Beta Don

No doesn't say "Less Global Opening and Closing", nor does it say "With" either - It's not mentioned at all Don

I would be more concerned with what the oversize tires will do to the gearing and the transmission shift points. 215/65-16's are almost 7% too large in circumference and your speedometer will be off by 5 mph at 70. Modern computer controlled vehicles are very tempermental when it comes to big changes in tires size. I think overall performance and mileage will take a hit What do you hope to gain with oversize tires? Ground clearance for off-road use? You would gain less than half an inch which would not seem worth it for what it's going to do to your van's overall performance Don.

Has anyone ordered and installed the SS Grille kit from Eurocampers.com? Got any good pictures? Any idea where to find that uppermost grille bar which doesn't have the Ford emblem? Looks much better, IMO Thanks! Don

My 2014 XLT has the 'Global Down' or at least I thought it did, but it's not listed on ETIS, so I don't really have it. My windows do go down using the remote, but they don't go back up. If you have this option, the owners manual says you can turn it on or off using the information display and that's not functioning either While I had it at the dealer for a warranty repair, I showed them how my global down worked and explained that I didn't see any real need for that feature, but I complained that the Global Up which I really could make use of didn't function and asked them to fix it. I think they wasted about half a day trying to switch it on with their computer and in the end, the answer was . . . . if your van didn't come with that option (and ETIS says mine didn't) then they can't do anything for you Don

Well, since the dealer can't turn on my DRL's (the van must be ordered with them and mine wasn't) I'm going another direction Our Mitsubishi electric cars have 4" fog/DRL combination fixtures with a W13 bulb in them for the DRL. I had an extra one laying around and it looked very much like the fog lamp fixture on our 2014 TC, so I took the van apart to see if it actually would fit and it does! The 4 mounting points on both fixtures are identical. Both use the same H11 bulb for the fog lamp so the factory fog lamp wiring will transfer over.. I ordered another Mitsu fixture ($60) and a set of 30 watt Cree P13W LED DRL bulbs ($11) and a set of Samsung 100 watt H11 LED fog lamps ($12). Also $10 for a pair of harnesses which mate with the new sockets on the P13W bulbs When everything gets here I'll swap in the new fixtures and I'll have fog/DRL's identical to the ones we have on our electric cars. The DRL LED's are very white (6000K) which makes them quite noticeable, which is what I'm going for - Added visibility A side note - If you ever have to change the drivers side fog lamp bulb, good luck - You've gotta remove the front wheel, take apart the fender liner and then you'll discover a HUGE computer of some sort mounted right between the fender liner and the fog lamp. Long story short - If your left hand fog lamp burns out, go pay the dealer $150 to change it! Don

"Negative camber means the wheels lean inward at the top.Slight positive camber is more usual and cause less tire wear, most road surfaces being crowned" Actually, for any vehicle you want to handle well, slight negative camber is desirable on all 4 wheels. The reason is as the vehicle shifts it's weight to the outer wheels in a curve that negative camber turns toward zero camber and gives the tire a better connection to the road. Slight amounts of negative camber have little effect on tire wear Here's the alignment settings for my Miata, which is one of the better handling cars an average guy can afford to drive Rear - Toe 1/32 inch IN per side. Camber - Negative 1.75 degrees each side Front - Toe 1/32 inch IN per side. Caster - 5 degrees. Camber - Negative 1.2 degrees each side No matter how hard I drive it, the tires always were evenly all across the width of the tread I had not noticed the negative camber on our TC, but if it's there, I'm happy to have it Don

"First off, I'm a little pissed that the rack is quite a bit smaller than shown in the amazon picture. They don't give a width spec on Amazon, but it is 53" wide. Wide enough for a sheet of plywood, until you put the load supports on the rack. With the load supports, the useable width is 43.5". It would be helpful for a utility rack to be design to fit a standard sheet size and they only had to cut the extrusion a few inches longer" It looks like the load supports are quick and easy to remove from the rails? If so, take them off, lay your 4 x 8 sheets on the rails and tie them off with a pair of ratchet straps going around the ends of the bars - You'll have 2 to 3 inches of bar sticking out beyond the plywood. Easy to do and very secure! Don

