They cost 10 or 20 thousand more, and if one had been available to buy when I was looking (they weren't) I would have bought one and proceeded to rip out the back seats and dark tint the rear windows to make it more camper like. It bugged me that I would have paid a premium price and then started ripping things out. So, I have gripes but like my TC well enough. It's doing what I need it to do and cost $20k less than if I had bought a Cienna. In all, I think the compromises come out on the positive side. And, I love camping out in it!

Wow, MRTN had it right. After more than a year driving the Connect, I finally found the dimmer function located next to the head-light control knob works to adjust the brightness of the 4.2" display. I'd looked all through the settings of the display, controlled by the radio knobs, and the menus of the settings accessed via the steering wheel buttons. And all the while, there was a dimmer control down by the exterior light controls. Other than the fact that I can't see down there when seated in the driving position, and I couldn't find anything about it in the user manual, I don't know what took me so long. Some times, even after the answer is pointed out, I just have to learn the hard way!

Inspired by Mike Chell's 2018 thread, and coveting the more than 6 cubic feet of storage space Ford hid under the cargo deck, I took the plunge and removed the deck hiding the second row foot well. I'm looking for ideas on how best to finish off the hole. One thought is to build a new deck that is level with the existing deck and add hatches to get to the under storage. I may end up doing that, but it seems I'll want insulation and a neater bottom than just the bare metal, so a floor seems imperative. An aside: I had read that the Government changed their import tariffs that motivated Ford to import Connects as passenger vans, and that Ford no longer did this. Below is a photo of the front matting that extends to the second row. This mat is under the deck. You can clearly see there are threaded holes with the paint gone, and scratch marks near the locator holes, so it is obvious this 2021 van, purchased new as a cargo van, once had a second row of seats. Does Ford just throw those second row seats away? Or perhaps they are shipped back to Europe to put into the next shipment of "cargo" vans. Back to the topic: Now that I've got that hole, I'm trying to figure out what to do next. My current thinking is to just install a floor on top of the lateral beam (the side-to-center pieces with multiple sets of three holes). I'm going to cut the mat further forward, to where the threaded, bolt hole is at the forward edge of the door opening, so I can secure a wood beam to those threaded bolt holes. I can bolt my new floors to the top of the lateral beam using the bolt holes for the second-row seat mounts. I think I need to add some blocks at the rear wall, either just on the floor or glued to the wall. I think the floor and wall are exterior under surfaces, so don't want to drill. I'll bend the current floor mat, which has about an inch of foam under it, down to cover the front-facing wall. My thought it that will help with noise and thermal insulation. Seems like glue will be the way to attach the matting. Hope it doesn't dissolve the foam under the matt. Speaking of insulation, I'm going to want some insulation under the new floor boards. Was considering using spray foam but I understand that stuff needs air to cure and it doesn't seem like it will get much air down in that pan with a wood floor over it. I guess I can just stuff the cavity with fiberglass, building insulation. Would you consider using sawdust? Custom cut the jig-saw style foam flooring? Any recommendations?

I’ve been digging into my Connect and keep finding foam blocks. They remind me of canoe and kayak floatation and I’ve been wondering if they’d float the Connect. Apparently, not!

Funny! I had to reread the thread—thought TDI must have been some model of VW Sedan and couldn’t figure out why Vanpire was posting about it here. Now I got it and it’s impressive, I want one!

I love to take my bike along when I travel. I’ve been carrying the bike secured to the driver-side wall of the cargo area. Works great until the van gets filled with other stuff, which all needs to be moved to unload the bike. I like having the bike inside for security and protection from the weather. Unloading is quick when the van is mostly empty and I can be off riding minutes after parking. But on the road, it’s not as quick because I first have to stack everything on the passenger side. A bike rack on the back of the van may be the practical solution. Also, considering getting a folding bike, but one thing at a time. My TC has a liftgate. How hard is it to move the rack and bike out of the way when you want to open the back of the van? How do you secure the bike when you park and step away?

After 20k miles, I find I get from 25 to 30+ mpg. How the van is driven makes a huge difference, as does what’s up top, and season. I’m driving a ‘21, LWB cargo Connect. I’ve verified the stats displayed by the onboard system and feel they are accurate. At speeds beyond 70mph, mileage plummets. Winter mileage is worse than summer mileage, which is not unique to the TC. A boat on the roof costs me 2 - 4mpg. Last December I took a 1900-mile drive, sticking to 70mph, no boat or rack, and averaged 30.4. A month later, made a very similar drive with my wife, who has a lead foot and poor depth perception, so she is usually on the gas or on the brakes, and we got 26.5. Also, it was a lot colder, which I think made a difference. As the saying goes, your mileage may vary.

I’m planning to mount some boards in the back of the TC to which I will be attaching other things, like a bed and straps that will hold things to the ceiling. I’ll need a solid mount, and like the idea of plus nuts as described by others here. I’ve never used a plus nut and have some questions. the holes that best align with where I want to place the boards are 0.25” holes. Plus nuts seem to be sized by the dimension of the bolt you want to screw into them. So a quarter inch plus nut won’t fit in a quarter inch hole, correct? Do they make plus nuts or rivnuts that fit quarter inch holes? The plus nuts Amazon lists all seem to be “bulbed”. I think that means the hole into which the plus nut is inserted needs to be a little bigger than the plus nut, correct? It’d be nice if sellers would identify the size hole to drill for the plus nut. If anybody has used plus nuts in holes already existing in the Connect, please tell me the size you used. Also, do I really need plus nuts, or do rivnuts hold strong enough?

