Mid/late 90s Ford Transit vans.

[FROSTY]

Folks Im looking to get a suitable race/trailee transport van.
I keep looking at the ford transits from mid to late nightys
The mid roof long wheel base ones.
They just look so darn roomy and the onese I see for sale seem to have done a lot of miles.
Does anyone know much about em? I've actually had no dealings with this stuff.

[Nasty]

PM Clivoris .. that is what he has .. I think AJturbo has something similar.

[nallac]

I have been told by a mechanic mate to stay away from em,
can an do have lots of problems..

[Swoop]

I have been told by a mechanic mate to stay away from em,
can an do have lots of problems..
Yup.
I was talking to a mechanic on Friday about this exact thing.
The campervan rental companies abandoned them faster than a visit from Helien Klerke offering her services as a prostitute...:buggerd:

"40 ft barge pole" might be appropriate here?

[Patch]

buy a small truck or a big trailer

[Kickaha]

We cart the Sidecar around in one, last two years we've towed between an extra 750-1000kg of sidecars behind it and still easily sat on 100-110kmh from Puke to Chch (cept for the big hill outa Taihape) only mod it has is a bigger/better intercooler

It's only done about 250,000km though so it's hardly run in, I think Feral said his one is up to 900,000

Injector pumps can give trouble and can be a couple of thousand to get sorted

A LWB with Bikes in it would still give room to retain a rear seat as well

I'll be looking for one when I get my own outfit as except for a couple of other Euro vans nothing else gives you that amount of room in the back

[Naki Rat]

I drive a 2004 mid roof 2.4 turbo Transit as a work vehicle. We need the space to carry large items of surveying and navigation equipment.

The van has done 80,000km and has had one engine rebuild, is currently undergoing rust repair, has had problems with turbo, clutch, fuel guage, injector pump and virtually every item that the local Ford agent touches during services. It is gutless on hills with even a light load. All of this is typical fare for Transits apparently. The indicators control is on the left of the steering column.

Its good points are that it has a good tight turning circle for a large vehicle and is big enough to discourage most drivers from pulling out in front of you.

Overall it is a PIG!

[Hans]

We have one /2005ish/ for a company hack and it's SHIIIIT! Breaks down so often it's not funny, is uncomfortable to sit in and drive /I'm barely 6 foot/ and handles the worst out of any van I've ever driven, to the point of being downright dangerous. As far as I'm concerned, stay away.

[cave weta]

Very few parts are available PIRATE so you buy Ford everything! $$$$$$
waterpumps brake shoes/ wheel cylinders fuel filters
my mate broke the hinge on his glovebox lid and a new one was $400.

Oh yes, when I borrowed his, I was eating a pie with my left hand and decided not to change gear exactly when I should and I revved it to 4000rpm. it erupted blue smoke out the back and coughed and spluttered and stopped. I rang him and he said " It does that- just start it again and be nice to it!"

It was fine when I tried again FFS!

[Headbanger]

We have one at work, as far as I know its only a few years old, The entire body is collapsing due to rust, the roof lifted, the doors fell off, There are holes all over it filled with bog.Shocking. it carries a small amount of gear and struggles badly. Its uncomfortable and a terrible vehicle to drive.

A waste of many thousands of dollars.

[Dooly]

Absolute fuckin crap.
I'm in the motor trade and a mate of mine is a workshop manager at a Ford dealer.
He tells me alllllllllll about them...............:oi-grr::lol:

[FROSTY]

ok Ill take that as a no go then

[Morcs]

Nothing wrong with transits 'the backbone of britain'

[PeteMun]

The entire body is collapsing due to rust,.

Yeah every single one I looked at also had major rust.. I couldn't believe it. I heard alot of companys only use them as something to do with there rear axels - can take more weight than most other vans apart from those mercedes movers. Something along those lines anyway.

[Clivoris]

Yeah mate. I'm afraid I can't really endorse them. I love mine but don't have to maintain it, as it is a work vehicle. It isn't likely to make it through the next warrant due to rust. It drives like a truck and is incredibly noisy. On the plus side it will sit at 100kmh all day, fits heaps of stuff and is cheap as chips on diesel.

[crazefox]

bring it round clive i will bog the fucka up

[Clivoris]

bring it round clive i will bog the fucka up

I like you too much bro. It's riddled with the car cancer.

[tigertim20]

theyll do a bizillion miles, although the clutches tend to shit out a bit. Put them in top gear and youll honk along quite happilly at 13-140km with a load in (if youre that way inclined), have one at work.
Pretty reliable things.

[Gubb]

So what you're all saying is, that the Ford Transit is the equivalent of Hyosung?

[Motu]

I haven't had much trouble with them - one engine on a very high km one,some clutches,water pumps,cambelts,brakes....nothing you wouldn't do to anything else.Never seen much rust on them either.

As for driving them - they will shit on any Japanese diesel of the same capacity of the same era.At first it feels like they are going to fall apart at 100kph....then you push it to 120kph and it all makes sense.Used to carry a couple of quads and a couple of bikes or more,and it didn't even notice they were there,could still cruise at 120 or 130 no worries,go up any hill like it wasn't there.The Japanese are only getting that sort of power 10 years later with DI and common rail.

[Naki Rat]

Had a rental Falcon many years back (90s) which was literally falling to bits before your eyes. On return the rental car peoples' response was that about 2-4% of Falcons of that era seemed to be 'assembled on Friday afternoon' examples.

I suspect they build a lot of Transits on Friday afternoons :zzzz::Oops::argh::drinkup:

[mdnzz]

A friend speciallises in these things, sells new, used and reco'd parts for them. He tells me lots about whats wrong with them and few things that are right. never buy direct of FORD they will apply liberal amounts of lube before giving you a jolly good rodgering. They are bad for diffs and transmissions, but relatively easy to fix.