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Transit advice for the unsuspecting

16K views 38 replies 22 participants last post by  Boondox 
#1 · (Edited)
Just returned from 3 week road trip. Loving our Transit more than ever. Averaged about 19.5 mpg for 4,000+ miles. The lie-o-meter and hand recorded number came closer and closer together until by the end they were less than .4 apart burning strictly premium. Speed seldom over 65 mph, often less than 60.

At the start of the trip I had to have it pounded into my head for the second time in less than a month, stock tires even with Limited Slip D are a compelling reason to never ever drive onto soft ground. While getting ready to do a multi-point turn to get turned around in a camping spot I backed into a piece of gravel sand terrain confident my LSD would keep me out of trouble. I immediately discovered I was unable to drive forward. It takes just a tiny bit of sinking down for the unbelievably poorly engineered lower shock mounts to set anchor. I got stuck at 1:30 PM and didn't get free until 9:30 PM. Two days later I had a taste of what PTSD feels like. 8 hours of hopelessness and despair at times rattled me to the bone. A long way from help with no phone service. With my rear axle resting on sand I had to dig under the tire enough to removed it so I could potentially dig another hole allowing me to fit the jack under the single jacking point. One of the worst ordeals of my life.

Then at the start of our recent trip, at our very first stop in a gravel sand area that had boon-dockers spread about everywhere, I somehow managed to find one of the few spots where another sandy gravel area was soft and before I knew what hit me I was stuck in sand again. Luckily this time there were people willing to help and i was quickly pulled free by one of those generously helpful folks.

The worst two things i've concluded about the transit is how terrible it is in situations where the low clearance of the rear shock mounts leads to failure and the other bad thing is how difficult it is to make out the instrument panel when driving into a bright sky.
 

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#39 ·
Yup, a lightly loaded transit on stock tires will get stuck on a wet paper napkin. We got stuck in the Anza Borrego badlands and once in a friends driveway. That was when we started saving for the 4WD conversion. Although with decent tires and a Truetrac diff I don't need the 4WD near as much.
 
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