It’s a unicorn until I see one. All of the ubiquitous Ford promo is just a rehash of the original announcement. Almost all of the YouTubers have the English head engineer gentleman who extols its virtues. I notice, however, a lack of any off script questions. I think they are all getting paid, and I suspect that most don’t give a damn about the Transit Trail. So, we’re left with more questions than answers.
#1. What is a 3.5 inch body lift on a unibody? In a unibody the frame and body are but one structure: there is no separating them. Maybe “body lift” takes on a different meaning with a unibody, but a body lift is just a suspension lift. There is a subframe that the drive train sits on, but that is usually lowered to compensate for increased driveshaft angles from a suspension lift. However, Ford’s introduction of the Trial just states it as a 3.5-inch ride height increase. This makes more sense: 2 inch strut spacers and 1.25” tire radius increase (28 inch 235/65r16 to 30.5 inch 245/75r16). So, 2 + 2.5/2 = 3.5”. Oh, no. Crap! I thought I had it…. Maybe it’s for the rear axle?
#2. Speaking of the rear axle, what did they do with low hanging shock brackets?
#3. Increased track width, front and rear, by 2.75 inches. Lots of ways to do this. I think it’s likely to have 245/75r16 tires so that makes it 1/3” wider than stock. Wheels, spacers and wheel hubs seem to be what will actually get to 2.75”.
#4. Speaking of 245/75r16 tire, will a spare fit underneath a standard length 148 WB? It seems they’ll have to make a body change to accommodate it.
#5. Wheel flares are needed for track change.
#6. Skid plate-style front bumper. You need some protection for the low slung intercooler. Hopefully, style doesn’t mean just for looks.
#7. Rock slider-style steps. In this case, it just for looks. Some will like them. After all, it is a step up into a yet higher van. But, to me their number one job is too collect mud and dirty your legs or pants. But, they look good, tough. But, they aren’t tough. You hit a rock hard enough, they might damage the body where otherwise no contact would have been made because of lost ground clearance of the step! Worse yet, you might have to remove the step (trail repair) just to continue on your way. True rock sliders are very expensive and there might be a step, although a very minimal one. If it was my van, I’d be deinstalling the slider-style at the earliest opportunity.
#8. This is not covered in the press release, other than very limited info on the upfitter package included with the Trail. One issue that stands out for any camper build is the ability to charge from the vehicle’s alternator. With the advent of smart alternators this can be difficult. Smart alternators shut down when the SOC of the starter battery is near full. DC to DC chargers will not charge the house batteries below a certain voltage, usually 13.5 volts. This is to prevent discharge of the starter battery to a low level. Makes sense. If the van won’t go, your walking or calling. So, what’s the problem? If the house batteries need charging the alternator should NOT shut down, thereby NOT providing the >13.5 volts needed to keep the DC to DC chargers on and charging the house batteries. The Transit makes it difficult to keep the alternator on, aka SRC Inhibit. It’s a deep dive into the Transit Forum and into Ford technical documentation. That’s how to find the solution. To implement it you have to make changes that may void the warranty in certain situations.
#9. Speaking of warranty, did Ford threaten us in one of their ads for the Transit Trail? It was a woman talking about the capabilities and features of the Trail. Talking about the upfitter package and the exhaust fan specifically, she says something like “Try doing that yourself and goodbye warranty.” Scare tactics? Might be a potential violation of the Magnusan-Moss Warranty Act…to void a warranty because you cut a hole in your vans roof to install an exhaust fan???
