windguy

Below are some pics of the install. First two pics show the inside mounting hardware for the back two holes. Last pics show the neoprene washer used as a gasket over the mounting holes.

FORUM RACK THREADS Before sharing my install notes, I thought it would be useful to reference the Gen 2 threads I found regarding roof racks and rails. There may be more. The first one I found to be most useful when I started researching rack options even before I ordered my van. For my cargo van I wasn't able to order factory rails and the cost from Ford parts to add them after delivery was crazy expensive. Aftermarket tracks and racks would be my only reasonable option. http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/2406-roof-attachment-points-on-2014-transit-connect/ http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6322-cross-bars-for-2017-tc-wagon/ http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5542-diy-roof-rack-for-under100/ http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6179-roof-rack-cross-bars/ http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/4245-can-you-add-roof-rack-rails/ http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5305-factory-roof-rails-revisited/ MY INSTALL I finally got around to adding tracks and a rack setup for my 2015 TC XLT LWB Cargo and want to share my install. I did the install a few months ago so some of the details are a bit fuzzy at this point. I didn’t have an immediate need for racks but wanted to have them available in case the need arises. Primary use will be to offload windsurf/surfboards from inside the van to the roof rack when I need more space inside. I decided to get all rack parts made by Yakima rather than cobbling them from different sources. My understanding is that the track design is universal from Thule, Yakima, Van-tech and others. Yakima rack items are expensive and price fixed, but they appear to be well made and integrate well. A few times a year it seems Yakima allows its resellers to discount their items up to 20% off, so that’s the best time to buy if you’re price conscious. MOUNTING HOLES The TC has five mounting holes on each side. The holes are covered with a black plastic plug that you can easily remove using a plier from the inside by squeezing the side tabs together or I’m sure you can lever it out with a screw driver from the roof side. The back four plugs are easily accessible from the cargo area. The front plug is shielded behind the cab area roof liner. I’m not sure how this myth got started that you can’t use the front mounting hole because of the side curtain airbags. We all know that the factory rails are using this mounting point as the rails extend the full length of the rain gutter. I used a flashlight to peek behind the headliner to see the forward mounting hole. Not sure how to describe this but there is a flange extending from the side of the roof that projects out and shields the mounting hole from the airbag. You can see the air bag folded up and sitting well below this flange. Perhaps 4-5 inches between the mounting hole, then the flange, then air bag. The front mounting hole doesn’t appear to be affected by the air bag unless I’m grossly missing something. Wish I could take a picture but it would be hard to capture in a tight dark space. You would have to remove the headliner if you want to use this mounting hole unless you can wrangle in some type of captive nut from the roof side. I don’t think it’s worth that effort unless you really need to have a wide spread for your cross bars. Also, the roof starts sloping down more as you get closer to the front so that’s another consideration. I considered drilling my own hole that was more forward but ruled that out as there is extra plating in areas around the rain gutter and thought best just to adapt to using the existing four holes. TRACKS I ended up getting 6ft long tracks, but in hindsight 5 footers would have been just fine. I didn’t want to end up too short and thought I can add my own mounting holes but I would recommend going with the 5ft option. Verify the exact length before ordering. Plus, the 6ft track from Yakima is hard to find online. I was able to get them at a semi-local pickup truck shell installer as they use these for their installs. You can order the 5ft rails from any Yakima reseller. The tracks come with mounting hardware, either plusnuts or capnuts. The place I got my tracks from told me I’d be better off using my own hardware, but I wish I had taken the install bag of hardware with capnuts. It’s hard to find capnuts in the thread size I wanted and I ended up harvesting some from an old fluorescent light fixture. Capnuts vs Plusnuts Comparison https://www.etrailer.com/comparison.aspx?pc=Y8810155&pc2=Y8810102 MOUNTING THE TRACKS The tracks come with end caps that you would normally be held in place using a mounting hole. Because the van mounting holes didn’t line up with this, I used a short stainless steel bolt and nut to hold the front end cap in place. I didn’t use the rear cap since I want to be able to remove the landing pad nuts that sit in the channel of the track without having to remove the cap. For bolts I used stainless steel 8-32 threaded bolts to match the capnuts I found. Two bolts were ¾” (back holes) and two were 1” (front holes). On the inside I used a 3/16 x 1” fender washer because the hole opening is pretty large and I wanted a large diameter washer. The forward two mounting holes are hard to get to on the inside due to the slider track framing. It’s a two person job to hold the bolt and get the washers and nuts in place. That’s why a capnut is useful. I drilled my own mounting holes in the tracks so they’d line up with the existing mounting holes in the roof. Because the mounting holes in the roof are rather large, I used a 3/16 x 1 ¼ “ neoprene washer to seal up the hole opening. Before mounting, I applied an ample amount of DAP Auto/Marine sealant around the hole opening and then put the neoprene washers in place. Also used the sealant around the bolt threads and on the inside fender washer. CROSSBARS The Yakima and Thule systems use a landing pad that mounts to the track using two bolts and nuts that sit in channel in the track. You can remove the landing pads if your racks aren’t being used all the time but I think it’s easier to leave them in place. Yakima provides caps to cover the landing pad and it sticks up few inches above the tracks, not a big issue. The cross bars attach to the landing pads using a tower. For the Yakima system, the Skyline towers are used for this setup. You can also order a set of locks called SKS cores that are very easy to install and help secure your rack in place. The cross bars and tower can easily be removed together when not in use. I went for 60” wide cross bars. Yakima offers three types of crossbars. The round ones are the original style and the other two are of an aero design. I went with the Corebar aero style for reduced noise. I considered the round style with the thought of adding some type of roller that would make it easy get something large on the roof, like a sheet of plywood. ITEMS ORDERED Below is a list of the items I ordered. I got mine from rackattack.com since they had all items in stock with free shipping and 20% off at the time. Total cost around $540 plus misc hardware and sealant. As I said, Yakima is expensive even when it’s on sale. Best to verify part numbers as things may have changed since I ordered. Tracks: Yakima 72”, #8001607, set of 2 (the 60” track with capnuts is #8001135) Landing Pads: Yakima Landing Pad 1, #8000221, 2 sets of 2 Towers: Yakima Skyline Tower, #8000148, set of 4 Crossbars: Yakima 60-inch Corebar with endcaps, #800422, set of 2 Locks: Yakima SKS Cores, #8007204, 4-pack

