Keith
03-31-2018, 07:25 AM
I just finished a big thrash on my '04 DTR - my first modification, I'm no longer a virgin - and here is what I did.
I made the jump to the Escape head unit and the associated Sirius Sat unit. At the same time, I finished the backup camera install that I started several weeks ago.
My main reason for posting is to give great credit to Brian [aka roylpita] for selling me the Sirius Sat kit. He was good to deal with and answered a bunch of questions. His harness was the centerpiece of the whole project and it was well made, fit exactly as Brian said it would, and had enough length in all the right places to let me do the mod exactly as I wanted to.
I tried something different than some have; I ran the wiring out the passenger side. Over the glove box but under the air bag, down the kick panel, and under the pass side door sills. The Sat unit mounts on the pass side bulkhead in the trunk. Sat antenna sits at the back center of the roof.
One thing about the Escape head unit: NOTHING except the AM/FM radio functions worked the first time I tried them. The CD wouldn't read and the SAT wouldn't do anything except search endlessly. I got so mad that I had a 'defective' unit that I sent an eBay message and started the p**sing contest with the seller. On the third try (I had just about given up by this time) the unit magically started reading and playing CDs just fine. Same with the SAT function. This worked perfectly on the second try. Now I will have to message the seller and apologize because everything works fine. My advice - be patient and give the unit some time for whatever reason.
The backup camera was a mixed marriage of a Rydeen MINI Infra-red camera with a Master Tailgaters video rear view mirror. The wiring was tedious to run and protect, but everything worked great from the get-go. Lots of uncertainty due to the foreign-translated manuals, but some common sense got things working OK. Advice: If you don't have some history with auto wiring and troubleshooting, get all this stuff done by a pro.
I'm glad to post some pics if anyone is interested; these upgrades have been done to death by many people here on the Forum so I don't expect too much interest.
The Escape unit is indeed a step up in audio and extra capability, I am glad I did this. It suits my goal of upgrading the car but retaining a stock look.
Public thanks to roylpita - Brian - for being a solid guy to work with. I'm glad to have done business with him.
Keith in Houston
'04 DTR
I made the jump to the Escape head unit and the associated Sirius Sat unit. At the same time, I finished the backup camera install that I started several weeks ago.
My main reason for posting is to give great credit to Brian [aka roylpita] for selling me the Sirius Sat kit. He was good to deal with and answered a bunch of questions. His harness was the centerpiece of the whole project and it was well made, fit exactly as Brian said it would, and had enough length in all the right places to let me do the mod exactly as I wanted to.
I tried something different than some have; I ran the wiring out the passenger side. Over the glove box but under the air bag, down the kick panel, and under the pass side door sills. The Sat unit mounts on the pass side bulkhead in the trunk. Sat antenna sits at the back center of the roof.
One thing about the Escape head unit: NOTHING except the AM/FM radio functions worked the first time I tried them. The CD wouldn't read and the SAT wouldn't do anything except search endlessly. I got so mad that I had a 'defective' unit that I sent an eBay message and started the p**sing contest with the seller. On the third try (I had just about given up by this time) the unit magically started reading and playing CDs just fine. Same with the SAT function. This worked perfectly on the second try. Now I will have to message the seller and apologize because everything works fine. My advice - be patient and give the unit some time for whatever reason.
The backup camera was a mixed marriage of a Rydeen MINI Infra-red camera with a Master Tailgaters video rear view mirror. The wiring was tedious to run and protect, but everything worked great from the get-go. Lots of uncertainty due to the foreign-translated manuals, but some common sense got things working OK. Advice: If you don't have some history with auto wiring and troubleshooting, get all this stuff done by a pro.
I'm glad to post some pics if anyone is interested; these upgrades have been done to death by many people here on the Forum so I don't expect too much interest.
The Escape unit is indeed a step up in audio and extra capability, I am glad I did this. It suits my goal of upgrading the car but retaining a stock look.
Public thanks to roylpita - Brian - for being a solid guy to work with. I'm glad to have done business with him.
Keith in Houston
'04 DTR