Sorry, LnT, I didn't specify that the question is about the vent air with AC turned off. It must be as Don says. One observation about the Connects is there is a LOT of windshield. Driving west in the afternoon, the solar heating is intense. I don't know how the air is routed under the dash, but it could potentially pick up a lot of heat from the dash. I also don't know where the intake is, but would hope it's not in the engine compartment. And I've never tried measuring the temp when it's dark. Might not be blowing as hot. I have an a mount for my cell phone on top of the 4.2" display in the center of the dash. On a hot sunny day, the phone has shut itself off due to overheating.

My 2021 Connect blows air out the vents that is hotter than the outside air. I put a digital temperature probe in the vent and compared the readings to the temperature reading on the dashboard, the vents blow from 7 to 15 degrees (F) above the dash temperature. I haven't tried this in winter. And I know when I initially start the vehicle the air is going to blow hotter for a while, but 15 minutes down the road, it is still hotter out the vents than it is on the dash thermometer. I made sure the recirc is off and the temp wheel is turned all the way to cool. How is that outside air picking up heat? Do all Connects do this? Or, is something amiss with mine?

My new tail light lens arrived today. Out of the box, it compares well to the original lens (first photo). I included three photos comparing the bulb fitting holes. I used a Dremel and utility knife to clean up the holes. The plastic molding of the holes on the replacement lens left a lot to be desired (third photo). I used calipers and eye-ball to try to make the holes in the replacement the same as the holes in the original. The bottom hole is recessed on the original and raised a bit on the replacement (fourth photo), which worried me, but seems to have worked out okay. The lamp assembly is fastened with two screws and two pins. The pins fit into a plastic socket that is pressed onto a metal tab. When I went to install I noticed one of the sockets for the pin was missing. The socket was still attached to the pin of the original lamp assembly. The hardest part of this whole install was getting that socket (the thing in the last photo that looks like a tall hat) off the pin of the original assembly. Fortunately I found a tool to help--a tiny crowbar, about 5" long with a sharp, forked end that I could force under the socket to pop it off the pin. I added a drop of super glue under the "hat brim" when I pressed it back into its' tab. Hope that holds. So, it took some fuhduperating, but I'm pleased to have a tail lens back in place for $65 vs the $340 the dealer wanted for a replacement assembly. The lights all work and it looks good. It may yet fail. I don't think the glue between the lens and the housing goes all the way around, which makes me think water will get in there. We'll see. Anybody know what that gray Denko Nitto thing is? (second photo) There are two of them. No wires visibly run to them.

All, Thanks for the info and advice. I stopped by a body shop I liked and talked to them about the tail light. They get the TL assembly from Ford. My dealer has the assembly in stock for $340. So, I could go get one and have a one shot resolution, but instead plan to order a tail lamp without circuit for $65 and take a chance. User reviews indicate it fits the Connect but the light socket holes are small. if any of you know I’m making a mistake, please let me know. I figure it’s worth at least getting the part and taking a look at it. Something bugs me about throwing away a mostly usable tail light assembly. If this works, I get to reuse the light fittings. Hurray! Another fine Chinese product. Will report on how it goes.

I broke the lens on my ‘21 Connect passenger side tail lights. It’s still working fine, but I bet it’s going to collect moisture in there. Is the fix is to replace the entire tail light assembly? That must cost hundreds, so hoping to avoid replacement, but it looks like the whole assembly is one piece. Any advice?

New member here, churning up old threads. My Ford dealer was clueless about the recovery hook and I ended up getting one from Amazon. I haven't found a place to stash it, and maybe it can go in that jack bag, which I've never taken out. I wanted it for two reasons. The whole front end is plastic, and I wanted a tie off point for when there is a canoe on the roof. And the second reason is that the Connect doesn't have much ground clearance. I can see myself driving some remote dirt road and high-centering the vehicle. I try to be careful, but... On such roads I'll carry a 100' timber rope, a hand winch, and the recovery hook. Hopefully, it's like how carrying an umbrella keeps the rain at bay, and I'll never use it.

Just found a thread by Mike Chill on getting under the false floor of the cargo deck. Day 1 and already finding great nuggets of info on this forum! Mrtn, I thought I tried everything, but it's been a year now and I don't remember what I tried. My memory is that the dash lighting and the 4.2" display brightness are independent, but I'll double check. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for posting about the false floor. I've seen the passenger vans so kind of knew there had to be space under there but wasn't sure how to get into it. I had visions of having to saw through the deck! Is there also space where third row passengers would put their feet?

I looked through this forum and it looks really useful. I have a lot of questions about the Connect and I hope other members can point me in the right direction if the question has already been covered in the forum. First question, is about the forum. My Connect is a 2021, which is not a selectable year when filling in the new member questionnaire. I selected 2020, the closest year offered. Anybody know how to correct? Anybody know how to adjust the brightness of the 4.2" display? The display often shifts into night mode when the sky darkens a little, or when something overhead is shading the vehicle. My old eyes can't make out diddly on the display when it is bright out and the display is night mode. I sometimes sleep in my Connect and would like to lock the vehicle, but I'm not sure what happens when you lock the vehicle with the FOB inside. Can you lock the FOB in? What's under the decks in the area where the passenger Connects have footwells for the second and third rows? Any way to reclaim that space? So, those are some of the questions I have. My local Ford dealer was useless on those and other questions, and I'm hoping for better responses from this user community. My Connect is a '21, 4-cylinder. I have done a bit of customizing and my goal is to make it comfortable for sleeping while maintaining the vehicles utility as a load hauler. So, I don't want to totally RV it. So far, I've been comfortable on an air mat on the floor. However, that requires shifting all the load out of the way to clear a little isle for the mat. Then, I shift it all back onto the floor for driving. I need a better system.