jrm223

I had a wheel bearing replaced on the same corner, thinking that it was the cause of the noise I was hearing. But, the noise continued after the new wheel bearing and I eventually realized that my front right strut is blown - I still need to get it replaced, haha. Bounce the front driver corner to see how stiff it is, then bounce the passenger corner to see if it's weak & mushy. I can barely move the front driver corner up & down when I push down on it, but the passenger side bounces real easy by pushing down on the fender/hood area.

All I did was buy a cruise control steering wheel, take off the base model steering wheel and install the new one. Then I turned on the Adaptive Speed Control and Cruise Control options via Forscan. All the needed plugs were already present inside when you get the airbag off.

I've looked at ETIS a couple times after successfully getting my approach lights disabled (dark mode), and it still shows the original build number for my BCM. It seems to me like ETIS is not a reliable way to verify that BCM has been updated. If you have the scan tool and software, give it a shot yourself before wasting more time with dealers, IMO. Disable the setting (called Approach Lights in FORScan) and save the changes, etc, then verify that the lights stay off. If they don't, change the setting back to enabled and bring it to the next dealer - but, if the BCM actually is updated, it should work for you.

The tall perspective of Google camera makes this street & gas station ramps look shallower than they actually are - but, my van, which is 1/2" taller than stock, scrapes on all three of these points if I don't drive up at an angle. Where I used to live, I'd have to go directly across this picture from right to left (that left street has a matching end off the right side of pic) and the van would scrape in the front every time. The only time I've had a problem with speed bumps was when I had a drop-hitch in my aftermarket receiver (until I had time to flip it to a raised hitch). But, my typical total load in the van, including myself, is maybe around 300-350 lbs and the limit is something like 1200lbs. I've also taken this van down "roads" that the city-boy bro-dozer trucks with 8" lift, 24" rims and tiny 37" tires (tiny for that much lift) would never even dream of going down, haha.

Forscan showed me the option with my original 2015 BCM programming, but changing the setting didn't do anything. I haven't been back in the programming since I had the dealer shut them off for me, I ought to try it some time to see if I can successfully turn the option on and then back off... Maybe I'll give the global windows another try, too lol. They didn't work for me with the original BCM programming. Have you tried using Forscan to play with it yourself? Where in the Southern plains are you? I'm about an hour south of Wichita Falls, Texas and have used Forscan to turn on cruise control after swapping in a CC steering wheel in my XL van.

It sounds to me like you're planning a camper-van setup? Offhand, I can tell you the LWB van is around 7ft from the back doors to the front seats at floor level, so I'd give a rough guess of 4.5-5ft to the back edge of the folded second row seat. I have a cargo van instead of passenger wagon, so I can't measure the exact setup you're asking about, but a LWB is a LWB either way. ETA: That applies to TC2 (2014+) vans because mine is a 2015.

My town has only two paved roads, everything else is gravel - so, needless to say, my wash routine is very lazy, haha. I pretty much just rinse off the dust about 6-8 times a year (usually no soap, even, except maybe 3-4 times a year), not counting any rain that might happen to occasionally rinse the van a bit. I could (and have) fully clean it in my yard, go back out an hour later and it's dusty again just because somebody drove by. Talk about just spinning your wheels, going nowhere fast! lol. But, I wouldn't trade a minute of the country to be back in the stupid big city.

I can confirm that my van does not have any airbags behind the front seats and there's no evidence of electrical plugs for air bags, either.

Is that for the big Transit service manual? Or perhaps the TC1 instead of TC2? This is some screenshots from the 2014 2nd-gen TC wiring diagram and shows the AAT right at the front bumper. I attached the PDF itself, for anyone interested you'll find this wiring diagram on page 14 of the PDF. 2014_Transit_Connect_v1-0.pdf

I haven't seen what the base of the second row seats really looks like, but I'm wondering if these points (red box) might be for seat mounting? Possibly where they latch onto in the upright position, since I know they can fold "flat". I have a toolbox/chest in my "foot" well now because I took out the false floor, so I can't go out to get fresh pics for mounting points inside there.

They're pretty decent, and of course in mud, too. I've gotten the van stuck in my own damned yard many times because it gets swampy at times and the General's are a lot better at self-extraction than the OEM Conti's ever were.

Well, I don't even have the caps anymore, I put them on an '89 Bronco II that I ended up getting rid of a couple months back haha. Ranger/B2 is the same bolt pattern as Crown Vic, though.

I went a little different route, myself... Haha! I had previously tried using the 2002 Ford Ranger style center caps, but for the life of me, I couldn't find the shouldered lug nuts that fit our thread pattern. The shouldered (or some may call it a 'lip'?) lug nuts were needed for the center caps to stay on. That looks pretty slick, though.

