Beta Don

I have a 2014 SWB wagon (same body I think?) and with the passenger seat BACK as far as possible, there's no way you have 68". With the passenger seat FORWARD as far as possible and the seat back forward too, I think you'll get it in there . . . . if you're not planning on carrying passenger Don

Yup - Speed kills mileage, more than any other single thing! Stopping and then getting going again would be a close second Most any electric car gets much better around town mileage than on the freeway, many times TWICE as much, whereas almost every gas powered vehicle gets better freeway mileage than around town. This doesn't mean they're super efficient at higher speeds, it's just that they're absolutely terrible in stop and go driving. An electric car uses zero energy when it's not moving and using regenerative braking to slow down gives back about 80% of the energy it took to get the car up to speed, where ICE vehicles get back nothing when they slow down. When your foot is on the brake, you're effectively burning the gas it will take you to get back up to speed again - That's why steady speeds get you much better mileage . . . . you only accelerate up to speed once Our little Mitsubishi EV's will do close to 100 miles on a 16 Kw charge around town at 25 mph, or 75 miles on roads where we do 40 or 45 mph, or only 50 miles at freeway speeds - The big difference? The air you're pushing out of the way at higher speeds really uses up energy, and the faster you go, the worse it gets. The difference in the energy required to go only 5 or 10 mph faster is really an eye opener - It can cost you as much as 10 to 15% more An electricity to gasoline comparison. A 25 mpg ICE burning $2.50 per gallon gasoline uses 10 cents per mile in fuel - Our EV using 11 cents per kilowatt hour juice uses about 2.5 cents per mile in energy . . . . and not too many gas powered vehicles can give you 25 mpg around town I'm preaching to the choir I'm sure . . . . . but I find most folks really don't understand how efficient EV's are in slow speed, stop and go driving and that's where many of us spend much of our time behind the wheel Don

We just did a 1500 mile round trip to Tampa and back. Just the wife and I aboard, plus about 600 pounds of cargo. I filled it to the brim ('til I had gas running on the ground) before we left and the next fill at 395 miles, again to the brim. It took 13.65 gallons for an average of 28.94 MPG. This was roughly 125 freeway miles at 70 mph, 200 miles of secondary roads at 45 to 60 mph and the remainder stop and go through a dozen small towns, all with very little elevation change - Along the Gulf of Mexico at roughly sea level plus a hundred feet or so. I use the cruise control 90% of the time, even through towns at 30 or 35 mph I misspoke earlier - My car computer reads 28.3 MPG (not 28.6) and that's accumulated over 19,000 miles now, not 15,000. We have the 2.5 liter NA engine with the 6 speed. I'm pretty sure I could get better than 30 MPG if I ran it 55 or 60 without any stop and go through towns One thing you do learn driving electric cars is . . . . what hurts your range (mileage) and what helps it. When you apply that knowledge to an ICE powered vehicle, you do get much better mileage. I guess the main point to recognize is that applying the brakes is basically turning gasoline into friction and heat, so leaving a little more space between you and the guy in front of you so you can kick off the cruise and coast when his brake lights come on saves you a whole lotta gas in the long run Don

Every automotive hydraulic brake hard line I've ever seen is 'double flared' - The tube is folded in on itself before it's flared out - Very difficult for an amateur to do . . . . I tried it a couple times in my youth when $$$ was in much shorter supply than time and never did get one which didn't leak If I were you, I would either order a new, pre-bent to fit hardline from Ford, *or* I would go to someplace like NAPA and buy a straight length of tubing with the flares and nuts already on it and carefully bend it to fit your car. You'll have better luck than trying to put a leak-proof flare your old line Don

Hopefully your 3 year, 36,000 warranty starts right now - It should . . . . unless the dealer 'put it in service' at some earlier date so that he could then sell it as a used vehicle Don

That same display in ours reads 28.6 mpg since new about 15,000 miles ago. Mostly highway miles though - We have electric cars we drive for city use Don

I bought the Curt hitch also - Think I paid $125 with free shipping. A very easy install. I'v installed bolt on hitches on my last several cars and the Curt hitch for the TC was the easiest to install by far I agree you should buy the aftermarket module for the trailer wiring. You unplug the main connector at each tail light and the module plugs in there. You do need a +12 volt wire (which actually powers the trailer lights) and a ground wire. That's it! Also a fairly DIY install. Routing the wires which requires removing some interior plastic is the hardest part Don

