Ceej

Howdy! A neighbor! Enjoy your Transit! I've had mine for a bit over two years, and love the little critter. CJ The thriving metropolis of Halsey

I guess it goes without saying. Don't step on the end covers. A co-worker decided to get a better view of my ladder rack, and busted the plastic cover off the corner of my van the other day. The wires were pulled out of the clearance light, and his fat feet busted the clips that hold the plastic jobber to the van. I managed to get the light working again, and the cover is staying put with the remaining clip. Sigh. Another trip to the dealer. Some H&R gorilla smacked my van in a parking lot last year, so I had to drive a caravan for three days while the transit was repaired. It was nice to get back in my van after herding that goofy dodge down a lane. The caravan handles like a pogo stick in a swamp. CJ

Interesting. I've not had any leak problems. Getting the TPMS reset, yes. There is something to be said about the high tire pressure differential connection though. The pressure difference when rotated front to rear is way over the percentage normally acceptable for inflating/deflating tires and running them. While this is much more important when working with racing tires, these little buggers spin down the road pretty fast, even at legal speeds. I've run mine many miles at 70+. Be nice to have an allowed LT tire that can run at 50# front and rear. Ride would suffer, but durability should be enhanced. Unsprung weight would likely overcome any rolling resistance decrease, so I doubt any fuel savings would be seen with combined operation, and likely a decrease in an urban setting. Tire choice is up to our lease company of course. I think the price would play into it more than anything else. Continental has always been a reputable brand. In the states, Continental's presence has been highly praised in the motorcycle industry. I ran the rain treads on touring Guzzi's back in the late 70's and early 80's. Most were H rated, so didn't translate well to extreme performance on Ducati and Laverda. Too much sidewall compliance for high speed road holding with the big 900's and litre and above bikes. When I started playing with Alfas and so forth, they were an option, but one too many triple digit speed wobbles in my two wheel litre bike youth kept me from mounting them up. Went Pirelli for the track car. Pretty sure they don't make drag slicks or front runners, so it's unlikely I'll be buying a set for the rail soon. One would think that Toyo would make a decent LT for this size. It would be difficult to get Domestic tire manufacturers to tool up a 15" Truck tire. Pretty much have to look at asia IMHO. CJ

Maybe we can get the admins to come up with a solution. We send in 5 bucks a year, we don't have the adverts or double click tag alongs. I'd pay that. Having to bust through the junk just to get back to the main menu is awful. CJ

I hadn't reallised how loud the worn tires made the interior on rough pavement. New tires have quieted things down substantially! I can hear the stereo and bluetooth much better now when traveling. :D CJ

How many layers of double click and spyware do we have to wade through to navigate this forum now. It's just plain annoying. Wanna clean the leaches out Admin? Still loving my Transit, but the changes here are just awful. 2¢ CJ (Shutting my browser off now to peel all the garbage off.)

I have found that the tire store people, and the Ford garage, don't know how to reset the system. Every time I've had Ford rotate the tires, and when I had the "Preferred Tire Vendor" for the lease company reset the system, it only took about 20 miles for the system to trip. Twice at Ford, once for new tires. I Should have known the tire outfit didn't do it correctly. The horn never sounded. Every time, I've asked the service manager "Did you reset the TPMS system?" They always swear they did. The two other rotations were done by my local repair shop. They asked how to do it. I showed them, and no issues. I think the kids in the shop are airing the tires up and hitting the button on the reset tool. Not understanding that the sensor in the tire doesn't care. The brain in the van is what needs to be reset/trained.They are not following the procedure. This is evidenced by my returning home with the light on, and resetting the system myself. It's just not that hard. 1. Turn the key to the run position without starting the van 2. Turn the hazard lights on and off three times within 10 seconds. 3. The horn sounds once. You now have 2 minutes to complete steps 4 thru 7. 4. Let air out of left front tire till horn sounds 5. Right front, beep 6. Right rear, beep 7. Left rear, beep 8. Turn off key. If horn beeps twice, you took too long. 9. Air tires back to specified pressure. 10. Start van, light goes out until the next time service is done by the "Experts." I'd still be using the Ford dealer if they hadn't ticked me off over this issue. It's the little things, you know? 2¢ CJ

