# 2010 Ford Expedition Install



## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Hey everyone - I haven't done an install in over 10 years, but thought I'd give it a go in my new ride! 

It is a really simple install compared to some of the builds here, but it sounds great and is mostly hidden...

I kept the factory Stereo / Nav / Rear Entertainment system for many reasons, but one main one is the Sync stuff from Microsoft - I love it! 

Here is my list of things I installed:
JL Audio CleanSweep CL-SSI - Signal Summing Interface
JL Audio CleanSweep CL-441dsp - Digital Signal Processor
JL Audio HD900/5 - Middle / Rear / Sub Amp
JL Audio HD600/4 - Bridged - Front Amp
JL Audio ZR570-CSi - Front Speakers
JL Audio ZR570-CSi - Middle Speakers
JL Audio ZR650-CSi - Rear Speakers
JL Audio CVS112RG-W6v2 - Subwoofer

I also used JL's battery blocks, fuse blocks, cable, etc... 
I Wanted to keep it all the same, made it nice and easy!


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Some more pics:











The rear speakers were the hardest - Nothing existed there before, so I had to cut the holes in the trim and the metal behind it. You can see I removed the factory sub / enclosure and used the space for the SSI and DSP, as well as the Amps and the rear crossovers.


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Some closer looks at the use of space:


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Some of what it looks like now:
Rear:

































Doors:
Front: (You can only see the tweeters on the dash)









Middle Row: (You can only see the tweeters on the doors)









Battery connection:

















Volume, Sub Level Knobs and Status Indicator:









Subwoofer:


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## elparner (Oct 20, 2007)

great install, i love how stealth it is, is that box secured?


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

elparner said:


> great install, i love how stealth it is, is that box secured?


Thanks!

The sub is not secured - It is directly up against the 3rd row seat, and only has about 4" of space between the grille and the back.

I would have purchased the "Stealthbox" sub from JL Audio, but the fine print says it only fits in the Expedition EL (Extended Length).

I almost bought it anyway and was thinking of slicing it up / fiberglassing it back together to fit, but then I would have had to relocate all that equipment!

It's always something


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## elparner (Oct 20, 2007)

KMC123 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> The sub is not secured - It is directly up against the 3rd row seat, and only has about 4" of space between the grille and the back.
> 
> ...


i think you made the best choice :thumbsup:


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## CarbonDetails (Sep 9, 2009)

Very nice clean install. How is that Microsoft Synch?


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

CarbonDetails said:


> Very nice clean install. How is that Microsoft Synch?


It's AWESOME!!! It's the main reason I chose to keep the factory head unit!

I connects to you cell via Bluetooth and you have voice access to all of your contacts - you can say "call dave at home (or work or cell) and it does!

If you are in an accident, it calls 911 directly - no fee to OnStar, no middleman for payment and time lost to get help.

You can say "Play Artist AC/DC" and it will play all the AC/DC tracks on your USB stick, Zune, Ipod, etc...

It's got a HUGE hard drive to copy cd's to, EVERYTHING is voice activated, you don't have to touch the radio to go from USB to Phone, to Sat, to CD, etc... It just rocks!!!

You can say "I'm Hungry" and the nav system pops up and shows all nearby restaurants! Awesome stuff like that!!! It even e-mails you vehicle health reports!

There is a website called http://www.syncmyride.com that has training videos for Sync owners - they are short and to the point if you want to see more.


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## R1100S (Feb 12, 2008)

You have a great looking, and no doubt, great sounding system. 

Do yourself a favor though and put a few lag-bolts through your enclosure. 

Nobody likes a 10" sub + enclosure to the head in the event of an accident. 

Secure that sub. Your installation is only 99% until then.


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## van johnson112 (Nov 4, 2009)

wow.
The way there tucked away you would never know there was a system in there besides the tweets. Awesome job!


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## MTopper (Nov 4, 2009)

I'm very impressed with the simple setup you have. its a nice taste to see that i'm not the only person who isn't going for the complete custom setup. 

And, great choice on the JL audio equipment, i miss my 12w6v2 and 500/1


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Thanks guys!
I really appreciate the comments...
-Kev


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## ttocs388 (Jun 25, 2010)

I am scared to have microsoft in anything in my car including the radio. Before you know it to turn off the radio you will have to touch both bumpers and the antenna, when it will then ask you if you are sure you want to turn it off.....