I'll second that - great job with this project and sharing your notes with the forum. You did a lot of homework that will greatly help someone down the road. So now that you have a factory hitch, you need to save your shins some skin, cause that bare metal sticking out is going to bite you a few times. Consider adding a hitch cover like I did. I was more prone to bang into the hitch in the beginning, but have adapted to it for the most part, but protection helps. Link below is the one I got because it was available at a local auto parts store chain. I like it and it helps to create a buffer. https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/9133444/00739?quantity=1

Thanks for the input on the LED options. Good to know if I decide to replace other bulbs with LEDs in the future. For the backup light, it doesn't stay on very long so my preference is for max light output that's directed outward and not so much longevity.

I never considered the anti-theft aspect. Good posts desert_connect and Don R. I will fish out my FOB's and do some foil wrapping. Besides, I need to redo my tin foil hat anyway as it's getting a bit tattered

That's what I used. First put the FOB inside a ziplock baggie and then inside a waterproof container I picked up online. I can't find the paperwork for that, but the size is important to make sure the FOB fits, but not too big. I sealed the container with tape to make sure it stays closed and to ensure the seal. I'll PM you with a hiding spot. My main motivation for stashing a key outside was because I rely on the keypad for entry when at the beach and I don't want to get stuck if it malfunctions somehow. Backups are good.

ADD-ON - the reviews on the bulb linked below seem pretty decent - so many out there to choose from, it's a poke in the dark. https://www.amazon.com/iBrightstar-Newest-Projector-replacement-Reverse/dp/B074RFY776/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1511485344&sr=1-1&keywords=ibrightstar+921

Thanks guys - you're all brilliant! Changing the bulb type to a LED for the back-up light seems like a really easy and low cost fix to add more light when backing up. Once again, I was overthinking this and not looking for the obvious. I checked the bulb chart in the manual, shown below, and I'm after a W16W - 16W bulb. Seems like there are lot of options for replacement bulbs, some links below. Any favorites?? https://www.amazon.com/Reverse-Super-Bright-Backup-Lights/dp/B06XKFPCNT This one says on the package 'for off-road use only' https://www.amazon.com/SYLVANIA-ZEVO-White-Contains-Bulbs/dp/B01CKQP830 https://www.amazon.com/Philips-12789LPB2-Bright-Vision-Back-up/dp/B01I3OTWQ2/ref=sr_1_10?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1511469582&sr=1-10&keywords=w16w+led In getting to the bulbs, probably easier to get to the screws if you have a lift gate vs a barn door but I'm optimistic it will be easy.

