Replacement radio for 2008 Ford E-450 chassis

I got my OEM Ford radio and have installed it. These radios do not need a sleeve/cage to be mounted. It is up and running and sounds great. It came with a cassette player (Yes, I still have them), CD player, and an MP3 jack. It has buttons, which I love. I am "old school" and wanted the original radio instead of one of the fancy ones with neon lit screens. I am happy to return my Ford e450 to original condition.

by bezel, do you mean the sleeve where the radio is slipped into, which holds it in place? Thx.

I would suggest a junk yard for getting the original Ford bezel. You might want to try and get the original plug in for the radio from there too as you'll need it to connect the radio.

Personally an aftermarket radio makes a lot of sense.

I also stand corrected. I removed the after-market radio and measured the opening. It is 4 inches high, which means that it takes a 2 DIN radio. So how do I fit a 1 1/2 DIN radio into a 2 DIN slot? No one that I know has tried to reverse engineer this scenario to go back to a stock radio. In all my research, I have not found a single face plate that would cover up the gap between 1 1/2 and 2 DIN.

cgmartine wrote:
DrewE, I was in contact today with the shop that sells these refurbished OEM Ford radios, and was advised the radio is a
one and a half DIN. Since Fleetwood apparently buys the chassis from Ford without the radio, I have no way of knowing the part number. Can you tell me what you mean by a cheap filler plate? What else should I look for as far as the connection? Thx.

A little research reveals that you're right and I spoke too soon and overly confidently; the factory radio isn't quite double-DIN height, and a double-DIN radio would need a little trimming to be done to the plastic dashboard panel. I guess I shouldn't have assumed that Ford would be sane in their dashboard design and follow industry standards too closely.

The filler panel is just a bit of plastic that fills the gap above or below a single-DIN radio so there's no hole in the middle of the dash. It would generally be part of an installation kit for the radio if you get one; Crutchfield I think includes that kit for free, but they're separate extras at many other sellers. If your present radio is a single-DIN radio, which would be my guess, you already have what you need in that regard.

Ford presumably offered several different radios of varying capabilities for the model year, so there wouldn't be one single part number. Maybe a dealer could look those up for you.

On my '98 Coachmen, it appears that their (Coachmen's) radio installation was actually pretty much separate from the chassis, aside from being stuck in the dash. It's powered by the house battery, not the chassis battery, and I think it may not be lit with the dash lights—I don't remember for sure. About the only factory radio wiring that is obviously used is the wire to the speakers and the antenna connection, I think, though I haven't studied it in too much detail yet. I do want to replace it eventually with something a bit more modern, but that's rather low on my project list at the moment.

I bought an XM unit that fits in a cradle, and purchased the lifetime subscription. Shortly after that, they stopped selling lifetime subscriptions and merged with Sirius so I got both. I haven't paid anything extra since I purchased the subscription. As long as the unit keeps running I'll continue to get it for free. I hsve cradles in my daily driver, toad and RV, as well as a boom box. I haven't listened to over the air for over 15 years.

DrewE, I was in contact today with the shop that sells these refurbished OEM Ford radios, and was advised the radio is a
one and a half DIN. Since Fleetwood apparently buys the chassis from Ford without the radio, I have no way of knowing the part number. Can you tell me what you mean by a cheap filler plate? What else should I look for as far as the connection? Thx.

The Ford chassis uses a bog standard double-DIN radio mount, I believe. Any double-DIN radio, or single-DIN with a cheap filler plate, would fit with minimal effort. Wiring can be a bit of a pain, you may have to make some splice etc. Crutchfield has a great reputation for providing all the odds and ends and assistance needed for installation...but it still may not be plug and play because the radio that was there wasn't a factory Ford radio, so the factory wiring may be hacked up a bit already. (Regardless, it's not rocket science to install a car radio.)

If it were me, I would consider looking for a unit that could have a rear view camera hooked up to it should I decide I wanted to add one in the future. (Assuming, of course, that you don't have one installed already.)

cgmartine wrote:
klutchdust, I just found the company on eBay that has these OEM radios on sale. It is listed for $185.00, and has a cassette player, cd player and Ipod. It has a black face and has buttons and knobs. It is listed for a 1999 to 2010 Ford. It is a refurbished radio. The company name is 1Factoryradio. If you buy it, look for a 2007 instead of a 2008, because as in my case, my Tioga is listed as a 2008, but the cab itself was built by Ford in 2007. Good luck. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Thanks, great info. My cab is a 2008. I was looking at some Kenwoods on crutch field . The wife likes some of the newer features so at least now I have options..

klutchdust, I just found the company on eBay that has these OEM radios on sale. It is listed for $185.00, and has a cassette player, cd player and Ipod. It has a black face and has buttons and knobs. It is listed for a 1999 to 2010 Ford. It is a refurbished radio. The company name is 1Factoryradio. If you buy it, look for a 2007 instead of a 2008, because as in my case, my Tioga is listed as a 2008, but the cab itself was built by Ford in 2007. Good luck. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.