STAGEO

Update: Personally I wanted a new TC like nobody's business, but there were none to be had. When I bought her in 2019 there were so many on the lot we had to go to the overflow lot to find the one I had my eye on. Not so in 2020 or even 2021. Long story short we got us a Maverick instead to replace the van. Wife's happier, to be honest. That said I'm afraid I have to leave this little community but I want to thank you all for letting me be part of it and all the well-wishes, not to mention the plethora of good information in all the threads. Cheers.

Thank you.

That's factory glass covered in aftermarket perforated vinyl. The same is on the rear windows. Wonderful alternative to tinting.

Thanks for the well-wishes, and you bet the next van is going to be exactly that. Funny you mention the wiper blades, I was lamenting buying Trico Ice blades as they were causing the wipers to malfunction.

I was recently involved in a crash in my 2019 TC, a car lost control and drifted into my lane. We struck, my van went into a spin, hit the embankment and rolled into the ditch striking the treebank. The van was inverted. All airbags deployed, though my seatbelt came loose by itself. My wife was still tethered in her seat upside down. I unbuckled her and we were able to crawl into the cargo bay and out of one of the barn-doors that opened on impact. This van saved our lives. We walked away from the damage you see with superficial injury. Though I'm not thrilled about my seatbelt malfunction this shows how durable this vehicle is in a crash. The van is a total loss, but we're alive.

The OEM protective cage installed on the Van version's sliding-door windows on the driver-side for the small wheel base. I don't have a part number.

I've got what you need. I've just developed a prototype of a space-age phone mount specifically designed for the 19-21 TC. Behold. Now, I know what you're thinking; it looks like a belt-clip for an Otterbox attached to a length of black-painted plywood via rubber bands from the grocery store, but I assure you this is made from the highest quality of materials. Slip this baby into the slot in the dash and you're good to go. I accept Paypal and most Cryptocurrencies.

If anyone has a window screen they removed from a SWB on the driver side, I'm interested.

No, mine didn't have screens installed factory, I just drilled them in, no trouble. Now, to remove the rivets, simply choose a drill bit slightly larger than the head of the rivet and drill it off. The rest of it will fall into the door cavity, I guess. Take the screen off and tint your window. If you want to replace the screen, just screw in self-drilling screws a hair larger then the hole created from the rivet removal. The metal is pretty thin so you can always choose a larger screw. Or sell the screens on the secondary market. I'd trade good value for a driver-side, SWB OEM screen

Rivets need to be drilled to remove them. I mounted my screens after the fact, and used self-drilling lath screws that I painted black to match.

For anyone toying with the idea of RV windows or Portholes on their van but isn't 100% sure of what it'll actually look like installed, this little gem out in the wild has pretty much all of them on the same vehicle.

I went with the OMAC branded ones for $140 and the install wasn't terribly labor intensive. Very solid and give it a good look.

You bet. And I asked how they did it, and they were more than willing to let me in on it. Apparently they have an automatic machine that does it in no time flat. I dropped it off at 9 a.m. and drove away at around noon. Be sure to keep the plastic panel to either sell on the secondary market or use as a patch in case the window gets broken for some reason.

I only did the passenger side, and purchased the glass from Winner Ford. If I'm being honest, I probably paid more all in than I should have, but if it means being able to save myself from a blind-spot accident so be it. Also auto-glass places really want to supply the full-tint version and I wanted non tint because my rear windows aren't tinted and I wanted it to look factory. I can't stand clear and tint on a car, it looks uneven.

$125 for the job and I supplied the glass.

I tried and failed to cut the adhesive on my sliding door panel, and ultimately hired Safelite to do the job and they did a great job. It's a pain in the rear without the right tools and you might do more damage than good.

For a while I was using a length of Tenax netting to keep the pooches out of the cab during a ride to the park, but I found myself wanting a proper partition to protect from real hazards when hauling. Problem is, this is my personal vehicle and I want to be able to lay my seat back from time to time or simply not have my van look too much like a work van. All commercial bulkheads permanently attach to the vehicle. So I began brainstorming on a way to create a real barrier that I could remove easily. And I found it. Kargo Master offers a mesh partition that is universal among the popular small cargo vans. Part #40680. It's lightweight and attaches via two 90 degree brackets that bolt to the top and a sheet metal one-piece bracket that bolts in via the D-rings behind the seats. But the book says I'm supposed to bolt the cage to the brackets. I didn't. Instead, I used 60 lb disc-magnets that I bolted to all the places where the provided carriage bolts are supposed to attach. Using them and a pair of wingnuts from the hardware store, the cage snaps into place via the magnets and the two wingnuts/bolts in the top brackets hold it in place. In under a minute and a half, you can slide the cage smoothly through the side door, snap it in pace and tighten it down with no tools. Reverse when you don't need it. It's absolutely strong and quiet. Not a rattle. I did, however, go through two cans of black spray paint because it comes in powdercoat-gray and I couldn't have that. So if any of you want a partition that really protects the cab and can be installed/removed by hand in under 90 seconds at a whim, here ya go. Hope you all found this helpful.

For anyone that wants for the look of the orange side markers without the cost, there's a seller on Ebay selling these babies for $21 American, all in. They're not OEM, but the quality seems to be on point. They shipped from the UK to my door on the East Coast in 7 days and I'm happy with em. Not tryna shill, just wanted to share. https://www.ebay.com/itm/143442603639 Seller name eurowagensltd1

Being locked out of your vehicle is no fun, it's inconvenient and potentially expensive. Sure, this is what we pay AAA or our insurance company for, but as a very wise woman once said: 'Ain't nobody got time fo' dat.' That said, there's an easy and very inexpensive way to safeguard ourselves from ourselves: Ye old Hide-a-key. Now we've all heard of the ol' magnetic keybox trick, but these can leave you stranded because that pothole you hit 2 years ago sent it flying and you didn't think to check on it. So what do we do? Ziptie. What do we do with it? Emergency key. Some of the proximity Ford fobs contained a backup HU101 keyblade hidden within that would open the lock manually, this is Strattec part # 4223891 that will take care of the newer 14-20 model years. It's a bare-bones keyblade with a small hole that you can easily thread a ziptie through and attach somewhere on the underside of the van. It won't start the vehicle, but will save you if your keys are locked inside. Maybe even hide a programmed key onboard somewhere that will save you from a lost key scenario; roll under the van, break the ziptie, unlock the door, fetch the hidden programmed key inside and drive home. For the earlier models, Strattec part #5914577 will do the trick. Keeping a key to your vehicle attached to the vehicle might weird some people out, but honestly who's looking? Be creative and pick a spot under your van that's easy to get to but hard to spot at a glance. Mark the spot with some brightly colored duct tape and you'll be able to find it in a pinch. Hopefully this will save at least one of you from a lockout.

Thanks all for the insight/info.

Looking to purchase my first Transit Connect and I have the opportunity to buy a brand new 2018 at a very decent price. I have zero experience with this generation of Ford 4-cylinders, but I hear nothing but good things about the 2.5. I'm not terribly worried about nominal power/fuel economy differences between the 2.0 and the 2.5...my only concern being durability, reliability and ease of repair. I want the engine that will last me the longest. That said, would I be better served with the 2.0 or should I jump on the 'last' of the new 2.5s? Sorry if this has been asked before and I did search before starting a new thread. Thanks much for the insight!