Van Build - 2020 Transit Ecoboost 148 MR 'Pam'

[JWA]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

Slick wheels Ryan, I mean that both ways. I'm glad some aftermarket wheel manufacturers are starting to support the Transit. For a long time there was one available wheel, period. It's the on on my old Transit to the left which you really can't see in the pic but they are not as fresh as the Havasu's.

It would be nice if the aftermarket in general will support Ford's Transits much, much, much better than they did for the E-Series. Nothing more disappointing in NOT having multiple sellers where we can spend too much money!

[Ryan_A]

I got my new LT245/75R16/E 120 S KO2s and wheels installed today. There was rubbing on both front tires and it was a little worse on the left.

I got home to hades, aka Sacramento at 106 and laid on the ground with a long jacket and safety glasses and Dremel and made some space! It worked well but once I get it into Quadvan for the conversion I’ll have him trim some more. I have some Toyota white paint that I’ll coat on the part I cut a couple times so it doesn’t rust.

Heading to the ocean tomorrow. 5 hour drive so I’ll see how the tires feel. I seem to think the van is a little quieter now because the tires are softer than stock and cause less vibration.

[marret]

Nicely done, looks much better and hope it rides better.

[RandallDee]

Congrats on the van. I'm heading that direction in another year or 2. I had heard that in 2019 that the Transit vans had switched from a mechanical steering system to electronic system and that John was currently not able to convert the electronic systems but was working on figuring it out. Either that wasn't true or it's been deciphered. Anyone know?

[bitburger]

I had my Transit converted at Quadvan last month, you may want to have him raise the rear shock mount since it is the low point on the van. I also had him add skid plates in the front; that intercooler seems quite exposed to me.

I bought the tire carrier but see now that aluminess has two versions, one that includes a ladder which would have been convenient.

Finally, you didn't mention roof racks but if you are in the market, you may want to look at Flatline Van co. They have a nice Transit Rack and ladder.

The FordTransitUSAforum.com has the most detailed Transit conversion build logs that I've seen but there are plenty of great ideas out there.

Good luck!

[peterbhere]

Nice looking wheels and tires. I've got a similar setup except with Black Rhino Journey wheels. Good choice to go ahead and get the 4X4 now. It opens a lot more opportunities to you. We opted for the Quigley as we had it shipped there straight from the factory.

[Ryan_A]

Originally Posted by peterbhere

Nice looking wheels and tires. I've got a similar setup except with Black Rhino Journey wheels. Good choice to go ahead and get the 4X4 now. It opens a lot more opportunities to you. We opted for the Quigley as we had it shipped there straight from the factory.

That’s great you got 4x4 right away, right now there may be a year wait for Quigley so we decided to buy now so we have the van will have 4x4 by end of February. When do you think you’ll have your van? Is it a 2020? I heard they don’t even have their R&D done for them yet. Best of luck!

We decided to order our locker and air compressor now to make sure we have it for the build. Things are crazy now with Covid delays, so we’re stocking up, so to speak.

[Ryan_A]

Originally Posted by bitburger

I had my Transit converted at Quadvan last month, you may want to have him raise the rear shock mount since it is the low point on the van. I also had him add skid plates in the front; that intercooler seems quite exposed to me.

I bought the tire carrier but see now that aluminess has two versions, one that includes a ladder which would have been convenient.

Finally, you didn't mention roof racks but if you are in the market, you may want to look at Flatline Van co. They have a nice Transit Rack and ladder.

The FordTransitUSAforum.com has the most detailed Transit conversion build logs that I've seen but there are plenty of great ideas out there.

Good luck!

How do you like the 4x4 Bitbuger? I will surely have him raise the shock mounts and the intercooler does seem very exposed. I have the Flatline Van co rack and ladder on my list, I like how easily a Fiamma can be mounted and that the top rails can be moved wherever.

I have also created a ford transit forum username and will start posting about the build there too.

-Ryan

[Ryan_A]

Originally Posted by RandallDee

Congrats on the van. I'm heading that direction in another year or 2. I had heard that in 2019 that the Transit vans had switched from a mechanical steering system to electronic system and that John was currently not able to convert the electronic systems but was working on figuring it out. Either that wasn't true or it's been deciphered. Anyone know?

Hi RandallDee,

John mentioned they were converting their first 2020 Transit a couple weeks ago when I called him. They didn't mention anything about having any issues with them. I'm on the list for February.

[Ryan_A]

Hello,

We made a trip to Aluminess this week and had them install their new 2020 front bumper for the transit and a rear wheel carrier.

We had also purchased a rear box but they weren’t able to finish the install. It took an extra 4 hours into Friday night after they closed and it wouldn’t work. The problem is the clearance between my two rear doors is not typical. The gap is not parallel and the doors are too close towards the bottom where the bracket for the box carrier mounts. My door wouldn’t close and lock and it was only off by about 1mm. They tried their best and worked hard but finally said they need to figure something else out. They refunded me for the purchase and we went on our way.

One change they made to the 2020 bumper that differed from what is shown on their website is the height of the bull-bar. They raised it since some transits have a camera under the Ford oval that their original design was blocking. I am glad they raised it because the low bull-bar was the thing I liked least about the bumper.

I really enjoy the bumper, can’t wait to fit it with a winch and some lights. I think I’ll have Ford look at the way the doors are mounted and see if they can fix them under warranty. I’ll probably end up buying the box carrier that they recently developed that can also hold a bike rack.

Any thoughts about the door situation?

-Ryan