windguy

Back in 2015 I built a custom hanging rack inside the van to carry gear to the beach. Recently a forumite PM'd with questions about the rack after seeing a pic of it on a thread. Since I can't PM pics to someone, I'm posting a few pics here to help them along. Below - Rack frame made with 2"x1"x3/4" pine, glued and screwed. the deck is 1/2" plywood. Covered with bulk carpet from HD, same that was used for the cargo flooring. Below - rear bracket - Simpson strong tie from HD bent in a vise with a mallet to hang plumb. Mounting hole was created using an existing reinforced hole and tapping with threads. Below - shows angle of bent bracket. Below - front bracket - may have given that a slight bend as well, can't remember. Mounting hole used an existing hole - bolt/nut - Nut before bracket to hold bolt in place. Below - view of rack from cab area. Below - a view of a gusset that was added to each hanging bracket. Not part of the initial design but the rack had a slight sway front to back and was making a creaking noise. The gusset cinched up the rack nicely. Uses same strong-tie material. Below - Ditched the LED cargo light that I had ordered with the van since the rack obscured it. Plus the light stays on for 10 minutes and I couldn't control it with a switch. The LED bar lights are controlled with two switches: at the left rear and left sliding door. Very convenient to add task lighting.

Glad you got the van you wanted without having to wait. The wait to get a custom order is crazy long and lots of uncertainty in the process. But, the concept of having to pay over MSRP or a premium for anything because of supply/demand is hard for me to accept. I understand why it's done in a free market economy, but it's just plain wrong for a retailer to take advantage of consumers in doing so. Pure greed. Car dealer sales departments are already bottom feeders in my view and this act only reinforces that. Bunch of undeserving rat bastards. ? The talk that Ford will switch to a direct to consumer business model for future EV sales is a smart move. Same as what other auto co's have done. Leave the sharks and vultures out of the equation and keep your brand respectable and make the sales process fair. https://fordauthority.com/2022/05/ford-dealers-will-likely-switch-over-to-new-business-model-by-2023/ "Selling EVs at fixed prices is a critical move as markups continue to tarnish the brand’s image. Most recently, the automaker itself expressed frustration over dealers selling the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning for over sticker price, though the vast majority are moving the new EV pickup at MSRP. Additionally, the automaker is looking to overhaul its dealer experience after ranking below average in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study and the 2022 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) Study."

Agree. Use a car buying service to determine an acceptable street price. It gives you more ammo to negotiate a better dealer whether you use the service or not. I went through Costco's auto program for my 2015 Cargo XLT, ordered from the factory. It was a very easy process and there was no haggling involved. I paid a little less than dealer invoice, much less than MSRP and less than what any of the local dealers would offer me. Obviously the market is different now, but it's worth exploring if you're interested in saving some money. Good luck!

nah, just use the edit option. Upper right corner of post - three dots for drop down menu - select edit

Congrats on your new van First time seeing that. If the dealer you got the van from is close by, I'd take it back to them and let them mess with it. Let it be their problem to resolve, not yours. You have to wonder if the dealer properly prepped the van for sale, then how was something so obvious overlooked? Good luck!

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new to you TC. It's not official until you post a pic of your new ride. As you pour over threads on this forum, you will find lots of discussion about the importance of proper transmission maintenance. Stands true for both Gen 1 and Gen 2 TC. Something to consider sooner rather than later if you didn't inherit good maintenance records for the van, especially with 140K miles on the van. Good luck!

This forum is for the Transit Connect, not the full size Transit. Try posting your question on the Transit Forum. Forum link below (there may be others). Also check youtube for repair videos. Best of luck! https://www.fordtransitusaforum.com/forums/#us-ford-transit-forums.72

Ha, more like a non-finisher than a non-starter ? Seems the two major obstacles for Ford are plant capacity priority and getting stuck paying the chicken tax. That antiquated tariff should be repealed. Production would have to be in the US or Mexico for it to be profitable for Ford. They had a good plan for production in Mexico. I think the sales volume issue is BS, especially if Nissan NV200 (Chevy) and MBenz Metris have now backed out of the small van market leaving only the Ram ProMaster City. I believe someone in the US is going to capture the small cargo van market with an all electric and/or hybrid. It's a question of who. History shows that the big three auto giants will miss the boat on a golden opportunity and play catch up later.