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## roxj01 (Nov 22, 2009)

nice i love the stealth install. just curious though why not use the stock tweeter pods in the sail panels up front and flush mount the rear tweeters so they are less noticeable? did you try different positions and the surface mount sounded better? definitely not trying to criticize your build, im truly curious. i will be doing an install for a friend on his 08 expedition so you have given me some great ideas on equipment placement.


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

ttocs388 said:


> I am scared to have microsoft in anything in my car including the radio. Before you know it to turn off the radio you will have to touch both bumpers and the antenna, when it will then ask you if you are sure you want to turn it off.....



Knock on wood - It hasn't had one issue! I have 3 Microsoft based systems in the car - The Sync platform, a Zune player connected to the Sync via USB (Has +- 3500 songs on it synced via wifi to my home PC - All controled by voice commands), and a Windows SmartPhone connected via Bluetooth (All contacts sync via Outlook and are available via voice commands)

So far it ROCKS!!! I'm pretty sure it boots fresh each time you start the car, so that helps if I'm right :>


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

roxj01 said:


> nice i love the stealth install. just curious though why not use the stock tweeter pods in the sail panels up front and flush mount the rear tweeters so they are less noticeable? did you try different positions and the surface mount sounded better? definitely not trying to criticize your build, im truly curious. i will be doing an install for a friend on his 08 expedition so you have given me some great ideas on equipment placement.


Good Catch!
I was going to put the tweeters behind the factory "grille" on the sail, but there were 3 reasons I did not.

The first (And most important) was that they sounded SO much better pointing AT me instead of flat in the door.

The second was that I had to visably mount them in the 2nd and 3rd rows, so I didn't really mind in the 1st row - If I had the option to hid ALL of them, I probably would have sacrificed a bit of SQ to make it totally stealth.

The 3rd (And least important) was that the drivers door cable boot had TONS of wires in it already - Seemed like more than the rest of the doors combined! (Granted - it has all window switches, mirror controls, door locks, etc... But WOW!!!) - I used REALLY HEAVY 12AWG wire for all the speakers, and pulling 1 through the boot was sooo hard! I could have done a second if I REALLY had to, but because of # 1 and # 2 above - I went for the dash...


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## Afronaut (Apr 27, 2010)

It looks nice and you used some great equipment.


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## jimp (Jul 12, 2009)

very clean install, enjoy.


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Thanks Guys!


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

Awesome install. As for bolting your enclosure down, i think you are good because the angle of the seats will keep the box from flying up front. It will pinch between the seat and the rear hatch. But if you want to feel much better i would do some sort of securing to it. 

And 12 gauge for all the speakers? even the tweeters? come on...


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Hey Austin,

I agree on the shape of the Sub / angle of the seats - No way out...
Plus I want to be able to remove it if I need to do a Home Depot run for plywood, etc...

As far as the 12ga wire goes - I had plenty so I just went for it.

I did the sub wiring in 8ga and had a ton of that too, so I figured why not?

-Kev


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## DaleCarter (Jan 3, 2008)

I struggled with amp locations because I wanted a stealth install. I used old school PPI Art A300.2's so the factory sub location wouldn't work. I also wasn't using the factory HU, so having all the signal sources in that location wasn't a factor for me. My front stage amps are in the center console with my processor and the sub-amp is under the passenger seat.

DIYMA.com - DaleCarter's Album: Kong Install

I think you are fine on the sub box, especially if the jack storage is in the same place as my 2003. I really like the banana jack idea on the bulkhead. I used a Neutrik Speakon NL4FC and NL4MPR connectors for mine. They are ugly, but extremely robust and convenient, plus there are four conductors in case I ever go with another sub or one with a dual voice coil. My plan is to replace the center seat with a sub box that will be level with the cargo floor. I haul a lot of stuff, but rarely have a fifth person in the car, so that center 2nd -row seat doesn't mean a lot to me. Based on your install, you haul a lot of people.
JL makes a console sub box for my truck that ROCKS, but my amp install prevents me using it. You may want to check to see if they make a box for the F150 that will fit your 2010, maybe with some minor mods. They don't show one for the 2003, but my buddy has one, so the listings are not all that complete or accurate. You lose all but the top 2 or 3 inches of your console, but my console only collects useless crap anyway. Possibly, Ford used all the room under the console for electronics and a sub there is not an option.

