The '09 was the first year for some major upgrads in a van that had been unchanged for a looong time. I waited for the new for a extra year and it was worth it.
Ford does derate the tow capacity from 10,ooolbs to 9,000lbs for the extended body (i.e. 15 passenger). The trick is to order one from a conversion company - mine was from Tuscanny. Cargo vans are not derated as they expect them to be hauling a low of stuff.
Back to builders.
Tuscanny takes a cargo van and they deck it out however your budjet can stand. I ordered all the Ford goodies and then had Tuscanny do the interior. By the way, I popped for the high end nav system - WOW! Expensive but all top end quality. No probems with the brake controler either
I'd urge anyone doing this to stay on top of things - when my van first came into Tuscanny it was missing several of the Ford options I wanted and Tuscanny said they were going to put in "better" after market items - I informed them of what I expected and that if they did not comply to the original order I would reject the van. They reordered it from Ford as specified and we started all over as if nothing had happened.
It cost me a month for the new body to get in but it was what I ordered and paid for - and I never heard another word about after market garbage.
