windguy

@booner - thanks for sharing your experiences. please keep us posted on any mods you make in the future.

I guess that's good news. Would it be a good idea to remove air from each tire, one at a time, to verify the TPMS is triggered and then verify it goes away after the air is set to spec? just a thought.

10 passenger medium roof implies you're talking about a full size Transit van and not a Transit Connect? Are you asking about the code for the keypad to unlock the doors?

@reppik - thanks for the update. sounds like a nightmare. similar to poster jimmyboost's experience - see post #19. I guess everyone once in a while you get a problematic transmission. That can be expected but the lack of attention from Ford is inexcusable. please keep us posted on what happens.

sorry to hear about your van and can't help you with that issue. Curious, how many months have you owned your van? cause 85,000 is an amazing amount of miles in a short period of time. you must be getting the oil changed once a month. any issues with the van so far, transmission? thanks

thanks for posting your story. sorry to hear about that. sounds like a real pain in the butt. not sure why it took so long to get your seal leak fixed. you're in SoCa, so parts are a day away and the repair can be done in a few hours. any idea why the transmission blew? could too much or too little AT fluid after your last service be the cause? at least you're still within the 5 year/60,000 mile warranty but I guess your confidence isn't very high right now. curious, do you carry a heavy load in the van? (assuming it's a cargo van and not the wagon) 41,000 miles is a lot of usage in a short period of time. you've spent a lot of time behind the wheel of this van. good luck sorting this out. please keep us posted

thanks for the feedback. I'd be more concerned about the issue of mounting the vent on the ribbed uneven surface of the roof and that leaking than the vent itself. This issue was added to the product Q&A since I last looked in regard to mounting it on the roof of an NV200. http://www.etrailer.com/question-140729.html the bottom line is that if you need ventilation, you need to do something and it's a question of finding the best solution, which may not be optimal.

thanks for posting. check out their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/reconcampers looks like the are doing NV200 conversions with some slick camping amenities.

all good points. sounds like you'd be leaning towards a wagon model for extra seating. maybe someone with a liftgate on a wagon can measure the clearance at the rear door opening, but with Don's wagon measurements of 45" in the cargo area, it probably will be same at the opening area as the cargo van without the middle block, so about 45" all around. the cargo van picks up a few inches inside without the headliner. I hope you can get into a TC. It's been good to me so far, almost a year now. good luck!

not sure where to post this topic but it pertains to Gen 2 TC's. Curious, has anyone else experienced a blind spot with the A-pillar area of the van? This happens to me on both driver and passenger side. If I'm at a stop sign I've got to move around a bit to make sure the A-pillar isn't blocking a pedestrian or biker. It seems like the a-pillar isn't too bad but for some reason it creates a blind spot for me. I'm sitting tall at 6-2. I drive hilly twisty canyon roads primarily and there are times when I flat out can't see an oncoming car. These are narrow roads so you need to scoot over and hug the right side when there's oncoming traffic. Sometimes it scares the bejesus out of me when I finally see the oncoming car. spooky!

giving life to an old thread. I was in handyman mode last weekend at my mother in laws. A twice a year ritual. Love the TC for hauling needed tools and then some. Had the van parking in her garage and I typically leave the driver's slider door open all the time. Doing so, it would be too dark inside the van to see anything. I'd have to open the driver's door to get the cargo light to cycle on. If the roots of this van are for commercial use, then why such a lame lighting system? I had plans to add a three-way switch somewhere in the rear and move the cargo light to the center back for more even light. I will also try to add a three-way switch near the slider door opening and add more than one light.

that's a very interesting story. you would think with the high cost of spare parts they would be checking employees leaving the plant more carefully. maybe they do and this guy got around the system. Some of my customer's manufacturing plants use airport style x-ray sensors going out the door. wonder how this dude smuggled the parts out. Mustang better edit his post quickly before he gets a knock on the door

@Ccrew - thanks for taking pics and posting. nice job with the install. that's one beefy looking hitch you have but hold off on the tractor pulling contests. from the top view, it seems to stick out a little bit, but not as much as the OEM hitch. maybe a little more than the Curt hitch. seems like all receivers should be 2" to standardize. not familiar enough with them to know why they aren't. re the paint, you're forgiven, funny about keeping the car looking good. never owned a dark colored car before. I just washed my van last week before a road trip. First time since March and that was only a rinse then so really first time washing. I like when you wash a new car the first few times because you get a good feel for the lines of the vehicle. sort of a bonding thing. kind of side tracking, but I bought this step platform at Harbor Freight for $20 on sale and that made reaching the roof much easier. more surface area than a short step ladder. http://www.harborfreight.com/step-stool-working-platform-66911.html happy trailoring!

