I have a 78 F 150 and I didn't plan on puting a radio in it because I didn't want to put the money out for one. Now that the station indicator broke and I don't know what station I am on, I was wandering what all I need to do to get a cd player to fit.

 

When u buy your new player, you will get a wiring harness(to allow the aftermarket wires to match up with your stock wiring) and a mounting kit. In many of the older F-150's, i think u can just unscrew the old mounting brackets off the old radio and screw them onto the side of the new player. I did this in my friends 90' f-150 and brothers 88' taurus. It is a really easy installation. All u have to do is match up the wiring harness and the wires from the back of your player w/ butt connectors. then screw in the ground wire to a good grounding point and mount the player to the dash. The first time will seem impossible, but after that it's is super easy! I did mine in about 1 hour. since that i have done 4 or 5 on my brothers and friends cars, and i can do the whole thing in less than half hour. connect the wiring harness tot he player, and screw it in. U will get an instruction manual with the player though..use it and the wiring diagram to help u. good luck!

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 19-Mar-02 AT 04:34 PM (EST)]I pretty under stand everything except getting a mounting kit. Because my truck has the two dials holding the radio in I was wandering how I would go about mounting a cd player. I know that I will have to cut the dash but not sure about how to do it.

 

If your radio has the turn ***** on each side of it, then yes, you're going to have to cut the rectangle size of the CD player. My 82 F150 had a stock AM radio and that's exactly what I had to do. The plastic holding the new head unit in place was pretty thin. I had to get pretty creative using long screws and such to support the heavier radio. I'm not a 100% familiar with your year but I doubt there is much difference.

By the way, I have yet to buy a CD play that comes with an aftermarket wiring harness. You can get one at any auto parts or car audio store. $4-$5, so they are cheap.

 

I have a 79 F150 and have a sony xplod head unit. I had to modify the plastic bezel with a dremel tool and a file to be slightly smaller than the plate that came with the radio. As far as the metal under the bezel i had to cut the support for the old radio just below the AC controls. I then made a little frame from some spare sheet metal to connect to the AC controls and the dash at the bottom. The stereo fits in there nicely. I also added some support brackets behind the radio connected to the ash tray frame right below it.

I need to find a new bezel and recut it so it will look better but Im happy...

It takes some fabricating but a CD player can easliy be mounted in our trucks.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 16-Apr-02 AT 00:04 AM (EST)]check out my install :> custom wood mounting kit

http://www.geocities.com/azzzholezz/stickcd.jpg