Thanks. I used contact cement (Weldwood-red label original) with a brush to glue the carpet directly to the wood (after priming and painting). I may have started with spray adhesive but it didn't cover enough area. Yeah, plywood is still expensive. I've never tried OSB for projects but that's a lower cost option I see at HD. 1/2" ply always seem to warp a bit so I prefer a beefier 5/8" or better. I took a peak at those Bedrug mats and they look pretty nice. Something to be said for a turnkey solution unless you have plans to want to bolt something down. Then the wood sub is preferred. Anything will be better than what you have now for noise and comfort. The Bedrug linked below shows 2011-2013. I would for sure want to nail down the fit for a 2010 vs the 2011-13. Maybe you can grab a coupon code for Black Friday and save some bucks. That might sway you to this solution. VANRUG 11-13 FORD TRANSIT CONNECT #VRTC11 Price*: $179.00 https://bedrug.com/vanrug-cargo-mats/2012/ford/transit-connect

Thanks Mrtn. Good find. That's very cool. I like it. Hope that option comes to the US. Interesting Ford is using the Turkey plant again, same as the Gen 1 TC, instead of the more recent Valencia, Spain for the Gen 2.

I like the Caddy. Not enamored with VW but it's a nice van option I'd consider if it was available in the US. https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/en/new-vehicles/caddy-cargo.html I was sitting at a traffic light the other day and saw a commercial branded TC cargo for a window coverings business. It's hard for me to accept that Ford wants to totally back out of this market. I see so many TC's on the road being used for commercial and personal use, but mostly cargo models. It makes so much sense to have a compact work van instead of a full size Transit, even the smallest wheelbase/roof height version. I think an all electric or hybrid model would up the game for Ford. Maybe they are working on that option but want to keep it under wraps until it's ready for market.

Now I know you're keeping this van for sure In my Gen2, I did two layers of sound proofing for sound and moisture, plywood subfloor (5/8 or 3/4) ext grade primed/painted then HD bulk roll carpet. Tucked the carpet over the edges of the ply. Cheap but functional. I use tarps when needed to protect the carpet and make for easy cleanup. Also, sponge rolled black enamel paint on the door panels for water protection and appearance after adding sound proofing inside door cavities. Nothing fancy, just functional.

Glad to hear you have plans to do something useful with your van. I like to see them used for utility and function as they were intended. Lots of threads about bike storage solutions and camping on this forum. Recently someone asked about installing l-track across the back. Use the search feature in the upper right corner to learn more. Lots of useful info available here to give you ideas. PS - sorry, please ignore our sexist banter. Just locker room talk since we are mostly dudes. Refreshing to see a dudette in the family. Welcome!

Gator Girl - welcome to the forum and congrats on your new van. Good looking Gen 2 TC wagon.

Congrats - Great update. Excellent detailed write-up. Your homework, careful prep work and install yielded masterful results. Job well done! Now you definitely have to keep the van. Too much sweat equity to do otherwise.

UTTER NONSENSE By my account, you're the only person on the forum that is "harrased", if you want to call it. I call it debunking nonsense and disinformation.

Mrtn - sorry to hear your TC is out of your fleet. Please keep us posted on your replacement. Yeah, you can't leave us. You're part of the dirty dozen, the rat pack, the ass-riders. We need your support and humor. Someone has to represent Estonia, right?

stupid is as stupid does

@paddy - welcome to the forum. Where are you located? I added a storage compartment many years ago. It's a wonderful upgrade and I highly recommend it. There are several threads on this forum that detail this upgrade from multiple forumites. Search and you will find more details. The deck extension is made up of three parts. See pic below for more detail. The base is a bracket bolted to the floor, two or four bolts, can't remember. The other two pieces are decking that can be removed individually. Only about 26 bolts, not that bad. Lastly and most import, not sure where you are located but this deck extension configuration is only for US based sales. Our friends to the north in Canada have indicated that their vans have this extension welded in place. I'm assuming that holds true for all sales outside the US, included Europe. The reason is because Ford wanted to skirt the Chicken Tax on imports to the US and needed to quickly be able to convert a wagon config for 2nd row seating to a cargo model. It wouldn't make sense building the van in the factory this way otherwise. Best of luck!

