2004 Ford Explorer XLT XM Radio Install Help
 

Hello,

Earlier this year (May) I purchased a 2004 Ford Explorer XLT. Since that time I have been considering whether or not to purchase XM radio. Well, today I made the decision to do it. I am going to purchase the Terk Commander unit and I am going to install it myself.

Before I buy this unit I want to ask the "crowd" if anyone out there has installed the Terk Commander into their 2004 (or 2003) Ford Explorer? If you have, where did you install it? I am considering three different places. One, below the air controls, two, where the sunglass holder currently is, or three, to the right of the control panel using a metal holder/mount. I would prefer to install it using options one and two. Please see my gallery pics as these pics illustrate what I am talking about.

Does anyone out there have any other installation suggestions or pics that I can look at? Thanks in advance for the help!!!

Regards,
Marc
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I say you put it to the left of the ac vents just above the controlls, the steering wheel might get in the way a bit, but it will be in reach and out of the sun

Thanks for the idea. I will add this location to the list of possibilities!

Regards,
Marc

http://www.xm-radio-satellite.com/in...ROD&ProdID=227

a special bracket for fords...

Mark

Marc,

Unfortunately I don't have any good mounting advice for you for that unit but I will say that XM is a GREAT investment. I'll never listen to local radio again, it's definitely the way to go, and cheap too!

By the way, where did you mount the antenna? I ran mine up through the 3rd brakelight on the cab on my f250. Not sure if you had any ideas for that yet.

another thing I forgot to mention, I suggest using velcro to mount the thing. It makes for easy mounting and dismounting. make sure you swab the areas with rubbing alcohol before you attempt tp stick it. I mounted the controlls to my cd changer with it, it works great, as long as you get the super sticky kind. warning however, it might leave a residue that will take quite a bit of rubbing with alcohol if you ever descide you dont want it on there. that bracket that AZBlue showed you is a good idea; I origionally thought it screwed right into the dash, but upon closer inspection, it actually hard mounts to the dash on the inside. both ways are good, if you have the right dash configuration, I cant remember if it is the same right now.

upon another closer look, if you got a bracket such as this (the dashes are not the same) you might be able to turn it on its side and mount it on the side (to the immediate right) of your vents, this way it will be protected as I said, and hard mounted to the dash supprots.

http://www.xm-radio-satellite.com/in...ROD&ProdID=144

HEY LOOK!! They have a bracket for the 04 exploder!

Mark

you called it an exploder, that always makes me laugh. anyway, thats good, if you wanna pony up the 40 dollars plus shipping for the little peice of metal.

well...if you have a drill, a vice and a hammer, and a piece of thin metal...you could probably make one! the picture gives you a good idea what it should look like.

Mark

Mounted mine, on my new '05 Supercab, in the tray on top of the dash. I had it mounted kinda like the pics above but that necessitated my looking away and down from the road when I wanted to "see" what I was doing while changing channels. With it mounted on top of the dash, like now, I feel a LOT more comfortable when dealing with channels. Yes, it is in the sun BUT, I take it out of the mount and put in the console when I get out. By the way XM is awesome. If you want a pic of what I did let me know and I will get you one.

2004 Ford Explorer XLT XM Radio Pics
 

Hello Everyone,

Thank you all for your recommendations. After hours of contemplation my friend and I decided to mount the Terk Commander in the overhead console where the sunglass holder is. It took us a few hours to dismantle the console, Drummel the opening, hot glue the face plate that comes with the Terk Commander, and to intall the unit in the console itself. It then took a few hours to run the antenna from the back of vehicle (on the roof back by the third brake light) to the front, dismantle the head unit, make all the connections, and reassemble. The XM tuner box was mounted under the dash.

The install took some extra time but was well worth it! The install is streamlined and looks awesome if I do say so myself. The location does take some getting used to. However, I prefer to have it installed where it is versus anywhere else in the vehicle. See the pics in my photo album titled My Explorer.

Let me know if anyone has any questions.

Oh, by the way....XM rocks!

Marc