"The only time that they can void your warranty is if you do something to the car, where your actions are a direct result of the failure." They did mention that possibly the reason my passenger door window wasn't operating correctly could be . . . . because I changed out the radio. When she was trying to tell me why my wiper fuse blew, "It could be anything . . . . even the radio" - Nevermind the fact that I told her that both issues were present when I bought the car, long before the radio was installed They wanted to do an oil change and she told me I needed a new air filter - The oil was changed less than 2 months and 2,000 miles ago by the dealership I bought it from Oh, you do sign some paperwork when you take it in for service - I probably signed that "I'm a sucker, so see what you can get out of me . . . . because I'm never coming back" Don

I learned another expensive lesson about Ford dealerships today - Maybe I can save you guys some money . . . . or maybe you're all already way smarter than I was The rear wiper on our Van wasn't working when we bought it used a month ago. I checked it's fuse and it was blown. Since I had to take it in to the dealer for another warranty issue anyway, and since it is still under warranty, I figured I'd let the dealer's service department check it out - Fuses usually blow for some reason, right? Big Mistake!! Got a call today. "Wiper wasn't working because the fuse was blown". OK "Fuses aren't covered under the warranty" OK, so I owe you for a fuse. "There's also a $99.diagnostic fee." What's the diagnostic fee for? "To find out why the fuse blew" So, I'm paying you $99 to tell me why the fuse blew? "Yes." Well, why did the fuse blow? "We don't know - We changed the fuse and it's working fine now - The fuse didn't blow again" So my $99 'diagnostic fee' didn't tell me anything and I'm basically paying you $99 for changing a fuse? "I guess you could look at it that way" Two lessons learned. At the first dealership I went to, I paid a 20% 'restocking fee' to return a rear cargo cover that came in with broken hinges - It had obviously been 'restocked' before because the box had been opened and re-taped shut several times before we got it, and now at the second dealership, I just paid $99 to have a fuse changed I've always done 99% of my own maintenance on every car we've ever had (to include timing belts, clutches, brakes and all routine maintenance) but on this new 'computer controlled' beast I was really looking forward to taking it in to a Ford dealer every 7,500 miles to have the oil and filter changed and the tires rotated for the $29.95 they advertise . . . . but, sadly, it's pretty apparent I can't afford them. Good thing I didn't throw away my ramps and creeper! I've got the wiring manual - Guess I'd better get the factory shop manual on order too Don

I think we've found a difference between the 2016 models and my 2014. That page in my Ford wiring book (page 85-3 in my 2014 book) shows the DRL's use a separate bulb - It shows Bulb #1 as the Side Marker, #2 as the High Beam, #3 as the Low Beam and #4 as the DRL. I looked it up after the dealer service department told me they could not turn the DRL's on because my van did not come with them and the DRL used a separate bulb and not the low beam at reduced intensity as we were thinking I did read an online article about DRL's in Ford trucks from 1999 on. They used a resistor and a separate constant 12 volt source to run the Bulb at reduced intensity and then when you turned the headlights on, that gave the bulbs full voltage and made them brighter. I think I'm gonna try this with my foglights - Get a heavy duty resistor and run them at lower voltage anytime the ignition is on. They should still work normally when I manually turn them on Don

*If the clockspring has the wiring run through it, I *may* be able to use the new steering wheel controls after all. The 5 switches use only 2 wires (each switch connects a different value resistor between the 2 wires) so if I can find those 2 wires on the steering column somewhere, I can connect them directly to my new Pioneer headunit and control all it's functions - It's looking for the same resistor set-up that the steering wheel switches have built into them. No CanBus connections needed for the Pioneer We'll see! Don

mrtn - Thanks for the tip about Ford ETIS. I'm still discovering new things my van has that I didn't know about and checking the list the ETIS printed out, I found a couple more. Wonderful resource! Don

LOVE all your pictures, Fifty150 (you must have a real name, no?) and I agree that whatever bulb you go with, it's very wise to go with the recommended wattage. Factory engineers always seem to go with very minimal wire gauges and the voltage drop with stock wattage bulbs is often higher than recommended by the bulb manufacturers - With the 500 or more miles of wire in an average car these days, going one wire size under the recommended gauge saves them tons of expensive copper every year and don't think they're not aware of the money that saves them I love LED's and 95% of the lighting in my home is LED and I really wish there was an LED headlight that would make an improvement in the lighting of the van using the stock headlights, but I know better. I will eventually upgrade most of the other bulbs on the van to LED's, but for now Osram halogens will have to suffice for an upgrade to the stock head and fog lights I too have used my share of Haynes manuals over the years, but with this van the OEM book of Wiring Diagrams is much thicker than any Haynes manual I've ever seen. It's got to be 300+ pages . . . . hard to tell exactly because of the way they are numbered, but it was only $16 brand new when I found it on eBay and it's nearly Impossible to do any electrical mods without that book Don

