2020 Ford Transit AWD

[Victorian]

Yes the suspension mounts and muffler are the lowest points. I was considering not installing storage boxes beside the frame rails as it would look like we have no break over clearance... what do you think? Boxes yes or no.

 

[Victorian]

Wrong thread...

Don’t get upset ... It was in response to the ground clearance.

 

[ujoint]

I'm expecting a new front shaft with the kit.... maybe a slip jointed one?

It's too short. We dropped the diff and moved it forward as an experiment to try & free up some room for a longer shaft but thats still not enough. "maybe" a longer shaft could be made but to get enough room the flanges would need to be swapped for shorter pieces, the cost will skyrocket. Plus, like Rob said, to drop the diff you have to remove the exhaust and thats not a ton of fun, especially for a DIY guy. Stock F shaft and diff location will be the most reliable along with new CV shafts to compensate for the suspension drop.

 

[Christian P.]

I'm expecting a new front shaft with the kit.... maybe a slip jointed one?

Another boring Transit AWD video, the rear shock brackets are like depth gauges....

These videos would be more helpful if we knew what tires they are using.

But all in all, this is a lot better than the same van with RWD - which is mostly the point.

 

[theron]

These videos would be more helpful if we knew what tires they are using.

But all in all, this is a lot better than the same van with RWD - which is mostly the point.

Yaw!

The AWD Transit being around 15k less than Sprinter will be a huge selling point. And nationwide Ford dealer support. And 3.5L being a fantastic engine (aside from direct injection carbon buildup).


But I am a bit bummed it's looking like it will prob cost $5000-6000 to lift an AWD Transit. Custom high angle CV's have gotta be over $1500.

When you include the lift kit, calibration tuning, tires, and of course labor....$5000 isn't feeling too wild now

 

[yoggie]

For the front axle, I know this is a crazy idea, but could you do a drop with gears like you would do with a portal axle? You would need three gears of course and an output of 1:1. Maybe something that bolds to the trans, diff, or maybe a mid-point cross member.

 

[86scotty]

I have the solution. Why doesn't Ford just use a rubber front drive shaft? Better yet, they could just use rubber front half shafts as well. I mean, they thought a rubber drive shaft coupler was a good idea, and it worked for a minute. What could go wrong?

 

[jkam]

This change sounds like it needs someone with an engineering degree to make sure it will be
better than stock setup.
Trying things is alright, but I'd want some solid engineering behind whatever permanent changes occur.

Any way to contact one of the Ford engineers on the project? There has to be one that has ideas to do this.

 

[luthj]

Sounds like one reasonable approach would be to lower the subframe, but not the diff. And just have high angle CV shafts made. Another 5-10 degrees would be good for a couple inches I think. That would allow a bit larger tires and improve the departure/approach angles a fair bit.

 

[ujoint]

Sounds like one reasonable approach would be to lower the subframe, but not the diff. And just have high angle CV shafts made. Another 5-10 degrees would be good for a couple inches I think. That would allow a bit larger tires and improve the departure/approach angles a fair bit.

That's exactly what we're going to see from any quality lift kit.

 

[ujoint]

For the front axle, I know this is a crazy idea, but could you do a drop with gears like you would do with a portal axle? You would need three gears of course and an output of 1:1. Maybe something that bolds to the trans, diff, or maybe a mid-point cross member.

No room for any of that but some portal knuckles would be cool!

 

[ujoint]

Yaw!

The AWD Transit being around 15k less than Sprinter will be a huge selling point. And nationwide Ford dealer support. And 3.5L being a fantastic engine (aside from direct injection carbon buildup).


But I am a bit bummed it's looking like it will prob cost $5000-6000 to lift an AWD Transit. Custom high angle CV's have gotta be over $1500.

When you include the lift kit, calibration tuning, tires, and of course labor....$5000 isn't feeling too wild now

With parts/labor/tires/etc you're # isn't too far off. Still much cheaper and hopefully more reliable than the Sprinter.

 

[theron]

With parts/labor/tires/etc you're # isn't too far off. Still much cheaper and hopefully more reliable than the Sprinter.

For sure!

Trade off is that’s $5000 to get the Transit to where the Sprinter is stock, for tire size and ground clearance.

Just trying to think about it all holistically: then you potentially have to you calculate Ford denying a claim on the suspension & AWD system because of the aftermarket CV axles.

My deal breaker will be if the tuners can’t reprogram for changes in tire size.

So I’m fairly sure I’ll be in, but likely 1.5 years, after the kits have miles and strain and we have a better idea of Ford responses to warranty issues

 

[Desert Dan]

It will be interesting what Quigley does?
Hopefully they will add a real T-case with low range and a mild lift?

 

[luthj]

The front axle is probably not strong enough for a 4x4 tcase. I expect Quigley will continue to offer the f150 conversion.