"Not every tradesman works with sheetrock & plywood. Plenty of electricians, plumbers, glaziers....have never hung a wall, patched a roof, or installed flooring. Obviously But many (most) of those still have need of ladders, lengths of pipe, or other unusual items which are easier to carry around on a roof rack than inside their vans . . . . and then, if one day they did happen to need a sheet of plywood, well that could go on the rack as well Don

I would think if you're in a construction trade, you would probably need a roof rack for several things and carrying 4 x 8 sheets would be one of them Don

For North America, Wikipedia only mentions the PowerShift with the 1.5L turbo . . . . which I never heard of us having here. They do specify the F6-35 for the 2.5 and the 1.6 Don

I *wish* we had the dual clutch auto like they put in the trucks though - That is one neat automatic/manual transmission!! Don

Limited slip in FWD cars is actually pretty rare. The recently came out with an electronic LSD that they're using in FWD cars now, but the old conventional clutch type LSD doesn't work well in FWD cars Don

Usually it's the inside tire that spins when you have an open differential - The weight shifts to the outside tire, so it has better traction I don't think I could drive my TC if it was 2" lower. As it is, the front air dam scrapes a 5" curb when I park. I think even speedbumps would be a problem if I was 2" lower Ah, the dreaded 'wheelwell gap' - Reminds me of the kids on Miata Forum 20 years ago! Don

"Search keyboard"? New term for me, but if so then I stand corrected and I can see why he wants to take the dash apart and ground that wire! Don

How do you get the radio out of the dash? You'll have to take the dash apart But, if you don't have the parking brake wire connected, that alone shouldn't have anything to do with the operation of the GPS - The parking brake connection is only to enable the audio visual operation of the radio - Without the parking brake engaged, you can't watch movies on the radio . . . . the GPS should still work fine. I ran my AVIC NEX 6100 for a couple months without a parking brake connection and everything worked just fine - Couldn't watch movies, but everything else worked. My solution was to buy the aftermarket harness which provides all the necessary signals to the radio Don

It's probably worth checking the shifter linkage to see if it's properly adjusted. I doubt changing the transmission fluid would correct that problem, but if the car has more than 75,000 miles on it, I would change it anyway Don

No doubt if Fifty150 is involved, it's going to be a long thread!! Many of his replies are more than a foot tall on my computer screen and only a few of them fit on a page which would otherwise hold 15 or 20 replies! I've read several 'experts' who explain that when it comes to fully synthetic oils, the top 8 are all basically the same. I used to use Mobil One, but then Exxon bought them out and I'm proud to say that since the Exxon Valdez oil spill (and their effort to hire more lawyers to get out of cleaning up the mess they created than workers to actually do the cleaning) Exxon has not got one dime of my money for the last 25+ years - I would push my van down the street if I ran out of gas in front of an Exxon station. They put a lot of Alaskan fishermen completely out of business and then worked the courts so they didn't have to recompensate most of them anything. You've gotta look really hard to find a less eco friendly company anywhere in the world than Exxon . . . . and now their former CEO is about to become our Secretary of State. BP on the other hand, went about it all very differently with their major spill So, since there's no more Mobil One going in any of my vehicles, I'm using Castrol Edge Extended Performance for the TC which they say is good for 15,000 miles . . . . but Ford says 10,000 so that's what I'll be doing. I have always changed my own oil, but it's not my favorite pastime now at my advancing age so I had really, really been looking forward to just taking it to my Ford dealership and letting them do everything, but alas, both dealers within easy commuting distance of my home have already proved to me beyond any reasonable doubt that I cannot trust them to do the right thing, so my old ramps will be getting used for this vehicle too. With 10K or 1 year changes, it won't be all that often, so I think I can manage for a few more years. At least I'll know for sure what goes into my engine and that the work was done right You lucky guys who have a reasonably competent dealer nearby don't realize just how lucky actually you are! Don

