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The big project this weekend was an audio upgrade. Really happy with the way this turned out. Unfortunately I didn't stop to take any pictures of all the hidden parts.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the Maestro/Kenwood combo. The only minor negatives are a fairly long delay between pressing the voice button and hearing the Sync prompts and the fairly long "boot" time for the radio when the truck turns on.
Sync for phone calls is working to my satisfaction with the tip above on pressing and holding the voice button. Only complaint I have is probably my iPhone which likes to randomly connect for bluetooth audio instead of USB.
Camera works great. I did play with brightness and contrast to get a better picture. The only minor complaint is it takes a little longer for the Kenwood to boot than I would like.
Sync for phone calls is working to my satisfaction with the tip above on pressing and holding the voice button. Only complaint I have is probably my iPhone which likes to randomly connect for bluetooth audio instead of USB.
Camera works great. I did play with brightness and contrast to get a better picture. The only minor complaint is it takes a little longer for the Kenwood to boot than I would like.
so what was the total cost of this install.
with the woodgrain trim kit
Sorry, didn't see that. Looks like my Crutchfield order was about $400.
I have some new goodies coming:
- Black skull caps for the mirrors. I like the look but the Plasti Dip only held up a few months.
- Blackouts for the mirror reflectors
- Black factory flares
- Raptor side steps!
Got my flares installed today. Running boards are due tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get some pictures over the weekend.
Got a couple more mods in mind.
First, seriously considering a Magnaflow SISO exhaust to give it a little better sound. A little nervous about droning.
Also looking at a set of wheels and tires. Thinking about Ultra Goliath's with 275-70-18's. Here's a pic of these wheels with that size tire someone had for sale a while back.
Didn't have time to wash it over lunch, but the steps and black flares are on. REALLY want those wheels now. I think it will have the perfect amount of chrome/stainless/polish and black for me.
Wheels! Ended up going with XD Monsters due to quality concerns with the Ultra wheels. Stuck with stock size tires--I do have to drive this so I didn't want to get something huge. Tried to go to a 275/70-18 but those require a narrower wheel. 285/65-18's would have fit but were only 1/2" taller.
And I just got an email from UPS that I can pick up my SISO Magnaflow exhaust today.
Going to have to find a new place to take pictures--our house is sold and the subdivision backdrop at the new one just isn't going to cut it.
Yesterday I installed a Magnaflow SISO cat back system and an Airraid Jr intake. Just a quick jaunt around the block with it but sounds great. Hope the highway cruise volume is acceptable.
I also have a full set of Power Stop brake components on the way. Turns out they are about the same on sale at Amazon as buying everything at Autozone and those rotors are of dubious origin.
Been a long time since I did anything to the truck. In the interim we moved and did a bunch of updating to the new house. Finally getting back to doing some truck stuff.
After the last time I posted I swapped out the Airraid Jr for a full Airraid system. The cheesy Airraid sticker had to go though and I thought that oval area was perfect for a blue oval. Some eBay searching yielded exactly the right size.
I wasn't thrilled with the noise level in the cab with the Magnaflow exhaust. Some searching led me to adding a straight-through Magnaflow muffler in the position where many trucks have the factory resonator. That was perfect, especially after a few thousand miles. Love the sound now and its tame on the freeway.
I also added a set of "Raptor" grill lights. Since I have the aftermarket grill I made my own from some eBay LED marker lights, some 1/4" ABS sheet and some lengths of ABS pipe to space the lights closer to the grill. Testing without the spaces revealed it lit up behind the grill too much for my taste. I drilled out the inside of the pipe sections with a step drill which resulted in a perfect recess to hold the marker lights. The light isn't as diffuse as in the photos--they look great in person.
06-25-2014, 08:39 PM
