yourmyboybh1026

Ok so I'll break this up into 3 sections. One is questions about the shaker 500 system, one is about aftermarket set-ups and one is about the gt500 steering wheel conversion.

So the shaker 500 system. What is the actual RMS output? I've heard that 500 was the peak. Is there just one amp or two? I read somewhere that there was a small amp for each door speaker. If thats the case what is the power output of those? If its not, what is the RMS output of the amp, and which speakers does that go to? What is the RMS output going to the rear speakers? Also, what is the power output of the actual head unit. I'm planning on replacing the speakers and found a few options on crutchfield.com but don't want to spend money on speakers that have a higher RMS rating than what is actually going to be put out.

Now for aftermarket set-ups. I've pretty much decided on a head unit. I'm going with the Pioneer AVH-P3200BT . Cruchfield has all the stuff to wire it up including the PAC Ford Radio Replacement Interface . Not sure what that does, can someone explain it to me? Anyway, I'm looking for which speakers I want now. I've been looking on crutchfield and they do a great job showing what will fit where (the outfit my car feature is great), but I'm not sure what will work well with the power output on the shaker 500 set up (hence the questions about the shaker 500 earlier). I really don't feel like wiring up amp, I'd rather just get some decent speakers and a good head unit and call it a day. I don't need to have my ears bleeding, just a little bit better quality. I found a setup that was woofers for the front door and new tweeter. It came with a cross over too. It seemed pretty good, but what would some of you guys who have replaced your speakers suggest?

Lastly, I read the thread on here about the 2010 GT500 steering wheel swap. I'm wondering if the 2010 gt500 steering wheel will bolt up to a 2009 gt. If not will a 2009 or older gt500 steering wheel fit, and does it have the audio controls? Also someone in that thread got the audio controls working with the shaker 500 HU. I'm wondering if I install my new HU if it would work with the audio controls. The pioneer HU I picked out has the ability to use steering wheel controls but apparently needs Thisto do it. But if the controls work with the shaker 500 system with no different wiring, I'm wondering if I actually need that.

I know its a long thread but hopefully someone can answer a few of the questions and little by little it can all be addressed. Now I just need to find a way to have heated leather seats and I'm golden lol

Unleashedbeast

1. The actual RMS power output of the OEM Shaker system is half of the advertised peak output. You can assume that's around 250 watts RMS. The 4 5x7 (6x8) speakers are driven by the OEM radio (~25 watts RMS per channel - 4 channels) and the 8" door woofers are driven by two amplifiers (~ 50-75 watts RMS each).

2. You don't need that fancy harness for the Shaker 500. You need Metra part # 70-5521 for the radio harness, Metra part # 95-5812 dash kit, and Metra part # 40-CR10 antenna adapter. You will also need a part from Radio Shack to make a voltage regulator for the amp turn on wire. The aftermarket radio has a 12 volt turn on lead, but the factory Ford amp requires ~ 5 volts. Search for an install thread on these forums for the correct part and process.

3. I don't see why your idea wouldn't work with an aftermarket radio. I also don't see why the 2010 steering wheel wouldn't bolt up to the 05-09 car. Someone may know different. The only challenge I see is that the wire required to tap in the PAC adapter may not exist in the 05-09 car after you install the 2010 steering wheel. You may have to be creative and add the missing wire, that may or may not be a challenge.

Good luck, and if you research this topic I want to know about the steering wheel swap. I was on a long drive today and wish I had steering wheel controls for the audio system, as I'm about to upgrade to the Pioneer 920 nav system. This is a great idea to solve my lazy issues.

157dB

1. http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=375&viewfile=Audio System.pdf
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=40&viewfile...Navigation.pdf
2. call crutchfield and ask the salesperson what you need they do it
day in and day out
3. Dealership

JDWalton

you might want to be careful with the highlighted area as its not true for all cars. For example, my car the $10 harness was fine. My moms 09 with mycolor option however, was not the case, as I painfully found out. The difference is in her car there was a third plug that mine did not have. That was the communication circuit, not sure if our cars are canbus or whatever. Anyway, long story short, there is no switched input on hers. The module creates a switched input for aftermarket radios. Also it makes it considerably easier to get information the nav unit wants without ignoring it or cheating / bypassing things. For example. Vehicle speed sensor from computer, emergency brake engagement.