The issue here isn't jamming - Most vehicles which get used regularly have their wheels removed often enough to prevent jamming caused by corrosion The issue here is that when you can't find the exact 'key' to remove these @##$%^& wheel locks and you have a flat out in the boonies, you're really up the creek without a paddle - For every theft the locks may prevent, I'd be willing to bet there are dozens or maybe even hundreds of negative experiences like this one which has most of us wanting to make sure the wheel locks are removed before we take possession of the vehicle In my one and only experience with wheel locks, I was able to remove them with a hammer and chisel, but that was on a different set that those which came on the TC's. I really doubt that even hammering one of the Irwin Bolt Grip sockets that Fifty150 suggested would help - Those are made to remove stubborn bolts and nuts with rounded off heads. The wheel lock studs are polished, hardened steel, perfectly round and there's nothing to grab on to At any rate, it appears Diane has learned the same lesson many of us have with regard to wheel locks - While they may be a nice idea, the sense of security sure doesn't make them worth all the trouble Don

Kyle - If you're filling up with 12 to 12.5 gallons, your wish is granted!! You do have 2 to 3 gallons more . . . . actually nearly 4 gallons more. The tank holds 15.8, so no need to refuel with only 12 or 13 gallons Don

The 'Miles to Empty' display is pretty much spot on in our van - When the light comes on, it usually says 60 or 65 miles to empty and I can drive 50 miles or more and a then a fill up takes close to the published amount. It can be a bit un-nerving to drive so far with the light on, but so long as the display says you're good, there's no worry Don

Our machine uses little stainless wire screen reusable cups - We don't throw anything out, unlike the disposable paper filter you probably use when you brew a potful! Don

Now if he were to mount a pair of 6 volt Golf Cart batteries (connected in series for 12 volts) in the back of the van near the inverter location (as you suggested) and fed by a 6 gauge wire from the TC's 12 volt battery, he could brew coffee all day long (even a few cups without starting the engine) and be perfectly safe. The Golf Cart batteries are rated at 200 AH and they will put up with the 130/140 amp load for a few minutes. Still need the HUGE wire, as short as possible to feed the inverter though I ran a 2 KW inverter on my sailboat for many years to power a 1200 watt microwave oven, but my battery source was L-16 batteries which have about double the capacity of Golf Cart batteries - Right at 400 AH. Those batteries weigh over 100 pound each and I had 4 of them Don

There are amps (the instantaneous draw) and then there are amp hours - The instantaneous draw continued for a full hour. You're wanting to take the AH number and divide it by 60 to get a number 1/60th of the actual instantaneous draw, but it doesn't work that way - You will draw that HUGE number, even if it's only for 15 seconds The 184 amps is actually the instantaneous draw for the inverter at it's 2 KW full load, but since your coffeemaker only draws 1450 watts (12.08 amps @ 120vac) the inverter load will be smaller than 184 amps. A 'rough idea' of the inverter draw is always to just to take the appliances amp draw at 120 volts and multiply that by ten - 12 amps at 120 volts is 1,440 watts and so is 120 amps at 12 volts - Still 1,440 watts. You would still have to add 10% or so for inverter inefficiency, but 'roughly' 120 amps (plus 10% or 15%) is what you need to plan for No - You can't run that inverter from a 30 amp source, not by a long shot! It is still 'theoretically' possible to do what you want, because the alternator on the '14 to '16 TC's is rated at 150 amps (even though it won't actually put out that much, especially with the engine idling) but if the brew only took 2 or 3 minutes, the battery could take up the slack for that long - *If* the engine is left running. Otherwise, a 130 amp load on a 50 AH 12 volt battery would very quickly create an under voltage condition and the inverter would shut down before your brew cycle was finished But - The DC wires from the battery to the inverter will need to be HUGE (about as thick as your finger) and they will need to be as short as possible (the inverter mounted under the hood and not in the back of the van) and you're still going to strain several things to the point of breaking, so . . . . it might be best to grab a cup of joe at the nearest 7-11 rather than spend the time and money involved with getting 1.5 KW from a 12 volt battery Don

Those look great! What's the deal with the TPMS sensors? Did you get new ones mounted in your winter set? Do they automatically 'talk' to the car or do you have to get the dealer to reset something? It would be the pits if you had to go to the dealer twice a year to reset the TPMS every time you change tires Don

Well, shows you what I know, huh? A bit more research shows 16" alloys were standard on the Titanium and the 17" were optional on Titanium and XLT When I looked into buying a set of new OEM take-off alloy wheels/tires for a 2015 TC (Bay) all I could find were 17" and I didn't want any lower profile, rougher riding tires than the 16" I have on my 2014 Thanks! - I'll get to looking for an OEM 16" set Don