B0NE

I'm going to go try this right now lol.

If you still have all the metal shavings, you could try to piece them back together with jb weld. Otherwise, I'm guessing you might need a new lock.

When it happens again, try pulling the door almost shut slowly. Just enough to have the weatherstripping meet without triggering the door latch. The sensor or switch will trigger and the radio will turn off. I started getting into the habit of opening the door slower and now I think it happens less.

My 2018 does the same thing intermittently. I find that if I open the door quickly, it occurs more. If I open the door slower, it tends to work as it should. More testing is needed.

I like the cop caps, how well do they hold onto the rim? Any chance that they could come flying off?

If olegburn changes his mind, l'm interested.

Haha, that arm has been off for a while. Problem with that is, now there's a 2 inch peg sticking out that likes to snag t shirts when I'm hooking up the boat trailer.

I have a liftgate and the unit is in the glass, so the bondo route might not work well. A rubber plug would do the trick, thanks guys.

I'd like to remove that wiper motor completely, as I've blacked out the rear window and I'm always accidentally hitting the switch that turns it on. Any suggestions on what kind of plug to put in it's place that would be leak proof?

@geno1950 Glad it worked out for you, what year is your TC? And do you have the model number or description of the Snap-On tool you used?

I wouldn't accept delivery until the dealer turned off those approach lights. It's called dark mode. I found a pdf complete with step by step instructions, either on this site or another. Printed it out, handed it to the salesman, and said this needs to be done. 15 minutes later I was all set. Don't let them tell you it can't be done.

I would use a piece of braided fishing line to "saw" through the adhesive without scratching things up like piano wire would. Boaters use this trick to cut through 3M 5200.

@KevinRollin Got to say thank you for doing the legwork on this mod. I used the 2" lifts, and what a big difference. Prior to this mod, I always felt that the seats were too low, had a great view of the sky though! No problems with view of the instrument cluster once I adjusted the wheel. This improved my comfort, view of the road, and the added storage room is awesome. No more stuffing my hiking boots under the seat, they fit right under no problem. I also did the passenger seat since it was so easy. Now I can fit the coleman stove under there when not actively using. It also makes it a lot easier to vacuum/wipe out. No more impossible to get to spots under there. Awesome, thanks again, made it easy. Just an fyi for others, I'm six foot and the 2 inch wasn't too much for me. It put the seat in the perfect position (for me) on the lowest "setting". Before this, the seat adjustment never made much sense to me, as you raise the seat, it pushes you forward as well. Before you know it, you're like the little old granny on top of the wheel. With the seat 2" higher, the seat adjustment works a lot better, only needing the first two "clicks" to get comfortable. It's well worth the time and money to do this as it's easy to reverse if you don't like it.

I agree with jrm223 about the Reflectix, I've seen many people using it wrong. It works great in an attic where you would lay the sheets over the existing insulation and it reflects heat away from the living space. The foam boards were an option for me but I wanted to avoid the possible noise it would create vibrating against the steel exterior. Plus it's very difficult to get the foam board into the many voids of the body. Spray foam was also an option but I didn't want to risk spraying too much in and bulging out the exterior, I did this on my boat, under the 1/8 aluminum bench seats and it bulged it out. Maybe the window and door foam would be okay. The other option was fiberglass insulation which I wasn't crazy about because I HATE working with that stuff and it puts out fibers into the air. Even though I had plans to completely cover it with panels, I was still concerned about the fibers finding their way out around the edges. Then I discovered 3M makes rolls of Thinsulate. The same stuff that's used in clothing but in 5 foot by however long rolls you want. This stuff was designed for exactly what we wanted to accomplish, excellent r-value, noise reduction, moisture resistance, and no dust fibers. I believe they use this stuff on boats as well. It is a bit pricey but worth it IMO. You can push it into all the voids and for the long runs on the roof and sides, you can use the 3M spray adhesive to help keep it from sagging. It comes in different thicknesses, I used the thickest version, the 600 https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Thinsulate-Acoustic-Insulation-SM600L/?N=5002385+3292659035&rt=rud On a side note, I also used sound deadening black butyl on the exterior sheet metal. This stuff reduces vibration, not necessarily road noise. The insulation will lessen the road noise, it's two different types of sound deadening and used in conjunction it's brilliant. When you apply the butyl, you only need to cover 25% of the area you are trying to sound deaden. Past the 25-35% coverage results in reduced returns, more weight, more work, and more cost. If you decide to go the 100% coverage route, it will definitely reduce more sound but not by much. My main concern was weight. My initial plan was to put 72 sq ft of that stuff on, so I ordered 2 boxes. When I felt the weight of just 1 box, I realized how much weight I was adding, so I cut it back especially after learning about reduced returns. Most of my research on sound deadening was done on car audio sites. If you start tearing your van apart, you will see the factory butyl sheets. I always wondered why they didn't cover the whole thing, now I know. You are just trying to add mass to the metal panel. More mass requires more energy to vibrate it.