I have one suggestion and that is to color match your tweets to the interior. It's easy and makes them blend in really nicely. I even found a Krylon paint at Lowes that matched my A-pillars perfectly. For the best matching, take piece of the trim to a professional auto paint vendor. If you don't have a detail gun or airbrush, they will mix a rattle can of the good stuff. You put a lot of effort into keeping everything stealth, so painting the tweets seems like a logical step.

Again, nice install in a very nice truck! Congrats!


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## bhaycraft (Apr 20, 2010)

Hey KMC123,

Nice job on the install for the 2010. I have a 2010 Exp EL that I will soon be working on and planning on keeping the factory head and using an MS-8 with JL stealthbox and JL XD or new JBL amps and probably HAT speakers and add a center channel and get rear D-pillars from a Navigator L that have the high mounted THX speakers to get some more rear fill since the vehicle is so long. I loved seeing how much space there is under the panels. Since I am going with the stealthbox I imagine I won't have a lot of space on that side so I will use the other side I hope. Loved all the mounting plates. Do you have more pictures of that you could share because it looked so nice and clean and that is what I want to achieve. Thanks


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

bhaycraft said:


> Hey KMC123,
> 
> Nice job on the install for the 2010. I have a 2010 Exp EL that I will soon be working on and planning on keeping the factory head and using an MS-8 with JL stealthbox and JL XD or new JBL amps and probably HAT speakers and add a center channel and get rear D-pillars from a Navigator L that have the high mounted THX speakers to get some more rear fill since the vehicle is so long. I loved seeing how much space there is under the panels. Since I am going with the stealthbox I imagine I won't have a lot of space on that side so I will use the other side I hope. Loved all the mounting plates. Do you have more pictures of that you could share because it looked so nice and clean and that is what I want to achieve. Thanks


Thanks!
You're lucky with the EL - There is a JL Stealthbox for it and you have almost 15 inches more length in the EL than the non EL.

I can't speak for the EL (Never taken it apart) but in mine, the rear passenger area over the rear passenger side wheel is 100% full with the second A/C unit, blower, etc...

I could have fit the crossovers in there, but that's about it.

BUT - On yours with the extra length you might have a 15 inch area back there.

Also - I know the Stealthbox does not fit in mine, and will fit in yours, but I'm not sure how much extra room it needs - It's somewhere between 1 and 15 extra inches that mine did not have 

If it's not too much, you might be able to fit SOME equip on the same side I did.

I don't have any more pics of the shelf / fan unit I made, but all I really did was make a wooden vertical wall that used the existing sub box mounting brackets / bolt locations and I mounted the amps and crossovers directly to it after cutting ventilation ares behind the amp stack. (I put 2 fans in there - 1 behind the bottom amp and 1 over the top amp, behind the existing built in sub grille)

After that I figured out the heights I needed for the CL-SSI and DSP and made 2 wooden shelves for them and glued / screwed them on.

After test fitting it, I sprayed it all black and that was it.

I hope that helps!


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## bhaycraft (Apr 20, 2010)

Hey KMC123,

I have a couple more questions and comments since you have a 2010 Exp. Did you have to hack apart the factory Radio molex or did you do taps off of it. I am hoping to use my lockpick (fantastic product that opens all functions of your DVD and Nav system up) from coastaletech that I installed since it provided a duplication of the factory molex and also these extra power outlets RED – 12V ACC power output (Limit 1 amp)
YELLOW – 12V constant power output
BLACK – Vehicle GROUND connection
BLUE – 12V rear camera power output (use this power source for your aftermarket rear view
camera)
ORANGE – 12V second camera power output 

I am not sure if I will be able to make use of these but I will try. I see in one of your install pics it looks like you fed wires through the left fold up passenger seat what was going on there actually ?

Did you end up taking most of the interior out to fish wires or were you able to avoid that and did you need a fish to actually get the wires run ? And did your drill through the firewall or was that an existing hole on your firewall for the power run ?

How much wiring did you end up needing to complete your install both speaker and power wires ? Did you find a good deal some place since you kept it all JL ?

