PetrosA

It's probably not the sliding door making the noise, but the front door. I had to replace my driver's side actuator a few years back for making this noise. Cost a couple hundred bucks with me doing the work.

It's not the truck, but the tires. Long life tires are made with really hard rubber, so little traction to be expected.

I still run the original Contis in summer and am on my third set of winter tires this year (just in time, too!). I started noticing issues with the front tires last summer. There were chunks working themselves loose on the inner and outer tread of the front only. I finally ended up at a tire specialist here in Lancaster who did a thorough analysis (checked alignment, suspension etc.) and finally sent photos to the Conti engineers. They responded: "This condition is the beginning of Chip/Chunk and is related to the OE compound (required by Ford for Rolling Resistance) and road conditions under load. We have brought this to Ford's attention in the past but it is more prevalent outside the US Market. It is not a Safety issue, it is more related to appearance." My tire guy and my mechanic recommended running the front at the same higher pressure as the rear as visual inspection showed that the center of the tire was cupped inwards at the recommended pressure which puts more strain on the inside and outside treads. I will get some new summer tires this year, finances allowing, but if not, I'll feel okay about running on my chipped up, chunked up OEMs

Hi all. It's been a few years since I posted but I figured I'd give an update on my 2010 TC. I'm at about 75k miles now of mixed driving. I have been running it at or nearly at the 5005 lb. limit since day one with tools and materials inside and ladders and a pipe carrier on the roof. I have replaced front pads twice and recently the front rotors as the originals had been machined once and needed it again and since I drive heavy I don't want to take chances. I also replaced the driver's side wheel bearing a few months back. Last summer I started noticing the rear end getting lower. I probably wouldn't have noticed except for the fact that I have a vacuum that fits just under the rear doors and last year there were a few times I whacked the vacuum with the door when closing it. When I looked under the truck I saw that I had about one inch of clearance between the axle and rubber bumpers. I looked into the various options for lifting the rear end like passive rubber pillows, air shocks etc but decided to go for a third leaf kit which is supposed to add about 700 lbs capacity. I took it to the spring shop today and had them installed. My rear end raised up about 5 inches. I haven't measured it yet but I think I'm just slightly higher than I was at delivery of the truck just over four years ago. Part number is 510-1833 and I believe it's from a company called Beastyx up in Canada. Total cost was $665. I feel like I have a new truck again so no qualms about spending the money on it. One last interesting thing to note - I have the distinct impression that my engine is producing more power than it did when new. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm not gonna argue

Two years and thirty thousand miles into ownership, here are my observations: Darek is right - I had to bolt through the roof for my ladder rack since the factory mounts are way too close together and too far back Adding 0.4 liters to the engine along with turbo would make a nice difference, especially taking off uphill I don't know whether it's the shifting points or the gearing, but it seems like there's a dead power range between 2nd and 3rd gear where you can't get the power you need in 3rd and once it downshifts it's screaming at 6500 RPM in 2nd. Very annoying. The built-in/factory mic sucks. I've compared it to N American made Fords and it's completely different. Most people complain they can't hear me if the truck is moving. I'm going to replace it with something better and closer to my face at some point There should be a LED upgrade option for interior lights in the van versions. The stock lights are burning 50 or 60 watts (40 in the rear, not sure what's up front) every time you open the door and they stay on till the timer shuts them off. I changed mine to fluorescent and haven't had battery issues since, but fluorescent lifespan sucks in a work van There should be more power ports in the rear that are on designated circuits for battery chargers or inverters and which don't get blocked by shelving The key fob design is one of the worst I've had. I basically need to be able to see it to see where the buttons are since they're so flat that there's no tactile feedback. It actually got easier to use once the Ford emblem fell out of the fob and I can at least tell front from back now A second issue with the key fob is that I've had the truck open up when I put the key in my pants pocket and it presses against another key. The actuation buttons really need to be recessed The massive columns at the front are awful for visibility. I've had a few hairy situations at stop signs where I started to pull out because the passenger side column completely blocked my view of a vehicle approaching from the right and both columns have blocked my view of pedestrians The auto lock feature on the seat belt is way too sensitive. It locks up almost every time I stop at a stop sign forcing me to sit back and wait before I can lean forward to check traffic Now for some compliments: I actually find the vehicle very comfortable - more so than our 2004 Passat. It is easier to maneuver than the Passat, has excellent rear view visibility at night and I feel safe driving it It's one of the best vehicles I've owned for parallel parking. My mileage has been decent (about 20 MPG mixed conditions) but not as high as I hoped My 3 year-old daughter loves it.

