I have a 2007 Mustang GT coupe with the Shaker 500 system. I recall the 2008 Mustangs having an optional Pioneer AVIC DVD/Nav system with a touch screen interface that looked very snazzy.

What I'd like to do is upgrade my Shaker 500 to a double DIN (or whatever that fills up that empty spot) receiver with a USB interface (for my flash drive to play music or link up with my Android phone). Bluetooth would be great as well, except there's no microphone in the car. What about navigation? Do I need to install an external GPS antenna? I do not have XM/Sirius on the GT.
A touchscreen would be nice as well.

What adapters will I need? I notice Crutchfield offering 2 different adapters.
Also, how hard is it to swap the receivers?

Any recommendations for brands/models?

 

I went through this same decision making process earlier in the summer and decided to upgrade my Shaker 500 with a Kenwood DNX-6990-HD. In the end, my decision to go with a Kenwood in lieu of a Pioneer came down to the GPS as the Kenwood uses Garmin (which is a personal favorite since I have been using portable units from them for several years), along with a $100 mail-in rebate offer. Most nav. H/U's come with a mic and the required GPS antenna.

Here's my thread on the topic, but in the end it will really come down to personal preference on the options/brand as you probably can't go wrong with any of the major brands. I have no complaints with the Kenwood as it has everything I needed including Garmin Nav, Bluetooth, Pandora, HD radio, USB connection, etc. I was a bit disappointed in the recommendations from Crutchfield as their "free" double-din mounting kit needed shims and some other tweaks to allow the H/U to fit flush. I also ordered a Scosche mounting kit and will swap out the crappy fitting Metra that Crutchfield's sent.

I would also recommend you check out Taco-Bill's how to on the wiring harness as you can get by with the much cheaper generic PAC wiring harness instead of the expensive one Crutchfield's recommends.

 

I've been looking into a JVC KW AV60BT unit for my Stang, I like that is has the app center functionality.

Does anyone else have this unit? What are your thoughts---pros/cons.

 

Crutchfield is telling me that the PAC kit comes with the 7805 voltage regulator, but then I heard I needed to solder in a 1A diode with that kit?

Tacobill is saying a 1.5k ohm resistor is all that is needed. Which is the correct route, the voltage regulator or the 1.5k ohm resistor? Can I definitely skip buying the PAC kit and just use the Metra wiring harness?

 

If you get the PAC kit from Crutchfield's, all you need to do is solder the H/U harness into that harness by matching up the wires (no diode is needed). For the Metra kit, you still need to solder the wires and can use either the resistor like TB recommended (which is the easier route) or the 5v regulator. I used TB's route on another headunit and it worked fine.

 

I did the rough math with the 1.5k ohm resistor, and it looks like the current would be about 4.67 mA - hardly enough to generate significant heat with either the 1.5k ohm resistor or the 7805 5V voltage regulator. Is this about right?

So what's the point of getting the PAC kit? Spend $60 to take the place of a $0.10 resistor?

 

I had the same questions when doing my first aftermarket H/U and exchanged a couple PM's with TB about his approach with the resistor. He basically said Crutchfield's is probably just leaning on the safe side as the PAC harness is designed to be a plug-n-play (aside from the soldering). If you buy a H/U from Crutchfield's, they do offer the PAC harness at a 50% discount, so the difference between that approach and the Metra harness is ~$50.

 

Yeah, the $50 difference is pretty substantial if the only thing I need is a $0.10 1.5k ohm resistor. Have you or anyone else used a 1.5k ohm resistor for a long period of time?

 

So how hard is the installation? I'm still undecided - after looking at photos of the Metra dash kit, it seems some head units have unsightly gaps while TacoBill's photographs seem to show an almost OEM-quality installation where the Metra kit matches the sheen of the dash.

I just don't want to hodge podge together something with diodes, resistors, and voltage regulators without knowing if it will work out right. The PAC modules seem to be extra things to stash behind the dash that can rattle around.

