desert_connect

Herb, Thanks for you reply but I was looking for interested people. I am not suggesting anything else on the forum change so you and others not interested simply do not look, just like you would not look at other threads not interesting to you.

Hello, I am wondering if there is any interest in starting a new "subject heading" or section for posting our favorite scenic exterior TC photos? I looked briefly on the forum and other than the gallery of mixed photos I do not see a section for this. If there is a section I missed please steer me in that direction or please post if you are interested and maybe the forum moderators will consider it. I have enjoyed this on other forums without having to sort through hundreds of pictures and threads to see the other owners vehicle colors, models, wheels, tires, camping, hauling, trips, etc. Thanks very much!

A noisy fan on high is somewhat normal.........If it is vibrating the steering wheel on 3-4 and/or a low pitch rumbling noise is coming from within the dash it may be another problem. Mine did that very same thing and it was a mouse nest that got sucked inside the heater.

I plan to use these spacers to lift my van. Probably two spacers (1") and one size up on the tires (Sumitomo HTR XL 215/60-16 = +.8"). About 1 3/8" lift overall. SPACCER® offers the following benefits: Increased clearance - 12 mm, 24 mm, 36 mm or 48 mm (.47 in, .94 in, 1.42 in or 1.89 in) https://www.spaccer.com/en_US/makes-and-models/ford/transit-connect.html

I also put a dynamat type material in all my doors for sound deadening and it sure got rid of the tinny sound. My side doors have a foam covering the cut out openings underneath the panels, however the foam does not touch the side panel rivet fastener area where I was getting the vibration rattle. My rear doors did not have the factory foam, only a plastic film under three openings and nothing under the forth.

I cleaned the entire area with pine-sol and plugged the (mouse) access area using ss screen and used RTV to hold it onto the plastic/rubber. I may still make a screen for the fresh air door later on using 1/4" mesh screen.

Thanks, HeRodeCBR! I would suspect that a bike could be loaded along side my camper bed/sofa with the foot pegs folded up. It takes up exactly half of the van, so 24" open between the wheel wells and around 25" above. There are only two turnbuckles holding the unit in place so I can remove it myself in only a couple of minutes.

Yes, thats true. But there are also drain holes just outboard of the strut towers large enough for the mice to get inside. Here are a couple of pics that show what it looks like with the cowl tray and cover off. One pic shows an arrow where the mice can get in and the other pic shows the fresh air door to the heater.

Thanks windguy and GBL. Your panels look great, windguy. I too had a real challenge painting the large side door panels with temps well above 100* I could not paint fast enough.....lol. My side door panels are not quite as nice as the smaller rear panels but look okay. I painted the insides because I leave the doors cracked while camping and at times when it rains they do get a few drips and dribbles. After putting the panels back on I discovered right away they rattled. The panels too rigid with paint (?). So, I pulled them back off and covered the inside(s) with a foam membrane using a left over roll of that thin foam for the floating laminate flooring. That tightened the panels up and worked well. May have even made the inside a bit quieter too.

Ford engineered the almost perfect mouse habitat in my 2017 TC. While camping last week two mice jumped up into the engine bay and pulled all the loose uncovered wheel well insulation apart and made a nest right in front of the heater fresh air intake in about a 36 hour time period. You guessed it, as soon as I started the engine the AC came on and the fresh air intake door opened up and most of that insulation got sucked right into the heater fan. I noticed right away the heater sounded rough on 1 low and made the dash rumble and shake on 2. I needed (wanted) AC when we dropped back down to the 110 temps so I tore half the dash apart and finally gave up on trying to get the fan motor out. I pulled the wipers off and the plastic tray/cover pieces off from underneath the windshield and removed the rest of the insulation. Then pulled the cabin filter and made tools from tree branches to reach up inside and painstakingly I picked, prodded and plucked the insulation out of the squirrel cage fan and used the fan to blow it out a little at a time.......took me about 4 hours and insulation all over inside on the pass side. Fortunately, the mice were not in there long enough to make a huge stinky mess, could have been much worse. The mice watched me working and I couldn't get rid of them. They finally left the scene a after I had finished and during or following the rain and hail storm that afternoon. I left the cowl tray, cover and wipers off until I was ready to leave so I could see them. I plan to make a hardware screen cloth cover to put over the fresh air opening to prevent this from ever happening again. The picture is what came out when removing the filter and only represents a a very small amount of the insulation I removed.