With any reflector system, the origin point of the light is super critical - The reflector is designed to throw a beam of light exactly where desired *if* that light originates *exactly* from the focal point of the reflector - If the physical position of the light source is off by even 1/8th of an inch, the reflector is nearly useless so far as putting the light on the road where you want it. Stock reflectors are designed to work with the halogen filament in exactly the correct position based on the specific halogen bulb the reflector was designed for - Any other light source is probably going to be a major step backward I agree the Osram bulbs are the way to go - Nothing else comes close. I've had Osram bulbs in all my cars and bikes for many years and it's always an amazing change from stock halogens the first time you turn them on. Easy to tell the difference Don

Yes - Push the switch and hold it and the window moves down 1.5 to 2 inches - Repeat 7 more times and it's all the way down. Same thing going up. The other three windows are either one touch down or hold the switch until it's down as far as you like and release it and the window stops there Don

The wiring diagram shows an extra module called the 'Autolamp and Rain Sensor' for cars with the autolamps feature which our cars may not have. Evidently, the Autolamp also turns on the lights when it detects rain?

I don't see any mention of the 'vent feature' in my owners manual I do have the optional 'one touch' feature on my windows - A quick push of the switch and the other three windows go all the way down without me holding the switch down - They go all the way back up with just one touch too. The passenger front window takes 8 separate pushes of the switch to go all the way down and 8 more pushes to go all the way back up too - Even if you hold constant pressure on the switch. There doesn't appear to be any easy way to completely open (or close) that one window - That can't be right, can it? The other three work normally Don

I'll be at the dealer this week to get a couple warranty items fixed - My passenger front window goes up or down about 2 inches when you press the switch and then no more until you release it and press it again and my rear window wiper/washer doesn't do anything. While I'm there I'm going to see if they can reprogram my BCM so I have DRL's - If not, I'm going to add the aftermarket LED's in the grille Don

My tire pressure sticker is the same as yours, so far as the pressures go - 41 front, 44 rear but since mine is a 5 passenger, SWB model, my max load is rated at 1106 pounds If 41/44 is OK for the LWB model carrying 1264 pounds, I'm going with 38/40 for my van. I seriously doubt I'll ever have it loaded to 1100 pounds very often - It's usually just my wife and I and some baggage. We frequently travel with the rear seats removed and that alone makes the van quite a bit lighter Max 51, why not 50 or 52? The max pressure on any tire is the most it can safely handle without destroying itself. When you hit a chuck hole at 70, the tire must either be able to 'defend' itself by flexing or it will very likely break it's belt. IMO. it's never advisable to run the max pressure everyday *unless* you are loaded so heavily that the resulting tire flex is causing heat build-up - Heat is the #1 enemy of all tires . . . . but breaking the belts hitting holes in poor roads would be the #2 issue I think We have two electric cars and 'range' is frequently the big issue with EV's - Nobody I know of runs their EV tires softer than the factory recommended pressure in order to get a better ride - In fact, many owners tend to go the other way . . . . overinflate them by 5, 10 or even 15% hoping to get slightly better range. The TPMS on the EV is set for 32, the door sticker says 36/36 and I've been running 40/40, though the ride does suffer a bit with 40 psi all around. The tires say max 51 and I know of at least one person who ran 55/55 on his first set of tires - Those did not last him all that long as he broke the belt in 3 of them and had to buy a new set. He's now running exactly 51 psi all around and hoping for the best I'm all for taking the vehicle manufacturers recommendations on pressure (especially after the Firestone/Explorer debacle) give or take 5 or 10% depending on how you use the vehicle and how you load it. Running the max 51/51 is way more than 5 to 10% too hard, so you're throwing the recommended pressures completely out the window - Basically saying Ford doesn't know what's best and trusting that the '51 max' is a good idea every mile of every day no matter how lightly loaded you are, which I think is probably unwise. If your loading is greater than the 1264 pounds and you feel you need a little more than 41/44, then adding 5 or 10% when you're overloaded and reducing it when you're not is probably a good idea. But running 51 every day regardless of loading doesn't make any sense to me . . . . plus you're right up against what the tire manufacturer says is safe and that's pushing things, IMO I maintain my vehicles with my wife's safety primarily in mind. New tires well before we get to the wear bars, pressure high enough to be safe for the load, but low enough for best traction in the wet and check the pressure frequently and inspect the tires for bulges or cracks . . . . or broken belts As always, it's your van, you know how you use it and the 'correct' pressure for you is something you need to decide for yourself . . . . and what I think of your numbers doesn't matter in the slightest Don

