I have never been one to spend money on many after market items for my truck mostly due to the fact the money is always an issue. I am in the preliminary stages of looking for an after market navigation / stereo system that looks as close to OEM as possible. At 45 years old print seems to be getting smaller every month so I'm going to try and find one with a nice seize screen for easy viewing. If you have any suggestions and or pictures to point me in the right direction I would sure appreciate it.

 

Yes the new Nav is great, hey I'm up in North Bay........

 

I like the pioneer AVIC units. Ive got a post a few pages back with the details of my installation of an AVIC-z130bt. There is also an aftermarket accessory section on here with lots of discussion about the pros/cons of the different units. Good luck!

 

Check this out:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...n-install.html

 

I think the Bridge man is a great addition to our Ford families, well done man

 

I'll make a plug for the Kenwood units. I've had a lot of them over the years and the Garmin maps are nice. First and foremost, find a reputable shop that knows what they are doing and has been around awhile. Anyone or any shop can install a nav systems, but you want it done right. You don't want to deal with issues down the road or right away and the shop doesn't know what to do. If you are going to tackle it yourself, go to forums like this and research like crazy to the point you know exactly what you need to do before you do it.

 

Thanks for all the great information I will read through it tonight when I have more time. I have been in contact with an audio dealer that does work on new trucks for the local Ford dealer and he comes highly recomended from a friend. I love working on my truck but I will not attempt this one.

 

I remember the challenges Lexus had trying to do his own retro fit. I think he may have sold it and went with an aftermarket.

Based on my experience using the factory Nav for the last couple of years, I probably would have went for an aftermarket to start with. My pet peeves:

- I hate Sync. More specifically, I hate the b#%# in the box. I spent the time training her and she still misses things or picks the wrong stuff. I absolutely find it cumbersome and not logical.
- nice that it has text message reading capability, but you need a phone that has a specific Bluetooth profile (Message Access Profile). This is a licensed profile and the phone manufacturer needs to include it in the phone or you won't get the reading capability.
- the avoidance feature in the Nav has some peculiar behavior.
-

 

And the maps are out of date the DAY you buy the factory nav....
(not just a ford issue !!!- fought with Audi for 2 years and they finally relented and gave me a map update --- which is also out of date now !)

I LOVE my Nuvi 5000 LARGE Screen and lifetime maps, traffic, and updates....

 

Thanks Man

This is probably one of the better reasons to go with an aftermarket system. I can't speak for other manufacturer's units but, Pioneer releases updates to their maps once a year. They do charge a little over $100 when first released, but that price comes down over time. They also update the firmware with new features once or twice a year. The feature I REALLY like is that when they release a newer model unit they also release a firmware update to bring the older units up to date (assuming they didn't change the hardware too much). Probably not going to get a firmware update with new features from the stock Ford unit.

 

$199 Ford Map Update

Sync Firmware Update

You need to sign up for an account. Current version is 3.1
I had version 3.1 on my truck when I got it, so I don't know if this is an update or they did it when they had to bring my truck back to life with the electrical system failure.

 

That Sync update put me over the edge after I first got my truck. Talking to her was distressing and she kept asking me the wrong confirmation statements. It was kinda funny at first and I thought the update would help. It didn't and I stopped laughing and just got frustrated. I do applaud Ford for implementing this technology thou...the first one through the wall always gets bloody.

 

Based on the title of this thread...I completely agree with the OEM Nav. That is one of the reasons that I ended up ordering my SuperDuty. On the lots...they had this or that...but not configured to my tastes. Usually...only get the OEM Nav unit with the Ultimate Pkg...and I didn't want a moon roof.

Good luck...and hope it works out for you!


biz

 

Looking at the link was very helpful, the Pioneer unit looks great and is kind of how I pictured an after market unit looking. I'm hoping to meet up the guys at the audio shop next week to discuss it in detail. I don't want to give up my steering wheel controls or bluetooth so I hope that won't be an issue.

 

It won't be an issue...you need a PAC adapter. That's all.