azdamay

Of course it has more cargo space than a Transit Connect. The TC is based on a compact car, this monstrosity is based on the Nissan Titan full-size pickup truck. They will be competing in two totally different arenas. Right now the Transit Connect has the small delivery van market locked up in North America, since no other company offers a comparable product (unless you count the C/V versions of the Caravan, and I don't). This truck, on the other hand, is clearly aimed square at the Econoline, Chevy/GMC vans, and Sprinter. The article says it is 241" long! The Transit Connect is 181" long. The Nissan is 5 feet longer! How is that compact?? I know looks are subjective, but that thing is the ugliest work truck I have ever seen... and that's saying something because I drive a Transit Connect, which isn't a beauty queen.

That's how Focus owners used to get around the traction control, take the fuse out. But IIRC taking that fuse out also disabled ABS. On the Focus it could more properly be eliminated by someone who knew what they were doing by using a tuner like the DiabloSport. I have no idea if the concept transfers to the Transit Connect. I don't have traction control and slipping around on wet, rain-soaked, and moss-covered driveways in Marin County, CA is just as annoying as getting stuck.

I see from the gallery what your purpose is for the TC, nice work on the inside. Looks good. Regarding your smog tech, I had a customer who was Turkish and asked me what I thought of the van. Good thing I told him I liked it, he didn't tell me he was Turkish until after he asked me how I liked it. That could have been embarrassing if I had said it sucked. Our company also builds some very expensive refrigerators in Turkey; I learned early not to reveal that information to customers, in particular to Greek customers. Boy was that guy pissed. Haha.

Nice upgrade! Now it just needs a drop, LOL. Where'd you get the SVT center caps from? And why the out of state plates? If I end up keeping the Transit after it's fleet days are over, I would like to pick up a set of the 18" Euro ST wheels myself.

No salt is good, I've noticed the paint seems rather thin and easy to damage. I've got about 8,000-9,000 miles to go and then I'll start watching for loose rubber seals over my head. :P

That's where it is. There should be a "pull handle" molded into the access panel. Pull harder, it's clipped in with metal push clips. I had trouble getting it to come off the first time as well.

Cross country in a Transit Connect huh? Honestly it wouldn't be my first choice for a drive that long. I get sore/tired/restless after drives of more than about 50 miles. But mine has a cage behind the seats limiting how I can adjust the seat. I read what you have posted so far, interesting to read. Laughs and/or smiles do go along with driving this vehicle, as well as TONS of questions every time you stop for gas.

Good to know. Does yours drip water all over you when you open the door, though? That bugs the heck out of me, I've never had a vehicle that dripped water when the door was opened. It has been really, really rainy here in the Bay, good you got that fixed... there's more coming!

Sweet! It looks like the set that can change colors will be the one on sale (I have the "straight" white ones). For that price I have to stock up just because! Thanks for the info. :D

The Transit Connect is based on the C170 platform, same as the Mk. I Ford Focus (and still the current North American Focus). Meaning the Transit Connect has all the provisions for a cabin air filter just like the Focus did/does. I used to have a 2002 SVT Focus, a common "mod" on the early Focus was to crack open the cowling and install the missing cabin air filter. Ford decontented the Focus and apparently, the Transit Connect, when bringing it to the North American market to save some money. FWIW I have also installed a cabin air filter in the Transit, come spring time it is very much worth it to not have yellow pollen all over the interior. The Purolator part # is C25387 IIRC.

I like the real Euro snowflake wheels like other Euro Fords have had... we aren't going to get those as an option huh? I hated the pale imitations so much I just took them off altogether. I can see the utility of steel wheels on a work truck, but how about giving those of us who don't park by feel something pretty to look at?? :rolleyes:

I leave my various chargers plugged in all the time, including overnight... but with the various accessories not plugged in to the chargers. I leave the GPS charging between service calls. I've only been driving the van for about 8 weeks though. So far so good. Like you said, how much power can a charger that is not charging anything consume? I don't know if the Transit Connect has a battery saver feature for the power points. The interior lights will time out after so many minutes, but I have yet to have any power points shut down.

^^ Well apparently my company's choice of fleet management service believes that to be the case. Their specified oil change interval is 7,500 miles. I took the van to my local Ford dealer at 3,300 miles to try to get it's first oil change. They told me no! Said the fleet management company would refuse it due to the low mileage. They told me to come back when I have 5,000 and see if the fleet management company will allow me to change it on the "severe duty" schedule. Seems ridiculous to me but as long as I change it when recommended I'm good when the engine grenades I guess.