Just curious, how long are the Continentals lasting in the real world. I was starting to have adhesion issues, so stopped off at a "preferred vendor" for a check. All four tires were down to 3/32" in the center of the tread, and 4/32" on the shoulders. The lease agency replaced the tires with the OEM Continentals. They would not allow any other tire. My Transit has 32,000 miles on it. CJ

I'm over 30k miles, and this little van hasn't stepped wrong yet. My mileage tanked with the ladder rack. I get about 20 sometimes as high as 21mpg now with an 8' and a 16' extension up there. It screwed up the aerodynamics something fierce. Wouldn't take them off though. I need ladders. Works fine on ice and snow. So far no issues with brakes or tires. Tried out the snow mode; 2nd gear select for starting out. Worked the same as the Transmission in my '65 Galaxy XL500 convertible. Start out in 2nd, with minimal wheel spin. The Transit is better though. The Galaxy didn't have heated mirrors! Great little rig. Lot's of room. When they make me turn this one in, I'll be asking for a new one as a replacement. I don't see anything else on the market that comes close to meeting my needs. I'm hoping the Ecoboost finds it's way into the Transit. It would be an excellent choice for those of us plying the freeway and periodic mountain driving. I'm not sure if it would be available as a corporate lease option for us though. Did I mention I really like my Transit? CJ

Got my first 28 mpg run between a couple 27 mpg tanks. Of late making a 100 mile one way trip daily. 66-70 mpg with hills. Letting it shift down on the cruise control. The little bugger is doing well. About 600# of stuff in the back. Lots of passes, and heavy AC use late afternoons. It may go out the window if my ladder rack ever arrives. CJ

Did the owner's manual reset method, aired the tires back up, and it worked fine. All happy now. Sorry. I like the dog with the balloon. CJ

It'll out run most motorhomes. I just weighed mine tonight. 4120# going across the scales. My Transit is a mobile tool box. It's not going to win stop light to stop light against the neighbor kid with his fart pipe honda, but it does fine for normal, sane driving. Pulled a long hill today at weight, and there were no complaints from traffic. It rambled over the hill at legal speeds just fine. 2¢ CJ

I just tried Woody's magnet method. The horn didn't sound. Tried a stronger magnet. Pushing the TPMS test button? I take it that is on the reset tool. If not, where is the reset button on the vehicle? CJ

Edit: Was able to see them. What is the stud? 12 x 1.5 pitch? CJ

Thanks! That was the one. CJ

There was an owner that installed Beauty rings and Center caps on the OEM wheels. I can't seem to find that post. Anyone remember that? CJ

Since I've got gobs of tire chain sets out in my shop, I dug through my collection and found an appropriate set. Then I opened up my owners manual to verify. It says not to use tire chains on this vehicle. I had wondered about that with the clearances. I'll try to find something appropriate locally. Les Schwab was marketing a siped walnut shell tire. I'm awaiting confirmation that I can purchase a set from the branch. It shouldn't be a problem, though they may insist on studs. I don't want to listen to studs buzzing and chewing up the road all winter. We have dry pavement more often than not.:rolleyes: CJ

The more I drive it, the more I like it! It turned 1500 miles on the way home tonight. (Six day weeks are likely through the end of the year.) The van is affected by high cross winds more than the pickup was, but it does fine with a bit of attention. Nothing like the old days of bias ply tires. :rolleyes: We have ice coming, so I'll see how things go in the slippery stuff. Economy is right where it should be, and I've been hauling all sorts of stuff to and from the job site. Since I'm on flat land, I haven't run into any issues with power. I'm not going to win any top gear drag races out on the freeway, but that's not what this little van is for. It merges onto the freeway just fine, even with a load. CJ

Excellent! :D CJ

We took delivery of new "Ruggedized" cell phones. The Blue Tooth in the TC works well. My contacts list imported without a hitch to the System. I've used it several times now, and it beats the heck out of my Plantronics ear bud. :D Depending on road surface, the noise can be an issue. I'm going to investigate increasing sound proofing the cargo area. Most of the road noise comes from the rear. CJ