Just an update As you might know, my area got slammed with snow starting Tuesday night and the road crews were "surprised" so that nothing was plowed until almost 10AM Wednesday. I had a bathroom remodel job almost 30 miles away to start that morning. The carpenters were there in their car instead of their usual box truck, the plumber never showed up at all and I was the only contractor in a truck. The main snow hit Wednesday night. By Thursday AM the roads had been plowed, but most had not been salted so I had a long drive in on snow covered road. Zero problems with my TC. I was able to get to the job every day and get it done on time. This year I've noticed that local authorities aren't salting as much as normal (which is fine for me, I'm used to that from Poland). Around here they plowed and cindered many roads, but only intersections and hills got salt till the temperature went above freezing and they were sure they could clear the road with less salt in one day. I suspect in this economy many areas of the country are seeing something similar and snow covered roads will be the norm for some time. Let's be careful out there and drive safe!

My TC doesn't have traction control - it sounded like it might cause headaches I lived in Poland for 14 years and did a lot of driving in snow and on ice packed roads that don't get salted. Here in PA I can say that aside from a very small group of professional drivers (milk trucks, plows, etc.), most people really have no clue. First off, you need real snow tires (four of them) if you do any real amount of bad weather driving. Supposedly Blizzaks are good, and Continental makes a truck rated snow tire that fits the TC. Depending on the consistency and amount of snow and/or ice your region gets, you might need studs or chains. Snow tires are designed to increase traction up to 60 km/h. Go faster than that on snow and your name is Mayhem. Specific to the TC, I recommend starting in second gear on slippery surfaces, just as you would with a manual transmission. This lowers the torque delivered to the drive wheel (mine seems to only drive the driver's side wheel) and reduces the chance of spinning. I don't know if this will work with the traction control but it should. Don't turn your wheels when starting - it increases the load. Carry a small bag of sand or cat litter in the back for when you dig the tires in and a small shovel if you need to drive in deep snow conditions. There are some cool collapsible ones available.

I also wondered about that and whether or not the data could be displayed in km instead of miles.

Just a heads up in case this isn't just an issue with my truck. I do most of my driving during daylight (in the summer...) and I keep the headlights on for safety. Last week I noticed that the main lights and high beams weren't working but the positioning lights and the dash indicator were. The problem is intermittent so the dealer can't find it till I can get there when the lights are actually out. So far there hasn't been a time when they shut off while driving, they just don't come on when I start. It's not real easy to identify at first, since the only way to see it while driving is by reflection off the vehicle in front and the positioning lights are just strong enough that against certain surfaces they look almost as bright as the headlights.

Ahhh, I just remembered something. If you are using the TC for cargo, make sure that you pull the lock tabs off the side doors. I've had cargo shift and hit them, and they either locked the truck or wouldn't allow the door to be opened with the fob (not 100% sure since I pulled them long ago). Removing them was the only solution.

This is a long shot, but I figured it's worth a try I have a new phone - Nokia E75 that I paired with my bluetooth system. Phone works fine, but every time I get in the vehicle, the music player starts playing (although no music comes over the system) and I have to click through a few screens to shut it down before I can use the phone. I can't find any way to disable this or to get the music to play though the vehicle's system. Nokia support basically told me that there's no way to disable the music player from starting and that it must be something in the Ford that's causing it to start (the support person was exceptionally incompetent). So, question is, does anyone here know how to either enable the music to come through the system or to disable the music library from opening each time I get in the truck? Any ideas are welcome!

It was mentioned here a while back that in the EU, the TC has a second dial in the headlight cluster that raises and lowers the angle of the lights. Why they didn't send that over with the US version is beyond my understanding.

Absolutely. When I lock it, I always listen for the clunk of the locks closing, and I noticed maybe 3-4 times when I returned to the vehicle that pushing the unlock button didn't make the unlock clunk. Obviously, there's no way at that point to prove that the doors were unlocked, but given the small range of the key fob, it was unlikely that I pressed the unlock button accidentally while it was in my pocket. I'm planning on getting the horn connected to the central lock system at some point if it's possible.

I haven't gotten locked out yet, but I have returned to an unlocked vehicle a number of times. It seems to happen when I'm parked in lots with in and out traffic, so maybe some other remotes are setting off the locking system? Whatever, with a truck full of tools, it's not a great feeling.

