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My 4 screen in my 2013 XLT has recently developed a line through it (as seen below) and I was wondering if it is possible to swap it to the second style below. My dad has a 2012 XLT with that radio, and I love the look of it and prefer it to the 4 screen. I have heard of people upgrading to newer styles, but not going to the older style. Thanks in advance!
Umm, to be honest, find something aftermarket that tickles the fancy.
This isnt just a straight swap, panel for panel, and these parts arent getting younger or made anymore. The kits for this swaps are kinda pricey for this, too.
Get a nice backup camera and a nice screen and live a little bit. I was pressed into delivery driver duty in our 2019 and 2020 Transit 250s the last few weeks and its hilarious how bad Ford does with those still
Last edited by Johnny Paycheck; Jun 6, 2026 at 01:23 PM.
My problem here is that nothing aftermarket looks good to me, and I can't drop $1,800 on the OEM 8" screen upgrade. I may just try to find a replacement screen and swap that in.
Pretty much ANY stock to different style stock stereo requires major changes that most folks aren't willing to mess with. In your instance, at a minimum, it would require different dash harnesses and a different HVAC box behind the dash. So the dash would have to be removed. It would likely need a different BCM as well. I have the same setup as you and I was able to find a used screen from a junk yard for $125. I would LOVE to go with an upgrade that allows android auto, but the expense involved just isn't worth it.
I looked into upgrading my radio to an aftermarket radio with navigation. the price of the radio wasn't bad but the installation kit and cost for installation tripled the price. I didn't want to try and mess up anything myself installing it so I stayed with the stock radio that still works fine.
Pretty much ANY stock to different style stock stereo requires major changes that most folks aren't willing to mess with. In your instance, at a minimum, it would require different dash harnesses and a different HVAC box behind the dash. So the dash would have to be removed. It would likely need a different BCM as well. I have the same setup as you and I was able to find a used screen from a junk yard for $125. I would LOVE to go with an upgrade that allows android auto, but the expense involved just isn't worth it.
What parts did you need to get from the junkyard? Any programming or anything after you got it installed?
I no longer replace digitizers and such on cell phones because my hands are not steady enough AND I lost interest, BUT, replacing a screen is not that hard if the person has the equipment and skills. Finding that person or place would be a lot cheaper then replacing everything.
Otherwise I would go with a bigger screen that could be used for a backup camera because time is money. By the time you learn about the screen, pinouts, and power requirements to source the replacement or one close to it, you could have just bought something pre-packaged and ready to go off the shelf. If you make $50 per hour and spend 40 hours tracking down a replacement screen when you could be all in and done at $1000 for a replacement, why bother torturing yourself?
Did you look through the offerings at crutchfield?
If I had to add one more after market item to my F-150 it would be a good backup camera, followed by good reverse lights.
Personally, I would go through Craigslist and FaceBook and look for someone junking one like yours, a person and not a junk yard, and grab a screen from that for cheap.
I no longer replace digitizers and such on cell phones because my hands are not steady enough AND I lost interest, BUT, replacing a screen is not that hard if the person has the equipment and skills. Finding that person or place would be a lot cheaper then replacing everything.
Otherwise I would go with a bigger screen that could be used for a backup camera because time is money. By the time you learn about the screen, pinouts, and power requirements to source the replacement or one close to it, you could have just bought something pre-packaged and ready to go off the shelf. If you make $50 per hour and spend 40 hours tracking down a replacement screen when you could be all in and done at $1000 for a replacement, why bother torturing yourself?
Did you look through the offerings at crutchfield?
If I had to add one more after market item to my F-150 it would be a good backup camera, followed by good reverse lights.
Personally, I would go through Craigslist and FaceBook and look for someone junking one like yours, a person and not a junk yard, and grab a screen from that for cheap.
I did look through crutchfield, and I'm just not a fan of any of the aftermarket radios, thats always been a huge pet peeve of mine and something that I think ruins the look of the interior of a truck. My truck already has an OEM backup camera in the rearview mirror, so I'm not worried about that. I think I will end up just finding a new screen of facebook or somewhere.
What parts did you need to get from the junkyard? Any programming or anything after you got it installed?
Just the screen. No programming, no nothing. Just plug and play. My original started taking a long time to power up. I had sound, but the screen would have a significant delay. The last couple months, it developed some squiggle/blur across the top of the screen. So I knew its time was limited. The powering on just got longer and longer and eventually it just never turned on.
Replacing 2013 4 Headunit with No Screen Style
