I’ve spent the past couple of days working on getting the dual-band VHF/UHF ham radio (a Kenwood TM-G707A) installed in the new F-150. As of today it’s mostly done. All that’s left to do now is to mount the control head on the dash, and finish the antenna mount. I took it apart last night and re-painted it, since the original black paint had mostly flaked off of part of it.
The new truck is more installation-friendly than the Sport Trac, that’s for sure. Dashboard panels pop out with a simple tug, door sill plates pop up without breaking parts, and of course there is a lot more room for working under the dash. There’s a convenient pocket in the dash for the microphone, and plenty of room behind the rear seats for the transceiver. Much to my surprise, I found out the rear seats will flip down with no hassle to gain access to the area behind them.
F150forum.com has been a huge help in getting this done, from the tip about the rear seat latches to wiring ideas to someone mentioning ProClip mounts. When I’m finally finished with this project I’ll have a very nice looking and functional installation. On the off chance I ever decide to upgrade to a different radio, I’ll be able to keep most of the stuff in place and re-use the mounts. Given how little I use the mobile rig, though, I give that a pretty low probability.