I'm approaching 700 miles and re-checked tire pressure this evening. There was a great deal of brake dust on the front wheel covers. I'll be keeping a close eye on the brakes. CJ

Combined mileage at fill ups. 23.02 mpg. 24.32 mpg. 23.9 mpg. 23.5 mpg. 22.9 mpg. (1200# load for much of this tank.) 23.8 mpg. 23.32 mpg. CJ

Friday I dropped a load of valves off at a project site while on my way to the one I was working. Eight valves for ~600# in addition to my normal tool load. No significant change in vehicle performance was noted. (Of course, I don't drive fast and am pretty patient merging with traffic.) Loading and unloading was a snap. I still had plenty of room for more. The Ranger wouldn't have carried all of them without a bungee holding the Toneau cover down with one of the boxes on the passenger seat. With all this rain, that would have been miserable. The location of the Document holder is horrible. Right behind the driver's seat. I'd wondered about that when I added it to the upfit. Moving it to a centered position on the partition makes more sense. I had to move the seat to put my submittal papers in it. My comfort zone places the seat up against the steel partition. This morning the sun was out so I washed the van for the first time. It's been raining pretty much continously, so the van had turned road grime gray. Getting the side door sills clean was the only part that took any time to speak of. Once it's dry I'll get to waxing.B) The driver's side carpet is getting pretty dirty, so I'll pull that out and clean it next. Time to get some rubber floor mats! Job sites run the gammit from Dry concrete to clay mud mixed with gravel. The lights work slick. I only had one day that was thick fog, so haven't used the rear fog function but the one time. They are very noticeable in the rear view on the fog line, so should give an added measure of safety for drivers approaching from behind. The stereo is serviceable enough, though sound quality is limited except for moderate levels using the CD player. Since political adds will be running for a few more days, I'm using CD's for all my travel audio. We received new ruggedized cell phones recently, so once I get the new one activated, I'll synch the blue tooth up to the Van, and stop using the blue tooth ear bud. Dang thing makes me feel like I've been assimilated into the Borg collective. :lol: CJ

Well? What do you think? :D Our PM took delivery of his today. He ordered it without any upfit, and it came in with more stuff than mine did! I'm going to take some of the racks off of his hands so I can install them if needed. There are a couple of vetical angle pieces on the back of the divider behind the passenger seat. What are they for? (Just above the notch for the 6' Ladder.) It's been a slow week. I've only put a bit over 300 miles on since Tuesday. CJ

I took delivery of my new Transit Connect company vehicle yesterday. The TC is definitely what I needed! The old company pickup hand-me-down had a hard tonnau cover.. I was constantly out of space for job materials. Now I've got gobs of space! The best economy I got out of the pickup was just over 21 mpg empty. I hope to beat that by a bit. Most of the time the pickup got closer to 18 or 19. Today was my first day on a job site with the TC. It was a lot easier to get in and out of places, handling and ride are much better, and power is quite adequate for what I need to do. Road noise is comparable with the V6 pickup. The only time I heard the engine was while merging onto the Interstate, and only then it was a tad noisier. The cup holder is actually in a better location than was the pickup. My coffee cup would tip over onto the floor going around corners. :rolleyes: There are lots of nooks and crannys to stow things. It's like a nice set of coveralls festooned with pockets. I need to hide the cup holder-ash tray insert before a coworker decides that means its OK to light up though. It'll take a while to get used to the visibility issues. I've had cargo vans without windows before, so scrutinizing blind spots shouldn't be too much of a hassle. The mirrors are limited, but do the job. The backup sensors work pretty well. I did some testing when I got home this evening. The backup alarm will have me backing into the driveway at night so I don't wake up my neighbors when I roll out at O'dark-thirty every morning. As we get a lot of fog around here, I was pleased with the operation of the Fog setting for the tail lights. I'll use it when the valley's socked in. First Impression: I like it! CJ