@spooner - the biggest complainers about the lower roof height of the Gen 2 TC vs the Gen 1 are motor bike users. it's understandable. The Gen 1 was the perfect height for that. Gen2, much more limited. I had a requirement to be able to park my van in the garage and the Gen 1 was too tall, so my preference was for a lower roof. it's ideal for my use. If you used the van for an occasional carry for motor bikes, I can see going through gyrations to get it squeezed in but if you did it on a more regular basis I'm not sure it's a good solution unless you had other requirements like garaging the van. A full size Transit with the lowest roof line would seem more ideal. It would give you more ground clearance too if you needed to drive to off road starting points. not sure if you're doing road or dirt bikes. is trailering the bike a viable option?

those look interesting. understand about not wanting to have it sit too high up for this low roof van. did you check out the ones I had a link to on Post #9 on page 1? http://www.etrailer....e/VP-543SP.html

thanks for posting. I believe it. I see a lot of TC-Gen 2 on the road now here in SoCa. not as many as the Gen 1's but catching up. maybe 1/2 are commercial use. I see a lot of the Nissan Van too as a commercial van. Still think those vans aren't very good looking. Haven't see any Dodge Promaster City vans around. I should go to the local Dodge dealer and scope that out. Curious. the amount of full size Transits on the road has jumped too. Seeing more of the lower roof models lately. U-Haul is using them as a rental van. Appearance wise they are easier to spot compared to the higher roof model that is more similar to a Sprinter at a glance.

@ccrew - thanks for posting. looks good. I'd like to see how the hitch looks installed when you get a chance. the picture of the Reese hitch Amazon looks very similar to the Curt hitch. The factory trailer hitch for a Gen 2 is a Class I with a 2" receiver. 2,000 lb towing capacity and 200 lb tongue weight. Even though your hitch is rated as a Class III I'm assuming you'd have to stay within the limits of a Class I hitch towing.

which roof vents are you considering for the TC?

measurements for the cargo van are similar to Don's wagon ones the roof height to floor is about 48" - no insulation and a 1/2" plywood sitting on the cargo mat. the opening at the rear barn doors is smaller - it's 44.25" on the sides and 45" more towards the center. with barn doors there is a block hanging from the roof in the center for the door latch mechanism that reduces the height to 43.75". not sure how that compares to having a liftgate but could be an obstacle in loading something tall. good luck!

great pic. your van looks very nice when it's not all covered with road salt. I like the black stealthy look.

I added a hitch cover today to hopefully add a slight layer of protection. Reese 2" Hitch Box Cover #74514 - $12.99 at Pep Boys. Not as good as having the hitch flush to the bumper but better than bare metal, I'm hoping. I mounted the cover upside down cause I think it looks a bit better that way. It's supposed to flop down when removed and held by its tether. On the other side there is a small rubber flap to hold the connector, which is mounted elsewhere. I guess I can trim that piece off and then rotate it.

you might be on to something. it's not a big difference so hopefully 2016 vans will be getting good gas mileage.

that's funny

Ford now has the 2016 Model info on their site. Check it out. http://www.ford.com/trucks/transitconnect/ One thing that stuck out in the gas mileage specs - went down a point for the 2.5L engine. wonder why that happened? VAN WAGON WAS 21/29 - 24 combined 20/28 - 23 combined NOW 20/28 - 23 combined 19/27 - 22 combined I also ran my cargo van config through to see if the options and pricing changed. Noticed the paint color - Black is missing. Only shows: frozen white, dark blue, race red and silver Keypad option is back as an orderable item now along with a few other accessories Pricing wise, the base price went up $345 but the options stayed the same.