windguy

those are pretty nice looking covers. hope the ones I ordered look as good.

thanks for your input guys. seems like a faulty design and I wonder what the long terms affects would be on components in that area, aside from the safety issue. I tried running the heater with the temp setting as you say, right when it turns read and it still got pretty hot, but as you say not as hot if it was set on the full heat setting. I plan to show this to the local Ford dealer at some point cause I think it needs to be corrected in some way. I have another sort of related thing, have you noticed that if you run your van for a while and then park with the engine off, when you restart the engine the temp gauge is almost right back at the same temp as a warmed up engine. I've gone down the beach and parked in cooler weather for 2-3 hours and this happens. Very strange. The radiator doesn't seem to cool off very quickly. Anyone else experience this?

that's a bummer. what's behind the panel when you removed it? is there a plastic covering like in my pic of the rear door panels? Is it the stiffer panel making the noise or the stiffer panel changing the resonance of the door noise. keep us posted on how you mitigate the noise.

sounds like a nice solution. can you share a pic of your handiwork?

thanks for the input. I should check those out. as I said earlier, wonder why Ford didn't make these panels out of black plastic to match the black side panels. using masonite is pretty cheesy.

thanks. now that I have my van I can see that getting to the forward mounting point would be hard because of the head liner in the cab area. the remaining mounting points are all visible since there is no head liner. I would imagine that the wagon model uses this forward mounting point for the roof rail so not sure why that would be an issue for the van model. They both should have the same air bag setup.

@GBL - thanks for the pics. that's a very nice looking hitch. the spare tire location doesn't leave much room for a hitch but this Curt model fit nicely without sticking out as much as the OEM one. Your poor TC if covered in winter road rash.

@acadian - glad I could help. If you aren't in a big rush, you can wait until I get my seat covers in to see how well they fit or just go for it. As I said, I added the seat back map pockets ($5 per seat) and the headrest cover ($14.50 per seat). For color I ordered the Black Outer/Black Center. Not very adventurous but figured that would look best with the dark gray/black interior. Also, I got the Tailor Made version of the seat cover ($218.00 for the pair). $257.00 total with free shipping and no tax.

@GBL - thanks for the input. The cargo van doesn't have ducts beyond the dash area so nothing going below the seats. there has to be a pretty significant heat source in this console area below the shifter to produce the types of temps I'm seeing. Beyond what you would feel coming out of a normal air vent.

nice. can you take a few pics to show how it mounts?

did you test out the rear heater? wagon owners have been posting lots of complaints about lack of heat for the rear passengers and location of vents blowing cold air.

ha ha. you haven't been keeping up with the forum. I have made a few posts on specific subjects but haven't added to my original "ordering experience" thread to give my pros and cons and overall views. That will come at some point soon, hopefully. custom seat covers are on order through Seat Covers Unlimited out of Mesa, AZ. Should get them in a week or two. I chose this company because they sell direct, have the material I wanted - neosport (neoprene type waterproof/water resistant), they have a custom pattern for the Gen 2 TC and they offer an optional seat back map pocket, which I had on my Volvo wagon and really liked. The TC can always use more storage areas. Will provide more info on the seat covers after I get them installed. Also ordered and received a window shade. Went with the roll up type from Covercraft, Model #UR11356, Called a Flex Shade. Got it from an auto accessory website called Covers Direct Corp in South Carolina, who had the best pricing. $35 shipped with a storage bag. The shade fits pretty nice around the perimeter of the window. There's a bit more gap around the rear view mirror area than I think is necessary, perhaps around 2-3", but it it's pretty nice. The roll up part is a little funky because of the shade material but that may improve over time. I'm hoping a roll up will last longer than the folding type, which seem to break at the folds over time. We'll see how that goes. Attached are a few pics of the shade.

@brouillette420 - link below for a thread that discusses roof racks options for Gen 2 http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/2406-roof-attachment-points-on-2014-transit-connect/ below is a thread for Gen 1 but might have some sources that have Gen 2 options http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/608-roofracks/ I am interested in adding either a rack or basket to my 2015 TC Van so please share what you end up doing. thanks INLAND - Truck and Van Equipment has a few rack options - more industrial than your normal Thule or Yakama style racks. https://www.inlad.com/ford-transit-connect-2014-and-newer-1#facets=&options=a%3A13%3A{s%3A8%3A%22listType%22%3Bs%3A23%3A%22Joined%20Faceted%20Products%22%3Bs%3A11%3A%22enableCache%22%3Bb%3A0%3Bs%3A5%3A%22limit%22%3Bi%3A24%3Bs%3A6%3A%22offset%22%3Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A10%3A%22searchTerm%22%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3Bs%3A6%3A%22pageID%22%3Bs%3A4%3A%221078%22%3Bs%3A10%3A%22pageOffset%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A13%3A%22resultsPerRow%22%3Bi%3A3%3Bs%3A14%3A%22resultsPerPage%22%3Bs%3A2%3A%2212%22%3Bs%3A9%3A%22className%22%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3Bs%3A13%3A%22useBaseFacets%22%3Bb%3A0%3Bs%3A10%3A%22resultsSQL%22%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3Bs%3A15%3A%22resultCountsSQL%22%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3B}&do=viewMore

