Durty_Flaanimal

Let's see that awning!

Sweet ride! Got plans for it??

It's definitely a slim selection and I did get lucky. I found a few I considered but I really wanted cargo doors and most I was finding had the liftgate. One dealer about 20 miles from me has 13 TC in stock...well now 12. :0) They have several nice wagons and a few nice cargo vans including a red one.

Brought home a 2021 XLT LWB Black over Black 6 passenger. Sweet van, I'm loving it so far. Has some great options, HID headlights, LED fogs, cargo doors and roof rack. Made appointment to get windows tinted next week.

This build is coming along really nice!! I am also planning an adventure van using a FTC Wagon. I need to maintain some seating as this is my daily driver and I will need to have people and dogs in the van from time to time. Now I'm off to find a van!! UGH.

I got my deposit refunded today. I have been searching for something that will work for me but the pandemic is problematic and inventory is low. That being said I live near chicago and its a big market so I've found a couple that will do. Anyone have any experience with buying a service loaner? Full factory warrantee and everything just a big discount...I found one of those and am considering.

UPDATE - Ford has informed my dealer that they will not be assigning production dates to dealer orders until June at the earliest. This means any dealers that ordered in April and May will be pushed to June and the clock on the 22 week wait will start at the time the orders are picked by Ford. Ridiculous commitment they are asking for by not being able to give an idea of when production dates will be assigned. They shouldn't be taking our money and then giving us new information. I'm trying to get my deposit back right now. So pissed.

This is EXACTLY my plan. Rivnuts on the ditch channel should be able to support the rack no issues IMO.

Bicycle security.

100% agree. RTT should be fine when parked as long as total load doesn't exceed the listed limits while driving.

Just got these from the dealer to show me what the color looks like on the FTC in person. This is a van in Florida that has the new Solar Silver color that I ordered. Love it~!

Alright! All good points and thank you for the feedback. I understand that the roof shouldn't be over loaded when driving because it changes the characteristics of the handling of the vehicle and I don't think that will be a problem as the RTT is conservatively weighing in at 150 lbs including the rack. So it's really just a matter of if the roof will support the weight of my wife and I when we are in the tent. I think adding crossbars to the racking system will help distribute the load and it won't be an issue. I really like the idea of leveraging the factory mounting points and utilizing larger hardware to mount the rack but I also want to be able to remove all the racking components so I can wash it in a car wash. That why I like the Rhino Rack option with the quick release towers. Luckily I have lots of time to figure this out since Ford hasn't even picked up my order yet and locked it in to the system. In looking at the adrian I'm thinking I could leverage the mounting hardware and then use 8020 and possible build my own roof rack. This would make for a much easier installation of the base and possibly even give me better support across the roof and distribute the load even more evenly. I'm thinking something like this picture below.

HA! Same here...lots of ideas and limited fab skills. I can fix your bicycle like a mother though. So, Rhino Rack ditch rail mounts will work on all ditch rails, you just have to drill the roof. https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof/roof-racks/vortex/vortex-rlt600-ditch-mount-black-2-bar-roof-rack_ja8414 There is an offroad shop near me that says they have done a bunch of these so this is the way I am leaning right now. Unfortunately I just heard from the ford dealer and Ford hasn't picked up my order yet and it's still in a holding pattern. They had one allocation from April and doesn't look like I'm going to get it so May it is. ?

Gotcha. I will look into it more and start a build thread when I have some more definitive information.

@LostInTransit and @Fifty150 thanks for the feedback! I've been off riding mountain bikes and thinking about this a lot! Great ideas about attempting to use a commercial type rack and utilizing mod'ed brackets from other manufactures and I think I can make this work. @LostInTransit mentioned creating a build feed. What did you mean by that? I'm need to the whole forum things so I ask a lot of noob questions, I'm sure. It looks like the Rhino Rack Pioneer platform has some promise. I think I can use the platform and a custom install of their ditch rail feet to get 3 or 4 cross bars bolted directly to the roof ditch rail and get a platform up there. As mentioned the total weight is the issue and I still haven't had any luck locating the roof capacity. I've hear alot about 250 lbs cap with 2 cross bars utilizing the factory rails. I feel like if I spread the load over an additional cross bar or two and place those mounting points over the factory reinforced points in the roof I'm hoping to double it and get to 500 lbs total while parked and camping. RTT - 150lbs with bedding and awning, 200 lbs for me and 150 for a guest (wife) in the tent = 500 lbs.

Agreed but I'm thinking if I can come up with a three bar roof cross bar system mounted to the factory rails, I can make it work. Perhaps using ditch rail mounting feet which would require drilling in one spot I believe.

It's been my experience that the platform can be fitted but Rhino Rack just doesn't offer a kit to fit it to the TC specifically. @Fifty150 makes a good point about capacity... I want to put a RTT up there sometimes so may have to go with three mounting points to spread the load. I'm having a bit of difficulty locating the exact spec from ford on the roof cap.

Has any had any success fitting a Rhino Rack Pioneer platform or other overland style platform roof rack to a LWB FTC? I have this vision of a platform rack and roof top tent for my FTC and am hitting a lot of brick wall in terms of installation kits. Looks like I'm going to have to custom install to get what I want hence me reaching out. Pic below is on a full size transit but it gives you the idea of what I'm looking for in a rack.

Hey Don - I agree getting exactly what we want is worth the wait! Still haven't heard from dealer if Ford picked up the 1 allocation they had for an April slot. Fingers crossed.

Essentially. Building it in Spain and shipping it via boat then rail into Chicago then truck to the dealer. I won't hold my breath.

I finalized my order yesterday and gave the dealer a deposit. Got a text from them last night saying they submitted the order to Ford...now the waiting. Dealer has 1 allocation for April from Ford, so I'm really hoping they pick it up and it doesn't get pushed to May. Ford says the estimated time from order to delivery on this van is 22 weeks, that puts delivery around the middle of September. Here's the details: 2022 XLT LWB Wagon Solar Silver - Only saw the color on the internet from EU sites and cars - praying I like it when it comes in Ebony cloth - 60/40 split bench second row Vinyl floors front and rear Engine block heater HID Headlamps Trailer tow package Mid Vehicle Overhead Console Roof Rails 16" Dark Sparkle Wheels Front and rear sensing LED Fog Lamps Planning on doing getting a 1up hitch mounted bike rack for the back, new roof rack and roof top tent, window tint and hood wrap in place before it comes in so first week I can get it tuned up. My goal is to build the van into a weekend and road trip vehicle that will give me plenty of storage for bike parts, tools, food, dog supplies, human supplies, small fridge (hop flavored recovery water) and passenger comfort is super important to me too. Would love a platform rack for the roof so if anyone has any ideas, please share! Picture from Ford's website after I built it on the build function.

I'm considering placing a factory order in the next few days. The dealer is sayin 4 months...I'm betting it will be more like 6 months but we'll see.

this looks great! Any updated pictures?

Mounting turned out slick! How is it holding up?

Did you end up puling down the headliner? How was the install?