People who owned the off-road Ford Transit Trail van complained last month that the tires were rubbing, which was not okay for a factory off-road vehicle. Ford seems to be giving up since it is putting regular-sized tires on the recalled vans, which makes them less useful off-road. Ford says that the Transit Trail was put together by an upfitter who needed to make sure that the larger Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT tires were placed correctly, as was shown in last month’s recall paperwork. In some situations, this meant that the tire could get damaged and lose air if it touched the van’s aluminum frame. A document released by the NHTSA on April 17 says that Ford plans to fix the problematic car, even though the recall fix has yet to be made public. It’s not a good thought. As part of the recall service, the document says that the 30.5-inch 245/75R16 tires on the Transit Trail will be swapped out for smaller 28-inch 235/65R16 tires, which are the normal size for Transits on the road. Goodyear also makes tires in this size, but Ford didn’t say in the recall letter if these tires will be used for the service. So, the Transit Trail’s ground clearance drops from 6.7 inches to 5.5 inches, which makes ramp curves a little less steep, but not by much. Ford doesn’t say how high the normal Transit goes off the ground. The Transit Trail has the same mechanicals as regular, less expensive Transits, with the only differences being some off-road-looking parts and the fact that it can pull up to 6,500 pounds. As for the off-road parts, the front bumper is just called “skid plate-style,” and there are side steps, splash guards, and fender covers and cladding. People who own cars are angry about this because the Transit Trail is basically the same as a look package. An unnamed Transit Trail owner told Invoice Pricing, “This takes away one of the best things about this premium upgrade if not the best thing about it at all.” “I hope Ford comes up with a better solution, especially for people who bought before me and had to pay more on top of the markups.” The value has dropped a lot, and it doesn’t match up with how the car is usually advertised. Customers have said that the Transit Trail has other quality problems. These problems are thought to be related to the same fitter whose tire choices Ford had to change. One owner wrote on Reddit that he had heard of OEM ceiling fans leaking and rusting and a speedometer that was measured wrongly lowered the Transit Trail’s top speed limit to 77 mph. It looks like there are more problems with the Transit Trail than just the tires, and people who like vans are unhappy with the deal. Based on how things are going now, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Transit Trail was shut down soon. However, the market will always have the final say. By the time this article came out, Ford had yet to reply to our request.
