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I just did the Right side. This car was serviced at the dealer it's whole life until I got it. They dropped one of the handle bracket bolts into the door, which I found when it was apart, and then ram-rodded a 1/4-20 hex bolt into the brass insert. The insert spun in the plastic when I tried to remove the bolt. I extracted the insert and heat-set a proper 6mm nut in place. I scored the nut on each flat for a little more grab. Good as new, or at least, better than a ford dealer. This is exactly why I work on my own cars. You can't trust someone who doesn't care about your investment.

Awesome, thanks everybody! I'm hunting for a strut closer to 45mm for older gen subarus (1980's). There is currently only one option available...

Hello all, I'm in the process of searching for struts for another vehicle that is not really supported by the auto industry anymore. I'm looking for the diameter of the strut that get clamped into the knuckle. My 2016 transit connect is approximately 52mm. What is the diameter of the earlier gen transit connect? Hopefully someone with a calipers can measure it at some convenient time. I'm also interested in the height of the spring perch from the lower end, but that's not as critical. Thanks!

Thanks Don. That was the first thing I did. I'll have another look...

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll take a look at that seal.

I have the same drain plug and it is 10mm allen socket, I believe. I did mine recently and it worked out great. I did two drainings of 3 quarts each and the 3rd draining I let it completely drain. This resulted in using about 1 extra quart of fluid, but made putting the drain plug back in with thread sealant less messy. I didn't take the drain plug to full specified torque because it just didn't feel good, so I got it to about 100 inch-pounds. Still tight and sealed well.

One thing to note: the instructions to re-mount the wipers on the motors is not correct for my vehicle. The measurements given to the edge of the windshield resulted in the wipers touching the the lower one's end moving well past the lower edge of the windshield. Luckily, I marked the original parked position in several spots with a sharpie on the glass and used that as a guide to reinstall. My windshield is a replacement and does not have the factory markings for alignment.

After driving a bit on some washboard gravel roads, I have to say that these struts are a huge improvement over stock. They really smooth out some teeth chattering on gravel. I highly recommend the upgrade.

Thanks for the suggestion, G B L. I ended up loosening the transfer bearing flange just inboard of the right-hand inner CV joint. I only loosened the nuts half way off of their studs. This allowed the axle to float a few cm in and out of the transmission and gave enough clearance between the axle and frame to get the strut slipped into the knuckle. A warning: be careful about transmission fluid spilling out of the axle hole in the tranny if the vehicle isn't perfectly level. I had a few issues with this combined with my poor judgment. Luckily, I need to do a transmission fluid flush anyways. Unluckily, a portion of transmission oil ended up on our driveway... :( I've read a few threads on transmission flushing and all of them mention a fill level check plug with a standard hex head on the left-hand side just in front of the axle. This does not exist on my car. There is a larger plug with a Torx pattern just behind the axle at a similar level. I have not seen any reference to this plug so I can't be certain it is the right one. The closest I got was a comment in this guy's vid: Does anyone have the actual transmission level check/flush procedure for my 2016 Ford Transit connect Titanium? (mainly detailing where the level check plug is) Lastly, I have about 100 miles on the new Bilstein B6 front struts. They're a very nice improvement. The small bump compliance is way better than the stock struts and they take the edge off of big hits like potholes and railroad tracks. I think I'm hearing the bump now more than feeling it. Before the bumps would vibrate the whole car more. Overall, they're a lot more buttery than the stock struts. Changes like this are very noticeable on these vehicles since they all ride so rough with small tires and high load capacity for their size. I did measure before and after and they raised the front end roughly 3/8". I'm sure it will settle a little bit.

Just a quick brand pointer: Don't get KYB bellows and bumpers. The bellows don't stay on their own strut tops (which seem to work fine and look like the Ford part). They're also too short and look like the diameter that hits the Bilstein B6 body is not quite small enough. Go with some OEM bellows or something like that. On the point of installation, I'm struggling with the passenger side where I've started a thread on that:

I did have the thought of unbolting the carrier bearing just inboard from the inner CV joint. This would allow the axle to move outward, slipping out of the transmission a little (there's no split ring on the RH stub in the tranny) and maybe clear the frame by 1cm or whatever it needs to come together. Thoughts?

I'm having a lot of trouble with reassembly of the passenger side. The CV shaft hits the frame before I can get the strut engaged in the knuckle. This was discussed here without a real good solution. I say real good because I don't want to use a spring compressor while the strut is on the car and I don't want to "just muscle it" for fear of doing damage to the CV. The inner CV joint already popped out on disassembly and I was able to pop it back in while there was no strut installed. I do have the axle hub nut off and the end pushed through the wheel bearing to see if I can get some play there... not much luck, yet. I've done a lot of front strut replacements and never have had an issue like this. Any advice?

Thanks again, Don. I'm going to need the entire database please. Just kidding. I wish the FSM's weren't so prohibitively expensive. I know it's really designed for professional mechanics and dealers so I should probably not complain. I appreciate your assistance. Now that this post is here, I hope it helps lots of people with this procedure. I know I'm not the only person that needs to replace shocks, themselves.

Don, Any chance you can provide the procedure to remove the wiper motor (strut.pdf step 1)? Thanks.

After a few road trips I think these speakers sound pretty good. I turned up the bass and put the fade setting slightly to the back to give them a little more power. No complaints over stock setup. Can't really complain much for the cost, anyways.

Well, I guess I'll figure it out and post it here. There is no info on this repair for this model across the web. Thank you for your insight and info.

Don to the rescue, again! Thanks. In order to possibly avoid drilling the rivets out and having to re-rivet, I wonder if the "Sliding door hinge bolts" described in step 5 can be removed and that roller unit replaced with the door still in place. That is the failed part.

