2016 Ford Transit 150 Extended Van Test

[johnny b]

For the transit van, its rear suspension is a simple live axle design with leaf springs.
Here is an example of an air bag kit for it:
http://www.truckspring.com/products...Ultimate-Kit-Ford-Transit-Rear__AIL88213.aspx

The real 'clearance' problem I see are the wimpy little wheels. (Uses the same tires as my Hyundai!) :s


Some fat off road tires, a little trimming of the wheel well arches and some bolt on plastic fender flares should give the necessary clearance under the pumpkin.

 

[29chico]

About those full size Nissan vans:

The NV is based on the Titan pickup.  The Titan was problematical, rear end failures were common. Nissan went into denial mode on the rear end issues and the other problems areas that the Titan suffered from. 

Possibly Nissan has fixed the technical issues.  Over time that can happen.  I simply don't trust their corporate integrity when it comes to owning their mistakes...

That is post #14 in the below linked thread:

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Nissan-NV-2500-HD-drawing-me-in?pid=177680#pid177680

The small NV200 has a CVT transmission.  Oh, the HORROR!!!

 

[kitesurfer]

I picked up my 2016, 148" wheel base Transit on this past Tuesday. On wednesday morning at 0930 I left and drove the Transit from Fla to Ontario Canada and back home yesterday. That is almos 3000 miles in 3 days. I slept in the back one hour going up and one sleep stop of 6 hours coming back. I crossed the Applichians between Asheville and Knoxville in a snow storm and the great storm going on now coming home.

MY impressions:
this van handles very well in snow and ice.
I check miles per gallon with my calculator--2 tanks in the 20.x, 2 in the 18/19 range and one in the high 16 into a head wind. mY normal speed was 75 but also much of 35/45 in the snow.
The inside ride is quiet and no feeling of yelling in a beer can at all.
My radio sounds great but no seek/scan.
I only needed to accelerat to pass once and this thing goes!
I found it to be very comfortable.
vision out the back sucks so mirrors are very important in traffic. MY ONLY COMPLAINT.

 

[cortttt]

I picked up my 2016, 148" wheel base Transit on this past Tuesday.  On wednesday morning at 0930 I left and drove the Transit from Fla to Ontario Canada and back home yesterday.  That is almos 3000 miles in 3 days.  I slept in the back one hour going up and one sleep stop of 6 hours coming back.  I crossed the Applichians between Asheville and Knoxville in a snow storm and the great storm going on now coming home.

MY impressions:
this van handles very well in snow and ice.
I check miles per gallon with my calculator--2 tanks in the 20.x, 2 in the 18/19 range and one in the high 16 into a head wind.  mY normal speed was 75 but also much of 35/45 in the snow.
The inside ride is quiet and no feeling of yelling in a beer can at all.
My radio sounds great but no seek/scan.
I only needed to accelerat to pass once and this thing goes!
I found it to be very comfortable.
vision out the back sucks so mirrors are very important in traffic.  MY ONLY COMPLAINT.

 Congratulations KiteDweller on that superb gas mileage! How nice that is. It's amazing a big van like that can get into the 20's going 75.....

I forgot to mention the quiet ride. The ride is surprisingly quiet.

I found the Transit a joy to drive. Loved those big front windows.

 

[johnny b]

Congratulations Kitesurfer on getting past this storm unscathed....news is showing all the folks stranded on PA Tnpk and other roads all over the east.

And since I've been snowed in a while I did some searching on the Ford Transit....one thing I found (having never crawled under one) is that the bottom rear shock mounting brackets are long, ugly things welded to the bottom of the axle tube...and they stick down what looks like about 2 inches below the bottom of the differential. This sucks for any travel off of a paved road....rock grabbers for sure.

Taller tire is the standard first step for diff clearance, but here I see an extra 2 inches needed. I wonder what Quigley and Sportsmobile do??

I would want to cut those mounts off and have smaller ones welded on....this would require some serious measuring of shock angle, length and clearances. Not a 'beginner's' job for sure.

But as that picture I posted earlier of the van built for the SEMA show, folks are working on solutions but ti might take some time. These vans would be great for desert race bike support vehicles, so hopefully we won't have to wait too long.