I finally got around to painting the cheap moisture wicking door panels. I did the rear door first and will do the sliding doors next. Scuffed the panels with 150# sandpaper. Painted a primer and a base coat on both sides and a granite top coat on the face only. The rough finish looks good but may prove to be a nuisance to clean.

AND not to mention the large amount of energy wasted producing ethanol fuel as well as the transportation of shipping it too the refineries to mix it with gasoline to produce worse mpg. Who's bright idea was this!

Mine do the same. The drivers side from day one and the passenger side after a couple of months.....so at least they are both even now.

I had the same issue with Thule square bars on my Subaru. The bars made all sorts of whistling racket when they were empty above 50 mph. I used a small 1/4" rope wrapped spirally around the bars about 3" apart for a test and that eliminated the noise. Then switched to 1/8" shock cord I ordered from Amazon with bowline knot loops at each end and they always stay taut. Whisper quiet!

I just followed the instructions in the owners manual, same as I've done in the past with other vehicles. Follow the sequence listed in the required time allotment....done. If you don't get the sequence correct the first time just do it over until it works (doesn't work!). I still have the door open key in ign. chime too and doubt there is an easy way to shut that one off. On my 93 F250 I pulled the ringer module, found the corresponding spade for the door/ign key bell, folded it over and then re-installed the module so the truck would run again. Doing this on a new vehicle these days might upset the computer, but I don't know that for sure. I've read that in the early 2000's around 05' or so on the F series pickups and E vans a person could shut off the perimeter lighting when a door was open themselves by using a similar sequence like the auto door locks. But sadly, Ford seems to have done away with that option.

Me too....all this new tech stuff is supposed to make our life better, but most of us that did not grow up with it find it an annoyance! The first thing I changed (shut off) as soon as I got home was the auto door locks. The second was the seatbelt chiming at me. The day I get the outside perimeter lights changed into "dark mode" I'll be a happy TC owner.

The white clip stays with the black arm when removing. Slide the tool between the two and pop the clip out of the sheet metal. The white clip looks something like this generic pic below.

I reach through the access covers and unclip a few rivet clips that can be reached using the tool pictured below. Then starting at the loose area just pop it off one clip at a time by pulling on the panel, some clips you might reach with the tool some not. Works for me and have never broken anything yet removing them twice.

A hitch only has a rating as high as the weakest link or lowest rating. Once a 400# tongue rated hitch is bolted up to a second gen TC van the tongue rating becomes 200#, no matter what the hitch rating is, unless it was less. If whatever is plugged into the hitch extends out further than a normal ball mount then the rating is reduced, ie: twice the distance is reduced by 50%, more than twice it's even less. Viable information is available, the good old boy theory of "if it fits it'll work" disappeared a long time ago. Be safe people.

Any idea what this microphone is for? Looks like an add on. I bought my 2017 XLT Van w/SYNC new from a dealer with 7.5 miles on it and this was screwed to the lower dash panel. The other odd thing about my TC is the front Euro lic plate screw holes had been used (?).

Your new tires look great! I am curious tho.....in your first post you stated Walmart "would not" mount these tires. So, who installed the tires? At first glance you are correct that the weight rating on the new tires are over. LT tires when used on a SUV, light pickup or van use the full tire weight rating. P tires on the other hand used in the same application (load carrying vehicles, not pass cars) can only use 90% of the rating. The other issue is tire pressure. My van placard states rear tires to be inflated to 48#, while the Grabber AT2 215/65R16 states a max of 45# (info from tirerack) and the OEM Continental's are 51# max. The legalities are too overwhelming!

I found this little 2.5" dia. x 2" H rechargeable (USB) light for my van. Bright enough to read under with 200+ lumens on high, 100 on med and 20 on low and has SOS. On high the battery is rated at 6 hrs and low up to 36 hrs. A magnetic base that can be angled and so far has stayed put while driving around now for a month. Also has a fold out bail and hook to be hung inside or outside and it's rainproof. Great little light for 19$. With this light I may not add anymore permanent lights inside Light link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018V6XMC2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I de-badged the rear doors removing the Transit Connect & XLT. I like the clean simple look w/o.

If it were me I'd use a thin wall 12pt socket of the correct size, which there is enough room for. Use a dremel tool or die grinder to remove the points not applicable until you can drive it on with a hammer. It will probably only will take one or two interlocking points with the lug nut to be successful.

Excellent write up on your roof rack install. Thanks!