@bbj - sorry to see you go. You've been a great member of this forum. Glad to hear you got decent money for your TC. Stop back some time and let us know how your new wheels are doing. Happy trails!

Sorry, it's been something like five years since I removed the mat. Don't recall much about it at this point. As I said before, it would be best to search this forum to find other bikers that have installed racking inside the cargo area. There has been a few as I recall. I did a quick web search on L-Track and found the link below. In my mind, I can see installing the L-Track on some type of bracket or wood surface rather than directly to the deck. This is what these folks did with their install so it has some merit to scope out. Good luck! https://radvanadventures.com/2017/01/28/diy-campervan-project-interior-bike-storage-using-l-track/

@jeff_beast - Good that you are asking these questions. Plenty of forumites over the years have added different bike mounting solutions. Best to search (upper right corner of page) for what they have done and PM them for more info rather than taking advice from someone that hasn't even come close to doing so but pretends to be an expert on all subject matter. The three pictures posted above are not this posters. The first two are from my van modifications. The third I'm sure if from another forumite. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming the cargo area in my 2015 and your 2022 are the same, even though there were some body style changes made to the Gen 2 around 2019. Kind of like a Gen2-2.0. I removed the entire cargo mat. The surface on mine was tacky, which drove me crazy. I replaced it with a sheet of 5/8-3/4" plywood and then carpeted that surface. It's worked out nicely for my use but I do put a tarp on top to capture salt water and sand from beach use. It's easy to remove the tarp and shake off the sand. I can see how having a waterproof liner for bikes would be useful. The mat has a foam liner glued to the bottom that fills the voids in the deck of the cargo area. I separated the foam sheet from the vinyl mat and put the foam sheet back. Provides insulation and noise abatement. I also added two layers of sound proofing to the entire deck (kilmat type stuff). Walls, door and ceiling areas too. As I recall, the mat does cut easily with a regular utility knife with a new blade, obviously. Below are pics of what the bare deck looks like. There are existing threaded holes but those are up front for the 2nd row seats that Ford had installed for import purposes only. Lastly, I would highly recommend creating a storage space in the passenger foot well area behind the front seats. Very useful for cargo vans. to make use of this space.

@TC2014 - I found the LED light I had removed and see two part numbers, one on the bezel and one on the light fixture, shown below. The links will get you started and you can hone in on where best to source it. Ebay has lots of options if you do a deep dive. Also attached some pics if that helps. Good luck! BEZEL - DT11-13733-ABW https://www.autopartsprime.com/ford/frame-interior-lamp/oe-dt1z13733ab LED LAMP FIXTURE - BK2V-13776-AB (that might be a mfg part number. Ford's p/n might be similar with some letter changes) https://knobtowncycle.com/product/ford-motor-co-transit-interior-dome-led-light-bk2v-13776-ab/ https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-2015-2020-Ford-Transit-LED-Interior-Dome-Light-Cargo-Area-BK2V-13776-AB-/114967513859?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c4#viTabs_0

Logic tell me no way. Gen 1 and 2 vans are too different so it's not a bolt-on fit.

@TC2014 - Sorry, don't have the part number handy of the LED cargo light, but will see if I can find the part stored in the garage. I must say the removal of that stock light and the addition of three LED bars on the ceiling was a really nice upgrade. I hated having the old light staying on for something like 10 minutes after a door was open. The position of the light is also bad being on one side, which ended up being blocked by a hanging rack I added to the ceiling. Highly recommend adding something like this rather than the stock light.