FarleyEOD

Hey guys,

New to the forum but I wanted to give a quick review of my recent upgrade.

I wanted to upgrade my stereo in my new (to me) F-150, but considering how much I dropped on the truck, the wife is a little skiddish about me blowing another grand, so I had to seek a cheaper alternative to be able to play my iPod through the factory stereo. After some research I purchased the Brand Motion Direct Connect iPod Adapter from Stylin' Trucks.

Bare in mind, I installed this yesterday, so over the long run my opinion might change, but as of now I'm impressed. The box included a wiring harness, a small black box which was the adapter itself, and the ipod connection cable. The installation was extremely simple, and other than putting a gash on my hand that bled like a stuck pig, I didn't have any problems at all installing it myself. It was as simple as remove the radio, clip in the harness, attach the Direct Connect unit (which comes with a velcro, self adhesive pad; I chose to connect it to the bottom of the factory radio, but you can place it anywhere you can find a spot for it), and route the ipod cable where you want it, then just reconnect everything. If you have any problems with the incredibly easy process, they have the installation instructions on the website as a downloadable .pdf file, making it that much simpler.

The parts all look to be good quality, and I was very impressed with the ipod cable itself. It is a very high quality cable, very thick with a connector that is much more rugged than the cable from Apple.

Finally, operation is flawless. I didn't get any feedback, or any whine with the engine running or off. The music is crystal clear. The unit works through the "AUX" button on the factory radio, and it displays Title, Album and Artist, though you have to choose which one of those you want displayed. From the menu button, you can scroll through your music by Playlist, Album or Artist in "Category" mode, then the up and down arrows change the selected criteria. It will also fast forward, rewind, skip tracks, etc., all of the normal iPod functions are covered. It does change the display on the iPod itself to a "Brand Motion" screen that still displays the track playing, but all controls must be done from the radio. Finally, my truck has the steering wheel controls, and all functions from those controls work since it is still the factory radio.

Overall, I'm impressed with the product, but like I said time will tell. I purchased mine from Stylin Trucks (www.stylintrucks.com) for $159.99, delivery was quick (and from Amazon.com, which really had me confused until I opened the box), though I'm sure you can find this particular unit cheaper elsewhere.

If anyone needs more info, let me know.

csx5197

Great review. I have been considering one myself as I don't want to lose my factory controls. I was curious though what year and model truck you have. Must be at least an XLT for steering wheel controls? I have the 6-disc mp3 radio.

Thanks and hope it works well for you

FarleyEOD

I have a 2005 SuperCrew Lariat with the factory 6 Disc mp3 radio as well. I am certain this adapter also works with the Single CD factory model, and any other models are listed on their website at www.brandmotion.com.

jdjam

I put the same thing in my 2005 a couple of years ago and I still like it. Easy install and using the factory controls is great. Only complaint is it always defaults to album mode when you take the key out, but it only takes a minute to get back to a playlist or artist catagory.

88rxn/a

would this work with this:
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/m...l&tab=features
i got this free from my bank. just curious if it would work with the Ipod connection?
i assume its different plug and ill have to find something with a stereo jack?

bmxbuggy

you have got to be *****ting me...I was told by another company that we cant because of the 6 disc changer option. Figures, do some searching first.

GATORB8

As long as you don't use the OEM Sirius and you have an Aux button, then you can use PIE's FRD04-AUX at half the price. No ipod control, but the brandmotion won't control the Samsung anyway.

John.F150

Did you have to connect to a power/ground source with this unit? If so, what did you connect to?

GATORB8

For the Brandmotion? It's just plug and play, no extra connections needed.

John.F150

Ok. It was a shot in the dark. I can't find a thread that tells where to hook up PAC units (they're like the PIE ones, just a different brand). I've sent an email to their tech support.