cal3thousand

After careful thought... and although I like arnesr's solution, I'm going to go ahead and install the factory rails on my Vista equipped roof. Thanks again to Arnesr for sharing this cool mod. I was ready to use Q Towers and clips until I saw his gallery photos. I will include pics when I install the rails. Question: Does the dealer know by VIN (solely by number algorithm) whether or not I have a BAMR? I imagine they won't sell the rails if I give them my own VIN.

It would have to be a small diameter tube to really suck water up there. OR if you submerged the whole thing. Although I wouldn't be afraid to puddle romp with one ... I wouldn't go fording any deep rivers either.

true... that's why I like my browser add-ons. That little girl on the right hand side of the screen was too much to look at EVERYDAY.

Ah... good times. Good thing I'm past that phase. But I'm on the phase where I have a kid that is turning 3 next month and she doesn't like trips longer than an hour. Hey V DUB, are you dealing with kids on this drive? EDITED..... for smileys ... duh!

A bunch of us have minor issues like resets and freezing and such. But i don't think that I've heard of this one just yet. Hopefully its just a temperature sensor that is not working right. Not sure if the APIM has anything to do with it, but many have had it replaced to fix some of the major and repetitive issues.

Makes me want to drive up the PCH and head to Alaska

Funny thing is that these rims supposedly resist pitting and tarnishing versus real chrome.

I thought about that too....But how come other makes with often larger (relative to the size of the car) roof openings have options for rails? I really feel that Ford did not want to deal with the potential warranty issues arising from someone putting too much on the roof and/or not securing it properly. It is a very large and very expensive piece of glass to replace. Having said that though, anyone that is putting the rack on their roof is taking the liability on themselves and should be accordingly prudent.

The wife and I were walking away from the car the other day and the hatch popped open. I looked at her and she said : "It wasn't me, my key is in my purse"... I was wondering if it were me or not, but after looking at my keychain, it couldn't have been. That's when I discovered that my keychain was a (near) perfect fob cover and it blocks the most suspect buttons: unlock and hatch open. I'm thinking this could help out some people out. Check it: Top view showing buttons covered: Side view showing pressure applied: Its metal and fairly heavy, so it swings into place while in my pocket. Its shape makes it cover the buttons perfectly. I can move the keychain back and forth under my thumb on the keyfob (basically rubbing it) trying to make it hit a button, and I cannot do it when I TRIED TO.

A normal auto relay can be used. Do you know the operation of a relay or should I post a diagram? Basics if it helps: 30 should be connect to 12V+, 85 should go to ground, and 86 should go to the ignition wire, and finally 87 (not 87a) should go to the DRL + side. The DRL - side should go to ground. Theory: When 86 gets 12V and completes the circuit to 85, 30 (+) will connect to 87 internally and give it 12V. That should complete the DRL circuit and it will light. I always refer to this site when in doubt: http://www.the12volt.com/relays/relays.asp

They would have to be heated to remove the glue. For California, I was under the impression that you can have any color up front as long is it is NOT RED NOR BLUE.

Thanks!...I learn something new everyday.

Yes. its in the thread, but you have to read it over to find it. At least I had to . Check the link at the bottom of yogregb's first pictured post, it has a link to what he installed. Basically aftermarket LED units like the DRLs on Audis. $150 bucks.

I only use the inside of that cargo net for things like rags or clothes or soft materials for the same reason, door contact. I have an auxiliary cargo storage box (kind of like a box, but nylon and resizeable) that I use for groceries and such. The cargo net's most useful moment was keeping a bike from sliding around and contacting the hatch's plastic bits.

The manual has recommended intervals. But I don't know of anything that will give you an instant oil analysis. Best thing to do is pull the dipstick and have a look. Smell it for hydrocarbons and other crap, run it between fingers to check lubricity, wipe it on a paper towel and check the dirt content. If the oil is thin, or really dirty, consider having it changed. You could also send a sample of your oil to a place like Blackstone and have them analyse it.

Get used to scrolling upon page load... or get an ad blocker. They need the ads to maintain the site, otherwise we'd have to pony up to keep it running. Don't get me wrong, I dislike them as much as the next. But I understand the need.

Very cool! On such a long trip, do you plan on changing the oil before or after?

Its the clean cool white light produced by LEDs along with their efficiency. If you don't have a battery saver, it can reduce the chances of battery death (albeit already low). I also like the fact that I will never have to replace them and If I wanted to get fancy, they could be strobed or duty cycled etc. I'm also looking into augmenting / supplementing the ambient light LEDs for brightness and possibly some fun Additionally, (IMO) I feel incandescents are dino tech. You are heating a metallic element in a vacuum until it glows from heat. Versus and LED where molecules are excited and emit a certain frequency of photons. For Brakes and signaling, LEDs have an extra safety benefit that they fire near instantaneously, adding milliseconds to the reaction times of those who need to see the lights. Those milliseconds might be the difference between an accident and a near miss.

Supercharger.... but it would have to be mounted.... sideways?

Come to think of it... your air is so clean, I doubt they would need to oxygenate the fuel there. Maybe someone that knows more will chime on this?

Yup... unless you complain about your issue to the dealer, you probably won't know. I have yet to receive a single thing in the mail regarding updates, but my v2.7 has glitches and I know there's a v2.8 from being here. Membership has its benefits.

Search "LED puddle lamps" and you will find a few threads.

I think it is more that the demographic purchasing this vehicle is not "generally" into performance upgrades. So, basically, not enough demand for them to R&D.

Totally agree. But honestly, your money is better spent elsewhere currently as the Normally Aspirated Engines are already highly tuned. You think they got 285 horses from 3.5L of normal aspiration without strong tuning? Additionally, tuning a Ti-VCT engine is not as easy as a fixed valve head as you have to deal with different valve timings at different RPMs. Maybe you can get the "HOT" valve to open earlier in the rev range with some tuning, but I imagine it is not simple/cost effective to squeeze more performance from these engines.

Don't discount the v2.8 update just yet. His issues might be APIM related. Changes include the "zombie audio system" glitch and more. It's listed on a thread here somewhere... I'll update this post if I find it.