Hey all,

Been mostly lurking on the board, but now that my loaded black lariat screw (minus sunroof and 2-tone) came in, I am interested in any more information that has been discovered about adding satellite radio to the truck. Any word on a ford add-on, blitzsafe, pie connectors, etc? Or are we stuck with an FM modulated solution?

Thanks,

Dave

 

Bump

 

According to DEALER.....January. But we all know not to get our hopes up It should plug into the audiophile easily.

 

Quote:

According to DEALER.....January.

Yeah, I'm waitin' impatiently too. To hold me over, I picked up an XM Commander to add to the Audiophile system. I'm leary of going the FM Modulated route, but don't want to be without XM. I currently have a direct connect Pioneer in my '01 and hate to part with it.

The cool thing about the Commander is that the controller will fit perfectly in the ashtray in front of the console shifter. When I say "will", I should point out that I don't have my truck yet. Built on Nov. 13, it has not arrived yet. XM will be my first mod!

 

I just called Visteon, the maker of our radios, and they told me its a factory option. The unit has to have a button that says "SAT" on it, they cant just slap it in there. !@#$%

 

I installed the XM commander in the ashtray of my new 150. It is a perfect fit. You have to remove the ashtray and build a small block to hold it up, but it looks nice. I went with Fm modulation until we get the aux inputs worked out.

Good luck

Kevin

 

Hey Kevin,

I have the Commander and as I stated in my previous post, I plan on the same install location. Where did you mount the antenna? Are you able to close the ashtray? Any tips or recommendations on the install would great. Pics are even better.......

 

Yeah... Where are the pics?????

 

Sorry about the lack of pics. I mounted the antenna right ahead of the cab light light. Two phillips screws and pulled off the light and was looking at the headliner. I ran the wire around the edge of the weatherstripping on the drivers side all the way to the left dash panel. I cut a 2x4 (yes wood) with about a 7 degree angle on it to mount the commander unit. I took my time and it took about 2 1/2 hours, but I was very careful and was in no hurry. You have to drill a hole through the back of the ashtray to run the cable for the unit. I used the power wires from the stereo and mounted the xm base unit below the ashtray on the floor. There is a lot of room back there, but I didn't get real fancy. I just mounted it on the floor. I used two sided tape to mount the commander unit to the 2x4 and to mount the 2x4 to the ashtray unit. The actual ashtray has to be removed, which is nice because when I sell the truck I can take the XM out and stick the ashtray back in and you will never know it was there.

You have to get it low enough to clear the panel or it won't close. Look at my pics, it is about as close as you can get without hitting. It is very readable in direct sunlight. It is obstructed a little when the truck is in park, but that doesn't bother me. I took my time and it took about 2 1/2 hours, but I was very careful and was in no hurry. Here are the pics.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=3456

I hope that works
Thanks
Kevin

 

Kevin,

The pics and the tips are great! But how does it sound? Better or worse than you expected?

I'm leary of going FM modulated in my '04 after being direct connect in my '01 for the last year and a half. From what I hear, there are a wide range of results with the FM mod. I'll take my chances until I can get the time to transfer the serious hardware from the old truck to the new one.

 

I missed XM so much that I think it sounds great. I don't have the audiophile system and I think the system I have in my lariat (six disc) is okay. So overall, I think the XM modulated sounds better than FM. It is worth doing, especially with the Xm commander unit which has RCA outputs when we get the ford aux inputs figured out. I would like to replace the stereo, but I really hate to mess with the nice factory look (steering wheel control). I will probably change the speakers and maybe add a amplified subwoofer.

I think it is worth doing. Mine sounds better than FM.



Kevin

 

Hey all,

I did the same install today. All I can say is that I am quite pleased. Not bad for an FM modulated solution. I don't think that anyone with the Audiophile system will be dissapointed with this as a solution.

Dave

 

I just got my XM Commander installed, however my installer installed it above the ash tray between the Cigirate Lighter and the Reverse Sensor button. He moved those buttons out and installed the commander between them. It looks awesome!!! I will get a digital camera and upload a picture for everyone to see. I have no idea how he did it, but it looks great....

 

If you spring for an inline FM modulator, the sound quality is greatly improved over the other types. Aux is best, cassette/inline FM modulator is second and offline fm is last.

 

Where can I get a inline FM modulator for the XM Commander?