@Slekjr - I started a thread discussing the cargo mat and branched into what is under the mat. see the link. http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3154-cargo-mat-for-van-models/ I had the idea of capturing the area where the platform is to use for storage. In my exploration (see pics), my assessment is that you would have to remove the black side panels in the back and the step molding in order to remove the cargo mat and then expose the platform. Not sure how the platform is bolted down to the floor. There is carpeting all the way back to the step up. I verified that by peering through some holes. I decided to hold off on going any further with this but would love to have someone else do so to answer all the unknowns. The step molding is supported by the platform so if it's removed not sure how you would modify that. Perhaps the wagon model uses different step molding. I would check a wagon version at a dealer as part of your exploration. Take pics and make measurements to better understand the differences and how to convert yours. If you decide to do this, please take notes and pics along the way to share with us. Good luck!

Megazone - welcome to TC Forum. I fully feel your frustration. I went through it as well but I never had the expectation that my dealer was going to know anything about the delivery process. Most sales reps are used to selling what they have on the lot. The TC coming from Spain with a very long wait time and poor visibility is a different process for them. I don't think you'll find another dealer that has better intel on this. I'm not aware of how Ford does their allocation per dealer and if that has any affect on getting delivery. I ordered mine on July 10th 2014 after the order window closed for 2014 so I was on the waiting list for 2015. The vans went into production beginning of September and I got delivery January 10th, so that's about 6 months after ordering and 4 months after production started. Depending on where you live in the US can add more time. I'm on the west coast so that probably added another two weeks since the TC lands in Maryland for processing. Once the van has gone into production, a VIN is created. You can't change your order at this point. I got my VIN in October and the van was produced end of October. So it takes about 2 1/2 months from when it's produced till you get delivery. I would think that at this point you should at least have a VIN and a production date. Perhaps the dealer can check on that part. I wouldn't cancel the order at this point unless you found another one you prefer. It's my understanding that you don't have to accept delivery and you can get your deposit back at any point so there's no risk on your side. BTW - it was worth the wait for me. My only fear is that if this van gets stolen or totaled, I'm not sure I could wait another 6 months for a replacement. That would be a bummer. Good luck!

@103west43rd - thanks for checking into that. I have the XLT trim level but that doesn't get you and better looking panels. you'd think it would since you're paying extra for a more stylish look. grey panels may look nice. I'd like to see what they look like. @boomerweps - for Gen 2, there are no door pocket solutions available for the rear barn doors that I'm aware of. The van models have masonite panels on the sliders and rear barn doors. Not sure what the liftgate has. Does your wagon have rear barn doors and if they do, what type of panels are on them? Perhaps you can take a pic to show us what they look like. thanks

drilled another set of holes in the rear license plate, about 1-1/4" lower and remounted the plate higher so that it now sits inside the recessed area around the plate. left about a 3/16" gap between the top of the plate and the black plastic above it. also added a strip of Black High-Density Rubber Foam Weatherstrip Tape to the top edge of the plate so the metal doesn't touch the paint. I think it looks better and the extra set of holes in the plate don't seem to be an issue. see the BEFORE and AFTER pics below. BEFORE AFTER

did some exploration of the rear door panels. I removed all four panels. took a pic of the fastener. removing them is exactly as Mustang said. very easy to remove and put back as far as plastic fasteners go. three of the four panels had a protective plastic cover on it held by adhesive. interesting that one didn't. see attached pics. the only viable opening that you can make a pocket out of is the driver's side upper one. not sure if it's better to create some type of pocket or attach something externally, which was my wife's suggestion. in terms of finishing these 1/8" masonite panels, which I think is a requirement, I'm more in favor of spray painting them either black or silver. wonder why Ford didn't make these panels out of black plastic to match the black side panels. using masonite is pretty cheesy. .

the factory trailer hitch for a Gen 2 is a Class I receiver. see the attached pic of the factory label that's on the side of the hitch. I scraped the back of calf on this thing again yesterday. I've got to pad this thing somehow.