zepper

I have some friends that are Armeanian (sp?) and they never miss an opportunity to curse the Turks. I did not know the Greeks didn't like the Turkish people-now noted. I personally think the Turks make great vans! I'll post some info on the moto carrier up in the gallery.

Oh I actually forgot to put in my original post that though the wheels are bigger the over all diameter of the tires mounted on the wheels is the same, so the height of the transit hasn't changed and the distance from the top of the tire to the fenders hasn't changed.

I also like the Euro Focus SVT Rally style wheels. Too expensive to ship though! I actually bought the Transit used and out of state b/c it was ridiculously cheap, couldn't find any used Silver ones in Cali that fit the budget. The dealers are asking close to invoice for a used one and you would still have to pay Cali 10% tax. I've already smogged it and registered it for here. Any interesting side story was the kid working at the smog shop. He was from Turkey and this was the first transit he had driven/checked out/smogged. He liked it, a bit of pride on his part. He also said that it was one of the lowest emission vehicles he had ever smogged. Pretty cool considering this is a 49 state model. It would be cool to lower it, there is a guy on fordtransit.org The UK site working on a kit to sell but I know that it will require repositioning the rear axle above the leaf spring. To much hassle for me I think, but it would finish it off nicely.

We all know volvo as Ford's safety conscious division but it turns out they have an extrodinary selection of wheels for their cars--most of which will fit the transit. The good things about using the OEM wheels are: they are generally high quality, made to stringent safety standards, available CHEAP from Volvo guys that are upgrading. I got mine for $400 SHIPPED with 3,000 mile old tires. The tires are high quality all season Michelins that are rated for the same load and PSI as the transits' OEM tires despite the lower profile. MUCH quieter too. These are 17" X 7" and the center bore was a perfect fit. Plenty of offset to clear the brakes. Watch fleabay and Swedespeed.com --marketplace--classifieds. The swedespeed forum even has an informative post with many pictures of OEM volvo wheels and their sizes/part numbers/names etc.

I know monsoon here lately. It does drip a bit, which i don't mind, but I don't like all of the moisture that remains inside the door, you know in between the body and the door. I've been trying to wipe it down regularily. Fortunetly we're not in an area where they salt the roads.

Humitex, Give a call over to Albany (California) Ford Service and they can tell you the adhesive they used then you can get it yourself or have your ford service department get it. It worked perfectly. I used to work for BMW way back in the day and that was kind of standard procedure for BMW also, if some rubber stripping comes off they would send a new piece if required but the dealership still had to find an adhesive to reattach it. BMW would suggest, but not provide, the adhesive. It is frustrating that it came off, but the fix they did seems pretty decent.

So just to update this link: Removing the armrest was a snap(ring)!! It turns out that all that was needed was to unzip the cloth cover of the armrest and mush the padding forward a bit, this exposed the square arm that holds the armrest on. If you press the seat fabric in at the base of this square arm you can see the snap ring "feet" from the back seat area. All that is left is a firm push with a square pliers, which moved the ring from the clamping position to the just holding on position. Then just a quick body tug to right and the armrest is off--no "considerable force" required. The clip is retained so if i ever need to insert the arm rest, I'll just push the clip back on from the front. No seat dissassembly required. I have only put about 30 miles on the transit so I am hoping I won't miss the armrest but if I do, I'll get some sort of aftermarket one for both driver and passenger that will work with my cargo.

Hi Connect Owner UK, Did you ever end up getting an aftermarket arm rest? What did you end up choosing and how did it fit? Thanks

So this isn't a big deal, but I wanted to post it up here for the record. The weather stripping over the driver door that deadens sound and prevents the rain from coming in fell off at about 15k miles. Of course durring the rainiest week we've had. Anyway I took it into ford and they used some sort of 3M adhesive to reapply it. So far so good. Took it through a car wash---no leaks and its rained and still no leaks. Just an FYI incase anyone else has this issue poppin up.

I was gearin up to buy the LED lights from Fleabay ($16.00/pair) to save over the cost of the Ikea lights (msrp $49.99 for 4), and i thought, oh hell I'll check ikea's website to see if they have any sales. Well since IKEA's stuff is so cheap they rarely have any big storewide sales, and as correctly predicted they had only about 8 items listed up for their big after christmas sale....but the LED lights were remarkably one of those 8 items---wow what are the chances!? So starting Sunday the ikea LEDs will be marked down to $14.99. So if anyone else wants to do this LED mod get to your local Ikea this sunday!

If your local store doesn't have them, or if you don't have a local store, they can be procured on fleabay for $18 shipped. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/WIX-Filters-Cabin-Air-Filter-24808-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aTransitQ20ConnectQQhashZitem5ade193ff2QQitemZ390273253362QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

The nice thing about the Transit is it has an ultra big alternator so any wear down that happens is quickly replaced as soon as you drive. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the static draw of a charger, w/o the device that it's supposed to charge connected, is very very low. You should be fine.

Hmmmm. Even though you say the engine doesn't feel exceptionally warm, I would suspect your thermostat is bad, b/c your radiator is cool. You can check the thermostat by removing it and boiling it to make sure it opens at the correct temp, but I usually just replace it b/c they aren't real expensive.

All deals from Ford vary by location. So one part of the country gets a sweeter deal than another part probably based on inventory lingering. Roland, just wanted to remind you that the vans are un-insulated. Think carefully about a black or blue one. I got a silver one for that reason, even though the handsome tuxedo black was available.