 

Doogie: Did you solder in a 1A diode with your PAC kit? They said that at high volume, the receiver may reboot because of the PAC kit.

I ordered a different Metra installation kit and the Metra harness kit. Crutchfield actually told me that there was no Metra harness kit for the 05-09 Mustang and that the $60 PAC was the only way. Their Metra install kit is also the wrong kit (it's the one TacoBill used, but it requires some modifying/adjustment). There's a different one that also fits the 05-09 Stang but doesn't require cutting/fitting.

Did you have to use the Metra antenna adapter (40-CR10)? Some said they had to use it, others said it wasn't necessary. I opted to buy that along with some 1.5k ohm 3W resistors and Fairchild LM7805 regulators just in case.

 

I did not add the diode and have yet to experience any reboots

Which Metra kit did you order? Crutchfield's originally sent me this one, which required a ton of modification to fit. I have a Scosche sitting the garage that I plan to swap it out this winter.

They were just covering their *** as this Metra wiring kit worked fine for my last receiver and all it required was the resistor to eliminate the amp popping at turn on http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207055...essential_info

Yes, I had to use the adapter which was provided by Crutchfield's

 

So on your last receiver, you just used a regular 1.5k ohm resistor from Radio Shack and it worked fine in the long term? I ordered both the resistors and voltage regulator - I'm not sure which route I want to go. The resistor sounds easiest but I heard some people still experienced popping intermittently and that the regulator is the most consistent way to go.

I ordered this Metra kit: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1209558...avf=N&skipvs=T

If you go on Metra's website, it says it works on the 05-09 Mustangs and it is designed for Double DINs and no cutting is required on the inside. It even comes with spacers for the bracket.

I ordered the antenna adapter off eBay, it was like $5. There was a bypass switch kit for the DVD players on eBay for $10, and it looked like a very sleek relay (Blue, green, and black wires). I hope this works.

I found Crutchfield to offer contradicting advice to what TacoBill and a few other S197 owners have said with respect to the installs.

 

Yeah, I was very disappointed in Crutchfield's lack of real knowledge along with including install parts that simply did not work for my application. When I called them about the metra dash kit, they were lost and nothing to offer. I finally just added some temporary spacers and went with the other kit. They also could not answer a simple question about the illumination wire on the PAC harness as I hooked it up and when I turned the lights on, the deck back light pulsated. So they sent a replacement PAC harness, which did the same thing. So the illumination wire in the PAC harness does not work. If you want the backlight on the H/U to dim when the lights are on, you need to run a separate wire to the headlight switch. Thus far, not seen a need to do that as the HU backlight is fine even when it is dark.

 

I'm probably going to skip the dimmer wiring. What did you do for an external microphone with your H/U? How did you route it and where did you install it? I found out my Galaxy S3 can do voice commands via S-Voice using a Bluetooth headset ("Text MEssage Person.... Message... Send" but I was curious if this worked on most H/Us as well.

 

Funny you should ask about the mic as I was struggling to find a good location, especially since in a ragtop the options become a lot more limited. For now, I just coiled it under the dash, but I plan to figure out a permamnent location when I pull things back apart to swap the mount. And ironically enough, I just bought my wife that same phone with the intent to leverage the Pandora and Bluetooth for streaming music.

 

I installed the Clarion CX501 in my GT today. I had wired up the Metra harness earlier in the week and used a Fairchild LM7805CT 5V regulator for the amp turn-on. The CX501 was unique because it has an integrated microphone in the receiver face. At a mic gain of 3 (ranges from 1 to 5), I could hear the FR500S racing exhaust burbling on the other end of the phone call when I revved the engine. It could pick up my conversations without any problems.

The color changing display was a very nice touch, and it looks almost as if Ford had installed this at the factory.

The Metra 95-5812 includes spacers, but I did not have to use them because my 07 dash is all plastic covering the metal chassis/structure.

 

I would look at this one:
http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?mo...hId=126&page=1