@boomereps - glad I can help. Even if you don't want to replicate this, at least it gives you a starting point to ponder off of. Yeah, it's very crude. It was a proof of concept. Considering how my first two attempts failed quickly, I really slapped this together just to see if it would work without trying to make it fancy out of the gate. I've made that mistake too many times. I guess I can clean it up a little and replace those shimmed out drywall screws with some bolts/nuts. Because I park on the shoulder of the road, there might just enough camber in the road to make the driver's side door more vulnerable. Perhaps that's your situation in the parking lot that maybe isn't flat. As creatures of habits, we always park in the same parking area when going to stores. Try a different spot next time. Attached is marked up pic with another option shown in red. For me, the height would be a problem. The one reason I like my design is because it doesn't stress the hinges. There's enough give so the doors can flop freely. I guess you can replace the rigid piece of wood with something that telescopes out if storage is an issue. I store mine between sail bags on the hanging rack so it's out of the way. Keep us posted on what you come up with.

Has anyone seen or considered adding some type of exterior lighting to the back of a Gen 2? This wouldn't be a real necessity for me because I don't drive much at night, but recently I was backing down the driveway and had a hard time seeing behind me. The rearview camera optics are probably better than my eyes, but it's still marginal. Probably would be a useful feature to have if you're camping or you're in a remote dark area and need to back up or turn around. It would be cool to have some type of dash or cab mounted switch to toggle the light(s). And then the question of where to mount the lights. Perhaps in that upper dummy panel above the light cluster. Just a rambling thought.

I got four FOB's with the van so I have two FOB's stashed , one inside and one outside, and have not experienced any problems. One advantage of the TC is that you can keep the FOB inside and still lock the doors. Some vehicles don't let you do that to prevent you from locking your FOB inside.

GBL has a very good memory. Maybe those arctic temps in the Green Mountains are good for the mind @boomerweps - I feel your pain. That's the number one annoyance for me in having the rear barn doors. There is very little resistance to hold the doors in place at 90deg or 180deg. Because I go to the beach mostly to windsurf, it's generally windy even where I park on the shoulder of the highway. Aside from the wind being an issue, trucks whizzing by at 55+ a few feet away will sometimes slam the driver side door shut. After being assaulted by the doors a few times soon after I got my van, I had an immediate need to create some type of door holder. For me, it's mainly the driver side door that is affected. My first attempt was propping up a stick wedged against the door in the 90 deg position. Instant failure because the door flops too much. The hinge isn't stiff enough. Second attempt was to put a piece of wood between the doors in the 90deg position. The wood had a notch in each side to grab onto the top of the door frame. Again, failure in a windy area because doors don't flop in unison and the brace just popped out after a while. After more careful analysis of my previous failures, my third attempt was much more successful and I'm still using the prototype after almost 3 years. In fact, I intended to throw this out to the forum in hopes of getting a more refined design, but never got around to it. I appreciate your bringing up the topic so we can share ideas. The door holder below was made of scrap items from the garage, so it's really crude. The u-bolts make use of the locking mechanism of the door basically mimicking what the door latches onto when you close it. You release the u-bolt by opening the door latch on both sides. It's not going to pop out on it's own and it just flows back and forth a little when the wind blows so the hinges aren't stressed. I'm 6-2 so I needed a little extra height in the cross brace. I have to duck only a little bit to avoid it. I've never had the need, but you could probably use this as a holder for a tarp if you need some shade. Let me know if you need more details on the parts I used. Ideally, it would be great if the door had some type of piston holder like hatchback door has to give it some tension to stay open or an arm like a screen door or some type of swing out holder that you can lock the door in place. A door that swings open 270deg like the big vans have might help also since you can easily latch the door to the body of the van.

@ Debspaniel - welcome to the forum and congrats your soon to be delivered TC. I special ordered my 2015 TC and all I can say is that you need extreme patience when it comes to waiting for delivery. What DonS posted is fairly accurate. There is very little visibility on the timing of your delivery with lots of variables that you will never be privy too. I don't know the 2018 production schedule, but below was my timeline for a west coast delivery. I think contacting the Attorney General's office for this situation is a bit heavy. Throw a log on the fire, sip some eggnog and chill. It will happen soon enough. 07/14/14 - ordered placed into Ford's system 09/02/14 - production started for model year 2015 10/17/14 - got VIN number 11/09/14 - dealer told me the van was produced and shipped from Valencia, Spain factory. 01/05/15 - van arrived at the LA area dispatch 01/09/15 - van arrived at the dealer

Late question but did you resolve your AC problem? I have a 2015 XLT LWB Cargo and this part March 2017 I noticed the AC wasn't working at all. Cold area was not coming out of the vents. It had worked pretty well up to that point. Brought the van in for general service and had the dealer check the AC system. The AC had a leak in the refrigerant line, which traced back to the condenser. Dealer put in a new condenser assy P/N - DV6Z-19712-A and recharged the refrigerant P/N - YN-19 Refrigerant R-134A. Works great now. All work done under the b-to-b warranty. I think they had to remove the front bumper to get the condenser out, not an easy job. Doesn't give me a warm feeling that a 2 year old condenser starts leaking, or in this case it would give a warm feeling, but I sure hope I don't have abnormal reliability issues once the warranty runs out. I had a thought early on that if the AC couldn't keep up with keeping the cab area cool, then I would rig up some type of clear plastic curtain to help contain the AC in the cab area and isolate the cargo area for my cargo van. So far the AC seems to work just fine but I'm sure there are hot areas where that might not be the case.

