Frankly, I'm not sure the faceplate would hit the dash while tilting. That was an explanation my installer gave me. He did show me that when the faceplate is open to load a CD, that there is no gap between that part of the unit and the back of the dash, and if you moved the whole unit back, there would be a gap there.

I think the silver trim on the top & bottom of the faceplate does look a little out of place, but then if the truck had had it in the first place, I might feel differently. I think you can see that trim in the pics. The older model did not have this silver trim, and might look better, but it does not have the backup camera automatically come on when reverse is selected and is not Sirious ready. Personally, I don't think it looks that bad, but then it could look better.

I don't know why they didn't put an external mute function other than the button in the HU. There is even an extra wire in the harness, but Eclipse told my installer it is for "future use".

 

I may try to put mine in flush and live with the 'gap' when the unit is open. I don't think I will be opening the unit very much anyway.

The trim piece I was talking about was the black one surrounding your Eclipse unit - not the Eclipse unit itself. It looks good in the picture - just wanted your opinion on real life looks.

The thing I really like about the Eclipse is the way the green lights on the buttons match the green lights on the dash.

 

The piece surrounding the unit looks very close if not matching the factory finish.

Let me know how mounting the unit flush goes. If it works fine for you, I may modify mine.

 

Do you lose the mute feature on the steering wheel with the eclipse unit? Exactly what buttons are you able to keep? Where did you put your LED? Does the Eclipse 5435 have a external Nav antenna and if so where did you put it? I see that most people are putting the sirus SAT beside the third ligt but isnt there a easier place inside the cab that it would still work and yet not be seen? I think your pics look great. I think I will have to try installing the HU flush first just to see how bad the gap turns out. When I think about it I would rarely open it up. I always use Sirus or XM when I travel. CD's just get old. Just my 2cents

 

My steering wheel controls still work. The infared LED was placed in the trim piece surrounding the map lights and looks fine there. I placed the GPS antenna on the dash next to the windshield, and have had no problems with reception, even a parking deck, and in the basement of a highrise bldg, one floor down. You can see it but it doesn't bother me as I have a radar detector mounted on the windshield there as well.

I don't have Sirus so I can't speak to the placement of that antenna.

 

 

Where did you install your LED for steering wheel controls and where did you put your Nav antenna?

 

This whole mute issue had me looking at other options, not because it is that big of a deal to manually hit the mute button, but because for a ~$2000 head unit, it seems unacceptable that I would have to.

However, I came up with a solution that will work for me (and anyone else) that has "all" their speakers amped. Use the mute wire from your bluetooth unit (or whatever it is you want to mute you stereo), and have that energize a relay that will deenergize (cut-off/open) the blue turn-on wire running to your amps. This way your amps are turned off when the phone rings (muting the system), not the head unit. Then, take the wire on the eclipse unit that causes the whole head unit to power down, cut it off, and mail it back to eclipse with a nasty letter. (J/K) Now wire your bluetooth it to any or all your door speakers.

This is my plan for the B/U camera as well, except the relay will swap power (as opposed to cut-off) between the reverse lights and a switch on the console. This way, if I want to view the camera, I flip the switch, the camera turns on, but cuts power from the back-up lights, keeping them from turning on without the need for diodes. Also considering a relay that makes the license plate lights turn off any time the camera turns on (I remember seeing a thread saying they messed up the camera at night.)

Just some food for thought.

 

Duke1906 what is your email address? I want to know where you got that unit for just $1800. Did anybody else buy their unit from the internet or a catalogue? Where and what price did you pay? Thanks.

 

i just noticed this thread...in fact, i just noticed this forum! lol anyway, i had one of these avn 5435 units installed in my '04 F150 supercrew lariat just last week, and i have nothing but good things to say about it. it looks as factory as you could imagine...in fact, i've had a few of my friends/family say things like, "i didn't know that ford had navigation systems in their trucks"...etc. i also had them integrate my steering wheel functions with it, which works great. if i remember, i'll take some pics, this evening and post them up...it's a great looking piece!

brad

 

Please get us some pics of the whole setup This is probably what i'm gonna do to my truck but I would like to see it done.

 

i'll take some pics tonight, if i have time...i'm in the middle of doing an entire system right now, and i'll post some pics of everything, when it's done...which should be thursday or friday... the only thing that i'll be waiting on is the box from supercrewsound, which should be here in a week or so.

brad

 

I just purchased the Eclipse 5435. I have an 01 Lexus IS 300 and this HU looks immaculate in the console (stock look) and an excellent picture, navi is perfect! I paid $1800 installed but the installation was a complete headache. In my area you have to be an authorized eclipse dealer to sell and the dealers cannot be within 5mi. of each other. To make a long story short I took my car back 3 times because the dealer was inept about my vehicle and this HU. the Navi's "speed pulse" wasn't hooked up right and the stock radio sounded much louder than the Eclipse. Eclipse all the way up to 80 on volume and the sound cuts would out. Hooked up 4 channel amp to the 6 stock speakers and problem solved. Although i had to go to another installer in my area that wasn't a dealer of Eclipse but was very familiar and experiened with the unit. Paid an extra $250 for another dealer to fix AM radio (other dealer coudn't) and install 4 channel amp (since original dealer couldn't figure out why the units audio would cut off.) In closing if you don't have a Ford, Honda or Chevy be very critical of the installer/dealer of this unit. FYI, can backup Navi disc w/ DVD Decrypter as ISO-Read.

ronnie

 

looks sweet, I want one !!!