Re: Ford Transit Connect? Anyone using them?

[Chris <chriswheeldon@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Friday, March 1, 2013 3:40:24 PM UTC-8, Bob La Londe wrote:
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> I have nothing against Ford.  I have owned a bunch of them over the years=
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> but the Chevy 4wd trucks have auto locking differentials (stock, not as a=
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> option).  I am pretty sure all the Chevy work trucks have auto locking=20
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> differentials.  In tough conditions this can really make a difference wit=
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> heavy truck.  I am pretty sure they made that standard on all the WT mode=
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> from 2002 on.  Even my 2002 S-10 work truck had it.
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> I've seen plenty of Broncos and Toyota and Nissans sitting firmly on two=
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> wheels with the other two spinning and the truck going nowhere.
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> Currently my daily service vehicle is a 2012 2wd 2500HD with a utility be=
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> and my rough country truck is a 2007 2500HD 4wd crew cab short be with 11=
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> inch wide tires.  I run sand with the 4x4 at highway pressure, and I can =
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> sugar sand all day long by dropping the tires to about 18-20PSI.  On=20
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> construction sites the 2wd will chatter a bit as the differential locks a=
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> unlocks in the soft stuff, but I haven't had it stuck on a jobsite yet.  =
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> 4x4 will shift on the fly to 4wd high range at 65 MPH or under.  You do h=
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> to shift to neutral to go into low range, but low range is really only=20
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> needed like the old granny gear for low end torque pulling out stumps.


Bob,

In general, I've liked every Ford I've had.  Every our last work van was a =
front-wheel-drive Ford Freestar, and it was a whole lot better than our cur=
rent Dodge Caravan.  Nothing against Chevy's/GMC's either... although I don=
't know why they can't just pick one brand and stick with it.  The extra in=
ventory for every little thing with a logo on it must be huge, as they need=
 a Chevy version and a GMC version.

I completely agree with the locking differentials.  Most of the time if I'm=
 only minorly stuck on ice, it's because the one tire that's spinning is on=
 ice, while the other three are on snow/pavement.  Apparently riding your b=
rakes is supposed to put enough friction into the mix that the other wheel =
will spin too, but I've never had any luck with that.

I get the technical necessity for a differential for everyday driving aroun=
d corners on pavement, but the ability to lock it up when needed would be g=
ood too.  2wd is bad enough, 1wd just makes a bad situation worse.

- Chris