windguy

thanks for sharing detailed pics and description. great job in designing and building that. good engineering and maximizing space. looks like it's ready to be road tested. keep us posted on your next addition. windows coverings?

congrats to both of you on your new vans. regarding the upfitter wiring harness, I can't recall the details, but remember looking into that before ordering my van last year and it was just a series of switches on the dashboard, nothing else special. didn't seem worth it to me at the time so I passed. I too am interested in adding an inverter down the road and perhaps a house battery for camping purposes. One reason I'd like to capture that space below the platform, as discussed in other treads, to put these things. I think it would be lot cleaner to have an aux battery with inverter so you keep that isolated from your main starter battery and electronics. keep us posted on what you find out.

I've got 2,500 now and I haven't had the fluid checked since the initial 1,000 mile service. I'm thinking I should bring it in now and then again at 5,000 when I get the next oil change.

do you have a Gen 1 or 2 TC? there a few threads regarding rack options that can answer your question.

nice job on the rack. thanks for providing pics. keep us updated when you get the cross bars installed

welcome to the Forum and congrats on your new van would love to see a pic of your TC. we don't get to see too many dark blue ones yeah, mileage could always be better. I'm averaging 24 even on highways so I have yet to get even close to 29. It's a big box on a car chassis so we can't expect miracles. please document your transmission issues in the thread link below so we can all share and learn from it http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3064-left-front-axle-leaking-transmission-fluid/page-3#entry10908

sorry to hear about your leak. sounds like more than a drip. How many miles do you have? there has been an active thread covering this same subject for Gen 2 TC's. http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3064-left-front-axle-leaking-transmission-fluid/page-3#entry10908

sorry I missed your post. I have a few pics in my gallery on how to remove the panels. Click on the pic below to go there. Advice on how to remove the clips came from other forum members in a previous thread. I've only done the ones on the rear barn doors so far just to explore what's behind them. It's on my list to replace or finish the stock material, which doesn't appear to be very waterproof or durable.

The full size Transits are built in the US. Same plant as the F-150 I believe. The smaller Transit Connects are built in Valencia Spain. I haven't heard otherwise. The Gen 1 TC's were built in Turkey. Gen 2 moved over to Spain. Below is a link to a thread I started on my ordering experience, so that might help http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/2778-2015-van-ordering-experience/ I put down $500 as a deposit, which was refundable. My dealer didn't have any set price for that deposit. and yes, I didn't have to accept the van when it came in, even on a special order. but if you don't like the current rebates on delivery, the dealer isn't going to hold the van for you until new rebates come out. He's going to sell it to the next guy. I wish there was a way to lock in rebates at the time of ordering or even during the time span between ordering to delivery. Not aware of how to do that. The sticker price of the 2015 went up by $200 from the time I ordered until delivery and paying dealer invoice was still based off of that. Too much work involved to try to get that backed out for a small amount of money so I just went with the flow. Good Luck!

Tom - welcome to the forum you're not alone with this request. check out this thread http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3022-disable-perimeter-lights/#entry10868

the incentives from Ford are only valid when you get delivery of a special order. what's offered today is irrelevant unless you buy a van off the lot. I had that same issue when I picked up my ordered van. There was only a $500 incentive available at the time (Jan 2015). I had an extra $750 promo coupon mailed to me from Ford but it had expired on 12/31/14, so it wasn't accepted. Hard to plan this with a special order. The 2015 model year vans had a start build date of September. Then it takes a few months after that to get delivery assuming you're at the top of the list. I ordered mine in July 2014 and got delivery 6 months later. If you want to special order, get on it ASAP. Good luck! PS - there are several buying services available to help you get a good price. I used Costco's, which I'd highly recommend. There are others that are good as well.

thanks for the info. I also got an extra set of key bobs when ordering the van. low cost option. I tried to get a 'dumb' key but none of the local locksmiths can duplicate that specialized key. The local Ford dealer doesn't even have a laser cutter for the keys and they send it out so it's very expensive. (>$100) I was going to stash a FOB in a water proof pouch somewhere under the van but would prefer to have just a key. How did you get your dumb key made? thanks BTW - I added the keypad option so I can easily get into the van but I don't trust it 100%. It's more of a convenience option for me but still would like to stash a key somewhere for backup

thanks for posting

I would think that the entire body is painted before any parts are added so I doubt it's something sprayed on the car unless they coat it to protect it before transport. I have privacy glass so I haven't noticed and discoloration on the windows. sorry.

