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Sometimes you wonder how Amazon can sell something for a low price. When really low prices show up, I buy. If it's not what I want, I can return it. Amazon accepts everything back.
My truck and van are the base package, commercial models that only come with AM radios. This is an upgrade for me.
Car stereos. 5 for less than $70. What to do with 5 car stereos? I have 2 cars. I could sell the other ones for a few dollars more than I paid, and come out ahead. If anyone is thinking of upgrading an old radio, this is the deal. I have already bench tested, and these do work for a backup camera, and Android Auto. Connect your phone, and your apps come alive on the radio screen. Google Maps and Waze puts your GPS on the radio screen. Plenty of free apps work for streaming music, podcasts, and radio stations from around the world. Load your favorite videos on an SD card or USB drive, and you can watch movies Extra ports on the back for big screen monitors.
It's been a few years since I've installed a car stereo. If anyone is thinking of doing something similar, "solder seal" makes connecting the wires easy. Actually, I've been using this for a few years now. All sorts of electrical projects. I have not had a bad result yet.
Now the real work begins. Tearing apart the dashboard for the installation. I think that in today's world, the installation of the car stereo probably costs more than buying the stereo. Luckily, it's one of the few things that I know how to do.
The final step tonight was to use something called "wire loom harness tape". It's a polyester alternative to electrical tape. It insulates. And it also works like wire loom. It does a pretty decent job of protecting the wires. First, I tape over each connection to prevent arcing and as a backup in case something goes wrong with solder seal connector. Then I wrap all of the wires together so that I don't have a bunch of loose wires behind the dashboard.
A few of my friends think that it's overkill for a car radio install. My brother-in-law and I use this stuff on everything. It's cheap insurance. Just more time. I can count off about 2 hours for connecting wires, and actually hooking up the stereo on a DC power supply, then checking that the unit works. Plays movies. Plays music. The backup camera activates the monitor. Set up Android Auto, and play around with it a bit to set up radio stations, music, podcasts, etc. So add another 15 minutes to clean up the wires.
The 2.1mm X 5.5mm connector is for the backup camera power signal.
My Charger came with an aftermarket Pioneer stereo that basically has the same features as the one you list. I have no clue how much mine cost though as it was already installed when I bought the car. I find it interesting that when I had the backup camera installed the tech connected it to the in dash 8.4" screen instead of the Pioneer screen. Since it is bigger than the Pioneer, I am going to guess that is why. When I put the car in reverse, the camera works fine in the top screen, and the Pioneer shows "No video signal detected" message. It has a USB cable I can connect to. Thanks for reminding me btw. I seem to have lost my USB drive I used in the Stratus, so I wanted to make another one for the Charger. That way I can listen to hours of commercial free music of my own choosing.
The Dodge floormats arrived today via FedEx. Now I just need the car back so I can install them.
You can load videos or music on USB or SD card. I like the SD cards. Smaller. Not sticking out like a USB drive. And they are pretty inexpensive these days. Not that I would recommend doing it, but other people are known to play movies while they are driving. Some have headrest monitors for passengers.
Most aftermarket radios have a wire that connects to the reverse lamp, or signal from the transmission control module, which switches the screen to the camera. Your installer could easily correct that.
My buddy reminded me of how when we were kids, we didn't know what we were doing, and we were installing cassette decks for other people. Teenagers not old enough to drive. And adults were giving us cars to work on. Usually stolen cassette decks, with cut wires, no wire diagram, or any kind of instructions. We actually twisted bare wires together, then wrapped electrical tape to make the connection. Well, what did they want? They hired children to install a stolen stereo. All a part of the underground economy.
There is no way I am going to load video on my USB. One thing I don't need while driving is a distraction. otherwise, I might be the one who drives across three lanes to hit a bright red car.
Finally, normal San Francisco weather. Still a little bit hot for me. T-Shirt and shorts.
I installed the new radio in the F-150. More work than I wanted to do. Years ago, I installed an aftermarket backup camera, with a monitor built into the rearview mirror. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I got a new camera, and some LED lights to wire into the circuit so that I have extra lighting when the truck is in reverse. I had to pull out the wiring going up to the roofline under the headliner. Then install wiring into the dashboard so that the new radio screen displays the backup camera image. Again, I had to remove the dashboard panels. And this time, I also had to remove the spare tire under the truck bed. Harder than it sounds. Not a little donut spare tire like you get with a Mini Cooper. Aftermarket wheel and 35" off road tire. It was heavy, and awkward. And without a lift, crawling around on the concrete floor was not fun either. Not to mention, even during daylight hours, you can't see anything under a car because it's so dark.
One of my friends reminded me that by suffering through it, I saved myself a few hundred dollars. I don't know what shop rates are in stereo stores. I have no idea what they pay stereo installers. But somehow, they have to charge for the technician's labor. There are some skills involved. You have to have some knowledge of electrical work. It's not as if there is a recognized standard for wiring and colors, or even wire gauge. There are apparently 3 or 4 different "standards" And that old "standard" of red for positive and black to negative? On my Fords, I've found that it's a yellow wire which connects to the car battery.
