Mike Chell

My main concern with blocking up the ramps as pictured ... it puts more strain on the rear "wall" of the ramp. The weight of the vehicle is supposed to be spread across the whole ramp. the picture shows a higher percentage of the weight will be applied to the back. Folding could occur, which would be rapid failure and possibly fatal. Please be careful if you continue using this method !!!

from the same manufacturer ... there's no problem with using a larger filter. Buying "bargain" filters can DEFINITELY be a problem. My experience ... they DON'T over torque them. They don't USE a torque wrench at all. WAY too many mechanics think their wrists are calibrated. for those of you who're thinking, "mine is" ... no, it's NOT. Don, I won't argue your opinion towards "larger must be better". I tend to agree that the specified filter is sufficient, and larger isn't necessarily better ... especially if you're doing the oil changes on schedule. However, I will argue that two filters, from the same manufacturer, designed for the same type engine (4 stroke vs. diesel) will both work within the specifications. If a person is ... lacking ... on scheduled oil changes, the extra filter surface area of a larger filter might be useful. As long as the smaller one is the specified size, the larger one will work just fine. You wouldn't want to put a smaller one in place of a larger, though. The main problem with oil filters, is the sub-standard construction of aftermarket, budget priced filters. Many of them just won't stay together through a long change interval.

Micro needles on the inside edge of the cover. Coat them with the Poison Dart Frog's secretions. You, of course, need to remember they're there, so you don't get stuck yourself.

I did! It's been fun ... but I am looking forward to doing some fishing and other projects that have piled up over the past 6 weeks.

I'm about as done as I can get, for the moment. I'm sure there will be more, but this is it for the general modifications.

Better Business Bureau. Ford will be best, and cost the most. Aftermarket shops will save you money ... but check them out with the BBB before committing. If you have an AAMCO near you ... they've done well for me in the past.

Carpet. I just laid down a very cheap, thin carpet in the back of mine, and it deadened road noises by at least 50%. I think the main reason for the reduction in noise ... the carpet absorbs the echo effect. If you've got a carpet store ... or a building supply surplus store near you ... remnants can be very inexpensive.

Welcome.

Welcome to the site. Orlando/Deltona area represented here.

Thank you, Windguy. Next are the modified pegboards that will go up over each side window location. I should have one or both of them in soon.

Yep ... I had to crawl up under there to look at it. Couldn't find anything online ... and I'm too cheap to buy the Shop Manual. I might do a better video, with the camera better centered on the important parts.

I just typed "Transit Connect Lift Kit" in a search engine, and got about a dozen companies.

Thank you, Tom. It's been fun ... and clean. Once I'm mostly done, and start putting fishing stuff in there, I doubt it'll retain that "pretty" look.

Finally figured out to get the glove box out of my van. I kind of missed center on the camera. And I got more done on installing the back up camera. It's been raining here for almost two weeks, putting the brakes on a lot of work.

Wow! I'm glad all I needed was a cargo van. Wife dropped me off at the dealership, after 5 hours of paperwork, I drove off in my new van. I hope yours, with whatever bells and whistles you're waiting for, turns out to be worth it !!!

For all of you here, in the U.S.A. ... the reason the manufacturers DON'T give us access ... "A simple user interface allowing the owner to change these parameters (virtually all parameters) would be so easy for the manufacturer to provide with today's technology." ... is because it's WAY TOO easy to sue said manufacturer. They can have vehicle owners sign all the releases in the world, and they'd still get sued. One of my employers, when he owned a different after market motorcycle shop, sold a chain, oil and filter to a customer. That's it, never actually saw the vehicle. The Vehicle turned out to be one of those balloon tire three wheelers. The kind that maimed or injured lots of people. The vehicle owner put the chain on, replaced oil and filter, and went for a ride. He'd "had a few" while working on the trike. He wrapped it and himself around a tree ... claimed the vehicle didn't respond to controls. Lawyers said it's because "those three wheelers were dangerous for this very reason" and "It's why the companies stopped making them. They should've all been recalled". The lawsuit's claim against my employer was that they should've (1) refused to sell anything for "those vehicles" and (2) should've given the customer a written warning about "those vehicles" as soon as they saw what they were ordering for. The claimant won, and the settlement put the company out of business. I'm actually surprised that you can disable safety features, at all, with any push of buttons!

Yeah, I can understand farm work, etc. In cases like that, I'd just buckle the belt before I sit in the seat.

If there's one safety feature that I totally agree with, it's a seat belt. I don't understand the "desire" to drive without them on. Not judging you guys, just voicing my own opinion.

My experience is in Motorcycles and Outboards. But it is my understanding that the input shaft from the engine is rotating if the engine is. So, it's still running the drive parts of the transmission. Lubrication, etc. are fine at neutral in idle.

Speaking of hijacking ... I am sure this has come up before, but I am relatively new to Ford diagnostic systems ... They really chose, "foreskin" ... I mean, "forscan" for the name of their scanner?

Just for my own curiosity ... why disable the locking system? It's been a standard function for a long time in so many cars I don't even realize it's happening anymore. I drive rental cars all the time for work, and they all have this feature ... well, if they don't I haven't noticed. The unlock feature has always been controllable ... to allow for all doors, just driver door or no doors to unlock. I always program "no doors" when I am in big cities. But again, I can't imagine a situation where I'd want doors unlocked while in motion. Or, at least, no situation where I couldn't hit the unlock button manually to temporarily unlock the doors.

My understanding is, the extreme camber helps with "Drifting", which is destructive to tires anyway.

Since it's the only light switch I've seen with a bulb pointing UP ... I'm going to agree, it's for the "taxi" sign on the top of the car.

Or the vehicles with the wheels cambered out so far they're riding on one edge of the tread area. Or glass tinted so dark I can't see the finger I KNOW they're flipping at me. I know they are because they had to tailgate me for 30 seconds doing the speed limit (on the interstate), waiting for a gap in traffic ... you can tell they're just seething when they pass!!!

It sure looks like a "light" switch icon. Perhaps you're correct about the roof light. I was wondering if the indicator lamp on the switch came on. Since it does, you know it gets power. But if the light it's SUPPOSED to operate isn't there ... Please let us know if you DO find something it's connected to.