Been meaning to make a post to this thread. What GBL said is all very true. As reported a few pages back, the center console on my cargo van got super hot when the heater was blasting. I first reported this to my service advisor asking if there were any TSB's or SSM's. Maybe it was too early in the Gen 2 life cycle or she just ignored my request. In March 2017, I brought the van in for regular service and asked that they look at this issue again. What they found was the heater vent was missing a duct cover. GBL was spot on. The part used was DT1Z-19D809-A Connector - Duct - CCS. Repair work done under TSB 150094 under the b-to-b warranty. Appreciate GBL's input in diagnosing this problem.

Sorry to hear your problems have grown and are unresolved. Hope you get things resolved.

Just got an emailed Black Friday Promo Code for 20% off in case that helps. See details in the attached PDF. SEAT COVERS.pdf

Thanks Joeman. The dealer is close by but it's still a time sink. I would like them to get it right on my next visit. You may be right about the tech not doing the right update to the BCM and that may explain why the programming tool wouldn't let them make the dark mode change. I'll bring that up if they get stuck. I too would like to be able to hang off the tech's shoulder and see what he's doing but there's a cloak of secrecy when they drive the van off to the service bay.

Nice work. Unique looking TC

I like that. I also raised my rear plate after I got the van by drilling another set of holes in the plate to shift it upwards. Posted that in a thread. Your mounting looks cleaner than mine without the extra holes in the plate. The mounting is definitely not designed for US sized plates. AZ has a good looking plate. Van looks great in that first pic with the nice desert backdrop, except for the fencing part.

Chapter 2 & 3 - The Good And The Bad Chapter 2 - Brought my van into the dealer on Thursday to have SMM 46321 done. Gave the service advisor the printed out PDF with the helpful notes from Mickster. Two steps to perform, update the BCM and set the approach lights to dark mode. Should be easy peasy. I also asked that the headlights be adjusted higher since I've haven't gotten around to doing it myself. The headlight adjustment seems to be an improvement, that's the good news. The dark mode enabling didn't get done, that's the bad news. The tech updated the BCM, I was told, but when you open the slider, the front/rear lights come on and if you leave the door open they stay on for 10 min, same as before. I always leave my driver side slider open in the garage to air out the van plus it's easy to pop in/out if I need something. Cycling the high beam lever on/off still turns the lights off. Chapter 3 - Back to the dealer this morning for another go at it. Again I give my service advisor the printed PDF, this time highlighting in yellow the second part about the programming. After about 15 minutes, the service advisor tells me they are having problems setting the dark mode. They can see the option in the programming, but it won't let the tech basically save the change or move out of that screen. May be either an operator issue or their programming device but probably not the van, but they need to consult with Ford IT to troubleshoot. Chapter 4 to follow. Stand by.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new TC. Very cool looking and unique.

Great project - well done! Thanks for sharing

I went to my local dealer today with the intent of making sure they can perform this SSM under my 3yr/36k bumper-to-bumper warranty and to give them a heads up if they want prepare with any downloads they need to perform to minimize the amount of time they will need my van in service. I gave the service advisor the attached doc below, he read it, and said they will do this under warranty if I'm having a battery issue. He gave me back the piece of paper, said this type of service is done by their 'electrical tech' and they will need the van for a few days, so make an appointment when I'm ready. Two days? Attitude aside, I'm glad they are willing to make this fix under warranty, I hope. Chapter two to follow. Stand by. SSM 46321 Dark mode.pdf

It's a good idea to add seat covers. Like DonS, I added them because of water/sand from a wetsuit at the beach, but I'm always snacking when I'm driving and it's amazing how much food ends up on the seat. They are not 100% waterproof, more like water resistant, which is okay for my purposes. I got my seat covers from Seat Covers Unlimited, link below. http://www.seatcoversunlimited.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8P632Miw1wIVg25-Ch2rvAjIEAAYASAAEgIF2_D_BwE I got the Neo-sport covers in black for the driver and passenger seats (cargo version). I think I chose this outfit because I wanted to get a map pocket on the seat backs and not everyone offered that option. I really like having them on both sides. The pair cost $257, which isn't cheap, but they appear to be well made, have a nice custom fit and have velcro tabs where the airbags are located. Good luck!