desert_connect

I just returned from trip of 4000 mi from southern Arizona to NW Washington and back in my '17 TC XLT van. Most of the speeds were in the 65-70 mph range, fastest & worst mpg was 80+ and slowest & best mpg was 50-60 mph. Best milage was 30.5, worst 25.0 and the overall trip average was 28.66 mpg. Most notable was when I returned to the 100+ temps in southern Nevada/Arizona my milage dropped off.

You are really covering some ground! Like you I too have found that speed was the biggest mpg killer, also wind is very similar. Anything above above 70 mph I can see a drop in milage. Have a great trip back east!

I researched this idea to install a bike rack on a friends NV200. There are a few good examples out there mainly on larger full size vans. The best I have seen so far use 80/20 aluminum track then it is easy to slide in nut or bolt plates for adjustable mounting. The track is mounted to the doors using several rivet nuts to spread out the load. The door hinges are heavy duty enough but you'd still be mounting to sheet metal therefore the more attachment points the better. Here are a couple google pics of a homemade bike rack on a ProMaster.

Good find, lots of low mile parts on that TC! It has the larger L/R side mirrors too.

Thanks Don. Yes, it appears to be the later version. With a clear mind I need to go back through the procedure to make certain that I followed all the steps correctly.

Thanks everyone. Here are my currant BCM codes.........I'll have to take the time to compare with others.

Approach lights "disabled" and the lights still come on. The whole story; 1) Took it to a Ford dealer a year ago. They claimed they updated the BCM and turned the approach lights off, but the lights were still on. The service manager tried to charge me for it with some double talk but when I told him I knew they'd get paid for the update by Ford then he backed off (free). 2) Second dealer last December was happy to check it out for me since I bought the van through one of their area stores. They confirmed the first dealer did in fact update the BCM but were unable to turn off the approach lights. 3) Today......I purchased a used laptop (windows) from a fellow TC owner on this forum and the Forscan adaptor from Amazon. After a bit of time lost linking the extended license to the Forscan I hooked it up to my van. The found the approach lights were "disabled". I cycled through "enabled" and "disabled" 3 times leaving them "disabled" and the approach lights are still ON. This frustrates me to no end. The only permanent solution I know of at this point is the get rid of the van.

My '17 pass seat release lever requires more effort than one would think necessary and the handle travel is much greater too. I thought I'd break the handle or the linkage before I finally got it to release on the third attempt when it was new. I've used it numerous times now and it works slightly better than the first time but far from an easy smooth operation. It is almost like the lube used got sticky but it does seem to latch okay. I may add it to the list of things for the dealer to do before the 36 months are up.

It is an aftermarket "AMA" window sold through Van Windows Direct.

I purchased and installed an AMA passenger sliding door window with an opening sliding window, 17% privacy glass. The installation was not terribly difficult but not easy either. I sharpened the end of a hacksaw blade and cut my way through the urethane caulking on the front side of the plastic panel. Then pulled a .030" ss wire on through using the hole in the end of the blade and wrapped it around the outside of the plastic panel. Tied off the bottom outside wire and with a wooden handle started pulling from the inside to cut the urethane across the top. Top and bottom were easy only having one bead of caulking but struggled with both ends and had to cut most of the outer bead with the blade before the wire would go through. I did not know it then but there are two line up dowels one in each upper corner. Panel off I trimmed the excess urethane off the door using a wood chisel. Then added a vinyl channel trim around the pinch weld. After priming the caulking area on the door and cleaning the glass ! proceeded with a new bead of urethane and this is the second difficult part. I had already anticipated this part and even with warming up the caulking it was quite a struggle to get all around the window let alone a nice V bead. A powered caulking gun would make this much easier and it is almost a necessity. My arm feels like it is 3" longer now! With the caulking done I set the glass in place and bedded it into the caulking. Taped the top to keep it from sagging and wait for it to cure.

For anyone interested.......I purchased and installed a passenger sliding door window with an opening window. I will post more on my build thread, 2017 TC XLT simple camper.

I camp mostly on public BLM land and have never had an issue with bottoming out so far. But with that said I do choose my path carefully and pass on camp turnouts that look too rough. Because of the TC's small size it is easier to maneuver around obstacles. I will still be bumping up to 60 series tires (Sumitomo HTR, 215/60R16 99V XL), same as GBL has done with no ill effects. Agreed that .4" of height gain is minimal but it is still much better than none. I will not go to any larger tire size than this for many reasons like Beta Don described above.

