Ford Tibbe Key Blank Information

Although some locksmiths and technicians may find the Ford Tibbe key to be something new because of its recent popularity on the American Transit and Fiesta, Ford has actually used this design since the mid 1980’s. Many Ford and Jaguar vehicles in Europe and Australia were equipped with the Tibbe key. Now that Ford has been utilizing the Tibbe with late model vehicles like the USA Transit Connect and Fiesta, it may be helpful to analyze some of the specifics of this unique key blank.

Depth and Spaces for Tibbe Keys

The Tibbe key takes advantage of four varying depths on the blade and six spaces or eight positions. Most manuals and technicians consider the bow the beginning of the spacing sequence. A number one cut does not touch the surface of the key, while the deepest cut, a number four, is nearly even with the side rib of the key.

From bow to tip, the spaces on the six-cut Ford Tibbe key measure as follows:

1 – .6220″
2 – .5433″
3 – .4646″
4 – .3858″
5 – .3071″
6 – .2283″

It is good to note here that this key was used with several Jaguar models prior to 1998, but the Jaguar key used eight positions. The Jaguar models up to 1997 used a three depths/angles and eight positions. A number 1 cut did not touch the key, a 2 cut was a slight angle to the key, and a 3 cut was the steepest angle towards the side rib of the key.

Tibbe Transponder Keys

In recent years on American models, Ford has started using the Ford Tibbe (Tibbie) design with a transponder chip in the head of the key. The American Ford vehicle lineup using this key is primarily the Fiesta and Transit, although the European market has used the Transponder Tibbe (Tibbie) design for a number of years on Jaguar models and Focus models as early as the late 1990s.