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Alright. Bought a 2004 F150 Screw Lariat a couple weeks ago. LOVE MY TRUCK!....except for one small problem. My I-pod isnt directly compatible with my system. I have What I believe to be the Audiophile 6-disc sytem with overhead dvd player. I contacted the only company I know of that interfaces the I-pod with Ford, Brandmotion, and gave them the serial number from the radio- not compatible. So my dilemma is this, how, aside from FM modulation which I am using now and its horrible, do i connect my I-pod up to the stereo in my truck?
I believe my options are as follows...
1. replace the head unit with A/M which I have but dont want to lose the factory deck and dont think the DVD player would work....
2. run a patch cord to the dvd player input and have an ugly wire hanging down from the roof of the truck
3. Find a Ford headunit that is compaitble with Brandmotion direct connect system...more $$$$.
4. Stick with the crappy FM modulation,(my ears are pretty fine tuned and static just p*****s me off.
5. ???????????????????????????????????????????????

Its number 5 I'm curious about, does anyone have any other ideas or opinions as to what i should do?
Thanx in advance.
Dave

 

you can get a "PIE" adaptor.... it will hook into the back of your radio, and then uses the headphone port on the ipod.... then just push the AUX button on the stereo, and your connected directly. if i remember correctly, it cost me about 60.00. however, you wont have the ability to control the ipod from the radio, and the radio will only display "PIE" on the display when your connected to it. but, all and all it works really well. with this, you could hook anything that uses a headphone jack.

 

Thanx Matt, do you have a location to search for this? What does the PIE stand for?
This would be perfect as i really dont care about controlling the I-pod from the stereo as lond as plays directly through it.

 

ok, checked them out...the dvd player already utilizes the din plug at the back of the deck, so thats out. too bad to, cheap $'s for what appears to be pretty good stuff.

 

does your stereo have rca inputs on the back? you could possibly get a cable to go from the ipod headphone plug which converts to an rca.....it seems like there has to be a way to do this. i know why you hate the FM modulator so bad....

 

I Pluged Into The Rca Jacks On The Dvd Player And Ran The Wire Above The Overhead Rail System And Drilled A Small Hole Into One Of The Bins Where I Have My I-pod, Cable Is Concelled. Obviously You Cannot Control The I-pod From The Radio, But This Is A Clean Install For A Temp Fix. I Say Temp, I Have Had It Like This For About 6 Months.

 

I have pretty much resigned myself to this option but being the ex-installer that I am, I will have to run the cord all the way through the overhead system and down an a-pillar and through the dash out to the ???????....well, I'll find a place i guess. This option still doesnt excite me very much, but at least I have the option I guess. This really shouldnt be any more difficult than the "old days" where if you wanted to add an amplifier to a factory system, you just added a low level line adaptor to a factory head unit and voila! you had a complete system with subs and whatever the hell else you wanted. Throw a mp3 player into the mix and everything goes to hell. lol

 

I have the solution for you. www.peripheralelectronics.com

You need their IPOD2Car Gen 2 (PXDP2). I have a 06 Lincoln Mark LT
with the audiophile and Satalite Radio. Their unit plugs into the the
aux port in the back of the head unit. They sat radio plugs into their
unit. I have a switch mounted in my Center Console that I flip fro either
IPOD or SAT. This allows either to run off the Aux button, and also allows
steering wheel control. You have total control of the IPOD through the
sterreo, and it will also show the song info on the head unit.

I paid about $100.00 for it installed and it sounds great!

Good Luck,

MC

 

Based on the application guide I think you'll see the 2004 F150s are not included. I'd give them a call to be sure but I'll bet it's the same issue that we have with Brandmotion's products. I went with the PIE adaptor and Unipod adapter to get some juice to the IPOD but now i'm having connection issues that I haven't fully troubleshooted yet. If you have a 2004 headunit you're screwed if you're already using the aux port (dvd or sat). My suggestion... go get a new headunit if you're serious about it. The 2004's do not have as much support as the newer versions of the F150.

 

I e-mailed peripheral, no go for the 04. And Champ, your right, since the dvd player is using the aux port I'm screwed. If I change the head unit to aftermarket, I lose the dvd player. I did hook up through the aux input on the dvd player (still have to run the cord properly) but it works fine so I think I'll live with that, but the dvd screen is on all the time when I do this so it is definately shortening the life of it. My own fault for not looking into this before i bought the truck I guess. Maybe it will be a good excuse to re-do the whole system from the ground up.....well a good excuse to tell my wife anyways. lol
Thank you all for the help. It is greatly appreciated as always.

 

I have the 2004 Expedition Eddie Bauer with the factory nav head unit, center console CD Changer and rear DVD, has anyone successfully found an IPOD solution for this configuration. I don't care if I have to loose the CD Changer but I don’t want to loose the rear DVD. I have the FM thing-a-ma-jig, and it works, but too much static and I did the AUX audio off the rear DVD and that worked well, but the wire hanging was ugly. If I could get it to intergrades’ 100% with the head unit that would be great. any thoughts or suggestion?? Thanks!

 

Jefh, let me give you a rundown of what I've gone through since my last post.
Bought a headunit on E-bay from an 05, mp3 6 disc stacker that allows the factory sub to run and is compatible with the brandmostion interface for the I-pod. Now I have no dvd player. I did some research on this issue and it turns out (straight from the company who produces the dvd rail system) that the manufacturer of the head units for ford changed from 04 to 05 which means the software changed which also means that the software for the dvd player is incompatible and cant be programmed to work together on the can-bus system. In short, I'm screwed! So now I'm faced with possibly purchasing a dvd system from an 05 or up that the software may be compatible with, which I have someone looking into from the company of the dvd players or starting over and gutting and going all aftermarket. Neither option is very appealing once again, but I like my toys so I'll be working on this until I can get it right. Stay tuned and I'll post updates as they happen....but my advice right now would be to use the aux plug in on the dvd player and run your ipod that way. Run the I-pod wire through the headlines or rail system so all you can see is the plugs and keep your I-pod stored in one of the o/head bins.
Just my opinion.

Dave

 

Man! Having read all this I sure am glad I've got the AM/FM, CD, Casette/Sat radio in my 06 Lariat. i simply spent about $20 for a cassette adapter and another $20 for a mount from Crutchfield. iPod sounds great!

 

Silver Lariat,

I did the cassette adapter also. Works great. Couldn't find an exact match for the iPod interface for my Excursion and didn't want to take a chance. Sorry, mine was only 9.95...WalMart..

Mike
2005 Excursion V10 4x4

 

Just for further info - I checked into the iPod2Car adapter that Crutchfield offers. Their compatibility check says it will work with the Ford factory stereos BUT BEWARE. It only works with the MP3 capable factory unit. Their site said the adapter would work with my factory unit - see above post - but only when I read the installation instructions (prior to purchase thank goodness) did I learn you must have the Ford MP3 unit for it to work. I also learned there that it will disable your satellite radio.

On the cassette adapter, I bought the Coby unit - sells for $6-$9 - and works great, EXCEPT. After a short while they begin to malfunction because of the auto-reverse feature on the cassette radio. The adapter will start to reverse every few seconds making a mess of any song you're listening to.

Fortunately there is a very simple fix that involves opening the adapter, taking out one of the small gears and then taping or glueing the drive wheel in place so it cannot "reverse." I just completed this mod on my adapter and it works great now. Still the least expensive and best way to connect the iPod short of a direct hard wire solution.