Fifty150

My Grandmother is 93. Imagine when I have to pick her up in my arms like a child, and boost her into my F-150 w/ 6" lift kit & 35" tires. Or when I pull up to the front door of some senior center, and I have to get her down from up there. If I didn't have seniors in the family whom I transport, I would never have bought a Transit Connect. The same $$$ could have been spent on a Mustang, which is more to my liking, or a Honda Civic, which is better on gas. Unfortunately, I do not have the real estate to own and store all the cars that I would like to hord. What does Jay Leno have? An airplane hangar? That would be the ultimate dream. A warehouse big enough to store all the cars and motorcycles that you want, all the tools you need to play with them, and having all the time because you don't have to work.

4 kids? How could you afford to take them all to McDonalds? With 4 kids, I wouldn't be able to afford going anywhere. They would be eating ground chuck (ground at home with my own meat grinder), and home cut fried potatoes. No extra fancy ketchup. Just generic catsup. And I don't care if they don't like hand-me-downs. Jr. would have to wear his big sister's jeans, grow his hair long, and just be a faux hipster.

I've never seen a white trim piece. I think your best bet is to take off your trim piece, and paint it white.

That all factors in to pricing for Titanium trim level. Same car under the hood. More luxury.

Trim level. The more you spend, the more "bling" you get. Sort of like hubcaps over steel wheels, and rims. You pay more money, you get Ford Sync, instead of the AM/FM radio.. You spend more, you get the fog lights, instead of the blank plastic bumper filler. Notice how in your photos, one car has black plastic bumpers and trim, and the other car has paint to match the body?

Alright! High 5. Now let's see what you do with it first.

Those are just reflectors. Valeo 45255 OEM part number DT11 13A602 AB 1846222 Valeo 45254 OEM part number DT11 13A603 AB 1846223

Not the best deal. But okay. Sears has all kinds of specials and coupons, which sometimes change daily. At $30.31 + tax for both jacks, that is just about what you would pay for a 2 ton jack and a 6 ton jack, if they weren't branded as Ford. Side by side, they look exactly like Torin Big Red jacks. It looks like they all come from the same Chinese factory. The 2 ton bottle jack is now in the rear jack compartment, alongside the OEM jack. I've also got a jack pad in there. 5" of ram travel, along with an extra 1" from the jack pad, may be just enough. Or not. But it will raise the van enough to rest on a Craftsman jack stand. Then I can raise the extension screw by 2", and jack the van up some more.

I don't recall seeing the Ford Sierra in the US. Apparently, there were station wagons and vans sold in Europe. I did know a guy with an XR4TI. I think his was the only one sold in the area. Never saw another one on the street around here. Most people thought it was a Ford Escort with a spoiler. Back in those days, I was still driving Jeeps, and not in the luxury class Jeeps that they have today. Back then, every Jeep I had was stripped down, plastic windows with zippers, and torn, leaky tops patched with duct tape. That's where my budget was. I drove cars where even the heaters didn't work.

It should be like that everywhere. Including the option of right hand drive. i would like a column mounted shifter. Crown Victorias, Explorers, and F-150 trucks came with center console shifters and column shifters.

I like the Crown Victoria's that still have a taxi company color scheme, but no corporate logo.

A neighbor of mine has a Cabelas sticker on his car. I still wonder why. Actually, in real life, I don't sticker anything. I have a shoe box full of logo stickers that came with every "performance" part I've ever bought. I guess I just don't need to scream out to the world that I have a FlowMaster muffler, use Red Line oil, my engine is custom tuned by Troyer Performance, my brakes are Brembo, that there is a K&N intake, et cetera. I would rather wear a plain white t-shirt, than a t-shirt with a logo. I wish you could remove those loud, 10" blue ovals that are attached to the grill & tailgate. Imagine if McDonalds had a huge sign that said, "proudly serving frozen meat from Australia".

My fingers are crossed. Sooner or later, somebody will add airbags and/or hydraulics to their van. And those wire spoke wheels. I can't wait to see the Low Rider Magazine Transit Connect.