@windguy Nice work! What kind of deadening/insulation is that?

At first when I was getting ready to cut the supports, I just visualized what needed to stay and what didn't. I wanted to use as much of the existing hardware as possible and not take away the structural support. It was a little nerve wracking to be cutting things out of a new vehicle lol. Once I was sure, I used chalk to mark my lines and used a sawzall with a metal cutting blade. Once all the metal was cut, I put it back in place and put cardboard over top and carefully marked and cut it to shape. Folded it half and traced the other side which gave me a perfect match on both sides. I put the cardboard back on top, poked holes for where I wanted the bolts to go through and hand tightened them down to make sure it was a perfect template. Took it all apart and traced it onto 3/4 inch ply. I used a circular saw and jigsaw with the capability of angling the blade on a 45 to cut it out. I wanted to take the edge off the ply to make it a smoother transition from foam to wood once I placed the mat back down over top. Cutting the foam from under the mat was a pain, I used some black craft paint on the wood and pressed the mat with foam down on top. That gave me a rough idea of where to cut the foam. Slowly but surely, I kept taking bits of foam away until it fit smoothly over top. Measure twice, cut once. I can say now, that it was so worth the extra effort and money. I went on an extended roadtrip this summer and I was able to hide all kinds of stuff in there. It's amazing how much space is wasted in that area. I should mention that there is even more space to be had under the front seats. There's styrofoam inserts under there about 3 inches thick (once you pull the extension floor out, you can see what I mean). I decided to leave them in there for two reasons. One, insulation and road noise. Two, if you pull them out, the mats won't sit down in that space correctly without cutting them, so I let it be.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017NA9UDC This is the hatch I used, a bit pricey, but it has held up well so far. Many different sizes to choose from.

I then slapped the mat back down and cut out the rubber around the hatch cutout. Dropped in the hatch, popped in the step trim, and screwed down my cargo tie downs. Finished product, thanks for looking at my creation, feel free to ask about anything I might have left out!

I crafted this out of 3/4 inch plywood which is the support for the hatch and ties everything together. I then bolted everything down and to make up for the 3/4 inch plywood height above the existing floor, I cut out the foam under the mat which just so happens to be 3/4 inch thick to exactly match this piece.

I finally decided to tackle this project after taking some time to research and think about how I was going to go about it. Just like a lot of other people, I REALLY wanted access to that extra space below that floor and I can tell you now, it was totally worth the effort and money. I can fit all kinds of stuff in there and the hatch is concealed to any would be robbers under my mattress. I've been outfitting my van geared towards a roadtripper style with simplicity and low weight in mind. No built in platforms, kitchens, or other comforts, as I like space in the back when I am relaxing on the road, so this extra room created without taking away space, was invaluable. Here are the photos I took as the project went along. Starting with the floor and front support already removed. The concept here was to be able to use some existing bolts and threads to tie everything together. I cut the center support out but left the posts. Sawzall with a metal cutting blade worked well. I cut and shaped the sides of the cargo floor out to form the bridge to the posts. Also cut and shaped the front support, then reinstalled as shown.

The part numbers of the reflectors DARKV8DR is looking for are DT1Z-13404-A (Right Upper) & DT1Z-13405-A (Left Upper).