Beta Don

With Optima batteries, you can mount them without using battery boxes. Just strap them down in any position so they can't move and you're good to go - Makes finding places that they will fit much easier! Don

How so? It would seem to be a benefit - Taxes collected by the city don't have to be shared with a county, as is the case with most cities Truthfully, I did not know there was such a thing as an 'independent city' but reading up on the subject, it seems there are many - 38 in Virginia alone plus Carson City, Baltimore and St Louis in the United States, not to mention dozens in other countries. The concept seems to work OK elsewhere, what's so different about St Louis that makes it a burden there and not elsewhere? Many large cities are dying - Due to many thousands of automotive jobs eliminated over the years, Detroit has exactly what you describe, with inner city housing sitting vacant and looted, burned and being torn down, eliminating lots of tax base. What's different about St Louis and how are more CNG vehicles going to help the situation? I would think more EV's would help even more, if reducing smog will somehow increase the tax base Don

You always pay more if the dealer you're doing business with has to go 'find' you what you want - Much better for you to do your own Internet search and find what you want and then deal directly with the dealer who has the vehicle. If he transfers it to another dealer, both he and the local dealer you buy if from get an extra chunk of $$$ . . . . and that comes out of your pocket I'm not sure that a 'volume dealership' would save you any money either - Maybe the opposite If you find a dealer that's selling lots of TC's, he may not be open to giving you a good price because if you don't buy what he has on the lot, several more potential buyers will be coming along right behind you. He's moving them without having to mark them down We bought our white 2014 SWB from a dealer in Georgia who doesn't sell more than one or two even in his best month. Our van sat on his lot for a full year (apparently few people wanted the SWB version and maybe they were not looking for white like you) and after that year, he finally titled it in June of 2015 to use it as a 'loaner' vehicle. Ford pays him money whenever he needs to use a loaner car for customers getting recall work done, so he was getting back some $$$ he had already lost by having it sit around for a year. After a year of use as a loaner, he put it on his used car lot and again, nobody seemed to be interested in it. He had marked the price down twice in the first 3 months and when I bought it, I got another $2500 knocked off it on an all cash deal. I bought it for a few bucks over half the $27K sticker price and it only had 13,000 miles on it and still had 22 months of the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty left on it. We hunted everywhere for exactly what we wanted - White, SWB, XLT (didn't like the black bumpers and side moldings) non-Ford Sync . . . . and really low mileage. I would much rather buy used a year or so old with 10 to 12K on the clock and save about a dollar per mile for every mile it has on it. We were elated to find exactly what we wanted and really happy with the deal we got, even though we drove 300 miles to get it and 300 back home - It was really worth the wait and the trip So - You might find the best deal at a dealer who has a few TC's and can't get rid of them. He'll mark it down more to get it off his inventory list (he's making bank loan payments on everything on the lot) where a dealer who sells a bunch of the may not be in an mood to make you a great deal Don

Obviously, I'm missing something here - Not the first time I'll admit though. Many things which sound like a great idea to others don't make a lick of sense to me Why would anyone willing to spend $12K to $15K to convert an existing vehicle into a camper-van want to start with a 4 to 8 year old vehicle with (one would assume) 75K to 150K miles on it? Why not begin with a newer vehicle with 25K or fewer miles on it? I don't see how you would ever come close to getting hardly any of your $15K back when it comes time to sell if you spent that much modifying an older vehicle - Especially one with a history of maintenance problems like the Gen 1 TC's have. It would seem obvious (to me anyway) that these conversions would be much more practical for newer TC's rather than the old ones. Any plans to offer the service specifically for Gen 2's?? Don

On two previous cars I've had, the OEM shift linkage was so imprecise that my very first mod was to buy a shifter kit and that improved driveability 200%. If it appears you're going to have to buy the OEM shift linkage, you might want to consider getting something better and it might even be cheaper than buying the factory parts - The last kit I bought (for a Mazda) was less than $75 Since we don't have any TC's this side of the pond with manual transmissions, maybe a few of our European owners who have manuals in their TC's could tell you what the factory linkage is like - Is it great, or do you wish there was something better? Is there a shifter kit available for a manual trans TC? What do they cost? Don