I was planning on using the existing factory wiring figuring there really wouldn't be much of a difference but after seeing yours I might reconsider do you think there are sound benefits to doing that over factory ? (Newb question I know)

What all was involved with doing the speakers in your rear tail gate did you end up cutting metal to make that work and did you have to adjust anything dealing with the electric actuation of the tail gate do to the extra weight you added.

I second the ideas on color matching the the tweets on the dash second doors and the tailgate to make it all blend.

How much did you play around with the tweeter placement on the dash as I had planned on using the factory locations. Did you consider mounting up in the A-Pillars also ?

That's all I got right now but just a fantastic job you did how long did all that take because the other problem for me to do it is I can't have the vehicle down for very long as it shuttles my twins boys and 3 yr old daughter around pretty much on a daily basis.


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## KMC123 (Jun 9, 2010)

Thanks again - I'll try to answer what I can...

Hey KMC123,

I have a couple more questions and comments since you have a 2010 Exp. Did you have to hack apart the factory Radio molex or did you do taps off of it. I am hoping to use my lockpick (fantastic product that opens all functions of your DVD and Nav system up) from coastaletech that I installed since it provided a duplication of the factory molex and also these extra power outlets RED – 12V ACC power output (Limit 1 amp)
YELLOW – 12V constant power output
BLACK – Vehicle GROUND connection
BLUE – 12V rear camera power output (use this power source for your aftermarket rear view
camera)
ORANGE – 12V second camera power output 

I am not sure if I will be able to make use of these but I will try.

*I have this exact setup - It rocks! It allows you to watch DVD's while in motion, enter nav destinations while in motion, watch the cams anytime, etc...

I cut the wires for the front channels and ran them back to my amp location, the rear channels and the sub channel were already there (In the rear)

I used the ACC wire for all my gear - did not run into any issue because in reality it only turns on the CL-SSI and then that replicates it out to the DSP and then the amps.

One thing you need to know if you have a factory rear entertainment system:
The rear channels go into the system, and then back out to the speakers so you can control the options of using headphones or rear speakers for the rear passengers and even let the rear passengers hear one thing out of the rear speakers or headphones while the front passengers hear something different from the front speakers.

There is a very large connector on the driver side C pillar that has both sets of wires in it (From head unit to rear entertainment unit and from rear entertainment unit to speakers.) The only problem is that the pairs are the same colors!!! I wish I wrote the pin numbers down for you but I didn't 
I ended up setting the rear entertainment console to headphones (Which shuts off the speakers) and I used a small speaker with sewing needles soldered on to the wires, and I pierced the insulation of the pairs. You want to cut into the pair that is dead - the live pair is the pair between the head unit and the rear entertainment center and that needs to stay intact for all the features I just mentioned. *


I see in one of your install pics it looks like you fed wires through the left fold up passenger seat what was going on there actually?

*I put the front crossovers behind the dash, the middle row crossovers under the middle row seats (What you saw), and the rear crossovers by the amps.*

Did you end up taking most of the interior out to fish wires or were you able to avoid that and did you need a fish to actually get the wires run?

*I barely fished at all - I had to pull the passenger front and second row speaker wire and the power wire through an existing channel under the 2nd row - I just taped them to the end of a piece of conduit and shoved it through - really easy.*

And did your drill through the firewall or was that an existing hole on your firewall for the power run?

*Existing hole and existing SOLID grommet - All I had to do was cut a hole in the existing grommet.*

How much wiring did you end up needing to complete your install both speaker and power wires?

*I used:
1 Power Kit - JL Audio Mobile - XD-PCS1/0-2B
4 Speaker Kits -JL Audio Mobile - XC-BCSCS-12
1 Sub Kit - JL Audio Mobile - XA-BLUSCS-8*

Did you find a good deal some place since you kept it all JL?