Wait . . . . I've got an idea! Lets ask the guy who lives in 'Fog City' - Surely he'll know! Don

True - Most things in our TC are controlled by the CanBus - It even turns the audio system on and off and not a +12 signal from the ACC switch like in the old days Won't be long and every wire under the dash will be replaced with fiber optic glass strands - When that happens, aftermarket accessories will be nearly impossible to install Don

That is the Metra dash kit is the one I used, but the $75 'plug and play' harness which mates with the OEM connectors in the van does away with the back-up camera on the OEM screen and that's not acceptable. When you use that harness, the screen shows only the time. date and temperature I now have the book of Wiring Diagrams and will be wading through that for the next month or so. Hint - It contains more than 15 pages with dozens of wires on each page just for the ground connections and more than 200 pages which illustrate the connectors. Everything you need to know is in that book, if you can find it! For those of you looking to buy the book - I think it's about $65 from your Ford dealer, but I found one on eBay for $16 with free shipping Don

Personally, I would place very little (if any) stock in anything any car salesman tells you. I believe they think they *should* know everything there is to know about what they're selling, so when you ask them any question, "Gee, I don't know" is about the last thing you're likely to hear, so even though they really don't have a clue, they're going to tell you *something* - They would much rather tell you the wrong thing than admit they don't know. My salesman told me he didn't think the rear seats in our TC were removable, when in actuality removing them is very simple and should be pointed out as a good reason to buy the van. Sales people spend all sorts of time sitting around doing very little . . . . I guess it never occurs to them they could spend some of that time to Google their product line or read the reviews posted on-line A quick online search for 'Ford Nav Rerouting' got me the following from PC Magazine "In addition, you get real-time traffic updates, with the option to ignore or detour around each one as it comes up. Granted, most of these features are now standard in $150 portable navigation devices, but they're still rare in many in-car systems." The magazine article wasn't very complimentary of the whole Ford Sync system(and he didn't seem to know a great deal about how to operate it either) but it does sound like there's a way around traffic jams if that's your concern - This article is from 2012, so I would assume the newer models still offer that feature The Ford.owner.com website says "Your SYNC® with MyFord Touch®-equipped vehicle gives you voice and touch control to easily reach your destination and avoid traffic along the way. SYNC Services offers several ways to get directions as well as smart routing options, detailed map views (if equipped with Navigation), and personalized traffic information" Hope this helps, Don

Don - Does your 2015 have factory DRL's? My owners manual says, "If so equipped" for vehicles with halogen headlights (which I do have) the "system will turn the low beam headlights on at a reduced intensity" when ambient light level is high. I have no used or unused relay position labeled for DRL's nor do I have any fuse labeled for it in any of the 3 main fuse panels. I do have several relay positions and fuse positions which are labeled as 'Not Used'. More than a hundred fuse positions and more than 20 plug in relays - This is certainly a very electrically complex vehicle! It would be very interesting to see the owners manual for a TC which came with factory DRL's to see which if any replay or fuse positions control it and then determine whether I have any wiring there to support it. The ideal place to learn such things would be your local Ford dealer, but unfortunately as with most other vehicles I've owned lately, a trip to the dealer to learn something about it has me teaching them more than they can teach me I am a firm believer that DRL's are a big safety benefit and I know they are required in Canada - Surely there must be some simple way to add them if the vehicle didn't come so equipped. I want to explore the possibility of adding factory DRL's before I look at adding them with aftermarket parts Don

I agree - You're probably missing more than just a relay. Your steering column may not be wired for it and then whatever controls the variable speed (likely some electronics are involved) probably isn't in your van either I swapped my OEM steering wheel for a leather covered one from a van the same year as mine and the new wheel has the radio and Bluetooth controls on it, but those controls can't be made to work on my van unless I replace a lot of expensive wire harnesses which just isn't practical to do even if I had the needed wiring - I'd have to disassemble most of the dash Don