HONEST THOUGHTS ON OUR 2013 FORD TRANSIT CONNECT MICRO CAMPER VAN BUILD: Pros & Cons to the vehicle!

[@katherineknappett2995]

Wow Thanks for your positive and negative experiences from time in an older transit connect! I am looking for such a travel vehicle for all the reasons you mentioned!!!

[@pamwalker3517]

As a 77 y.o. homeowner & solo part time traveler who's downsized from a class C & then a B motorhome, I can say I ❤ my 2015 FTC. You've done a great job of listing all the pros of this van. And, your videos are just the sweetest. Thanks for all your posts.

[@cricket1984]

Always so positive. Your pros far outweigh the cons. Shows your appreciation for the joy and freedom the van allowed. Best wishes for future travels.

[@mikeandheather]

Thank you for the kind words and well wishes, we truly enjoyed traveling out of our van and are happy that it comes across as such 😊

[@crashjump1849]

Thank you for your input I'm on the fence about getting a 2010 ford transit connect. But I'm at a point in my life that i'm not really using my full size Van that much anymore.

[@JNYC-gb1pp]

Regarding wet stuff: The Japanese don't generally have clothes driers but instead have dehumidifiers in the bathroom and retractable clothes lines - so they just hang up clothes and turn on dehumidifier. it might be something to consider.

[@mikeandheather]

Good to know! Thank you so much for the suggestion and for watching, we really do appreciate it!

[@JFFilmsMTB]

Incredible info! Looking to get one now and that bit about the 2013's and a few years before being slightly taller was huge. Thank you!!

[@lynneeie5226]

This is awesome! We bought a Ford Transit Connect here in Europe with a diesel and a manual transmission and have no problems with speed or strength up hills. It cannot pull our horse trailer, with horses, so we do have to keep our other car, but this van has become our daily vehicle and farm van. We have set it up with a system of lighter weight things, very simple, all can be pulled out so that we can use the van for carrying farm supplies but when we want to camp or take a day trip or when we fly out on our once a year vacation and have to leave at some early hour.... we can park at the airport and sleep in the van and that has been lovely!! So it really is a nice little van and it can what one needs it to be, which we love.

[@mikeandheather]

That's great! It sounds like you have an awesome setup. It really is such a versatile little van! You are so right about parking at the airport. We only did it once but it worked out perfectly! We were able to sleep in the parking lot the night before our very early flight the next morning 😊 Thank you for watching, we really appreciate it! Happy Travels!

[@nunyabeezwacks1408]

If the manual transmission version were available here in the States, then I'd already own one.

[@pattyely927]

Awesome info! It was a game changer when I hung a clothesline across the cab from the handles above the doors for our wet items to dry at night.

[@mikeandheather]

You are so right! A clothesline across the cab is a great idea 😊 Thank you so much for watching, we really do appreciate it!

[@RescueDogTreats]

I built out a 2016 transit connect and love it! Great video! ❤

[@mikeandheather]

That is so awesome! Thank you very much for watching, we really do appreciate it! Happy Travels 😊

[@ceciliabryane5894]

Thanks for the insight on your experience traveling in such a small van. Curious if you insulated the vehicle to handle the extreme temperature differences.

[@wile1coyote]

I have a 2010 build out, agree with most of what they are saying here, id kill for an extra foot of length but its a great van to travel in.

[@JamesDBuzzard]

What wheels are you guys rocking? Those look great! Awesome video and great overview 👌

[@rapier5]

This comment is the odd reliability of my 2013 Transit Connect. I got a 2013 in August 2020 with 180K miles. It is my only vehicle and is set up to camp out of. Fridge, power bank, no bed but finished wood floor, shelves, racks, and drawers full of stuff. Lots of stuff. As I said, camp and live out of, not camp in, except to sleep or as a last resort. So it ran good so I took a chance. It is now at 236K miles. A water pump, some brake and exhaust work, that's about it. Runs perfectly. Odd. I sensed it was lightly used. I am sure most are abused by employees, often heavily loaded, but this wasn't. Still, 236K sort of amazing. So from Michigan it will be off TX in April and MT in July.

[@mikeandheather]

Wow! 236k miles?! That is so impressive! We are happy to say it doesn't surprise us though 😀 Our van was incredibly reliable and we hope the new owner gets to 236k and beyond as well! Ford Transit Connects are truly a hidden gem in the van life sphere. We wish you all the best in your upcoming travels! It sounds like you have some pretty amazing roadtrips coming up this spring/summer. Thank you so much for watching, we really do appreciate it! Safe travels!

[@HettyHartpreneur]

I totally agree with you both when you are telling about the advantages of your van! ❤

[@mikeandheather]

Great minds think alike 😊 Thank you so much for watching, we really appreciate it and you!

[@CraigMorton321]

Great video. Lots of good advice! Hoping to use that advice real soon!

[@mikeandheather]

Yes, hopefully you can hit the road soon! So exciting 😊 Thank you for watching!

[@pursang0904]

I agree - love my dads van!!!

[@mikeandheather]

They are great little vans 😊 Thank you for watching, we really appreciate it!