At first I thought it was just dust in the roller tracks, but I think after the door slammed open on a hill the middle track is binding. It has a bit of play that binds it's movement at certain angles. Has anyone replaced these? I'm looking for tips or a procedure as well as where to get parts. I did find this part: 2069951 https://www.ebay.com/itm/255416625860 Is this correct? Does anyone have a cheaper resource for this part or a better fix? Thanks

Don, Many, many thanks for this info. I've always owned a FSM for my cars, but this one is a bit coast-prohibitive. I mean, it's a Ford.

Thanks. That is exactly correct. The stock speakers are VERY efficient. They take little power to produce their various frequencies at equivalent volumes.

I'm about to install some 6's. I need torque vaules - here's my thread on this:

Hello all, I'm about to install some Bilstein 22-272447 and 22-272430 B6's on the front of our little van. I blew a factory strut and wanted something a little more durable. We'll see how they ride. My experience with them is enjoyable and reliable on other vehicles I own. Does anyone have the torque specs for: 1. Top Hat to chassis 2. Top Hat to strut 3. Knuckle to strut pinch bolt 4. Anything else you can foresee me needing Also, any advice on the procedure would be appreciated. I have changed who know how many shocks and struts in my life (maybe 100?), just not for this particular vehicle. It looks pretty straight forward, just need access to the top hat chassis nuts under all that plastic. Then loosen pinch bolt and stuff mounted to the strut and pry the knuckle down.

I've gleaned so much from this forum about my little Connect that I thought I'd put up a few things I learned while replacing the rear door speakers. This is on my 2016 Transit Connect Titanium. One had a nasty voice coil rubbing buzz, probably from the door being slammed on a hill or something. This writeup assumes you're not putting stock Ford speakers back in. Here are the parts I used and the steps I took: Parts: 1. 6.5" replacement car speakers of your choice. The Ford stock speakers (Part AA6T-18808-CA as read on the back) are rated at 25W and 4 ohms, so don't go too crazy here or aftermarket ones won't sound good with the stock head unit. The stock speakers are crappy, but develop more bass than a lot of aftermarket speakers. I used some cheap JBL CS762's. They are bright and not bass-y at all. Cheap. 2. Metra Electronics 72-5602. This adapts Ford's 4 pin connector to simple spade terminals to clip onto most aftermarket speakers. Modify as noted, below. 3. Harmony Audio HA-825605. They're for a bigger regular Transit and work fine for this application. These adapter rings required slight modification but saved me a few bucks. You can spend more and get the Metra adapters specified by crutchfield, if you want, but these work fine. 4. I suggest grabbing a bag of W713297-S300 clips from amazon or something. You'll probably break one or two and these just pop right in upon reassembly. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CJLB446/ Steps: 1. Remove sliding door interior panel a. remove the door handle trim by removing the little tiny plugs and pressing the tabs back to release the trim. b. remove the door handle lower trim with two Torx bolts (T27?). I can't remember the size but you're looking right at them at this point, soooooo..... c. pop up the upper trim starting at the ends enough to be able to remove the door panel - you don't need to take it off completely. d. remove the two torx screws pinning the door panel. One is visible with the door open when you standing at the rear of the car looking at the back edge of the door. The other is at the front bottom corner of the door in that tiny little pocket. I think they're T20. e. use a proper tool and pry off all the little clips holding the panel to the door. There are two or three along each edge. The top edge sort of hooks into the window seal. I just gently pried this over the seal and the clips at the top edge just popped off. f. The panel fully comes out while sitting in the back with the door closed. I had to remove the power window switch harness at this point. 2. Remove old speaker a. unclip the wire connector b. unscrew the 3 torx holding it in c. pull it out - there are two clippy things keeping it from falling out, but they are kind of worthless, so keep a hand on the speaker while doing this 3. Prepare the new speaker assembly to install a. on the adapter ring I used I needed to snap off a bunch of tabs for smaller speakers that interfered with the JBL's I chose. No biggie. b. after mocking everything up, and checking wire lengths and adapter/speaker/door/connector orientation, drill a 3/8" or 1/2" hole in the side of the plastic adapter ring in the desired location. I chose the rear facing portion of the ring away from mounting points. c. mount your speaker to the adapter d. since this was the rear door I didn't need the extra wires attached to pins 2 and 3 (two center pins) of the harness. I clipped them off to simplify the wiring bulk. e. run your harness adapter wires through the hole you drilled and connect them to the speaker terminals f. optional - I filled the hole with a blob of silicone to act as a vapor barrier and strain-relief g. carefully remove the foam backing from the old speaker and stick it to the new adapter ring. 4. Install the assembly to the door with the door closed and you inside. a. test 5. reinstall all the interior and trim. I hope this is helpful to someone in the future. I was dreading doing this, but I also was curious about how to do it and couldn't find much info online.

Hi there, I have a 2016 Titanium with a rear hatch. It drips from the center of the seal just below the high brake light. I can see dust/staining where the water is dripping through. Has anyone else experienced this or/and does anyone have a solution or suggestion to remedy this problem? Background: I bought this van a year ago and live in a relatively dry climate. I first noticed a stain on the rear window a few months after we bought it. It was just residue form a drip or drip-wide stream in the center of the rear window on the inside. One night while camping there was a big rain storm and I noticed a water stream in that exact spot. Upon inspection of the upper seal with the hatch open I could see the witness marks on the seal right under the upper tail light where it looks like water came through. The upper area is clean and free of debris and the seal is intact so I don't think it is seal failure or clogging of the drainage area. I'm curious to hear your thoughts and solutions.