rlschow

I bought a complete set of seat covers (front & rear) for my 2010 XLT Wagon and installed the front seats only for about 6 months. They are Coverking Wetsuit (neoprene) 2-Tone, Black Sides Gray Insert. The rears were never installed, they are still brand new. The fronts are in excellent condition and I cleaned them thoroughly when I removed them. I paid over $270 for the set (on special at Costco.com) They still sell them (click here for link). I just didn't like them, but I know other people really do, so I'll let them go for $50 + shipping. I just would like to see them get used rather than sit in my garage! Shoot me a PM if interested. Roger

That would be fun to see. I'm not an early experimenter, but I'm watching you guys who know how to do this stuff. Eventually I'll take steps to get more oomph out of my beloved TC. Of course those steps could be to sell it and get an EcoBoost model (car love is fickle).

Glad you got it sorted out. Now they might think your TC is made by Ferrari, but won't mistake you for the .

That's awesome! Well done! These are the first documented performance mods to the US Transit Connect that I've come across. Keep us posted as you spend more time with it and get it run-in.

Yes, my non-DRL vehicle has both the parking bulb and main lamp lit when the engine is running with headlights turned on.

Sell your relay to one of these other guys I'm not a fan of DRL either.

I bought my blue XLT wagon late May 2010 and have logged 16k miles since then. I live near San Francisco, but I took delivery in Boston and drove it loaded floor-to-ceiling with boxes belonging to 2 of my kids who were graduating/vacating college back East. My wife and I were in the mood for a road trip, so we saved a lot by not shipping all that stuff. It's now my daily driver for a 15 minute commute to work. My after-work distraction is buying, selling, restoring and collecting vintage, tube hi-fi and guitar amp equipment. It's an awesome pick-up and delivery vehicle for that (sometimes quite large) stuff. Once a month I fill it up with gear that I sell at the De Anza Electronics Swap. Lots of oohs and ahhs from the Silicon Valley techie crowd that I see there. Like astra65, I'm going to start loading and unloading with rolling racks via ramp. I haven't missed the Ford Ranger replaced by my TC at all.

I agree; great look! Pardon my ignorance, but how do you get them to fit the TC? The specs that I find for the BBS wheels say the bolt pattern is 5x112 and the Transit Connect is 5x108.

Subscribed! This will be fun to watch!

I received my EchoMaster camera today and replaced the stock license plate light with it when I got home from work. I haven't yet run the video wire up to the console or spliced into the back-up light's power for the camera. My DVD head unit has a purple wire that also connects to the back-up light to automatically switch its input to camera when the vehicle is put in reverse. It seems simplest to just pull a wire from the back-up light in the rear to this purple wire in the head unit at the same time I'm pulling the video wire from the camera. Anybody else done it that way?

Thanks for the feedback, Hal. Thanks stewart05 for the eBay link above. I just ordered one to plug into my Pioneer DVD head unit.

How well does this camera work at night?

Well done! That's a great solution.

I like seeing those fog lights where the juicers used to be.

Thanks for the heads-up! I just ordered a set. Special price, which goes up 60 bucks after Nov. 30.

I gave up trying to solve that one and just cut the factory speaker wires inside the kick panel. From there I soldered some AWG12 stranded speaker wire which runs to a power amp installed under the passenger seat. If I were going to use the amplifiers of my in-dash head unit, I definitely would not bother with replacing the factory speaker wires. It's a lot of work, the factory wires are of a reasonable gauge (maybe AWG16), and given the inherently noisy listening environment of car audio, there is no audible benefit from a better speaker wire.

Hrrmm. I used the keys that came with a Scosche dash kit and the factory radio popped out with a minimum of fuss. Also loaned the keys to somebody else who didn't report any trouble removing his radio. Maybe Metra's keys aren't quite right?

@Ship It: Thanks for posting photos of your install. I'm considering an Echomaster camera, and I happen to have the same Pioneer head unit installed in my TC. How are you liking it now that you've had it for a month? In your photo, the image on your monitor appears tilted, or not quite level. Is that just an illusion?

I too have been coveting the UK mirrors with the lower, blind-spot section. I have the electrically operated (but not heated) USA model mirrors. I added a clip-on like the one at the beginning of this thread, and it's OK, but could be a lot better. It's biggest weakness is that it is sensitive to vibration, which blurs the image. I looked at all the mirrors on UK eBay, but it really isn't clear that it would be plug-and-play on our US models, and by the time one paid for shipping it would be an expensive gamble. Sure would like something like that, though...

It's very hard to get good sub-bass out of any 5 1/4" speaker. Frustrating that the TC has a giant door panel and they only provided for a measly 5 1/4". The distortion you hear when you turn up your radio is because its under-powered amplifier is clipping. You can improve that significantly with a better head unit.

Hi Justin, Sorry, I didn't take photos. But I'll tell you that if you've installed aftermarket head units before, I think you'll find this vehicle quite easy to work in. I put a double DIN touch-screen DVD player in mine and found there was plenty of room behind it for all wires and a small relay that I added. The dash kit fit well and I didn't need to make any sub-dash modifications. I put the same head unit in my wife's Ford Escape and that was a lot harder. Roger

Sounds like you solved your own problem. For others looking to run a new power lead from the battery to the cab, this thread shows where there's a hole and unused grommet in the firewall. No drilling required.

It took me some time to find a nice place to run a 4AWG wire through the firewall of my (American) Transit Connect, but I found it. There's a hole way down in the back with a rubber grommet and nothing running through it. It's maybe 5" right of center, and well below and back from where the bottom of the windshield meets the body. The grommet has kind of a nipple on it to seal the hole. I pulled the grommet out and drilled a 1/4" hole it so it would form a tight seal around my wire. From the engine side, I pushed an awl through the hole and the rubbery insulation mat on the inside the firewall so could find where it entered the footwell. It comes through about 3 inches above the bolts holding the accelerator pivot to the firewall. Some silicone spray on the wire helps it to slip through the grommet easily. The light blue wire in the middle of the photo is the wire I put in.

Scosche Unless you already got one, you'll want a dash kit as well as the harness. I bought them all as a package here because the price was right. They shipped it immediately.

Just realeased... They mention that it's the pins attaching to the b-pillar, I wonder about the other ones. Funny thing, I was thinking about dropping my headliner soon to add insulation. In my experience, I haven't been able to pull these pins without destroying them. At least that is what happened when I pulled three to run an XM antenna wire through the roof at the top-mounted stop light. They have a one-way barb that lets you push them in but not pull them out without over-stressing the heads.