I've been spoiled by having Bluetooth in the car and was longing for it in the rig so I could play songs from my iPhone. So, for the upcoming trip to Vermont, I decided to replace the Nav unit with a new radio. Of course, no decision is ever easy for me so I hemmed and hawed over what kind of radio to get.
I also have satellite radio in the Fusion and we've really enjoyed it in the couple of long drives we've taken in the car but adding yet another monthly subscription payment didn't really seem like something I wanted to do. After a lot of research, I finally settled on a JVC Bluetooth unit that had good reviews in Crutchfield. I figured I could get almost the equivalent of satellite radio by using something like Pandora on the iPhone.
Of course, I reached this decision mere days before we were to leave for Vermont. On Thursday, I went to Best Buy on the way home to pick up the radio. While there I found a "Universal Ford" mounting kit that looked like would be good to have to help mount the new radio in the dash. Luckily, I happened on the car stereo installation guy who took me back into the shop and got me one that was specifically designed for the Ford Econoline chassis that the RV is built on.
After dinner, I set about the task of taking the old radio out of the dash and installing the new one. I really wish I would have taken pictures of the mess in the front of the rig during this process. I started with taking off the doghouse - that cowl that sits between driver and passenger and covers the engine. With that off, I could see under the dash and grab the radio and wiggle it a bit but I couldn't get it out of it's pocket and saw nothing that looked like it was holding it in. I finally realized that the dash trim panel was partly holding it in and managed to pry it up and away from the dash. I then saw that the radio was held in by a bead of some sort of black goo that bonded it to the top of the radio pocket. It was kind of like that glue that they use to stick your new credit card to the paper with when it comes in the mail but black and much tackier.
I tried slicing it with a utility knife and finally got a corner to come free. Grabbing it with a pair of needle nose pliers allowed me to rip it out and free the radio. Well, the radio and the nest of wires that came out with it of course.
There were about four separate wiring harnesses attached to the unit - GPS antenna, Radio antenna, power, speakers, and other stuff, and cables for video in and a CD changer that weren't connected to anything. I detached them from the back of the radio and then found that the power and speaker cables ran to another connector and detached that.
I took the radio back into the house to try and figure out how to match up the wires on the new radio. I ended up using the existing power and speaker harness from the old radio and soldering in the connector to the new radio. Luckily, I had the manuals for both radios so I could figure out which wires went where. With the new harness made, I took it out to the camper and plugged it into the connector just to see if it would work.
Sound! Yahoo! I got a nice connection to a radio station and it sounded pretty good. I couldn't stop there though. With the radio just sitting on the passenger seat, I got my iPhone and went through the Bluetooth pairing process. In about 10 seconds I had tunes thumping on the system.
This thing rocks! The old radio sounded so bad that I figured I'd eventually have to get new speakers but with the new radio going, that need dried up fast. I went inside to have Deb come out and give a listen but when I got in she said she could hear it from inside. Yeah, I guess I cranked it up a bit... I also had her call me on my phone and I was able to talk through the radio and hear her through the speakers - just like in the Fusion. Woohoo!
So, with the radio working, I moved on to the harder job - mounting it in the dash. The old radio was a double-DIN system which means that it was twice as big in height as a normal radio. Although I had considered getting another double-DIN system as a replacement, I saved the money and got a single. The mounting system I got had a pocket and frame that fill in the resulting gap.
The mounting instructions for the new mounting system were pretty comical. It basically just said "Mount this in your dash somehow." Cool.
It actually fit pretty well but I quickly realized that it wasn't going to hold the radio very securely as we were bouncing down the road. I needed to attach the radio to an existing radio bracket in the dash and that would hold the radio and the trim frame more solidly. By this time though it was late Thursday night and I needed to hit the hardware store to see if I could cobble together a mounting system. Nothing for it but to wait until tomorrow and see if I could get it done before we left that morning.
I woke up early Friday and ran down to the hardware store to see what I could come up with. I got some tiny bolts that would screw into the radio and then picked up a couple of angle brackets as well as two strange brackets that are used somehow to hold downspouts in place. Took me about an hour of pondering and designing in my head before I left the store.
Back home I tried fitting the various pieces into something that would hold the radio and wasn't having much luck. Nothing would line up with the slots in the existing bracket and the clock was ticking. I was looking at some left-over pieces that came with the trim kit - parts that are used when installing in a different Ford I guess - and realized that those parts had slots in them. Slots are essential when doing this kind of thing because they give you the adjustability you need to make things line up.
I got out the Dremel and sliced off some tabs and wings that were in the way and fit them in the dash. I attached the downspout tabs, bent them into place, screwed them into the radio and I was done. One more test to make sure the harness was still working and we were golden.I think it came out looking pretty good and it sounds great.
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