Fifty150

With the F-150, I have a Haynes Manual. No Haynes Manual for the Transit Connect.

I feel like a panhandler. But here goes. Does anyone have a service manual which shows the lighting wiring diagram, and points of access? In my pickup, when I open the passenger side kick panels, I can access the fuse box, and all of the wiring which makes it real easy for me to splice into the OEM lighting. So I'm trying to find an easy shortcut to wire in strobe flashers into the marker lights. The unit that I'm installing simply taps into the positive and negative wires anywhere along the wire run. Then if it's under the dash or behind the glove box, it would be really simple to add a toggle switch to trigger the flasher.

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Just weird how things like that happen. I remember how I had a Ford Ranger that made all kinds of weird noises when the windows were open a certain way as I drove at freeway speeds. Now it's in the owners manual. Of course, I found out for myself the first time I was driving 70, lowered the rear windows to get fresh air, with the front windows up so that my hair doesn't blow out of place. In my pickup truck, both windows are always down. I like being able to hear every noise (children playing, sirens, ex-girlfriends screaming obscenities as I drive by). It helps to ventilate all the medicinal marijuana smoke.

If it's really a concern......

One of the things that I learned from cross country trips was how to handle laundry. With time permitting, we stopped over at 24 hour laundromats. Yes. I know. Not too glamorous to have to do laundry while traveling. But with cross country tours, musicians have to have their clothing cleaned. It's impossible to tour the country for 6 to 8 weeks at a time, and have clean clothes for the duration. Imagine the stage costumes that you're dancing and sweating in nightly. Some hotels offer laundry service, and you pay a premium, but that's the cost of touring. I've even found myself sending laundry home, and simply buying new socks and underwear. Or even worse, trying to hand wash and drip dry using the hotel room sink and tub. Worse case scenario was throwing away socks, underwear, t-shirts, and jeans......then buying a new set from the next Wal*Mart. I am guessing that the really big stars have roadies & assistants who will take care of their laundry. After all, I've never seen Willie Nelson's or John Madden's tour bus parked in the side service alley of a 24 hour laundromat. You could make a fortune with a laundromat next to a truck stop. Some truck stops even have laundry machines. I've been on nicer tour buses that had luxury lounges with a bar & big TV.....but never have I seen a washer and dryer. I don't know of any tractor trailer drivers who have washer/dryer combos in their truck cabs. I'm guessing that laundry machines aren't built in RVs either. If I only had $10 in quarters, it would be a tough decision whether to have clean clothes, or the comfort of a lot lizard.

Amazing what you can buy on amazon.com

that is a great place to keep a handgun

Drummer, An option for me, in my area, is to visit shops that build livery coaches. Coach builders. The people who do custom limousine, bus, and camper builds. With enough imagination, and a little know how, almost anything is possible. Maybe they can remove the doors completely, then hinge them at the top, and you can have automatic gull wing style doors. Think more along the lines of "Pimp My Ride".

For parts available in the Asian market (JDM), or items on European cars, sometimes the best place to look is on eBay. Of course I have been known to e-mail and even call dealership parts counters to get a quote on pricing, availability, and shipping. You never know. Call a dealership in England, since they speak English, and ask. If it's worth it to you, pay whatever the exchange rate is + shipping.

Thanks Don. Thanks Don.

A lot of options out there. For me, the easiest and less expensive method is to drill a hole and mount an LED. LED lamps are inexpensive, and the prices keep dropping. LED controllers are also falling in price. A simple fuse tap with 5 amps gives more than enough power to run all flashing lights I want. 60 watts is more than adequate for 3W LED strobes in each lamp. For anyone who may want to try it, use silicone and rubber o-rings so that you seal up any new opening which you created.

Have someone follow you from behind with a video camera. I would like to see how the van drives with a ton of metal. But in all fairness, you should be okay. 7 adults, at 200+ pounds per person, rides just fine.

That funnel is an interesting accessory. I asked the salesperson (female) at the dealership about it, and she didn't know what it was for. I planted the idea in her head that it was something used to facilitate stand up urination for females. Click to open expanded view FAZA 4 Pcs Female Urination Device ,Travel Camping Outdoor Standing Pee Reusable Urinal Women Funnel Portable Urine Urinary 4.1 out of 5 stars 67 customer reviews | 4 answered questions Price: $15.98 Sale: $7.99 Free Shipping for Prime Members

KVID0564.mp4

I'm not very impressed with the installation locations. The two in the front look like someone mounted a couple of foglights on the cowling behind the hood. Ford trucks are high enough off the ground, that someone in a small car may not see that coming up behind them. And those two mounted on either side of the high mount stop brake light was something that I thought about doing then quickly decided against. I didn't want any extra lights mounted on the truck that did nothing except flash. That defeats the purpose of driving an unmarked car. Anyone looking at it would notice the extra lights that aren't suppose to be there. Kind of like when cops drove Crown Victorias, all white & unmarked, but they had push bumpers, spotlights on the A Pillar, rear deck lights, and fog lights with red & blue lenses. It would have been better for them to install LED lamps in the light housings, then control them through the Body Control Module. On my F-150, the strobes are hidden in the OEM light housings. If a strobe is behind a red lens, like a brake lamp, I have a flashing red light. If a strobe is hidden behind a yellow lens, like a side marker or turn signal, then I have a flashing yellow light. The fog lights were a natural place to hide strobe lights, and work well because my fog lights are rarely on. The high mount third brake light has two white lights on either side which are described as "cargo lights" to illuminate the truck bed. It was much easier to hide strobes inside the lamp housing, than to drill the roof of the truck, and worry about water leaking.

I here that you only need to pour sugar into a gas tank, and it messes the car up. But that may be just an urban legend.

Anyone know how to remove this plastic triangle trim piece between the A Pillar and the door? Is it attached in any special way? Or can I simply insert a little plastic pry bar (trim panel removal tool), and pop it off? Any photos of that piece being removed, or what it looks like under there?

How is the first responder vehicle mod coming along? KVID0560.mp4

I encourage the build. Do. Post photos. Inspire the masses to follow in step.

Just about every modern vehicle has some sort of chip or transponder in the key. On my pickup, a cheap $1 key from the hardware store will unlock my doors, unlock my tailgate, and turn in the ignition. However, the car will not power up or start. Makes it handy for me to start the car, lock it, then allow it to warm up while I have coffee.

I never rule out Harbor Freight. I have a socket set from there that I picked up for about $3+change, plus it came with a free set of screwdrivers. It sits behind my driver's seat in the cab of my pick up. It has done more than it's $3 worth of work. A couple of oil changes, swap out the OEM stereo to an aftermarket unit, taking off body parts & removing headlights to change lamps, removing trim panels & kick plates, building furniture from IKEA......sometimes all that you need is a functioning ratchet handle & socket. Best part is that Harbor Freight has a lifetime warranty on all of their hand tools. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0137JZ2TY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I bought 5 of these for $7.54 on amazon.com a while back, since the price was right & I didn't have to buy 100. Now a buddy of mine wanted a couple, and the price for 5 has shot up to $70.54 + $4.99 for shipping. Funny how pricing and availability changes.

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This tool looks interesting.