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Project: Company Van

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26K views 40 replies 20 participants last post by  skymons  
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#1 ·
Well I found out I will finally be getting my new company van this Thursday. I've been reading this forum for the past few months since I found out the company was switching from the Chevy Express to the Ford Transit this year.

A little background: I've been with my employer for about 25 years. They provide us with take home company vans. Since about 1998 I have been given a brand new van every 3-4 years. This will be my fifth new van. The first two were Ford E-150's. The next two were Chevy Express 1500's. Now they are going with the Transit. Since I am somewhat of an audiophile, car enthusiast, do-it-yourselfer, and all around mechanically and electrically inclined person, I have customized every one of my previous company vans to some extent. Even though "official" company policy prohibits modifying the company vehicles, in my experience, if you do your job well, don't do anything stupid or irreversible, nobody seems to have an issue with it. I like to make the vehicle I spend several hours a day in as comfortable and enjoyable for me as possible. I treat it like my own vehicle. Take care of it, clean it, etc. So I don't mind spending my time and money customizing it because it benefits my overall day to day life.
So very soon I will begin my project and try to document as much of it as possible here.

Project vehicle:
2016 Ford Transit 150 LR 130" WB 3.7 liter van. Base am/fm radio. Reverse camera monitor in rear view mirror.

Planned mods:

Audio:
Install Pioneer double din DVD head unit (pending availability of Metra kit)
Polk Audio PA660 4 channel amp
Phoenix Gold RSd6.5CS component 6.5" woofer and crossover
Polk Audio db1001 1" tweeters (I thought the PG tweeters were too bright/harsh)
An OLD Collins brand 8" tube subwoofer (from the early 90s)
Noico sound deadening material for doors, etc.
Most of this system I had from the last van. The amplifier will be the main upgrade this time. Before I just powered everything off the head unit. This way I can start putting the system together while utilizing the speaker level inputs on the amp connected to the factory radio until the Metra double din kit becomes available. At least the base radio has an aux input to temporarily satisfy my music needs.

Lighting:
Add turn signals in mirrors using factory lenses and 7.5 watt LED T-10 bulbs.
Upgrade interior lighting to all LED.
Upgrade exterior lighting to LED.
Upgrade headlights to LED.
Disable Daytime Running Lights (looking for suggestions how to do this!)

Convenience:
Wire reverse camera monitor to turn on with ignition.
Add power locks
Add keyless entry
Add power windows
(The company for some crazy reason ordered these vans with manual locks and mirrors, even though power locks and windows were no cost/standard equipment!)

Comfort:
Tint windows.
Carpet and padding for rear cargo area.
Additional sound deadening / insulation.

I have the majority of the equipment and supplies already. Also to help prepare, I bought a 72 hour subscription to motorcraftservice.com which was well worth the $21.95. I was able to view and print the relevant wiring diagrams for the Transit, as well as step by step disassembly instructions for most of the areas I will be working on.

So watch this thread in the coming weeks for progress!

P.S. I tried to attach a couple pictures but every format, file size I tried that was supposedly within the requirements was rejected as "not a valid image". Any advice on this? Have to use remote picture hosting site I guess?
 
#2 ·
Whjeffs,

Your employer would be wise to keep you for another 25 years.

I admire your enthusiasm and energy.

Should be fun keeping tabs on your mods.

Welcome to a great forum!
 
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#4 ·
Whjeffs,

Welcome and looking forward to you posting your progress on the build.
Guessing you are from our neighbors to the North since you advised you will be disabling the running lights?

Semper Fi
 
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#5 ·
Whjeffs said:
P.S. I tried to attach a couple pictures but every format, file size I tried that was supposedly within the requirements was rejected as "not a valid image". Any advice on this? Have to use remote picture hosting site I guess?
Click to expand...
Your plans sound great, the similar ones I've done so far have been worth it. I just finished doing LED turn signals in the mirrors for under $30 and minimal effort this morning.

I think there is a temporary issue with uploading images, I had a problem yesterday and at least one other member did too. I just uploaded mine to my website and put the link in.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
Jonsobi, thank you for the kind words.

CrewVanMan, I am actually installing universal power locks, keyless entry, and power window kits purchased off eBay. I have had good luck with the locks/remote keyless entry kits I have purchased from ebay and installed on my previous company vans. This will be my first try with the power window kit though.

USMC Vet, I am actually here in the U.S., the daytime running lights are just another option the company ordered on these vans. I despise DRLs. I have always disabled them whenever possible. This van looks like it will not be so simple to disable them, as from what I determined from the wiring diagrams, they are using the high beams controlled by the BCM at a lower voltage, or pulse width modulated voltage. There is not a separate fuse for the DRLs that would not also disable the high beams altogether. So unless I can somehow reprogram the BCM to disable the DRL, I haven't figured out any other way yet.

Here's some of the pictures I was trying to upload, hosted on Imgur: https://imgur.com/a/6YVbx



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
J
#8 ·
It's illegal to park with headlights on in most states. That means there is a way to defeat the DRL. In some vehicles the solution was to apply the parking brake and they would turn off. In Chevrolet one click of the brake would turn them off and wouldn't affect driving. So, you could wire a switch to mimic that action.

I don't have DRL in my van but try the brake to see if they turn off. If so it's a matter of fooling the computer to think you're applying the parking brake.
 