The computer just wants the overall circumference of the tire to remain the same as the OE tires. You can install 16 or even 17 inch wheels so long as you adjust the tire size so the overall circumference remains the same For example, if you were to buy a set of 16" wheels, you could swap from your stock 205/65 R15's to a set of 205/60 R16's and your size would be less than 1% off the stock size and they would work just fine If you like any of the Ford OEM alloys, you could buy a good used set, or you could buy any quality aftermarket wheel and everything would work just fine. I recently put a set of 2012 Ford Focus alloys on my TC Don

Thanks! I looked everywhere trying to find a photo of a TC with these wheels and had no luck. I went to the Tire Rack site and looked at pretty much every wheel they sell superimposed on a TC (they have a great program that lets you select your model car and color and puts the wheels right on the picture) but none of their wheel options looked that much like these wheels, so I still wasn't too confident I would like them on the TC I posted these pictures hoping they might help anyone else thinking of installing the same wheels . . . . I wish I could have found a few photos before I bought my wheels, but . . . . they did turn out looking really great on the van and they're still growing on me everyday! Don

So . . . . a $200 factory option costs $500 if you buy it later from the dealer? I suppose this makes sense to someone, somewhere, but really??? Don

NAPA does sell gasket material in sheets. Several times when I needed a gasket that wasn't available, I ended up buying a sheet of the correct thickness material and cut my own gasket using an Xacto knife Don

That's the way I did it - Worked fine For anyone looking for the wiring kit, there are several on eBay. I bought this one for $40 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vehicle-To-Trailer-Wiring-Harness-Connector-118613-For-2014-Ford-Transit-Connect-/142368810068?fits=Model%3ATransit+Connect&hash=item2125d7a454:g:GcgAAOSwX61ZB1hz&vxp=mtr If you really want the Kurt one, it's there too, for $54 with free shipping http://www.ebay.com/itm/CURT-Vehicle-to-Trailer-Wiring-Harness-56218-for-14-16-Ford-Transit-Connect-/361721642730?fits=Model%3ATransit+Connect&hash=item54384a3eea:g:vWkAAOSwgmJX0lt0&vxp=mtr Don

I saw a 4' pair of universal roof rack cross bars at WalMart today for $79.95. They're designed to mount on cars which came with rails but no cross bars. *If* they'll adapt to your Ford rails, they may be the inexpensive solution you're looking for If you Google 'Walmart roof rack cross bars' you'll find they have half a dozen different offerings, all reasonably priced. The round ones were the ones I saw in the store, but there are other ones that look even more promising Don

Is there a child safety lockout on the rear doors like many vehicles have? Don

Yes, they do. The computer actually starts the engine and releases the starter at the correct time. All you're doing when you turn the key is telling the computer you want to start the engine. It should be super easy to add a pushbutton switch if you wanted pushbutton starting, though I don't understand the appeal of that personally Don

You removed the console? Don

Camp crazy said " I'm tall too (over 6') and the extra roof height of the older TC is a plus for that for sure. I also like that I can raise the seat height for a more comfortable ride with long legs and not feel like I'm sitting on the ground, yet no risk of hitting my head on the ceiling." I was just pointing out that with a Gen 2 there's no danger of hitting your head on the ceiling no matter where you have the seat adjusted, nor how tall you are Granted, the cargo area in the Gen 1's is taller and if you're using your van for work, that's a big plus, but for those of us driving passenger vans, it's probably not that important - The Gen 2 roof is low enough to fit in my garage (just barely) and that's much more important to me. Who wants to let a nice vehicle sit out in the weather 24/7?? Don

I'm a big Yokohama fan too - Got them on all my other vehicles and will probably be putting them on my 2014 TC when the time comes too. They do make a couple different tires rated for use on the Gen 2's with 16 inch wheels, but Yokohama doesn't make anything 'legal' for the Gen 1's with 15 inch tires My advice would be to go to the Tire Rack website and enter your vehicle details and check for the tires that are rated for your van and not even think of mounting a lesser tire, just because the size is correct. The rating of the tire is very important. No good tire shop would mount any tire without the proper rating on your van - I'm sure you could probably find one somewhere who would, but if they would be willing to do that, IMO you should be dealing with a more reputable shop! There are only 5 or 6 'legal' tires listed on the Tire Rack website for Gen 1 TC's with 15 inch wheels. The Generals and the Michelins are there along with a Bridgestone and an Sumitomo, but they say the OE Continentals are the 'best seller' for your van - I would stick with one of those listed there for sure Don

