mgmetalworks
Explorer
Barn doors are only available on low roof Transit models. I was not sure how I'd like them at first but now that I've been using the van a bit, I like the barn doors a lot.
Expovans Transit 4x4 Conversions
- Thread starter mgmetalworks
- Start date
Barn doors are only available on low roof Transit models. I was not sure how I'd like them at first but now that I've been using the van a bit, I like the barn doors a lot.
mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
86scotty
Cynic
Hey now, that's 31.6" thank you very much.
ericvs
Active member
My mistake! I rounded down too far.Hey now, that's 31.6" thank you very much.
campervan_man32
New member
Well this is a solid kick to the nuts - such a bummer. I'm assuming this was probably a financial decision as it was cost prohibitive to develop the self-conversion kit or couldn't find a manufacture partner for the parts that could supply the custom pieces for the kit, but who knows.
@mgmetalworks can you shed some light on the new direction for the Transits?
@mgmetalworks can you shed some light on the new direction for the Transits?
mgmetalworks
Explorer
There's a lot to this story. But rather than let assumptions rule the conversation, I'll summarize with the top 3 factors that led to this decision.
1) Financially, it is a monumental undertaking to produce some of these parts. Lots of upfront costs, costs of goods and services going up, some European-sourced parts getting a lot more expensive and harder to find and, at least in my opinion, an overall economic outlook that isn't ideal...kind of makes for a bad time to "hang it all out there" (or maybe a time for more careful consideration of what you do hang out and where you hang it). I'm a calculated risk taker when it comes to where to direct the money for the business and when I do my math, other investments of my time and resources have a better long term outlook.
2) Even though the conversion is almost entirely bolt-in, the work is detailed and probably 9.5-10 out of 10 for skill level ("skill level" is somewhat subjective here...but based off of my interactions with many, many van owners, the general sense I get from the Transit owner demographics is that this conversion would be difficult to very difficult for most folks). And it's not just the installation...it's maintaining the systems, troubleshooting, adjusting, fixing, etc... All of it takes a very thorough understanding of vehicles systems in general, not to mention a really good familiarity with the Transit and F150 parts (plus the ability to extrapolate what you know to figure out the hybrid of Transit/F150/Custom parts that make up the front drive hubs...). While I know that there are some Transit owners out there who are capable of installing and maintaining a complex conversion like this, many are certainly not. As I showed more and more people the prototype van (even folks with mad skills), it was clear that I was likely creating a customer service nightmare for myself.
3) I love designing and manufacturing custom parts and building awesome custom vehicles. I'm very fortunate in that I've been able to make a living doing what I love. When you combine #1 and #2...the Transit 4x4 conversion project started stressing me out to the point where I wasn't loving it any longer. A lot of really great projects got pushed aside to do this work which was also disheartening and depressing. I'd like to get back to doing the work I love to do, on the vehicles that I want to pour my time into. The more I worked on the Transit platform, the more I realized that it wasn't checking the boxes for me in terms of what I wanted to accomplish as an engineer and with our business. I was at a good stopping point where I had learned what I wanted to learn and succeeded in building a really capable 4x4 conversion. My family decided that further investment in the Transit platform wasn't what we wanted 2, 5, 10 years down the road.
At the end of the day, you gotta do what's best for you and your family. From where I sit, putting more of my time and money into the Transit platform isn't the best path forward for us.
There are enough parts (the super difficult and expensive parts to manufacture) to make two more conversions. I'm going to keep a few things around for spares just in case they're needed.
1) Financially, it is a monumental undertaking to produce some of these parts. Lots of upfront costs, costs of goods and services going up, some European-sourced parts getting a lot more expensive and harder to find and, at least in my opinion, an overall economic outlook that isn't ideal...kind of makes for a bad time to "hang it all out there" (or maybe a time for more careful consideration of what you do hang out and where you hang it). I'm a calculated risk taker when it comes to where to direct the money for the business and when I do my math, other investments of my time and resources have a better long term outlook.
2) Even though the conversion is almost entirely bolt-in, the work is detailed and probably 9.5-10 out of 10 for skill level ("skill level" is somewhat subjective here...but based off of my interactions with many, many van owners, the general sense I get from the Transit owner demographics is that this conversion would be difficult to very difficult for most folks). And it's not just the installation...it's maintaining the systems, troubleshooting, adjusting, fixing, etc... All of it takes a very thorough understanding of vehicles systems in general, not to mention a really good familiarity with the Transit and F150 parts (plus the ability to extrapolate what you know to figure out the hybrid of Transit/F150/Custom parts that make up the front drive hubs...). While I know that there are some Transit owners out there who are capable of installing and maintaining a complex conversion like this, many are certainly not. As I showed more and more people the prototype van (even folks with mad skills), it was clear that I was likely creating a customer service nightmare for myself.
3) I love designing and manufacturing custom parts and building awesome custom vehicles. I'm very fortunate in that I've been able to make a living doing what I love. When you combine #1 and #2...the Transit 4x4 conversion project started stressing me out to the point where I wasn't loving it any longer. A lot of really great projects got pushed aside to do this work which was also disheartening and depressing. I'd like to get back to doing the work I love to do, on the vehicles that I want to pour my time into. The more I worked on the Transit platform, the more I realized that it wasn't checking the boxes for me in terms of what I wanted to accomplish as an engineer and with our business. I was at a good stopping point where I had learned what I wanted to learn and succeeded in building a really capable 4x4 conversion. My family decided that further investment in the Transit platform wasn't what we wanted 2, 5, 10 years down the road.
At the end of the day, you gotta do what's best for you and your family. From where I sit, putting more of my time and money into the Transit platform isn't the best path forward for us.
There are enough parts (the super difficult and expensive parts to manufacture) to make two more conversions. I'm going to keep a few things around for spares just in case they're needed.
mgmetalworks
Explorer
Not difficult at all. I had to trim some sheet metal for clearance around the rear vent hose and fab a 4th tank strap at the rear of the tank.
Great info, thanks!