I opened the driver's door and the wind took it fast. Takes effort to open and close and the forward door skin hits and chips the trailing edge of front fender now. Gap is obvious at rear of door where it covers the fuel filler door. Should I bother with stealership hoping it could be re-bent under warranty or go straight to Independant body shop ?
Wind Took My Door Today
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I'd bodyshop it. What's the logic on trying to get Ford to pick up the tab?
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They can afford it?0
Not sure. Failure to anticipate structural deformation when egressing during 50 MPH winds? Never happened to me in any other vehicles before, therefore MUST be a Transit design flaw? Just reaching I guess. UNLESS a few years from now we find that it indeed IS a Transit thing......
When I used to sit alert in Iceland while in the Air Force, the cars and vans we drove around the base all had heavy straps bolted to the doors to keep them from flinging all the way open in the constant high winds. Didn't work. Pretty much all the vehicles has sprung doors with the front fenders dented in.
Where I live it's very windy all summer so I always make sure to park into the wind no matter what I'm driving, especially with my kids opening the doors.
JP
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If Ford does cover it let us know- because then I'll go after them for two dents in my roof from falling pine cones>
Never seen such thin metal on a vehicle.
My property is covered in pine trees- in 30+ years at this location never had a pine cone dent any other vehicle, now I have to be careful where I park the Transit
Once in Moab Utah my son, 15 at the time, and I were getting into my 96 F350 when a freak wind gust came up- I was screaming at him to NOT let go of the door no matter what- he is a big boy and it was all he could do to hang onto the armrest, actually surprised me it didn't rip off- the wind was that strong.
I was cleaning sand out for the truck interior for months....
Never seen such thin metal on a vehicle.
My property is covered in pine trees- in 30+ years at this location never had a pine cone dent any other vehicle, now I have to be careful where I park the Transit
Once in Moab Utah my son, 15 at the time, and I were getting into my 96 F350 when a freak wind gust came up- I was screaming at him to NOT let go of the door no matter what- he is a big boy and it was all he could do to hang onto the armrest, actually surprised me it didn't rip off- the wind was that strong.
I was cleaning sand out for the truck interior for months....
I had heard warnings on the local news and weather radio station to prepare for power outages due to the forecast of high winds. Wish they would have reminded me about using extra caution when opening car doors! Just something I never really thought about before. I'll take it to the collision shop.
Collision shop guy put a towel between the forward edge of door and the fender and slowly closed it under controlled pressure. Moved the towel around a bit and repeated. Works now without metal on metal scraping, not perfectly aligned but functional. He said if I want it better next step would be to pull the lights and fender and R&R the hinges, around $500+. I'll give it some time.
Good plan, but it would require forethought as well as situational awareness.trick I learned years ago , roll down your window prior to opening the door
If I had the above I would have CAREFULLY opened the door all the while maintaining a tight grip on the handle.
trick I learned years ago , roll down your window prior to opening the door
bbird,
Another trick learned out of necessity, easier to push against door trying to close than it is to control door trying to open wider, while manuvering wheelchair in or out.
I try to park, if possible, into the wind.
Semper Fi
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I had that happen on the 6th day of owning my van. About threw me on the ground when it happened. It didn't help that I was facing downhill either. I had a body shop fix it for $60, but it wasn't perfect. A couple months later, I hit a deer and after the $7,000 in repairs (thank goodness for insurance), the door was perfect again. So I guess the best way to get your door fixed after giving it the old 180 is to hit a deer or something else that will total the front quarter panel that the door attaches to.
So not really looking to blame Ford or anything, but are these Transits more prone to this? Had 175,000 miles on my E-150 parking care free at many popular sailboarding sites, and six years on the Sprinter with never even a hint of a flyaway door. Now in this tiny sampling of Transit guys in their first year of ownership it's starting to look like a "thing". Maybe a placard is in order...." Caution: opening door with a tail wind may result in $3000 damage"
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2,894 Posts
It certainly IS a cautionary tale for the rest of us. That handhold in the door does not provide very good grip to use against wind. I will try to notice if it's been gusting, and in such cases, will exit out the back door. (Mine rear doors have been modified with interior handles, if anyone had not noticed.) I already use the rear doors when I have to park in tight spaces, or when someone someone slides a vehicle in too close to the van. Nice option, there.
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73 Posts
Gosh, with all of the reports of "thin skin", pinecone damage, hail damage.......maybe I'd better plan on having Line-X or Rhino coating the entire top ........
Bonus to doing that.....never have to worry about washing the roof.
........Bonus to doing that.....never have to worry about washing the roof.
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371 Posts
With all the hail in Texas, maybe I should Line-X or Rhino the whole thing!
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The Transit doesn't have a door "handle", in the sense that fingers can be wrapped around it strongly so as not to be taken by surprise. All you can do is stick your four fingers in at a 90 degree angle. Hands don't have a lot of grip or strength to react in that position. Form over function. My little hyundai has a better gripping handle.
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