Got 'em on eBay. They were 39 bucks, and fairly decent quality I guess. They have metal retainers so they stay put, but will scratch the paint on the wheel under the trim ring. I just really hated the stock wheel covers. zepper I've been checking eBay UK, but so far no listers have indicated they ship outside the UK or Europe. I'm not giving up though. However I'm not crazy about spending many, many times the cost of the parts to ship them here so I'm in no hurry. :P

It's not really that cold here in Northern California, but it is raining and sometimes colder. I find that the fixed portion of the door glass starts to fog near the mirror, and once I did have the windshield suddenly fog up on me for no apparent reason. That one was actually alarming, I've never had a (modern) vehicle suddenly fog up on me like that. But typically I can keep the defrost on at a medium heat and fan speed 1 or 2 and maintain clear windows, once the initial fogging is cleared.

Haha, the Emeryville Ikea?? I didn't realize you were in the Bay Area. There are automotive-specific LED strips you can buy that don't need to be "hacked" like the Ikea lights. I just figured I'd put something unused to good use. So you are planning on doing an HID install on yours? I would like to see pictures of that when you do it.

Whoops, I forgot to mention the license plate lamps. Boy is my face red. I got the parts from the dealer today, he was nice enough to give me a better price when he saw my work uniform so the lot of 3 only cost me about 16 bucks. Which is good, because when I went home and inspected them, I found the "back" part of the housing that is obscured by the body seal actually is a separate piece and snaps off! Haha, durrrrr.... but in fairness to me, the manual does a poor job of describing that one. So to sum up, the lens is in fact glued in, but it doesn't matter because the whole housing is what comes off, not the lens.

The blue effect seems to be exaggerated greatly by the camera I took that picture with, although the LED replacement bulbs are on the bluish end of the scale. The pictures of the "finished product" are more color-correct as I took those with my dSLR. I cut off the original connectors on the IKEA wiring and tapped into the dome light wires in the cargo area using tap connectors. For the front I attached a piggyback terminal to the hot terminal on the dome lamp, and soldered a length of wire directly to the negative side of the bulb holder, both of which have standard male/female connections so I can unplug it and remove if necessary. This way the LED strips do in fact follow all the behaviors of the dome lamps. It's like the dome lamp on steroids. Since everything is LED's and the current draw is very low, I wasn't particularly worried about using the IKEA wires or those tap connectors. I didn't take any pictures while doing it I'm afraid, it was raining outside. I thought about the headlights and would love to do that, but since the van isn't mine, that falls into the "maybe if I'm still working for this company when the van is due to be replaced, I'll buy it from them and then mod it" category. :D

Well since this kinda turned into the "LED light mod" thread, here are some pictures of the newest iteration of the lighting. I was inspired to add a set of Ikea Dioder lighting I had laying around the house when I realized the Ikea lighting ran on 12 volts DC. Heck why not?! So easy to mount, looks very clean, only an inch or so of wiring visible before tucking into the headliner. The combined light output of the LED festoons and the Ikea LED strips is phenomenal - I am so pleased with this, makes finding something at night MUCH easier.

I made a post in one of the other forum areas; I figured I should probably introduce myself! I am a TC driver, it's my new fleet vehicle to replace a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan C/V. I work as a service tech for B/S/H/ Home Appliance, manufacturer of Bosch, Siemens, Thermador, and Gaggenau brand appliances. So far I've put over 4,000 miles on this van in about 6 weeks time! Since it doesn't belong to me I don't have any major plans for it, but I have made a few mods so far for aesthetic's sake and to improve night visibility inside the cabin. Here's a pic: BTW if anyone knows how to get a set of the European center caps for the wheels, I'd sure appreciate that info!! Haven't seen a Euro dealer on the net that will ship to the U.S.

I went by the Ford dealer, they said that lower-priced part is the housing... so I ordered 3. One to replace the cracked lens for the time being, and 2 to play around with to figure out how to get at the bulbs. On a side note, I did the interior bulbs and so far I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, though they could be brighter (reflectors in the light housings would help).

Hi everyone, new member here. I have a 2010 Transit Connect XLT that I drive as a fleet vehicle. Since it doesn't belong to me, I'm only making a few simple "mods" to it, one of which (or so I thought) is to replace the license plate bulbs with LED bulbs. The manual says to simply remove the lens on the housing and pull the bulb out. That is BAD info. The lens is glued to the black plastic housing, and as careful as I tried to be, I broke it. Once I broke it off, I could clearly see the glued surfaces. Has anyone replaced their license plate bulbs? For now I just put the original bulb back in and reglued the lens, but a cracked lens will not do. I looked at "fordparts.com" and it shows the assembly as part # 13550 with a price of $6.48?? The bulb it shows separately available as # 13466 with a price of $25.00?! That makes no sense. It is the same part as the light bulb for the side markers, and they also show a price of $25.00. I'm going to have to contact a Ford dealer I guess. If anyone can shed light on this (pardon the bad pun) I'd appreciate it. Thanks.