TK5

I prefer the Advent unit myself. It gives you that factory look plus gives you all the functionality of an aftermarket head unit. Everything was plug-n-play, retains sync, no programming needed, 8" nav screen & the best part is that it is less than $1200.

Weezer

Yes it is very nice. It has the closest factory look of any after market. And it has one of the best Nav packages (IgoPrimo).
The problem I had was it is not compatible with 2009 and 2010 F-150 trucks. This is a new discovered problem. Luckily, the people at ADC Mobile (Walt) are very honest people. They informed me of these problems when I went to purchase one of these radios. The problem is the steering wheel controls. The 2009 and 2010 typically analog controls, whereas the 2011 - 2013 use CanBus.
So far, there is no solution. So, I installed a factory system that does everything.

sredmyer

I know this is an older post but I thought I would chime in and share some information in case others see this and it might help.

For your first point (steering Phone button doesn't work) I suspect you swapped out your original buttons with those supplied with the "Brick_5" kit. Although this is not widely known, you did not need to swap the control and in fact everything would have worked fine had you not. However, since you did you will now need to go to the dealer and have them reprogram your SCCM (Steering Column Control Module) to correctly recognize the new button set. By far the easier solution though is to simply put your original controls back in.

Your second point sounds to me like a programming issue. There are very few people who know how to correctly program these radios. Most will simply try to use Ford "As Built" data. The problem with this approach is that there is no correct "As Built" data for these radios in the F-150. This is because when the navigation was put in at the factory the F-150 came with the two piece unit which is very similar but in addition to the larger screen there are also programming differences.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to control the button backlight color on these radios via programming like we could on the previous, Pioneer systems. The only way to change the backlight color is to change the physical LEDs in the faceplate.

There is a company out there (www.4DTech.com) that does a lot of work with these radios. Not only can they (more than likely) fix the "stock" programming they can do custom programming. They also provide a service for changing out the LEDs to the proper color for your install.

Hope this helps some folks,
Steve

JackZX

Thanks for the info Steve.
I have been looking at these upgrades for awhile for my stock radio in my 2012 XLT. I wasn't sure which radio part numbers were the most compatible with the F150. I'd heard from United Radio that most of these are from F250 and to stay away from the Expedition ones as they require more changes. Also I did question why they required me to change out my steering wheel control but now I know why it doesn't need to be.

Buying one of these kits from 4Dtech or OEMPARTS are pretty expensive but reading these posts where you can just buy the brick and a good radio of ebay or something that can be programmed seems to be a more cost saving approach.
Does anyone know which are the best part numbers to look for, so I can have it setup correctly at one of these programming services site?

sredmyer

The advantage of buying from a reputable store is you know that what you get will work correctly in your install. I can't speak for OEMParts but I know the guys at 4D Tech (I am one of them ) and they know what they are doing and will help you every step of the way with your install. If you think about it, when you buy one of these inexpensive radios on Ebay (I have seen several lately) you will spend somewhere between $450 and $600 hundred for just the radio. If you then add the cost of the Brick kit another ~$400 and the cost of programming $100 you are only saving a couple hundred bucks and you are pretty much on your own for the install. The comparison gets even worse if you need the LEDs changed...that adds another $300 to your costs. Bottom line is I think the ~$1600 price tag actually represents a pretty good value because you can be assured that what you buy will just work....but then as mentioned I am probably a little bias.


As far as what part number, there are many. In fact most any radio can be programmed to work...part number is not as important as getting it programmed correctly and possibly swapping the LEDs. However since your truck is a 2012, you will want to stay away from the older (2009-2010) units as they cannot be programmed to work correctly in your truck.


Steve

JackZX

Thanks Steve,
I didn't realize the LED's were that expensive to add so looking at all the possible unknowns it does sound like the best option. I have been doing a lot of option looking on the aftermarket radios but seems like you have to give up sometime in every case which is not something I want to do.
I'll be putting an order together shortly.

JackZX

I've been trying to find out what you loose when these radios are installed and noticed on your #2 above that radio station info is lost on the sync display, is that only in Sirius mode or all radio displays and is the clock and other displays still functional?


I know the ADCmobile Advent radio does loose the clock and other display features. It may be redundant if they now show up on the Nav screen but it's nice to have them if you've gotten used to them being there.

ghostinstallations

When installing a OEM unit, the upper display will only show compass direction and temperature. The stuff that no longer displays all shows on the new screen (time in the upper right, and son info with channel logo in the audio pane).

So nothing gets "lost".

Weezer

Here are the views you get from the OEM unit.

JackZX

What bezel did you end up going with? Looks pretty close to OEM.
Thanks!