Hi all, new to the forum, but I'm hoping to find some advice from someone who has done what I am trying to do.

I picked up a 1999 F-250 Super Duty with the extended cab (not the full crew cab), and have been working on restoring, upgrading, and improving it. It is in great mechanical shape, but needed cosmetic work, replacement of the mirrors and some lenses, and updating to modern tech. I've got all the key wiring in place to install a new in-dash PC head unit with backup camera and a new sub and amp to improve the audio. The problem I'm working on right now is that the head unit is a bit too deep for the double-din slot in the dash.

I could let it stick out 1.5-2" or so and trim it out, but to be honest, I'm not keen on that at all. I think it looks terrible, and I've gone to a ton of trouble already for a nice clean, sleek install and would like to keep it that way.

I've also looked and whether the screen might be divorced from the main body, or the chassis shortened, but neither of those is going to work.

I've considered that there may be someone who makes custom dashes that stick out further for situations like this, effectively deepening the stereo pocket by adding space at the front. If there is though, I can't find them.

Finally, and what seems the most likely, is that I would need to modify/reroute the air duct, and notch out the steel tube at the back of the cavity, to gain an extra 2-3" of depth. Has anyone done this before that can give me some tips or warnings on what to watch out for?

 

Welcome to FTE

I have not heard of anyone doing anything like this, other than building a custom setup with fiberglass. Hope you find what your looking for and if you do I would like to see what you come up with.

 

Welcome to Fte..

What style head unit do you have? I have had several units in my super duty without fitment issues.. The factory double din is pretty large.

My next audio upgrade will be a mounted ipad

 

Your unit is made for cars and it can't fit in the Superduty cave? If you cut into the air vent, you loose hope of the defroster working properly - and your unit will get toasted in the winter.

 

what brand radio are you installing???

 

I installed a double din android unit and it fit like a glove ! What is the depth of this unit you are trying to install ? I thought most double dins were standard dimensions !

Smokie

 

Might be possible that there is a locking tab stopping it from going all the way in?? Might need to use the removal tool to slide it in just a little further. Just a suggestion.

 

I did talk to one of the local shops and they said what they would normally do is warm the vent tube with a heat gun and use a 2x4 to gently and evenly compress it back, being careful not to compress it all the way closed. Thus giving more room in the back and not cutting off the flow or requiring rerouting.

It's an E3io car PC unit, A4 model. Depth is listed as 8.25". It's double-DIN sized otherwise, but depth is not part of the DIN standard last time I looked.


Winter is less of an issue...it''s a diesel of course so even with anti-gel added, starting in the winter is next to impossible. And I park on the street, so plugging it in to keep the block warm isn't really possible.

It's not locking tabs. I'm not as far as even fitting it in for good yet, we're at the "I've removed the old radio, taken out the top and bottom lips, and slid the bare unit back in as far as it can go, then removed the dash panel and taken a good look at the innards" stage. It's is the length of the unit, pure and simple.

 

There are several of here that have done Double Din installs. I had to trim 2 of the lips also, other than that its a tight fit but looks nice all done up. Sounds like yours is substantially longer than normal!

 

1.5 - 2 inches seems kind of far to collapse that duct. It's not very large to start with. (from what i can recall, it's been a while since I've been in there.) Even then, that's not going to leave you with a whole lot of space behind a unit that I'm sure will put out plenty of heat.

 

I tend to agree, I was planning to measure to see what it would give me before doing anything like that.

In the meantime I've spent more time messing with the head unit. I've managed to tease out a scant few inches of slack on the wiring between the interior components and the screen/front bezel. So if I can figure out how to safely install it at a sufficient angle inside the dash, or vertically right behind and immediately below the opening, and can manage to securely affix the mounting brackets to the bezel...I may be on a roll...

 

Whew. So...this is fun, blarh. I've basically dismantled the PC unit into three unique sections connected by their wiring and nothing else - the base of the chassis, with the board and most components, the back end panel with the optical, video, antenna and power hookups, and the screen/front bezel.

Meanwhile, I've been to work on the dash. A good bit of stuff around the original stereo pocket has been removed, though nothing structural or necessary to secure the front dash panel properly. I've created an opening large enough now that I was able to test-wedge the base platform up into the dash space, slide the back panel underneath the support strut that a normal radio's back-end leg would slide onto, and should have enough slack to fit the screen and bezel into the dash opening.

Thinking I will build a sling of cable ties to secure the back panel under the support strut reasonably well, and adhere the mounting brackets directly to the sides of the bezel (still working on the best method for that. This way, if I ever need to open the dash to work on anything (cluster lights, etc), I can pop the dash free, disconnect the wires leading to the screen, and safely remove it.