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Stereos in Ford trucks

K

KYradioJake

Hey, I'm thinking about buying a 2004 Ford F-150 that has a CD/Tape player (along with the radio). Does anyone know if the radios in Fords are good or not. What are the FM sensitivities on them?
 
I have a 1999 Ranger w/ the stock AM/FM/ CD player. AM was fair for the first 100000 mi now a lot of engine nose on the lower bands. The FM sensitivity is excellent, lots of weak stations from far away. I would rate the FM sensitivity at an 8.5 out of 10.
By contrast the AM part of the radio on my Pontiac vibe is real sensitive and the FM is good but not like the Ford.
So the radio gods giveth and taketh..
 
Frankly - if it were me - I'd make a good deal on the truck and have them take the stock radio out, leaving only the "radio ready" kit so you get the harnass and speakers. Probably chops $500 to $600 off the cost of the vehicle. Next, drive the truck down to a local electronics shop and have them install a Pioneer 5900 in it - that will hold onto stations both AM and FM longer than any stock radio I've ever owned (except maybe Delco AM only units from the 60's). And it has incredible adjacent channel rejection on FM. I've done 300 mile car FM DX with a Pioneer car stereo. That model of Pioneer will cost you about $200 plus installation. Unless you get it from Crutchfield and do the job yourself.
 
I had a Ford factory AM/FM/CD player like Vibe described in the 1999 Explorer that I had until a few months ago and had a similar experience. FM reception was great. AM started out fine but got worse becasue of engine noise with age. Actually AM reception was still good in later years when the engine was off, but you can't get very far down the road that way. Not that I'd be listening to much on AM though. ::)

I have a 2005 Focus now and the radio in it isn't nearly as good. FM reception is OK, but not as good as it was in the Explorer, and separation isn't as good. There's no engine noise (yet) on AM, but the reception is definitely worse. The only plus is that it will play MP3 CDs.

It definitely might be worth checking out the Pioneer that Bruce mentioned.
 
Ford makes some pretty good FM stereos. AM is another story, I had several incidents while driving a ford truck where I am listening to AM and out of nowhere, a lot of engine static is filled and it completely blanks out every AM station. It does that for about 10 seconds and then the signal comes back in clear. It is not the antenna that is loose or anything. I guess it may be a cable that hits a metal sheet or is probably burned from all the driving, but the cable looked O.K. and the cable looked like it was in place. Until this day, I have yet to know what causes the noise.

Any ideas of how to insulate the cable more. Or should I just avoid the trouble of replacing it with a new one?
 
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