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#7 ·
The easiest for me: upload photos to photobucket (FREE- photobucket.com, create an account). Then click on the photo you want to post and click on the box next to IMG ( to the right of the picture in photobucket). It will say copied. Paste it into the message on the forum. If posting more than one picture make sure to hit enter to separate the links otherwise it won't work. The link is about 4 lines long. If you preview the post the photo will appear large in your post. There is probably an easier way but it is the only way I could figure out.
 
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#10 ·
Well I discovered the Motorcraft service manual is incorrect in regards to the DRLs. They use the low beam headlights at reduced power, not the high beams. So I guess that makes doing LED or HID headlights a problem without the DRL disabled. Maybe I'll just settle for the H11 --> H9 bulb upgrade if I want a little brighter headlight.
 
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#12 ·
Image


Easy mod here. To get the rearview camera screen in the mirror to stay on whenever the ignition is on, cut the green/brown wire and jumper the connector side of the wire to the white/violet wire. Tape off the other side of the green/brown wire. Our if you want, install a SPDT switch and you can switch back to normal operation if you want. Thus connector can be found behind the cover behind the mirror.

Note on operation: when not in reverse, the guide lines are still shown on the screen, but they do not move with the steering angle.

I find driving with the camera on all the time is much safer than relying on just the side mirrors alone. It's easier changing lanes on the highway when you have that nice wide view of the rear. Also it's nice to be able to see behind you in a parking lot before you shift into reverse.

Note: picture for wire reference only. I did not leave the wire just shoved in the connector like that. Be sure to use a good connection method!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
#18 ·
Impressive! Would not have thought such stuff was doable.

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#20 ·
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#22 ·
I don't think there is an easy way of doing it with the other displays. It works on the rearview mirror display because that is a simple setup and only requires the reverse +12V trigger to turn it on. After studying the wiring diagrams for the other systems, there is no simple +12v reverse trigger on any of those. Since the displays themselves are on at all times, I believe the computer systems talk to the displays through the communication lines to tell the display when to switch on the reverse video feed.
 
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#24 ·
Finally got my double din head unit installed today. I'll probably have to go back another day and fine tune the mounting as it doesn't feel like the front panel clipped in good all the way around. I think the radio has to be set back a little bit. Otherwise I'm very happy to finally have the stock radio gone.
Image


I also ran the USB extension cable from the head unit to the little slot where the factory USB plug would go. This only required popping out the blank plate, trimming some of the rubber off the USB plug, shoving it in and hot gluing it in place.
Image



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M
#25 ·
I tried to PM you this question but since I don’t have enough posts I cant PM yet.

I saw your posts on installing a DDin HU. I'm wondering how/where you tapped into the reverse camera and reverse signal.

i too have the basic radio with the camera display in the mirror and want to use the HU screen while reversing.

my initial thoughts were to take it from the connector behind the mirror. i wont want the display to show in the mirror after new HU is installed.

Feel free to post a reply here or PM if you wish.

BTW what the switch for by the USB and Aux input? Passenger ejection seat perhaps? ;)

Thanks in advance.
joe
 
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#26 ·
Sorry for the long delay in replying. I haven't been as active in this forum in a while. So for the reverse camera question, I didn't really tap into the video feed anywhere. I did not feel a need to feed the video to the head unit screen. Seemed unnecessary for me. I just added the switch up inside the cover behind the mirror so the screen inside the mirror would be on whenever the ignition was on, not just when it was in reverse.
The other switch in the picture is actually just a momentary-on pushbutton that is wired into the parking brake circuit of the head unit to trick it into allowing video if I so desire. I know they have little automatic modules that can be wired to the head units to do this but I already had the pushbutton so I just did it that way. Simple to use, just push twice and video is enabled.


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#32 ·
Wow I’m impressed! I have a 2019 Transit 250 take home electricial van. Luckily they got me power windows/mirrors I didn’t even realize you could get them with out that. I’ve added tints all around, led bulbs in the front the rear have the OEM led bulbs, a kenwood media player radio, backup alarm with a kill switch, and a viper auto start. People at work think I’m crazy with these light mods since they don’t even bother washing there vans! The crappy speakers are driving me crazy especially since we only get two of them. Did you mount your tweeters in the OEM position? Is your bulkhead plastic? I’ve never seen them in plastic mine is metal and I’m sure if I were to mount a bazooka like you did it would rattle to high ****! There’s not much storage in this thing so that’s where I tuck old prints any way. I was considering some decent speakers and one of the mini amplifiers mounted behind the drivers seat. Your sound insulation looks pretty cool too!
 
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#36 ·
133036
Sorry but I forget who posted this where they actually cut the harness going to the mirror and put there own male and female connector in it. I left the cable connected to the mirror and used a tap to tap the +,-, and the drain/gnd wire to a shielded 18/2 wire which I ran to the radio and I bought a rca male connector with screw terminals which I plugged into the back of the radio.
 
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#37 ·
133038

I went with a Kenwood DMX7706S, it’s a media player so you can see how a shallow it is making it easy to install. I haven’t used a CD in years I stream from my phone and even in my Lexus I don’t use the factory navigation I use Waze on my phone so this setup is perfect with apple CarPlay it’s way more advanced than the radio on my Lexus which makes me sad lol.
133039
 

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