We didn't even look at a Gen 1 when we were shopping. A) I wanted the 6 speed auto with it's near 30 mpg and B) The USA Gen1's are famous for needing new front wheel bearings every 40 or 50K and they're not cheap to replace I don't understand the 'concern' with the roof height in the Gen 2's - I'm 6' and even with the power seat elevated as far as it can go, I could still wear a cowboy hat with no danger of it ever hitting the ceiling in my 2014 Don

Any details, pictures or advice on your install would be most welcome! I'm considering mounting some stainless studs in the holes in the roof which I would use to mount removable crossbars on when I need to haul something large on the roof (lumber, kayaks etc) and then removing the crossbars when not needed, leaving just the studs sticking up a couple inches or so. Did you have any trouble getting under the headliner to install the nuts on the interior? What did you use to waterproof the installation? Backing washers on the top and bottom of the roof? Details, details! Thanks! Don

Most any marine fire extinguisher will come with it's own bracket. If you have a West Marine store near you, they'll have an assortment to choose from Don

Been wanting to upgrade from my steel wheels to something nicer looking since the day after we bought the van. Preferred to stay with OEM Ford alloys, but if you want to stay with 16" tires, there are only 3 or 4 wheels to choose from. I didn't especially care for the look of the 5 spoke versions, nor those with 5 'twin' spokes so that narrows things down even more. Saw these on a car a couple months back and then began looking for a set I could afford. Not sure what model Focus they're from, but I think they were only found on 2012's. Eventually, this near perfect set showed up on eBay and the seller accepted my offer of $350 for them. They're 16 X 7 with a 50mm offset. Pretty happy with how it looks now One before and three after pictures. Had less than 20K on my tires, so I just had them transferred to the new wheels. They came with the OEM TPMS valve stems already in them. Just took a minute or two and one screw to transfer my sensors into the wheels. The tire guy was nice enough to keep track of which wheel went where, so no 'relearning' was necessary Don

Just put a set of alloys on my TC and I have a set of steel wheels that I'll never use again - No need for snow tires down here. They're in great shape and I'll take $50 for the set of 4 . . . . but you'll have to come pick them up in Biloxi MS. I don't want to ship them Don

Unless they changed something for 2017, the stock wheel size is 16 X 7 Don

"Dealer sent me to Ford Fleet, Ford Fleet referred me to the dealer.."This mirrors my experience at both Ford dealerships closest to my home - It seems none of them know much about TC's and they have little interest in learning. It's all written in their computerized books, but they're not going to read it themselves to help out a customer - Instead, they want to sell you the software so you can read it yourself! I bought a rear cargo cover for $135 and it arrived broken - I wasn't the first customer to receive this broken part . . . . the box had been opened and retaped closed several times. My wonderful dealer offered to order me another and when I refused because it was clearly a piece of junk and not worth half the $135 I paid, he charged me a 20% 'restocking fee' to send the broken part back. I read on-line about another buyer who received it later (or a broken one just like it) so I guess it did get 'restocked'. Needless to say, that's the last time I'll ever go there for anything. The $27 he ripped me for was more important to him than my repeat business. My TC needs recalls done and regular maintenance, but I'll have to go elsewhere. Don't even ask me about the next Ford dealer I went to These people evidently don't care at all if you ever buy another Ford Don

How do caliper covers do anything to keep your wheels clean? Seems like there would be just as much brake pad dust flying around as if you just painted the covers?? Don

Welcome to the forum! Nice looking rig! I love those wheels . . . . but I could never live with 45 series tires on mine - It already rides rougher than I care for I just ordered me a set of 16" Ford Focus 10 spoke alloys off eBay for $350. They'll be here Tuesday and once I figure out what color I want to paint them, I'll just transfer my OEM tires and TPMS sensors over to the new wheels On my passenger version XLT, the door handles and side panels are white also - Only the mirrors are black Don