So mine was no problem, hers was throwing $10 out the window, then having to go 2 days with no radio while we wait for the right harness to ship in.



Also, just to throw this out there, you can get both items much cheaper here:
radio
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...H-P3200BT.html
harness:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+C2R-FRD1.html

I have used this store for years. Very good service and prices.

157dB

Can Bus
S197
Can Bus

Aftermarkets work fine without interfacing with the S197s Can Bus.

Its interfacing with the sheitter 500s mid bass amps for the mid bass
drivers in the doors and the sub amps on the sheitter 1000 thats a biatch
when trying to get them to work with aftermarket 12V remote turn on
leads. The sheitters external amps require 5 volts turn-on and the 12 volts
turn-on from Mr. Aftermarket Stereo makes them go a THUMP when turned
on.

yourmyboybh1026

Thanks for the info on the power outputs. I think I'm going to end up getting some good 6x8 speakers and a 4 channel amp to power them.

Now for the door subs. I couldn't find a writeup about the 5v power source, and couldn't find a thread with someone talking about it with their install. Seems most people either didn't mention it or they just added new subs in the trunk. You wouldn't happen to have a link I could check out would you?

I'm going to call crutchfield tonight and see what they say about that harness, and the 5v problem.

I may have to wait a little bit on the steering wheel, seems I have expensive taste when it comes to my car lol. I'm also getting a chin spoiler, gt500 spoiler, godspeed wheels and aluminum drive shaft.

Anyway, if anyone has info on how to hook up the stock amps to an aftermarket head unit, or a link or pictures or anything I'd love to read it.

JDWalton

Not sure you fully understood what I said, I know you know car steros, but I know them pretty well too, and I'm telling you, without that interface, there is no turn on FOR THE RADIO in some cars. I have the shaker 1000, and had no problem installing without a expensive interface. I spent a couple hours trying to get my moms to turn on, I used my DMM on every wire, and thats a pain when you need to shut the car off and open the door to force a switch. Sure, I could of wired in my own remote turn on from the fuse box, but I didnt want to deal with that. Or wiring to the PCM or wiring to the ebrake.

If you have the money and are installing a nav unit, it makes the install easier and really is the way to go. If your in a pinch, you can go the 10 dollar harness, chance having to wire your own remote turn on to the radio, wire into the ebrake switch, and wire into or ignore the vehicle speed sensor. You dont really need it anyway, it just makes the GPS slightly more accurate. Especially if your in a area with a lot of coverage or tunnels. Oh, I think it also provides a illumination lead, where as in mine I also had to wire into my switch.

Just depends who you are. When it didnt turn on my mom was freaking out. After a few hours of troubleshooting and realizing what was going on, I told her I could make it work, by wiring it in myself, she asked what it would need to do it right, I told her about the PAC unit, and the added cost, and she opted to "do it right" and spend the money for me to get her the right harness for this application. It tuned a Nan unit installation into just as easy a install as any other radio, without having to do without anything or wire anything to anywhere else but the radio.

Also yes, to make the factory amps turn on without thump, we still wired in a 5v regulator. But like I said, the missing remote turn on I was referring to was to the RADIO.

yourmyboybh1026

Just got off the phone with crutchfield. Yeah the 12v to 5v is an easy fix. He said it wont actually hurt anything, it will just pop when you turn it on, but a resistor from radio shack on the line fixes that. Also, he said since I want to use the stock amps for the door subs, I'll need the fancy wiring harness. So yeah, thanks for the help everyone, if I do the steering wheel I'll let everyone know how it went.

allinon72

I don't think that's true.

JDWalton

Pull your radio out first and take a look. It only takes a few minutes to pull it out. honestly, you can have it out in 5 minutes. If it has two plugs, then it has a wired remote turn on. If it has three, it uses a turn on signal from the canbus, and you need the expensive one. On a side note, did you see where I linked the parts? Unless your set on crutchfield, you can save some cash.

I had the shaker 1000 in my 08, she had a shaker 500 in the 09. Aside from that the only difference was hers also had the mycolor option. But between the two cars it was a entirely different animal when it came to wiring.