[@llorylloyd]

Mike & Heather ❤U guys. Great info and I just had a thought. If you rearrange your setup reverse it. Since Mike needs more sleep space and drive space maybe putting the bed behind his seat. Since he'll need more room to push farther back to drive then that'll give you more room to push the seat up to put the popup table to extend the bed. Ok was a good idea in my head while I listened, then remembered you and most vanlifers leave the front seat empty in case you have to leave quickly. 🤷 Oh well 😁

[@mikeandheather]

Awe, we love ya too 😊 You are so right! A lot of people do rearrange the back to have the bed behind the driver's side. We were going to do that originally but decided against it because putting our bench on that side of the van would mean that we couldn't push the seat all the way back when driving which was important for Mike. But not a bad idea at all! Thank you for the suggestion and for watching, we really appreciate it!

[@HopeU2Rwell]

New subscriber here! Looking forward to more videos. Safe and happy travels!

[@mikeandheather]

That is so exciting, welcome! We are happy to have you here 😊 Thank you for the well wishes and for watching, we really appreciate it!

[@tiguanman1170]

Petrol engine TCs are very rare in the UK and i dont think Ford ever did an automatic. Your gas price means that a petrol auto is fine. In the UK we run diesel. Biggest issue here is corrosion and ive had sills on mine replaced and had the whole underneath coated against corrosion. I have to say that Mike does well seated and lying down at 6'5"! Routine aervicing is really important and keep a note of the timing belt change interval. Excellent video as usual.

[@mikeandheather]

Wow, that is very interesting! We have never seen, at least to our knowledge, a diesel version of our van here in the states! Thank you for watching, we really do appreciate it 😊

[@evelyndunn50]

Thanks for sharing love all the information.

[@mikeandheather]

Happy to help! Thank you so much for watching, we really appreciate it!

[@juliekrone5293]

could you talk a little about how you transferred to remote work - did you use online posting sites like indeed - some of the posts on there seem a little sketchy and i’d love some other options!

[@mikeandheather]

You are right! Some of the job post can be a little sketchy! We used Indeed to find the jobs but went directly to the companies website to actually apply. If the job posting on Indeed didn't have an actual company listed, we didn't apply. We got better results when we applied to remote jobs in our direct area and/or state. When we opened up our search to the entire USA we didn't get any call backs from those ones we applied to. On indeed in the "what" section, we searched by the word "remote" and in the "where" section, we searched by our local area of "Buffalo, NY." If we didn't find any that we could apply to, then we searched by the area of "New York State." We found that many remote job postings still are looking for people in the area even though it is a remote job. But again, we just found the jobs on Indeed and went directly to the company website to apply which we think helped. Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions 😊 Thank you for watching!

[@AprilJohnson34]

Love hearing your take on your van after the 49 state road trip... I am also finding that I am drawn to the transit connect for the size. One question... did you ever come across a situation where the ground clearance of the vehicle was too small. I don't think you guys ever installed a lift kit or anything like that. Any information on your experience with ground clearance esp on dirt road in BLM land would be helpful for me. Again thats for the great video content. Love watching your travels!

[@mikeandheather]

Hi- no! We did not ever come across a situation where the ground clearance was too low for our van. But, we always made sure to look up the place we were camping, if we were planning on going off grid, to make sure that we would be able to make it. If the reviews said that other vehicles with low clearance could make it, we knew we could! If it said otherwise, we just avoided it. But truthfully, we went down some pretty sketchy bumpy roads and our van did well. We have also driven it during snow storms with a lot of snow on the road and it did great. (We also had snow tires) You are right, we did not have a lift kit 😊 Hope that helps! Thank you for watching, we really appreciate it!

[@lottie2525]

Great to hear all your pros and cons having properly used your micro camper for a long time. I've just bought a Peugeot Partner Tepee (UK/Europe popular option similar to your van) but the car version. I wanted to have mine as a regular car and then put stuff in to go off for a few weeks at a time and then turn it back into being a car again, so it won't be a permanent build. I hadn't thought of the issue of wet coats/boots and it being hard to dry them. Can you lay them over the front seats - would that work?

[@mikeandheather]

That is so exciting! Congratulations on you new van! We have seen some pretty incredible non-permanent builds so that should not stop you from having a great experience 😊 Yes, you can absolutely lay the clothes over the front seats! We actually did that for our clothes, as long as they weren't soaked. But, when our clothes were really wet, they would actually get the seats themselves wet as they were drying. To solve that issue we bought a camping laundry line and hung it across the front cab area. We tried to hang it so that when the clothes dripped, it would drip on the floor rather than the seats. We also put our boots in the footwell of the passenger seat as well. Hope that helps. Thank you so much for watching, we really do appreciate it! Happy travels!

[@cvisconti4568]

I know this van doesn’t have all wheel drive or four-wheel-drive must be difficult in the snow

[@burly636]

I bought a 2012 2 years ago. My help let me down. Got rid of it.

[@plumislandmichael729]

… 🙌🏼

[@mikeandheather]

😊

[@ICHOand]

Pp

[@skpjoecoursegold366]

[@mikeandheather]

Thank you 😊