I too would like more ground clearance primarily for getting in and out of camping spots. I drove through Monument Valley without a scratch where as many other small cars were scraping and bumping bottom along the very eroded rocky road. It seems like to me the most difficult part of a small spacer lift is getting the camber back into alignment. The TC does not have any camber adjustment. There are some parts out there for a Focus like spacers and camber realignment plates that might fit okay, some even say they fit a TC. Seems like a lot of trouble for so little gain. I am going to install the next larger tire size 55-60 series but that is only a .4" gain. Just like anything else until someone works their way through a small lift there are some unknowns. Sometime when I have nothing else to do I may venture into it!

If a person does not need exact distances between the cross bars then fixed bars would save money and time. I installed a pair of Van Tech J1000 cross bars on a NV200 using the existing threaded holes for a friend. These are semi permanent, not easily removable short of removing the bolts. I was impressed at how strong they are, the ease of installation and how aerodynamic the bars were with slots for accessories. He said they made zero noise. The pair of J1000 bars and brackets were under 200$ for the NV200 and just over 200$ for a 14+ Transit Connect, they also sell three bars sets. The only thing I found cheesy is the end caps, they are just a vinyl cap. ~generic pics.....

Thanks. I used the magnets because I am not 100% sure this is what want and this allows me to backtrack. Oops, looks like I should have proof read my fan post!

Thanks, zalienz. Nice to know what I am facing. I kinda figured that it might be an adhesive caulking. I've replaced several windshields and windows in the 70s using the butyl rope cord and a primer but never adhesive caulking only. For removal I used a tool that was a knife on the end of an offset handle with a T handle pull cable but being too short it would not work for this application. Everything has changed in 40 years!

Very nice window upgrade. Your post got me inspired to look online for sliding door windows and came across Van Windows Direct out of Victorville CA. They have solid windows and then I stumbled onto their 1/2 sliding window for either L or R side sliding door, 380$ each. Kinda spendy but less than the used wagon doors I found in Yuma at 600$ each. Were you around when they installed your window? I was just curious if you or anyone else knew how difficult it was to remove the plastic cover. From looking at your pictures (thanks) you posted it looks like it is glued in with a butyl tape or caulking.

I added another LED light. This one is movable by using magnets for mounting at windguy's suggection, both lights live 12v van power. I can reach this light from the driver and pass seat, side door or from in the back. These computerized vehicles are very aggravating some lights are on when you don't want them and others you can't turn on when you do want them! I also bought a Caframo Bora 12v marine fan, mounted with magnets and hooked it up to a Webtop 155 wh LED batt/generator. It will run on low for 100 hrs or on high for 50 hrs w/o any worries of depleting the van battery. This fan combined combined with front door window vent shades does add some much needed air movement inside for sleeping. We camped last weekend in the Tombstone Bisbee area.

Finally getting around to doing more interior work on my TC. I started by adding thin (Lowes) carpet to the sheet metal windows. The rear doors (pics) were easy being able to oversize the carpet to tuck neatly underneath the door frame and used 1" magnetic strips to hold them up. I cut out the rear side windows but still working out the mounting details.

Thanks....good thought. I am 2 hours south of Phoenix.

Both dealers worked on trying to turn off the approach lights and neither could figure it out. I do have the updated BCM confirmed by the second dealer and I bought an ohp elmconfig tool for forscan. All I need now is a laptop with windows, a mac with windows conversion software did not work.

I believe the actual cut off date is posted somewhere in this forum. My 2017 also needed the BCM update and it was built in Nov 2016 just missing the newer BCM. Two different dealers with an updated BCM and I still have the annoying approach light problem.

I have a 2017 TC with the same sync and have never had a single issue like you have described. But then again I don't use it often and only for an occasional phone call. One thing I do not like is on my XLT they stuck the microphone (if that's what this is) down at the bottom of the dash beside the console. Seems like a great place if my knees could talk but since not I have to talk loudly. Looks like an add on and not from the factory..........is your's the same?

Like, Windguy, I have had my 2017 TC van into two different dealers to turn the perimeter lights off without success. My van missed the newer BCM by about 2 weeks so the first dealer said he updated the BCM but still could not turn the lights off. The second dealer confirmed the first dealer did indeed update the BCM and also said he could not turn the lights off. Wished I knew what the secret was to successfully turing the stupid annoying lights off!

Thanks for you interest and great suggestions, Windguy!