Costco had hanger steak on sale when I went last week. Hanger is a weird piece of meat between the plate and the flank, with offset grain. Extremely flavorful, and buttery soft if you cook it and cut it correctly. Otherwise, it's like eating a rubber flip flop sandal This piece of meat is actually bigger than a shoe. It easily measures 16" lengthwise. Restaurants usually serve it on a large platter - if you are one of those people who go to a restaurant to pay $60 for a $4 piece of meat. In all fairness, not many restaurants serve it. I've seen it on menus for $60 - $80 as "steak for 2". For $13, the package had 3 hanger steaks. Each weighing over 1 lb. The weird part is that it is imported from New Zealand. How do they ship beef to The USA, then sell it for less than US beef? For the record, it is really good grilled, or you can cut it into small pieces for stir fry.
I bought a stereo setup for the Dodge Stratus. Cheap Dual head unit with 30 watts per channel times four. And two pairs of Kicker speakers. Six by nines for the rear, and three and a halves for the dash. About two months ago I happened by a car audio place and asked what it would cost to have it installed. I was quoted a price of $650. I decided to keep the stock stereo in the car.
Had tri tip for dinner last night. We had a MNF night at the church with the men's group. Watched a good game between the Cowboys and Giants. Was a close game in the first half with both teams tied at six. But the Cowboys scored more in the second half than the Giants and won 23-13.
So now you have a new stereo and speakers, and it didn't get installed?
$650 for labor and parts in Fresno. I wonder what Bay Area shops charge. There's easily 1 day of work. Always shop supplies like wire connectors, zip ties, tape.....
It sounds like your church has a chef. And he knows beef. Tri tip again. What else do they serve? Do you get fish?
No the stereo did not get installed. I have put the whole setup up for sale on Craigslist, and Facebook. got no hits on CL, but I probably put it in the wrong category. On FB everyone was interested in the speakers, but nobody wanted the cheap Dual head unit. I may just list the speakers by themselves, and keep the head unit in case I find someone who just wants a basic stereo in a vehicle that has none.
Usually during one of the BBQ events at church Tri-Tip is always on the menu. If the whole congregation is going to be there, then they will also include hot dogs, and sausages. And then some form of salad and bread. However, last night's affair was more like a bring a dish thing. The leader of the group brought the meat, and then everyone else brought whatever they wanted to go with it. I was the only one to bring the paper plates, and plastic utensil though. Good thing I didn't cancel. I had thought about it, but already told them what I would bring. I spent most the day sitting in the GMC Terrain waiting for my grandkids to take to school, then my daughter to take everywhere to get her rent paid, and storage paid. She finally got her TANF (tribal Welfare basically) check and also now has food stamps. Time for her to get back on her feet financially. I also agreed to have the grandkids stay with me this week, so she can clean the RV trailer they are living in for a CPS inspection. By the time I got back, I wasn't really in the mood to watch a football game. Especially since it was 100 degrees outside, and I had to go to the store, buy the stuff, then go to church and climb a flight of stairs. I was panting like a racehorse when I finally got into the air-conditioned room.
The downside to having the kids during the week, is that I have to take them to school in the morning, 4 kids, three different schools. All on the west side of town, and I live on the east side of town. They also get out of school at four different times. So, I told Hannah (my daughter) to have them take the bus home, and I would stop by around 4:30pm and pick them up to bring them over here. That way, I don't use so much gas. I heard on the radio this morning that gas has gone up thirty cents this past week alone. The place I take my car is over five dollars now and the station across the street is at $5.75. That is ridiculous. I am really glad the Terrain gets good gas mileage. I have put over 200 miles on it, and it is just under the halfway mark.
My current ride.
This is a 2021 model, and it already has 48k miles on it.
Jim
Last edited by Nighteyez; Sep 27, 2022 at 04:09 PM.
Reason: add info
When you don't have kids, there are things that you don't think about. My sister and brother-in-law have a couple. Kids are picky eaters. But very basic. They aren't searching for anything fancy. The children ate some of that hanger steak. They liked it. My best guess: it's tender. Nobody wants chewy meat. Especially children. And they don't want big chunks either. As an adult, I want a bite sized piece to fill my mouth. For the kids, the beef is always thinly sliced. One is in kindergarten and the other is in the 3rd grade. Pretty good that they will eat most things - as long as it doesn't smell bad. So no durian fruit, aged cheese, or anything fermented. And I can trick them into eating any and every vegetable, if I serve it with melted cheese. Actually, they will eat anything and everything with melted cheese. You know how you make the cheese for macaroni and cheese? Make a roux (butter and flour), add milk, heat until the milk is hot and thick, then stir in the shredded cheese. Instant cheese sauce. Every kid I've ever known, loves melted cheese. Right up there with chicken nuggets, pizza, spaghetti, hot dogs, and fries. And the melted cheese gets poured on all of it.
There are some things which everyone likes at my house.
One of them is potato chips. Sometime I make sweet potato chips. I made a batch today with plain russet potatoes. Old fashion. I could stand around for a couple of hours, cooking a 10 lb bag of potatoes, and there would be no left overs. Everyone gets what they want. Salt & pepper, garlic, vinegar.... whatever. It's a little bit of work to carefully cut each piece by hand, with a knife. But worth it in the end.
One of my cousins thinks that "we" should open a little stand, or get a push cart or food truck. Just fresh chips. The only problem with that is the "we" part. I would be doing all the work.
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