Swapped out the head unit (radio) in my '01 F250, bout time

[coloradoclimber]

I just got back from a 1300 mile road trip in my '01 F250 running the stock radio / CD / cassette player. I decided it was time to upgrade.

These days everyone carries all their music on iPods, MP3 players, and cell phones. I wanted a head unit that could handle all of these.

The removal and install of a new head unit was a 2 hour job and that's taking it slow and double checking. I'm guessing it could be done in a half hour by the third time you do one. Swapping out a radio is sure a lot simpler and cleaner than the last time I did this (about 30+ years ago).

I picked a single DIN radio going into a double DIN hole so I still need to do some trim and mounting work, but the install and hook up went smooth as silk.

The sound is great, the connectivity to different devices kicks butt. I can play off my iPod, phone, my son's phone. It has a remote so passengers in the back can fight over switching songs and changing the volume. It's way cooler than stock.

I put together some quick videos of the head unit removal, connector build, and install. Should be visible here:

New Radio for an Old Truck » Tech Spin

Radio Install YouTube Playlist


Out with the old head unit.

Here is the new head unit, a Pioneer DEH-X66BT, bluetooth, MP3, full iPod control, AUX input.

Here is the new radio installed. The radio is a single DIN going into a double DIN hole so I'll need to make a mounting block and fix up the trim.

 

[smokey]

http://www.scosche.com/car-audio/installation/97-ford-multi-mounting-kit
something like this is what you need

 

[5.0Flareside]

good swap! stock radios arent great... theyre servicable but not great

fun fact...


2010 Lexus SC450 was the last car made with a Cassette Tape Player..

 

[rambler]

been thinking of doing this for my 2000 superduty, but wanted to go with a double DIN and add touchscreen, backup camera and GPS.. still saving up for it..LOL

 

[coloradoclimber]

smokey, thanks for the link. I looked at one of those adapters at the store. They wanted $35. The scosche unit you linked comes out to $26 with shipping to CO. At the time when I got the price of $35 for a plastic pocket I was like, hell no, I'll make something myself. We'll see how it turns out, or maybe I'll just get tired of looking at a hole and end up getting a plastic pocket

5.0Flareside, the radio in my truck was 12 years old and the volume knob was going out. It would go up, then down, then up in volume even when turning the knob only one way. But the bigger issue was I wanted an easy way listen to my music collection when on a long drive and the old stock radio just didn't support that. So, out with the old, in with the new.

rambler, yeah, I looked at the touch screen units at CarToys, $300 for the low end unit with fewer features than the $130 single din unit I ended up with. The $500 touchscreen unit had similar features as the single din I bought. The high end units, with GPS and camera, started at $800 and went to well over a grand. Way more money than I wanted to spend just to listen to some music