try the link below. can't vouch for it but it's an option. http://accessories.ford.com/electronics/parking-assist-system/park-assist-rear-4-modules.html I have a backup camera and front/rear parking sensors installed as a factory option. I love them for parking because I do a fair amount of parallel parking off a busy highway at the beach so it helps to shoe horn you into a tight spot. Aside from parking, the sensors are a bit annoying as the get triggered easily by objects in the zone. today I was waiting at a traffic signal and a car pulled up behind me and the sensors started beeping. scared the crap out of me. never heard that before so not sure if that's a common thing. when you're below a certain speed the sensors become active. if you pull out of a driveway with a downward pitch the front sensor will beep. I guess you learn to live with the false beeps. when the sensors beep the LCD for the backup camera shows the zone where they are beeping, so that's a nice feature.

thanks for the update. sounds good. let us know how the install goes and please post some pics Did the Ford dealer say this was compatible with the TC - Gen 2? Parts only shows it compatible for a Transit, not the TC so I'm curious. link below http://accessories.ford.com/exterior/racks-carriers/rack-asy-roof.html

welcome to the Forum. congrats on your new van! no worries about the lights. they will turn off on their own after a few minutes. same for outside lights. I sometimes leave the sliders open for a long time rather than keep opening/shutting and resetting the light sequence. yeah, design wise it would be nice if they faded off after 10 seconds but sometimes the light comes in handy. also would be better if the rear cargo light had a 3 option switch - on/off/door. we discussed this issue in another thread somewhere on the Forum months ago. regarding the map light, that one does have a on/off/door switch so make sure it's on door. I haven't tested to see what happens if it's left in the ON position to see if it will go off after a while.

interesting that the OEM's are rated at 80,000 miles. realistically more like 40,000 then or 1/2. okay on the trailer. nice to have your toys with you. let us know how the new tires work out.

@mustang - great post - I new it was a winner from the title itself well done! glad you found some new tires. I'm very interested in how these perform off pavement on loose dirt. the wheels look very sharp too. it's a nice accent color. the red on the wheels picks up the red on the reflector and tail light. I like! how many miles did you get on the OEM tires? did you replace them cause they were worn or just cause they weren't cutting in for your needs? and that trailer loaded is less than 2,000 pounds? really?

that's pretty good mileage. hope mine improves over time. re speed, yeah, that's the right attitude. you'll still get there without the stress and more beer money

@sean - welcome to the forum. congrats on you new van. do you have a cargo or wagon model? where do you plan to mount the inverter and house battery? do you have specific plans on what you're going to power? what size inverter are you considering

seems like you're getting decent gas mileage. good report. regarding the one touch windows not being smoker friendly, I thought I read somewhere that the American Cancer Society teamed up with Ford designers when they made the TC and figured out how to discourage drivers from smoking while driving, and the windows was one of those deterrents In my cargo van, only the driver's window has the one-touch feature, but it's easy to crack the window a bit if needed.

thanks Mustang. so if Boomerwerps was doing 80+ at times, we should expect to see mpg around 22 or so. I had the cruise control set to 68 (for 65 limit), my comfort zone, so that's not the optimal speed for max mpg.

great trip report. curious, how was your gas mileage? my wife and I just took our own first extended trip, but not even close to that distance. about 180 each way. the TC is a nice touring vehicle. like you said, the views out the front and sides with the big windows makes it really nice. I'm used to the road noise in our cargo model but my wife thought it was a bit noisy. need to work on getting that quieter. Gas mileage didn't improve that much over my usual mixed driving, which is about 24mpg. We averaged maybe 24.5mpg, which seems really low. This is according to the van's calculation for mpg. I expected upper 20's. It's so nice to have a van to pack up for a weekend trip. so much room.