That'd be even easier for those of us with cargo vans, lol. I don't have the factory vinyl floor in it anymore, so I'd have to make a nicer access door or cover if I were ever to go in through the top. But right now, I still have extended warranty coverage, so I wouldn't have to worry about it anyway. Which reminds me, I still need to bring the van in for the blown front right strut, haha. When I had the door latch recall & perimeter lights disable, they had my van for 4 days and no loaner - a waiting list! So I was having to catch rides all over... Gotta check with a buddy about borrowing his spare Exploder when I schedule the van to go in, just in case.

I have Forscan and Focccus already, both are free. I'll have to look into those FF2 and ELMconfig programs to see what other features they might offer. I still need to find a way to change tire size to correct for my 215/65's and I don't think any programmers are made for our vans like more popular vehicles. The two programs I have only have a few options for tire size, which are various factory options. My cheap ELM327 device has the MS-CAN/HS-CAN switch like that last one, I was surprised to not see a switch on yours (Fifty150). Maybe the unit you have has firmware programming that automatically switches between the two CAN-bus types, if not you'll be limited on what parts of the computer you can access.

$78 at Rockauto for Motorcraft, not exactly astronomically priced. Of course, if the pump went out with a full tank, that'd be a PITA to drop it. And as I said for myself, it certainly wasn't on purpose - although it's at least good information to know. Don't have to get super stressed out about immediately finding a gas station if the display manages to get down to 1 or even 0 miles. But I usually fill up by 1/8th or sometimes even 1/4 tank.

On my 2015, I ended up running it out once last spring coming home from the bar, not on purpose. The display read 0 miles for at least 40 miles and I was doing 70-75 MPH (this is rural Texas, haha). It was 1am and towns are fairly far apart around here. I ended up running out just two blocks from home, so I walked to get my gas can which only had about half-gallon left and then I filled up first thing in the morning before going anywhere else. For reference, my fuel light usually turns on at 38 miles, but sometimes as high as 42-43 miles left. I've never seen it come on at 50, though.

I can tell you personally that Forscan can turn on (activate) cruise control in a TC2 that was not equipped with it from the factory. I swapped my steering wheel, used Forscan to enable "Cruise Control" AND "Adaptive Speed Control" - I found out the ASC the hard way when CC wouldn't work when I hit the buttons, lol. I've also tried enabling global open/close on the windows, but it didn't work for me... I'd love to correct my tire size, but the 5 or 6 options in the computer are all too small for the size tires that I'm running (215/65R16 General Grabber AT2). Lenovo ThinkPad with Windows 10, and I used this OBDII wired USB converter from Amazon - I'm a computer tech and I prefer wired instead of wireless, whenever possible, except for keyboard/mouse lol. I've used my laptop & converter for my 2015 TC2 and my e-1999 & 2000 F350's with 7.3L ZF6.

The whole "import as a wagon and strip it to a van" ended with the 1st gen TC, the 2nd gen was imported as a van from the get-go because of Ford getting themselves in trouble over the strip-a-wagon method. Automotive News article "Ford Gets a Scolding On Chicken Tax Maneuver" from 2013.

For reference, General Grabber AT2 are the exact same tread pattern for a cheaper $$. Mine have over 20K miles now and no real noticeable wear to speak of, although I don't havea tread depth gauge. Unlike that white TC1, I didn't do any trimming on my 2015 TC2 because I didn't see anything that looks close to rubbing. My thread about switching to GG AT2 tires

The pedals in RHD are still from left to right: Clutch (for manual) - Brake - Accelerator, just like in the US. So it'd be the right foot, but on the clutch or footrest if an auto.

I transported 10 or 11 sheets of 1/2" R-Max insulation a few weeks ago, looks like I didn't take any pics, though. I used a strap at each end to hold it up against the roof and I had about a finger-thickness of space above my head - but, I lean way back compared to most people (back/spine pain). Luckily, I only had to bring them like 5 miles because doing the whole 85 mile drive home wouldn't have been fun. The rest of the trip was on a trailer, instead. Straps are your friend, even in a van! Especially in a van, because that cargo will fly forward in an accident and you don't have much of anything protecting you from the cargo...

As I already said, I upsized to 235/65R16 General AT2 tires - they're all-terrain truck style tires & 1" diameter taller than stock, which means they're slightly more difficult to spin than smaller stock tires. And they still break traction, even on dry pavement, with me driving like an old man. So it sounds like you'll need "sticky" high-performance sports car tires for your wife to drive the van, Mustang GT-esque tires on a cargo van, haha.

That's not a mod, it's a factory seat (maybe an option?) in Europe. Fifty150, click on the link right above the pic I posted, there's a bunch of pictures showing how the seats operate, with a small storage spot under the middle seat. Here's a compilation of a few of the pics.

Here's a picture I found of a 2014 online with the three-seater, but it's RHD instead of LHD. You'd need to find & import a 2-passenger seat from a LHD in Europe. Here's a link for more pictures, but the price shown is just the RHD seat covers only, lol. See here for more pics, lift-up seats, storage, etc.