*I mostly used Al & Ed's and JL's "Shopatron" site.*

I was planning on using the existing factory wiring figuring there really wouldn't be much of a difference but after seeing yours I might reconsider do you think there are sound benefits to doing that over factory ? (Newb question I know)

*Well - I never listened to my new speakers with the factory wiring, but I was going to use heavier wire from the get go. I went a bit overboard by using 12ga on everything (Even the tweets) as someone mentioned earlier, but it made it MUCH easier ordering 1 size and not having to make sure I planned the exact correct amounts ahead of time. As a rule, the smaller the wire the more resistance you have, and the more resistance you have means more amp power is eaten up in the wires as heat instead of delivering it to the speakers. I'm not going to argue that you can hear the difference between factory wiring, 16ga wiring, and 12ga wiring, But it was my intention to use better wiring on everything, and I opted to go for the overkill with 12ga for every component speaker and 8ga for the sub.*

What all was involved with doing the speakers in your rear tail gate did you end up cutting metal to make that work and did you have to adjust anything dealing with the electric actuation of the tail gate do to the extra weight you added.

*It wasn't that bad - I was a bit off in my measurements and had to cut a bit of metal on the driver side (The passenger side has a much bigger area). You could do it without cutting anything (Easier said than done!)

As far as the electric actuation of the tail gate - No issues at all.*

I second the ideas on color matching the the tweets on the dash second doors and the tailgate to make it all blend.

How much did you play around with the tweeter placement on the dash as I had planned on using the factory locations. Did you consider mounting up in the A-Pillars also?

*A LOT  I put double stick tape on the backs and tried them in many locations. As I mentioned before - They sounded best to me pointing at me instead of across me. That being said - they didn't sound bad at all in the factory location, it's just when I pointed them at my head the REALLY sounded better. If you want true stealth - you wont hate the factory location.*

That's all I got right now but just a fantastic job you did how long did all that take because the other problem for me to do it is I can't have the vehicle down for very long as it shuttles my twins boys and 3 yr old daughter around pretty much on a daily basis.

*Thanks again man!
I've got 2 boys (5 and 7) so I know what you're going through! I think overall it took me 3 weekends and all the weeknights in between them 

I've got a brand new JL amp,a whole package of the 8ga sub wire and a bunch of 12ga connectors, battery blocks, etc.. left over.

PM me if you're interested.*


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## bhaycraft (Apr 20, 2010)

PM sent.


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## moog (Apr 29, 2008)

I like the cleanliness and concealment of the equipment.

I've heard advertisements of the Sync on Adam Carolla's podcast, looks interesting.


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## ERiX Audio (Oct 8, 2010)

Sorry for the bump on this. I really dig your rig. I was thinking you could incorporate a couple of these butterfly latches into the sub cabinet fastening equation. While you're at it, you can doll yourself up an umbilical for your sub and slap a speakon on each end. You can fit a speakon female behind the 12V accy port that you have back there.

Regardless, it's pretty slick.
-E


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## marc32 (Aug 21, 2010)

KMC123 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> The sub is not secured - It is directly up against the 3rd row seat, and only has about 4" of space between the grille and the back.
> 
> ...


Hello KMC123, Very nice install! Would it be possible to show a picture or where the 3rd row speakers are located? I have an 07 Expy, with pretty much the same set up, without the 3rd row speakers. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Marc


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## bhaycraft (Apr 20, 2010)

Just finally got my rear d pillars in from Ford. Yeah !


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## milburyl (Feb 23, 2014)

Nice. I recently bought a 2010 Expedition. 
I have a question though, was the signal summing necessary? 
My truck is an EL and has rear entertainment system, NO nav, and factory sub. 
My gear to be installed is as follows:
JL Audio Cleansweep
JL Audio 1000/1
JL Audio 450/4
2x18W6 subs
2 pairs of Alpine Type R 6x8's

Not gonna bother with mid/tweets. Just gonna do coaxials in all four doors. When I wire up the Cleansweep, are the 4 factory door speakers full range and the tweeters are parallel off the front door speakers? Is there an electronic xover built into the factory amp? Are there more than one factory amp? One for speakers and one for sub? Or is it a five channel amp that runs everything?


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## LostnEye (Feb 18, 2016)

Yeah I know it's a dead thread but since it was hit only a couple months ago I'll chime in. 

FYI the JL Stealth box for 07+ Expedition ELs will fit behind the factory panel on all 03 and up Expeditions and Navigators including non EL models.


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## Aerodynamic (Dec 6, 2015)

Still i would fix all the cables clean and tight even thou you don't see any cables under side panel  great gear you choose, good luck with install work, will be keeping my eye on this


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## KINGDELL91 (May 2, 2012)

I'm glad it's back I'm doing another build on my 2010 Expedition now


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