PetrosA

I thought I'd post some photos up of the upfits I installed in case others are looking for ideas. My shelves are the Ranger C211 Electrician's package which includes both sides rear w/locked door on the longer unit, the parts slider, tool slider, top shelf for sliders unit, wire spool rack (not installed yet) and bulkhead. The ladder rack is a Masterack one-side lock-down type rated for a 28' max. extension ladder plus one ladder/cargo on the other side. I plan on installing a pipe rack underneath the crossbows in the near future. Because of the cold weather, I haven't gotten the shelves organized yet so there are still boxes on the floor. Once I get that sorted out, I'll know better how I'm going to organize the coils of wire. One more foot of space in the back would really help, but I can deal with things as they are. I honestly can't imagine using this truck for work without the parts and tools sliders now that I'm using them. It would be impossible to keep any kind of organization in it! The parts and tool slider drawers are approx. 4' deep. They can be installed to open on the driver's side if you wanted that. Here they are fully open Passenger side rear shelves (30" IIRC) Driver's side rear shelves (36" IIRC) Ladder rack lock-down handle 3/4 view Driver's side storage Profiled bulkhead allows the seats to be reclined to a comfortable position

Also interesting is the fact (found here ) that there are existing nuts welded to the underbody designed for accepting a hitch. Hmmm

Very cool story. Thanks for the telling!

I haven't had to deal with such bad weather that the wipers weren't effective enough yet, but I definitely agree the jets are awful. They seem to work better at higher speeds where the wind blasts the fluid against the glass, or if you dose it intermittently instead of holding the button in, but different jets would work wonders. My guess is that in the EU the salt drying on the glass isn't such an issue for the engineers as it is in the US. Most countries there are very restrictive in its use.

I wish I had answers for you, but I don't. In fact, my Nokia E51 has issues with the Nokia BT system in the TC as well. I can't get my contacts to sync, I can't voice dial any number from the phone's contacts, and no music will play unless I hook up the cable to the earphone jack of the phone. Worst part is that there's no help in the owner's manual for any of this... :(

TonyC, I can't address the legal stuff, but here's my story. I live about an hour from Baltimore (the east coast drop point). I ordered mine around the beginning of Sept. and delivery was about 1st week of December. What I recommend is going to the dealer and speaking with the head floor manager (they usually sit on a raised platform of some kind). If your salesperson hasn't been able to get a ETA for you, tell the manager to punch in the order code to access the Vehicle Visibility report. That will tell you exactly where the vehicle is and will give a pretty close ETA (within a few days). If that manager doesn't know how to get the report, go over his/her head until you find someone who does. My salesman originally gave me an ETA of 2 months which was obviously wrong. He didn't know how to track the international reports, nor did he have the clearance to do so. Ford has done an awful job of preparing sales staff for dealing with this vehicle. Just keep working up the ladder - you'll find the answer sooner or later. Good luck!

Actually, I have a lock-down rack on mine (this photo is from a seller's website - http://www.primedesignracks.com ). If memory serves, roof height is 6'8" so any kind of rack is going to put you over the 7' mark pretty much... There might be some basic cargo bars that would fit, but that would kind of work against your carrying plywood/drywall since they wouldn't have stops on the ends.

For 4'x8' sheet stock you're going to need a roof rack unless you remove the passenger seat and load it at an angle. There's a flat one available with a rear roller bar to assist loading. With a solid bulkhead in place, I'm able to get 6' materials inside (electric heaters, fluorescent lights, etc.) but only at an angle. I think for the dependability question, it's kind of early to get answers from US users since most of us have only had ours for a few months at most...

Has anyone found a source for these here in the US? Thanks

Hi BMcP, I guess the PM system doesn't work on this forum... I'm interested in the rims if you still have them.

Update: So I went and got a new gauge since my old one maxed out at 45 lbs. New one is a dial type that goes to 60 lbs. and seems very accurate. I put 44 lbs. in all the tires (max allowed), reset the indicator light and it's staying off for now. We'll see how it goes...

I got Firestone Winterforce tires because they were CHEAP!! They cost about $45/tire at Sears plus installation. Most quotes I was getting was in the low to mid $90 range unless I went to a tire warehouse. They max out at 44# which is probably why the indicator lamp is on. I'll try resetting it. Interestingly, the Ford dealer was proposing the Conti Winter Contacts, which also max out at 44# so the light would also have been on and they would have had to deal with it . The ride is a bit squirmy on these tires at highway speeds, but I'll take that trade-off for the added ice and snow traction. On Monday morning I had a client with a long, windy driveway that's uphill most of the way and I was just barely able to make it up on the OEM tires. The other guy with me was in an E250 and he had to leave his truck at the bottom of the driveway. Even so, he got stuck trying to leave, ran off the asphalt, buried himself up to the axle in mud, and we had to get him pulled out by a plow - time lost approx. 2 hours and a bill for extraction. Overall I'm very pleased with the winter handling of the TC. The dedicated second gear works great for starting and driving in snow - as good if not better than using 2nd to start with a manual transmission. I definitely recommend winter tires if you live in an area that gets snow and ice though. Saturday morning, about 3 hours into the blizzard, I had to go out with the OEM tires and it was a nightmare. I was sliding backwards down a hill after losing traction and the truck started to spin. Not fun. I eventually regained control and backed down the hill safely, but I prefer having the winter tires and just going up the hill in that situation.

I had winter tires put on yesterday and the TPMS light was on after the change and has not gone out after approx. 25-30 miles of driving. I called Sears on the way home (that's where I got the tires) and they said the system should "reset" itself after 20 miles or so. Has anyone here had any experience with this light coming on yet?

On most American roads, I wouldn't. I would feel comfortable doing it on the Autobahn, but that's a whole other world of driving and roadbuilding. The recommended speed on most of the Autobahn is 130 km/h but much of the traffic moves at 150-180 km/h, so near or above 100 mph.

So far, yes. I have a 7' stepladder and a 24' ext. ladder and both are easy to load/unload. I'm also able to tie down larger materials like pipe as well. Assembly was a bit strange, but it went ok. I'll try and get some photos up soon.

Did you get my private message? It should be under the down arrow > Messenger heading next to the "signed in as" thing.

I didn't order mine from the UK, I ordered it from American Van. http://www.americanvan.com/catalog/standard_dynamic_wrap.cfm?FamilyID=396 I ended up going for a different style rack than the one shown in my original post. The UK rack would allow me to carry more cargo on the roof comfortably, but I plan on adding a mesh deck to the driver side of the rack which will allow me to tie down shorter cargo than what would fit between the crossbows. I'll also be adding a pipe carrier to the underside of the ladder rack. I often need to carry materials between 8' and 10' in length. The rack is the only way to do that.

The second one is the one I got and I'm happy with it so far.

I ended up going with a Masterack lock-down type for around $400 from American Van which allows a max. 28' extension ladder. Most are limited to 24', so be sure and ask if the info isn't on the website. I'm going to guess that shipping something that size from the UK will probably run about $150-$200, but you won't have to pay VAT on it so the price will be lower than what you see online. Whatever you end up choosing, you'll most likely have to drill the roof (I did) so make sure you have a steady hand!

I have to readjust my lights now after installing the shelving and ladder racks. "Normal" in Europe is that most cargo vehicles have a dial next to the headlight switch that you can use to adjust the headlights up or down depending on how heavy a load you're carrying. I'm really surprised that the TC doesn't have that. With the gas prices in Europe, stealing it is a problem, just like it was here when it went to $4/gal. so they lock all the gas caps. Added: I found a dash photo on the UK site that confirms my suspicion that the TC has headlight control in the cab over there. Here's a photo: