Lat's '19 Screw Stereo build

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lateralis

lateralis

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Question about the volume, does the steering wheel volume button still work?
All the steering wheel controls still work like normal. They are just slow as compared to the volume knob. I usually drive around with my right hand resting on the shifter so it was natural to flick your fingers at the volume knob. It's just a lot more inconvenient now. One of those things you don't realize that you will miss until it's gone.
 
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lateralis

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Not much of an update but I got the cable laid from the engine bay back to the truck bed. I'm putting an aux battery back there with a BMS system. Basically butchering a dual battery kit I had from my Gen3 Tacoma I used to have. Now..... getting the wires into the truck bed I'm using the plastic plug against the bulkhead. I over engineered the crap out of it. Could I have done it easier? Probably but I have a 3d printer soooo... yeah.... lol...

It's made of 3 pieces. I forgot to take pictures of the parts after I put it in but I can screen shot the models if anyone is interested. The extra 3 holes are for the 1/0 (+)/(-) and the sensing line for the dual batt BMS that is getting routed into the cab.

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joeyaoyp

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Thanks guys, honestly its only a tiny bit so far. I'm working on designing a wire pass thru for the bed right now using the stock bed plugs against the bulkhead. Putting a dual battery in the bed since I already had a full dual batt setup from my last truck. Required? Nope. Overkill? Probably, but hey gotta stick with the theme of I already had the stuff anyway.



So the PX6 is what I would consider a sand box. You can do a ton of stuff with it but there is a TON of trial and error. Honestly if I didn't get custom firmware for this I wouldn't have bothered. This thing has a lot of little nuances on how to get it running right and I'm still trying to figure it all out. For now it works and the only thing that kinda bothers me is that I'm missing the volume control knob. I'm looking into a work around like a USB volume knob or maybe software control. If you use the PX6 alone (No NavTV/ DSP) I would not bother with this though.

As for maps yes all the normal OEM (Sync3) stuff works just like stock. The camera's don't look the best but it isn't terrible IMO. Right now I'm using Waze but I have google maps and gaia. When in nav mode I can go full screen which is awesome. Being able to swipe around a huge map is really great! Also everything works without internet connection for just the map and gps. If you try to search something it wont work. So the sync nav makes a nice back up. I'm not sure how good Gaia tracks off road yet, but its way better than dangling an Ipad off the dash IMO.

So in order it will be

1) Sync Nav
2) Waze normal screen
3) Waze full screen
4) Gaia full screen

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Thank you for your post! I was wondering, if you are using PX6, doesn’t it provide the RCA output? Why we still need to use Zen one?
What do you think about the PX6 so far? How is the response time? Will it slower then the OEM Sycn 3?


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lateralis

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Thank you for your post! I was wondering, if you are using PX6, doesn’t it provide the RCA output? Why we still need to use Zen one?
What do you think about the PX6 so far? How is the response time? Will it slower then the OEM Sycn 3?


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So you could use the RCA's out of the PX6 but you lose all sound associated with the SYNC system. IE door chimes, alerts and any SYNC radio options (Bluetooth phone, Radio, XM Radio, nav voice). I don't use the PX6 for phone since you have to install the provided speaker and mic. The stock system works plenty fine for me. So my phone is connected via BT to the Sync side and the PX6 is running off the trucks wifi hotspot. If i get a call it auto swaps to the the Sync side to handle the phone call. While I don't use XM radio and the quality isn't all that great it comes in handy when signal drops. Same thing with Sync nav. While PX6 does have a GPS sensor if you loose cell reception you can't search for anything and loose streaming services. I live in upstate NY currently and I drop signal like a **** up here. So when I'm on log stints of no cell reception I revert back to the Sync system if I need to. I use Spotify for music though and have liked songs saved to the PX6 so I usually don't have to swap out. Also for the Zen it uses the stock digital signal from the Sync system. You aren't going to pick up any noise like RCA's running the length of the truck. Currently all but 1 amp is using a 1ft RCA cable. Super short!

As for times the only thing I would say is that it takes a little longer for the PX6 to get up and running since mine isn't the fast boot version. Still under a minute to get everything moving than it's probably as fast if not faster than the Sync system. This is fine for me since I don't start driving off until I see deflection from coolant temp.

FYI, I am running custom firmware that I payed for on top of the PX6. I got lucky and picked up my PX6 used so the end price with the firmware was still cheaper than buying a PX6 new. These suckers run like crap out the box and require a lot of tweaking. Once you get it set though it's amazeballz.
 

joeyaoyp

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So you could use the RCA's out of the PX6 but you lose all sound associated with the SYNC system. IE door chimes, alerts and any SYNC radio options (Bluetooth phone, Radio, XM Radio, nav voice). I don't use the PX6 for phone since you have to install the provided speaker and mic. The stock system works plenty fine for me. So my phone is connected via BT to the Sync side and the PX6 is running off the trucks wifi hotspot. If i get a call it auto swaps to the the Sync side to handle the phone call. While I don't use XM radio and the quality isn't all that great it comes in handy when signal drops. Same thing with Sync nav. While PX6 does have a GPS sensor if you loose cell reception you can't search for anything and loose streaming services. I live in upstate NY currently and I drop signal like a **** up here. So when I'm on log stints of no cell reception I revert back to the Sync system if I need to. I use Spotify for music though and have liked songs saved to the PX6 so I usually don't have to swap out. Also for the Zen it uses the stock digital signal from the Sync system. You aren't going to pick up any noise like RCA's running the length of the truck. Currently all but 1 amp is using a 1ft RCA cable. Super short!

As for times the only thing I would say is that it takes a little longer for the PX6 to get up and running since mine isn't the fast boot version. Still under a minute to get everything moving than it's probably as fast if not faster than the Sync system. This is fine for me since I don't start driving off until I see deflection from coolant temp.

FYI, I am running custom firmware that I payed for on top of the PX6. I got lucky and picked up my PX6 used so the end price with the firmware was still cheaper than buying a PX6 new. These suckers run like crap out the box and require a lot of tweaking. Once you get it set though it's amazeballz.

Does the custom firmware from the PX6 company? How does it affect your user experience?
Will changing the HU affect the Ford Pass app?
 
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lateralis

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Does the custom firmware from the PH6 company? How does it effect your using experience?
Will changing the HU affect the Ford Pass app?
The firmware is from a guy off of FB. I heard about him from another forum member in the PX6 thread on here. Phoenix support is hit or miss and they wont help people like me who bought the unit 2nd hand. The new firmware gives you the themes like the one I posted and more seamless functionality. I did make the truck images for mine though since the guy didn't have FP Blue Raptor images. You could even change them to whatever the hell you want too like a banana...... lol.... It's not 100% perfect but it will solve damn near all of the major issues with the stock firmware. Just has a learning curve. Nothing related to Sync is affected which includes Ford Pass. You retain the sync module when you install the unit. Basically you are only removing the stock 8" screen and the physical radio control buttons/knobs. You have to remove the Sync module and circuit boards from the stock unit and transplant them to the PX6 unit. It's really easy and everything is plug and play minus the software tweaks firmware. You can find installation videos by Phoenix on YouTube that walks you through everything. I followed those and everything turned out fine the 1st go. Only thing that sucks is the stupid plastic clips that shoot off when you remove the panels. Damn things disappear into the center council void of hell......
 

joeyaoyp

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The firmware is from a guy off of FB. I heard about him from another forum member in the PX6 thread on here. Phoenix support is hit or miss and they wont help people like me who bought the unit 2nd hand. The new firmware gives you the themes like the one I posted and more seamless functionality. I did make the truck images for mine though since the guy didn't have FP Blue Raptor images. You could even change them to whatever the hell you want too like a banana...... lol.... It's not 100% perfect but it will solve damn near all of the major issues with the stock firmware. Just has a learning curve. Nothing related to Sync is affected which includes Ford Pass. You retain the sync module when you install the unit. Basically you are only removing the stock 8" screen and the physical radio control buttons/knobs. You have to remove the Sync module and circuit boards from the stock unit and transplant them to the PX6 unit. It's really easy and everything is plug and play minus the software tweaks firmware. You can find installation videos by Phoenix on YouTube that walks you through everything. I followed those and everything turned out fine the 1st go. Only thing that sucks is the stupid plastic clips that shoot off when you remove the panels. Damn things disappear into the center council void of hell......

LOL. Thank you for the quick reply.
So I guess if I buy the PX6 I will need to find the guy that you are talking about for custom firmware as well for a better UI experience, correct?
 
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