I've gotten so many questions and i've seen so much posted about removing your radio! So I took some pictures. Hope this all helps.


Open the Ash Tray..


Remove the Ash Tray Dish (Makes it a little easier)


Pull the bottom right corner of the Dash Panel. You will hear 1 clip snap out of place.

 

Pull the lower left corner of the panel. Then 2nd clip will come out of place.


Slowly pull the panel from the sides, starting with the bottom and working your way up. You will feel a total of 3 clips on each side pop out.


Here I have outlined where the clips are! A little extra force may be needed in this spots. Remember to pull straight out..

 

Remove the wire that goes to the "passanger airbag light"


If you choose, you can remove the headunit by removing the 4 circled screws.


Here is the mess of wires and where I selected to mount the FM Modulator for the XM Roady.

 

Here is how I removed to Center console so that I could better hide the XM Roady Wires running from the FM Modulator:




Place your fingers in the hole where the center console snaps in.


Lift up and away. This should unsnap with little effort.


My Hidden Wires! They fit no problem. Plenty of room inside!

 

Removing the Side Panel:


Slowly pull from the botton at each arrow that i've drawn. Apply more pressure when pulling on the left side of this piece. The right side has a piece of plastic that hooks around the console frame.


Here is what I did!!




I hope this all helps!!

Let me know if you have any questions. When the weather gets better I will show how to install the antenna on the roof for XM!!

 

ScottFcasni:

What do you have the Rhody mounted too, and where did the mounting arm come from?

EDIT: My bad, I can see that it is mounted directly to the dash. The blue conduit looked like one of those flexible cables.

 

The mounting kit came in the box. The only thing it did not include was the FM Modulator.

I hid the loose wires in the wire loom (I think thats what It is called). I picked blue because I thought it looked nice.

 

ScottFcasni:

What power source did you tie into with the FM Modulator?
Is it the lighter?

Thanks!

Don't forget to post pics of the wiring for the antenna....

 

Is anyone else a little miffed that Ford designed an all new truck that doesn't offer an easy way to interface with technology that's been on the market for at least 4 years? It really bothers me that I ordered the top of the line audio system, and I'll have to rip my dash apart if I want it to be up-to-date.

p.s. Thanks for the taking the time to detail this procedure. It will be very helpful.

 

Could you just mount the roady head unit to the front of the ashtray door (towards the upper half) with double sided tape...that mount space to the left with the kit is where my knee roams sometimes...

 

Not sure how old this thread is, so Im bringing it back up with another ?. How did the rear taillight assy. come off? How did you route the antenna wires through the headliner? Thanks. Great details and pics.

 

Fordabbits..... I jusrt came in from routing my intenna through the Bed/Brake light. It took me only about 10 minutes. Its very easy. Light just unscrews You can pull the wires from the inside at the headliner. You can get your fingers under the liner with out removing it. Very easy!!!!! Just run the wire along the divers side under the rubber seal and door sill. once you get to the front then run it under the carpet under the pedals. You cant see the wire at all .

 

How is the sound quality with a FM modulator? Is it any worse than sound from a cassette player adapter?
Hopefully an AUX-in adaptor will become available this month from the aftermarket like the rumors say. And I hope the new AUX adapters also work on the Audiophile systems.
However, if the FM modulators sounds really good, it might be a workaround that will preven the lack of AUX input from being a complete dealbreaker for me.


The main dealbreaker I'm waiting to be rectified is lack of side curtain airbags even as an option.
They have to come eventually, the only questions is, will it be within the next couple of years, after all the factories have been converted from the "Heritage" models or are they going to wait 4 or 5 years for the complete redo and update of the interior first before they offer side curtain airbags?
Even the older-designed and bigger Expedition has side curtain "canopy" airbags, so I don't know what they were thinking when the skipped them on the new F-150.

 

Kinda off topic but I thought I would throw in my .02. I think that Ford left them off for now due to cost cutting concerns mainly. Also I think that the public perception is that pickups are less likely to roll over, thus lessening the need for side curtain airbags. They also protect in a side impact collision but rollover is alot of why they were implemented on the Expedition and Explorer.

The new F-150 has proven very crashworthy based on the IIHS tests. As long as everyone is belted in, I think the side curtain airbags arent as necessary as other safety features that Ford put money into.

If cost cutting was the primary reason then I wouldnt hold out much hope for the next year or 2. There is alot of talk about another round of cost cutting measures on the F-150 to increase thier profit. I think if Ford gets things straightened out fiscally, and the F-150 proves itself to be viable in the marketplace...then you will start seeing more things added to the truck, such as side curtain airbags.

 

What power source did you use, and where did you tie it in?
Did you cut into the wiring harness?
What did you use for ground?
Do you hear a hum or click when you turn the XM on?
Is the XM switched on/off by the Audiophile?

Thanks!