2004-08 Ford F-150 SuperCrew

The F-150 SuperCrew is a true “do-anything” truck. It can haul the kids to school and haul an old projection TV to the recycling center--on the same trip. The roomy interior gives you lots of space for entertainment upgrades and the modular construction makes it easier to turn your dreams into reality.

2004 Ford F-150 SuperCrew (Crutchfield Research Photo)

Factory System

This Ford F-150 SuperCrew came with several receiver options. An AM/FM/CD receiver came standard, but Ford offered three other options:

• an AM/FM/6-disc in-dash changer;
• AM/FM stereo/6-disc CD changer with Audiophile Sound System with mp3 (with factory sub);
• Rear Seat DVD Entertainment System

Note: You will lose the use of the Rear Seat DVD Entertainment System if you replace the factory radio.

Factory 6"x8" speaker (Crutchfield Research Photo)

Each of the four doors houses a 6"x8" speaker, and in some trucks you'll find an enclosure with an 8" sub and an amplifier under the left rear seat. It's really easy to get into the dash and speaker locations. You only have to remove one piece of trim to access the factory radio, and the speaker grilles pry off in the front doors. You'll have to remove the door panels to replace the rear door speakers, but it's not difficult.

Factory radio (Crutchfield Research Photo)

Replacing the factory radio

There's plenty of room behind the dash, so you can install just about any car stereo in this truck, including single-DIN (2" tall) and double-DIN (4" tall) receivers. Installation is pretty simple. You remove the center dash panel surrounding the stereo, then unbolt the stereo from the dash. You'll need a mounting kit to trim out the new radio, along with a wiring harness that allows you to connect your new radio without having to cut the factory wiring (Crutchfield includes these installation parts free with most orders, along with our step-by-step instructions for your F-150). 

You'll have no problem fitting accessory items like satellite radio tuners, iPod adapters, navigation modules, or even small amps back behind your new stereo. Remove a couple of trim pieces, and you'll have all the access you need for the installation. You'll lose the factory Video Entertainment feature if you replace the Ford radio.

Tools Needed: To install a new stereo, you'll need a 7mm socket wrench and a panel tool.

Steering wheel audio controls
Two companies (PAC and Axxess) make adapters that allow you to connect your Ford steering wheel audio controls to a new car stereo. This Ford truck uses a single wire to send commands to the factory radio, so you can install either adapter without much trouble.

Replacing the factory speakers

This truck will accept several speaker sizes: 6"x8" speakers drop right in, most 5"x7"s will also fit, and 5-1/4" speakers will fit in with mounting brackets. It's a good idea to get speaker harnesses for your new speakers. They'll allow you to attach the new speakers to the plugs that connect to the Ford factory speakers, and they make it easier to reinstall the factory speakers if you ever sell your truck (Crutchfield includes these brackets and speaker wiring harnesses with every speaker order). And you'll find enough room in both locations that you can almost always buy matching speakers for front and back.

Ford front door panel (Crutchfield Research Photo)

Front doors
You don't have to pry off the entire door panel, as there's a pop-out panel that covers the speaker location. Since the SuperCrew offered advanced audio options, you should find factory tweeter openings in the front door panels in addition to the oval 6"x8" openings. If you're handy with tools, you can fashion a plate to hold aftermarket tweeters in those openings. Since the speaker openings are high up in the front doors, you'll get great sound from a nice set of component speakers. You can also install kick panel enclosures that hold 6-1/2" speakers and tweeters in this truck if you prefer that option.

Rear doors
You will have to remove the rear door panels to access the speakers. Again, there's plenty of room for most 6"x8" speakers, or you can also use 5-1/4" speakers in brackets.

Tools Needed: To replace the speakers, you'll need a panel tool, a ratchet, and 5.5mm, 8mm, 10mm, 1/4", and 7/32" sockets.

Ford rear door panel (Crutchfield Research Photo)

Bass in your F-150

With factory sub 
This Ford truck offered a factory sub as an option. If you've got the factory enclosure under the rear seat, you can replace the 8" DVC sub in with any aftermarket sub with a mounting depth less than 3.6 inches. If you pick a high-performance sub, you'll want to replace the factory amp too.

Factory sub enclosure under rear seat in SuperCrew (Crutchfield Research Photo)

The factory stereo only sends 5 volts to the sub amp, which can cause a turn on/off pop from the subwoofer when an aftermarket stereo is installed. To avoid this, a 12V-to-5V regulator can be installed on the remote lead (Radio Shack part #276-1770). (This regulator produces a large amount of heat for its size and should be bolted or screwed to a clean metal surface that will act as a heat sink.)

Tools Needed: To access the rear sub location, you'll need a 10mm socket and a Torx T20 driver.

Factory subwoofer and amp opened up (Crutchfield Research Photo)

Without factory sub
If you don't have the Ford factory sub (or if you want to replace yours), you'll find a bunch of subwoofer options available. Your best bet would be vehicle-specific enclosures from manufacturers like JL Audio, Q-Logic, or MTX, available in unloaded, loaded, and amplified versions. They'll give you powerful bass without wasting much (if any) space. There's also room under the rear seat for a compact Class D amp that will deliver some serious bass power.

Other options

iPod® and video
iPod® users, you'll find a great spot for an iPod connection next to the 12-volt port that's situated low in your console, and the pocket just below that port is a great place to stash your player. Also, if you're thinking about installing an overhead video screen, the JCI rail system in your headliner contains power and ground leads that you can tap into, making that job much, much easier.

Helix PP50DSP
If modifying your ride just isn't in your DNA, Helix offers another option for vehicles without factory amplifiers. You can use their PP50DSP processor to make a dramatic improvement in the sound of your factory system. It works like this: you buy the processor, along with a vehicle-specific cable and a plug-in powered sub. The cable plugs into your factory radio's plug, connecting the processor/amp to your factory speakers. Next, go to Helix's site, download your vehicle’s audio parameters onto a microSD card, then load that info into the amp/processor. The PP50DSP is now ready to use equalization and time alignment to make your factory speakers sound great. Add in the bass from the optional Helix sub, and you've got a total system upgrade with minimal work.

Security and remote start:
If you have thought about adding security/remote start to your F-150, you'll have ample room to mount the security system of your choice, and all models that we carry would be a great fit for this truck. All the connections you will need to make are in convenient locations, and you won't have to break your back in the process. If you have heated seats and you plan to add remote start, we can help you turn these on when you start your truck remotely. When you come out to your F-150 on a cold winter day, the seats will be nice and warm.

You'll need a few extra parts to install your security system in the F-150. Four Diodes (Crutchfield item 607650T) will be needed for door trigger isolation on your SuperCrew truck. You'll also need one E5000 relay (Crutchfield item 120E5000) if you plan on having the dome light supervision option — this feature turns on the dome light for 30 seconds upon disarming the system. If you are adding a system that has the remote start option, you will need a module to bypass factory transponder system. We suggest the FLCAN interface (Crutchfield item 220FLCAN). Flashlogic has done extensive testing on the Ford platform, and have developed a bulletproof algorithm for bypassing the Ford P.A.T.S. transponder system. We also carry the XK05 by Xpresskit that will perform the same bypass as well.