As Project Bike Truck has lowered every car he has ever owned, I've lowered and lifted little Hondas, Mustangs, Jeeps, pick up trucks, and even a Ford Explorer SUV (which normally stays stock for soccer moms). OEM is the softest ride. Any deviation from OEM suspension, tire size, wheel size, et cetera, and the ride will be stiffer. I lowered my car, now I feel every little bump. I lifted my truck, and now I feel every little bump. The idea is to achieve some sort of performance gain, unless you are only doing it for visual effects. You lower cars for better handling, and to be able to hug turns. You raise Jeeps and trucks for ground clearance, and more wheel well space for larger tires and longer suspension travel. But it all results in a rough ride. All of that changes with age. Just like politics. When I was a kid, there wan't 1 Honda that I didn't lower (or put stickers on). Now that I'm old, my back just can't handle the rough ride. When I was a kid, damn cops were everywhere. Now that I'm old, there's never a cop when I need one. We should all do something fun, like horsepower stickers to our vans.

Can't get used to the idea that I'm filling that up with exhaust fumes........can't get used to paying $$$ for that. For that kind of money, I could...........never mind, let your imagination run wild.

Sounds like you are sending it to Chip Foose. I can't wait to see what the retractable steps look like. With the van being only 8" off the ground, that will be very interesting.

Tote? Ha! The whole back of my van is for "OH CRAP" moments. But to stay close to the topic, Jacks, I am prepared for the tire change with a 12V impact wrench, a 2' breaker bar, and a 3/4" deep impact socket. My fingers are crossed that I will never have to find out if the Harbor Freight $20 impact wrench works.

My Transit Connect jack point is 8" in the front. It looks like the rear is higher to compensate for load. With OEM tires, it looks like a flat tire will lower the jack point by about 2". Anyu jack you buy should be able to go under the vehicle even with a flat tire. Your van may be different than mine, depending on if you have modified suspension, different tire size, or it's under load. The jack should raise the vehicle high enough for your tire to lift off the ground. I have a Pro-Lift F-2315PE . Min. Height: 4.92", Max. Height: 11.81" This did not work out. This jack was just fine for subcompacts like Honda CVCC, VW Beetle, Yugo, Renault LeCar, Ford Pinto, Ford Mustang II, Datsun B210, and other cars I am too ashamed to mention., Nothing like jacking up the car, only to find out that the jack doesn't go high enough. torin T82001 is a good set. Lifting Range: Trolley Jack: 5.25" - 13". I used it on my last oil change. Everything was fine. I did have a jack pad for the unibody pinch weld, so that added an extra inch to the lift height. Based on that, I want to say that my stock Transit Connect XL needs to rise up to 14" in order to be able to take the tire off. Ford FMCF0012 and Torin T90203B are nearly identical. Minimum height: 7.13", Maximum height: 13.58" With the ram at full travel, the lift is about 5". The van lifts 12". Just not quite enough to raise the tire off the floor. But good enough for oil changes. I can raise the van 1', set it onto a jack stand, raise the jack saddle about 2" with the extension screw, then jack the van up just a little bit more. Ford 9C2Z-17080-A. This part fits specific Ford E-150, E-250, E-350/E-350 Super Duty models. . Over $100 retail. For that kind of money, you can buy anything else Craftsman Craftsman Model # 50165 Minimum Height : 3.5 (in.) Maximum Height : 14 (in.) Craftsman Model # 50182 Minimum Height : 10.625 (in.) Maximum Height : 17.125 (in.) The jack I'm currently carrying in the Transit Connect. Mainly because of pricing and availability. I love being cheap. Sears had a big sale, there were additional promotions involving Cash Back points and a statement credit for using my Sears credit card. So you're laughing at me for having a Sears Credit Card? Yes. That, and a Discover Card, which once upon a time, was also part of Sears. Sears may not be around much longer. But Craftsman will survive as a part of Stanley, Black&Decker, DeWalt, Craftsman. The specs work for the Transit Connect, and it is low enough for Fast & Furious cars in the caravan when I road trip. No, I am not using these all day in a shop, so I'm not concerned about how they will last. I opened the box and checked them to make sure that they worked. As an emergency item, it will be brand new & used for the first time if I ever need to change that tire on the side of the road.

Looking nice. Refreshing to see a Transit Connect that is not a commercial vehicle. Around here, Transit Connects are all over the road; and almost every one of them is in commercial use. You haven't had any problems with the lowered ground clearance? No scraping on driveways, bottoming out on hills, or scraping?

I am a sucker for their coupons. Just got a new jack handle in the mail from Torin today. Assembling it gave me a chance to use my new toy/tool. Not Harbor Freight. But less than $5 off amazon.com.

