So I bought a Kenwood DDX512 stereo to put into the X. First off, the cage that goes into it is large enough that I've had to trim the top, cut the bottom lip out and still wouldn't fit to go in... I ended up taking the dash trim out to get a better view... at this point I think I'm going to drill some holes on the side of the plastic casing, and secure the stereo in with straight screws coming in from the side. I don't see how this thing would fit otherwise, as it is definitely one of the larger double din units i've seen so far...

For the first time today I actually missed my old F150... the mounting system in that was so straight forward, there was so much room in there, and everything went together so well, that I think Ford took 4 years to wise up about their stereos it seems...

if I can't get it to work tomorrow, I'm putting the thing in the mustang and gonna swap the ole' panasonic (sounds real good but has a cheap look to it) into the X...

Had I known what I know now about it, I would have definitely gone with a single din stereo in this... Kind of absurd to even think the largest SUV in the world can't fit a full size deck

On the good side of things, I've replaced all the speakers and wired them into a JL audio 6ch amp... can't wait to have it all together

 

I've installed a Kenwood deck (DPX502) and a JVC unit (AVX810) which are both double din units in my X with no problems. In both installs, I didn't use the cage, but did use a Scoshe double din adapter kit. I also had to take out some material on the dash bezel with a router for the deck to fit through the opening.

I know of others that have screwed through the side as you're planning to do, but the install using the Schoshe kit was easier in my opinion.

Good luck.

Brian

 

its pretty tight. you kinda have to angle it in at the top first and then wedge it in. mine just required a tiny bit of trimming at the bottom. thats it.

 

The Pioneer AVIC is in mine and fit fine, just a tiny bit of "sanding" with a Dremel at the bottom to make it fit smooth - pictures in gallery. Couldn't be happier.

Mike

 

Now thats one slick looking install. Good job.

 

Racerx7775 -
Off topic but..
what kind of mount do you have for the Garmin?

I have a Nuvi 680- with the trafic DC plug and would love a cleaner mount

 

Wow. Sorry to see you went about this the hard way. You do not need to use the "cage". When you pull the radio out you will notice that there is about a 1/8" or so lip on the top and bottom of the radio opening that catches the face of the factory faceplate. You will trim that lip off so that it will have clearance for the new radio faceplate. Then remove the entire dash bezel after removing the two 7mm screws that are on the top of the radio opening. Basically slide the radio (without the metal cage) into the radio cavity of the dash. I use two pieces of radio strapping or plumbers tape to make some "Z" shapped mounting tabs. Screw them into the side of the radio with the supplied screws and then screw them into the plastic dash hole with some shallow screws. When the dash is off this will all make sense. After securing the radio to the dash assembly you can pop the dash bezel back over the front of it and you are done.

 

KCA,

Can you explain the Z shapped mounting tabs and how/where you screw them into in the dash hole a bit better (pics if you have them would be great). Sorry, I'm not that bright when it comes to visualizing these things in my head. Your method sounds better than the Scosche adapter kit.

Thanks,

Brian

 

yep, that's what I was planning on doing after I figured out I'm not gonna get to use the cage. lil' late for my dash trimming... good news is, can't see the horizontal piece missing too much... though it will look ghetto if I leave it with just the stereo trim out.

I might take it to a local shop that I know does some laminate stuff over it and fix my mistake of cutting the horizontal thing... either that or buy the kit and hope the bottom lip of that scosche FD1330 will go deep enough to cover the cut lip :\

If not, i'm looking at another dash trim piece, which isn't gonna be cheap...

 

I kind of stair step them a bit. Tomorrow if I have time I plan on putting a no-hole phone bracket on my dash for my Palm phone. I'll pop the dash bezel off and take a picture of the way I did my brackets. I have done over 50 of the SuperDuty and Excursion dashes this way and it works great with all manufacturers radios.


A couple years ago I shipped a Kenwood DNX-7100 to a customer which if I remember was on here. Anyways he did a similar thing trying to use the cage on his F350. He cut the bar off between the radio and the heater controls on the dash bezel. He did quite a chop job out of it. Luckily he found on Ebay or Craigslist another bezel for like 80 bucks. I gave him 40 bucks for his chopped up one and used it on a customers King Ranch with a 10" touch screen monitor I customized into the dash. I cut out a hell of alot more than he did...lol

Here's one on ebay right now for $124 Buy It Now. Its gray but it can be dyed if yours is tan.

Auction is found HERE.

 

Yep, that's the bar I cut too... Most junkyards around MN seem to sell the whole dash for about 200 bucks, so just a matter of finding one willing to part with just the trim... found one (just the trim) on car-parts.com for 50 bucks, but it's a superduty gray one, hehe. I'm not too worried about it, it does look like with the bigger trim ring on the stereo, especially if pulled out a bit, it would have no problem covering most of it, and only leave a tiny bit visible (the part that's directly in front of the hvac controls), which you'd have to look from below to see.. The shop deal looks more and more like my next best thing, as I'm kind of sick and tired of dealing with it (i usually like doing this stuff heh).

found a tan one on ebay... might make a lowball offer, who knows... they can't be too popular

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...Z1218571119393

 

well, finally got all the pieces I needed and started putting it together last night. Because the deck I bought only has a front and a rear/sub (Shared) set of preouts, I ended up having to run a lineout converter to get additional channels so I can run the subs off the preouts... that's when I discovered 2 of the channels on the lineout converter aren't working. Coupled with the fact I have 3 different sets of speakers, all sounding slightly different... this will be fun to dial in... I'll get some pics up when it's done, hopefully all this weekend

 

The mount is the standard one that came with it and I used a bit of silicone to glue it to the dash right next to the cig lighter. Works great and never falls off.

 

heya,

I finally got all the pieces I need, and I'm ready to set everything in... about the only thing I still don't get is what exactly is gonna keep the stereo inside the car? Right now, I have that scosche fd1330 kit, and got it configured how they say, but nothing screws it to the vehicle at all it seems? I don't think the X will ever pull 2G's off the line so that it'll be a problem, but i imagine it would work its way out overtime with potholes and everything if it's not held in with any kind of screws or anything, wouldn't it? I'm tempted to put double sided tape on the side brackets of the install kit at least, hehe

Thanks in advance guys!

 

The kit should have a groove that goes around the lip at the sides of the radio opening on your dash (you have to trim the top and bottom lips flush to get the radio to fit). You put the two mounting brackets around the lip on the dash panel, and then slide the radio in between them. Then you put the screws though the brackets into the radio. This makes it so the radio is attached to the dash panel.

That is how mine worked in my 99 F250. The radio never moved in the dash, until I got rearended by a truck doing 50mph or so. Then the hole dash panel popped off toward the rear of the truck. I just pushed it back in place and everything was fine. I've actually still got the same radio in my 07 and it works great.