iamsuperbleeder

Probably the most simple, useful, and all around best mod you can do if you have Sync!


The goal was to get this USB stick, with it's blinking LED light, out of sight...






First step, get a cord.

I searched and found an excellent seller on eBay that is selling the PERFECT cable! A mini USB male on one end, and a standard USB female on the other, it's about 3 foot long, and cost me under $10! Shipping takes a little while though, because it comes from Hong Kong... go figure...

Here's the seller:

http://myworld.ebay.com/meestore/












Then grab a 7mm socket and a small ratchet, and hop in the passenger seat of your truck.

Up on top of the dash where the little non-slip pad is, is where we're focusing our attention here.





Lift the rubber mat out (I used my finger nails... it's time to cut them, lol; you can use whatever's handy like a small flat-head screw driver, just be careful not to scar up the plastic)








Now, grab your 7mm equipped socket and remove the two screws that hold the plastic base to the dash.

Once the screws are out, it's time to get the plastic base out of the way. Just lift up about an inch or so at the side closest to the window.






Once that pops up, push it forward about half an inch to release the other side

iamsuperbleeder

Then just move the thing out of your way, and viola, there's the Sync module









The black cord plugged in on the left is the factory installed Sync USB plug; it routes down to the one that's already on the dash, by the audio-in line. The gray plug that's open is your USB2 plug!






Just take your mini-USB male end and pop it in the open plug. It'll only go in one way, so if it doesn't fit at first, don't force it. Pull it out and spin it around 180 degrees and see if that works.

NOTE: this cord I purchased plugged right in and fit perfect; I've read that in some cases the plastic around the plug end on some cords can be a little to bulky and wont fit inside the gray plug without some trimming to the plug itself. I was fortunate enough to have a plug-and-play situation.







Now it's time to focus our attention on the glove box (where I'm going to be routing this USB cable)

First, you have to open it up, and push in the tabs on the sides to release it so that you can get full access behind it. It helps if you go ahead and clean your glove box out before hand, so you don't make a mess on your passenger side floor, lol.

iamsuperbleeder

Now that we've got full access, you can clearly see the route we're going to take with the cord. You can see the light coming through an open "hole" that runs right up to the Sync module; perfect for routing the cord.










And since a 3ft cord is a bit long, I just bundled up the excess cord and tied it up with the twist-tie that came with the cord






Then just lift the glove box back up, and lay the cord down through the split on the left side of the glove box. I use the little bulg (whatever it is) on the cord to my advantage as kind of a stop, to keep the cord from wiggling back inside the dash






Then just plug your USB stick, HD, iPod, or whatever, into the femal USB end that's now in your glove box, and prepare to rock out without the eyesore of having all this "stuff" sticking out of your dash!










All in all, it's probably one of the best mods for under $10, in my opinion. Takes maybe 10 minutes to do it, and only requires one tool. DEFINATELY a beginner rated modification that anyone can do (so long as you have a 7mm socket, lol)




In order to get to using the newly routed USB cord plugged into the second port, you have to use the "USB 2" command to select it as a source. You can still use the original USB plug on the dash like normal, and switch back between the two without unplugging either USB devices.

Moody Blue

best and easiest mod i've done so far

iamsuperbleeder

no doubt


I know there's write ups out there, I just wanted to use my new iPhone for something


also, video added of how to activate and start using the USB2 port, because I'm noticing that question of how to get to it, pop up more and more

Abn150

This mod has been written up before, but this is an excellent write up, with great pictures and the video is an added bonus. Well done.

H_E_H

I still need to get this done. Huge thanks for the helpful images!
I'll refer back to this thread when I ready to do the job.

03Cobraa

Nice write up with plenty of good pictures. I done mine a few weeks ago, but I used a 350gig hard drive in the glove box. My 16gig thumbdrive wasnt big enough! Good Job!!

steenbag

Yea, I don't know why Ford didn't put another USB either in the glove box or in the center console. It seems to me it would give a much more finished look. I ended up putting mine in the center console, which is a little more of a pain in the butt, but still pretty straigh forward.

Good write up.

iamsuperbleeder

Yeah I may do that in the future; I have plans to install some LED lights inside the center consol that trigger when the lid is opened, and I might reroute the cable into there too when I dig in there. It'll be a little more difficult for me not having the flow-through console; I'll have to route the cord under the carpet... but definately something I can handle


Thanks for the responces and feedback guys