Hanover Fiste

AH... A specific hobbyist user. IMHO, that's a big part of what built the TC's reputation in the United States. I got introduced to Transit Connects by My Lady. Her thing was dog shows; we showed Irish Setters in Canine Agility and the Conformation ring. Conventional vans weren't quite right for dog show use; dog crates and agility course equipment are very awkward cargo to handle in them. In 2009, the first Transit Connects showed up at dog shows in our region; they were an instant hit. The sliding side doors made it PERFECT for the awkward loads. The "Cash For Clunkers" program showed up, and the die was cast... she got our first Transit, dubbed LRT (Little Red Truck), and wearing the vanity plate IR STR. It was a 2010, with side windows. The TC was PERFECT for the job! It could easily handle three large dog crates, as well as loading all of the other junk that a dog show requires. LRT was the envy of everyone on the dog show circuit, and a LOT of Transit Connects began to appear in show parking lots. I liked it because I'm addicted to wearing big hats... Stetson Ranchers and Resistols. Unlike the Ford Ranger I was driving at the time, the vast head room in LRT didn't require me to remove it to get in! Psychologically, LRT gave the impression of being a much LARGER vehicle than it actually was, and that felt GOOD. Unfortunately, My Lady passed away in 2012, and I inherited LRT. I'm a ham radio nut, and LRT was perfect for the frequent "Hamfests" (radio swap meets) that I go to, hauling electronic gear for sale and swap. I didn't have to unload it; I simply opened the sliding doors and rear cargo doors and I was set up, ready for business! Reluctantly, I just traded in LRT; extensive frame damage from road salt made her unreliable... tho everything in it still worked fine after 11 years. LRT has been replaced by LRT 2... a brand new 2020 Transit Connect XLT wagon. I've had it for about 2 weeks now and I'm LOVING it! It has all of the same virtues of the original LRT, plus a whole lot of advanced electronics that I'm still trying to get used to. LRT 2 still wears the same IR STR vanity plates that LRT wore, and the glove box contains the dog collar tags that LRT carried from the good dogs that have now gone on to the Rainbow Bridge. Some traditions ya just can't let go of...

Howdy... "I am looking specifically for a RACE RED Titanium TC. I will consider an XLT but want it pretty much loaded with options. But... it has to be RACE RED. (NOT Kapoor Red) I talked to a local dealer and he says there is only ONE "Race Red Titanium" TC at a dealership in the USA.  And he said they may not let him get it for me. How do I do a search to try to locate a RACE RED... Titanium or loaded XLT?" I have had my new Transit wagon for about two weeks now... LOVE it, but now I feel DOUBLY lucky with the purchase. It's a 2020 XLT wagon in RACE RED !!! To make it better, it was a loaded demo / courtesy / loaner, sold with a new truck warranty. When I got it the clock showed 617 miles. I'm now thinking I got even MORE of a deal on it than I'd originally suspected !!!

AMEN on the brakes !!! I just traded in a 2010 with 94,000 on it; at about 45,000 I had to deal with brake rotors, and when I traded it in I was noticing some brake fade / pulsing, like I had a rotor that was warping. If you live in snow country where road salt is an issue, that's just a fact of life. Tires were about the same; I was on my third set at trade in, and they had a LOT of life left in them.

Hello GBL GOOD POINT !!! LRT 1 had it's rocker panels pretty much gone, and on the driver's side the bottom of the rear sliding door was showing some damage, tho it would have been repairable when I traded her in. At this point, LRT 2 has been with me for about 2 weeks, and is at about 850 miles on the clock. Before we get into snow season here, said flaps are an EXCELLENT idea.

Hello George Where to mount the radio... now THERE'S the rub!!! Gone are the days when we could just hang a rig from the bottom of the dash; that eliminated my preferred choice, an old Collins KWM-2 and it's mobile power supply inverter! Instead, a much smaller radio that I have around, a Kenwood TS-140S, is the choice. Newer radios are of course much smaller yet, but I don't have to go out and BUY the TS-140S; it's already here. Tentatively, I'm thinking in terms of fabricating a mount to go on the passenger seat, secured by the seat belt. Design it to be easily removable; mobile operation won't be a constant thing here. Power will be tapped directly at the battery via a cable thru the firewall and into the glove box; when not in use the cable lives there, out of the way. I may be crazy, but I'm contemplating mainly mobile 160 meter operation! Back in high school and college I did that a lot on AM (retuned the radio in my old Volkswagen Bus for receiving). Antenna was a center loaded 8 foot whip on a bumper mount... I can do that again, but on a trailer hitch instead. Rag chewing and DX chasing on cold winter nights was a whole lot of fun, even with an antenna with microscopic efficiency and low power (about 25 to 50 watts). I'm definitely dating myself here, but the local 160 mobile nuts used to have some fun... we'd often go to the drive in movies and park together. As the sun was going down but before the movie began, we'd produce a florescent tube from the trunk or cargo area, and with the mike button locked down we'd freak other patrons out by approaching the antenna. That big loading coil acted like a Tesla coil (the antenna usually had a corona discharge at the tip), and two or three feet from the antenna the intense electrostatic field would cause the tube to glow at it's normal brilliance, even with the low powers we were running !!!

Hi Are there any hams here who have installed radio gear in a Transit? I'm thinking about an HF transceiver, running about 100 watts of SSB voice. The antenna would be mounted on a modified trailer hitch in the receiver of the towing package I had installed. The truck is a 2020 Transit XLT wagon... LOADED with electronics, and I'm concerned about RF energy possibly getting into all those gizmo systems. Anybody had experience with this sort of an installation? To the Hams here... 73s

Howdy I inherited a 2010 Transit, and LRT (Little Red Truck) served me faithfully for almost 11 years. However, when I went in for a new muffler, they showed me that the Wisconsin road salt had taken it's toll. MAJOR corrosion damage, despite the stock Ford rustproofing. Regretfully, at about 94,500 miles I decided to trade it in before the transaxle fell out! Everything was still working fine on it, but the rust damage was too much to make economic sense for repairs; with the exhaust system thrown in, the bill would have been about twice what the Black Book value lists. The replacement is LRT 2, a new 2020 Transit Connect XLT wagon with the rear lift gate. The FIRST thing I demanded was aftermarket rustproofing... followed by the installation of the trailer towing package. Still slowly figuring out all of the electronic gizmos that they included, but so far I like it. Only downside s far... the folding seats take up too much of the cargo area, tho the volume is considerably more than LRT 1 had. We'll see how it all works out... The point is that LRT 1 pretty much made me a Transit convert, tho I STILL miss a manual tranny like my old F-150 had tho... Hanover Fiste

Hello Scotpak50 Same vehicle and same year here. I searched high and low for a rear speaker harness. It ain't there. I wound up adding a stereo speaker box, and putting in my own harness under the front door sill plate.