I can't say I'd want a diesel TC just yet. It's underpowered with gas as it is once you get it loaded up. Electric is obviously for a niche market and green points along the way, but more power to them for doing it. I would definitely like a manual transmission, but hey, this is America - very few people even know how to drive a stick any more Some observations about your other ideas from a tradesman's POV: It would be nice to be able to get longer materials into the TC, but clearing the space between the front seats won't do the trick. To get 8' materials in, the truck would need to be lengthened another 2 feet at least. I can get an 8' ground rod in at roof level, but it's laying on the front shelf and hitting the back door. More than a few 10 foot lengths of pipe won't fit into an E series van (at an angle, above the floor) with a bulkhead and shelving in it, so without jumping up to something like a full-size Transit van you're still outta luck. I agree that towing is something that needs to be addressed. Any number of these changes would make the TC a SERIOUSLY underpowered vehicle unless it had a 6 cyl. engine, at which point it will probably loose its economy appeal. Unfortunately, there just isn't a one-size-fits-all solution here.

I can say definitively that the spare rim doesn't have a sensor in it. I had winter tires put on at a Sears service center (tires were absurdly cheap...) and when I went back to get the OEMs put back on, it turned out they mixed up one of my Contis with a 16" Conti from a Focus in the next bay. Kind of, but not a completely understandable mistake Anyway, they gave me a new tire of a different type, and used the spare in place of the one that got lost. To make it work, they had to swap the spare tire to one of the running rims and because they hadn't paid attention to which running rim came from where, I had to reset the TPMS sensors when I got home - a real PITA.

UPDATE: Ford called me Tuesday to let me know that they would be shipping the parts for Texas that day, and that they should be at the dealer by Thursday at the latest. I was out of town, so I'll know by Monday where things stand.

They have a record of doing the brake inspection in their system, confirmed by a follow up email to me (it also states that my vehicle is ready for pick-up ). I honestly don't know where to go from here. I use this vehicle for work and to not have it for two or three weeks would cost me way more than I can afford in lost income. Who's going to cover that? The dealer certainly didn't suggest a replacement vehicle in the meantime. It just seems like a can of liability worms which makes it that much harder to believe that Ford isn't doing anything to expedite getting these parts here on US soil.

I read about this here somewhere, but not sure where. This week I had to take my TC in to the dealer with 7500 miles on it because I heard a metal-on-metal scraping sound when I used the brakes, and a slight scraping sound while driving. Anyway, they diagnosed the problem as faulty rear brake drums. It turns out that there are none to be had in the US at this time. None, nada, zip. They told me that the system is giving an ETA of mid-June for replacement parts. That's two weeks and they claim it's safe to drive in the meantime. I kind of accept that, but I also think it sucks that a company like Ford can't expedite replacement parts for brakes sooner. Drums could be machined here in the US (or did we ship all our lathes to China already?). If we can't make them here, then I have three words for Ford - Turk Hava Yollari. Fly them in.

That sounds like the tow hook. Where did you find it? I couldn't find anything in the manual about it and ended up ordering one from UK. If I had only known...

I'm loaded over 4500 lb and under 5000 lb (not sure exactly how much at the moment) and it is underpowered in some situations. On hilly roads I have to turn OD off to maintain a steady speed since the gearing has some really weak holes in normal mode around the 45 mph mark (speed limit on lots of roads here). Getting up to speed from a stop with traffic bearing down is also a problem, as is crossing traffic when turning left on a four lane road - it's slow out of the blocks. I need about 12-16 seconds to get to 50 mph on a slight incline with it floored and screaming like a banshee. There are some hills around here that really challenge my TC - one in particular I can't get any faster than 35 mph on, and that's with a rolling start of about 25 mph. It's definitely a change from my Jeep Cherokee with inline 6 cyl. If you're looking for Fahrfergnugen, look elsewhere Edit to add: I think in some cases, a manual transmission would help a lot, since at least some of the weakness is due to lag in the transmission downshifting. I've noticed that I need to actually floor the gas pedal at times to get it to downshift. It doesn't seem to want to do anything other than bog down until the pedal is actually touching the floor. Strange.

I'm at around 6k and my brakes are squealing like crazy. Makes it tough to drive with the windows down but at least I know pedestrians hear me coming...

I visited your homepage and listened to the presentation. I've been looking for a solution for the top of the rear driver's side door to prevent it from getting scratched by ladders when loading/unloading (The other side has a drop down system on it which gets loaded from the side). The Clearbra stuff sounds like it might be the solution. Is that something that gets cut on a plotter and could be applied like vinyl, or is it painted on?

I agree with you on this one. I don't see any solution though short of moving the brake handle or the shift lever :( The whole dash is taken up and to get something on the door you'd have to screw it into the trim - not a pleasing concept... As it is, the shift lever already blocks access to the AC and circulation switches. The dash design definitely needs some tweaking.

You mean cover plate? Brute force was the only thing that worked for me. It went back on amazingly easy though in comparison.