Have to admit that I have furtively bought my share of Harbor Freight items. But usually with a coupon, nothing expensive, and nothing that I would have to trust my life with (like a Harbor Freight survival knife). Can you imagine Bear Grylls cursing as his Harbor Freight knife suffers catastrophic failure? I have to admit that I am one of those guys who likes bargains. So along with the Snap-On tools in the garage, and Craftsman tools that I keep in the cars, I can't resist having Harbor Freight socket sets, wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, gloves, et cetera. Harbor Freight sockets are the only ones I've ever seen shatter, and Harbor Freight ratchet handles are the only ones I've ever seen fail. I know other people who say they've broken better tools, and I believe them . But with a lifetime warranty, I don't care. I've returned a few things at Harbor Freight, and they have always replaced them with a new item, no hassle. I am still skeptical when it comes to Harbor Freight air compressors and floor jacks. Being a tool whore, I've got jacks. Bottle jacks. Floor jacks. Jack stands. Motorcycle lift. I've always like bottle jacks because they could hold so weight, are so small, are inexpensive, and I can own one forever because you can always find the parts to maintain and refurbish them. In the Transit Connect, I carry a Craftsman Low Profile. Minimum height of 3.5" just in case I get a flat. In my garage, my "go to" jack is a Torin Hybrid.

Didn't those also come as OEM equipment in a Renault LeCar Van?

As I gaze in the rearview mirror of life, those types of memories grow smaller every day, and eventually disappear into the horizon of my Swiss-Cheese memory. Today, I wish I had some video evidence, to help relive what once was. The stud horse is now headed to the glue factory. Ron Jeremy is now selling garbage on late night television. Stallone probably has one more Rocky movie in the chamber that he is trying to finance.

I don't want to be the guy who has to crawl under.

The last time I have had to change my own flat was when I was a teenager. After that, I learned the importance of having a breaker bar, the correct size impact socket, a dead blow hammer, and a reliable jack. Same way I learned to carry a jump starter after my first dead battery. The only flats I've had since were all in work vehicles. My boss insists on us calling in, having the office order the tire truck to come to where ever we are, and to let someone else do the work. I get it. Liability. Anything and everything that happens to a company vehicle, should be performed by a fleet service company, a real shop with a business license, Bureau of Automotive Repair registration, and liability insurance, or otherwise legitimate entity. Not a shade tree mechanic. And we have to have receipts and service records for everything. Suppose I change a flat myself, then get into an accident, and the lawyers go crazy insinuating that I didn't know what I was doing, and that my lack of training and experience as a mechanic caused a mechanical failure which led to the collision. "He changed the tire, damaged the brakes, and the truck could not stop properly." You can try to carry enough stuff with you for everything that you can imagine. My dad is the king of over engineering. He even kept extra wire, electrical tape, fuses, and even spare relays. Funny how that works out. Once an electric fan relay went out on his 5.0 (which he modded with an electric fan kit). Right there in the middle of the night, on the side of the road, I pulled out my Leatherman, and within minutes, cut all the wires, made the new connections with electrical tape, I asked him how many times he's had to do that. He said, "none, ever". But it goes to show that a once in a lifetime event, is worth having a few small parts available. Dad carries all sorts of tools, extra parts including fan belts, water pumps, spark plugs, starters, alternators, pulleys, et cetera. He says that back when he lived in an apartment, without a garage, he had nowhere to put any of his tools and parts, except for the trunk of the car. As much as I try to be a minimalist, I find myself stocking each car with tools. I have a backpack with small hand tools, a mini tire inflator, a tire plug kit, & jump starter for when I ride my motorcycle. My friends would laugh, and ask why I carry all that stuff. They have AAA cards, and would just wait for a tow truck. Buddy of mine leases his cars. Every car lease these days includes some sort of roadside assistance . He figures that since he is renting a car from the dealer, let the dealers and finance company worry about what happens to their car if it breaks down. And his main point is that most of today's new cars, do not suffer a major mechanical repair within the first 3 years of ownership. So as long as he is renting a new car every 3 years, he shrugs it off. It is all under warranty. For a lot of us on this forum, we are driving new cars under warranty. Even the tires have some kind of tire warranty. And if I remember correctly, Ford does have roadside assistance when you buy a new Ford. In the owners manual folder, there should be a little membership card with an 800 number. I just don't want to be the guy stuck for hours on the side of the road, if I can remedy the situation myself.