Gaia GPS is probably the best GPS app for off-road routes. We have the Kentucky Adventure Trail here which is about 1000 miles of off-road trails that have been well documented and hope to start hitting them in the spring.
http://annessky.net/kat/
Was looking for a solid way to use it in the Expedition with a decent sized screen but only have an old iPad mini with WiFi only. The GPS dongle is $100 plus a solid mount. So I started looking at Android tablets. And learned of Android ahead units for vehicles which have a ton of features and options blowing my Ford Sync system out of the water.
Well thanks to the wonderous engineering of Ford the HVAC is connected directly to the stereo, backup camera, and sync system.
At the moment there are ZERO vehicle integration modules for the Expedition. Some for the F150 but won’t work with the Expedition because one looses rear HVAC control all together. So just swapping in the new unit in place of the old is not an option.
So I have decided to run a piggyback system for the time being and build a pod for the dash. I’ll run the RCAs from the Andriod unit to my line in aux input for sound to the factory speakers.
Eventually I’ll get an amp and run new wires and put better aftermarket speakers in the doors, add a 3rd set to the rear pillars as there are no speakers behind the rear doors so not much sound for the 3rd row, and add a powered sub.
So to test things out I bought a $100 unit that has Android 8.0, quadcore, 1gb RAM, 16gb ROM. If it works out as I hope I’ll upgrade to the octocore, 2gb RAM, 32gb ROM unit and use the cheap one in my Mustang (that may run again someday).

So the unit arrived and I am pretty impressed for $100. Screen quality is good and the unit is very responsive.
I have never had an Android device so I am learning a bit about it and found some apps called Car Launchers that are a streamlined home screen.
Looked like this from initial power up

With the $1.99 Car Launcher App that I have tweaked a bit

Direct control of Amazon Prime Music App (Sync really sucks at this)

The Expedition has a pretty big dash so adding the pod is not too intrusive with a 7.1” screen. It looks like it in the picture as I am right up on it but I did not trust my 3 year old helper to not drop the unit as I climbed in the back for a better reference photo.


I trying to figure out a hinge or gas strut system and be able to fold it flat in the dash but that will take some work so for the time I am going to build a pod out of MDF board and wrap it in a textured vinyl to match the dash.




I also have an OBDII Bluetooth reader that I can monitor all sorts of perameters that is a bit small on my phone and will display quite nicely on the android as well.

I would much prefer just to swap this unit for my factory unit and not have an extra unit on the dash but it is not an option at the moment.

I currently have the unit hooked to my Yamaha receiver with Pioneer speakers in my shop and the sound is as good as any other input I have used on that setup.
Going to throw some FLAC flies on a USB and test out the lossless audio capabilities.

Pretty sweet. I think you're probably in the know and are familiar with but just in case...have you checked idatalink? They have a crazy amount of vehicle interfaces.

No options including idatalink for any Expeditions after 2014 unfortunately or this would be a much more streamlined venture.

Very nice, looking forward in seeing the finished install

That’s an interesting idea. I need to update my excursion and this might be just the ticket. Where did you buy it from?

quote:

Originally posted by hbabler:
That’s an interesting idea. I need to update my excursion and this might be just the ticket. Where did you buy it from?

eBay. There are tons on there and Amazon just search Android Headunit.
They are all likely made in the same Chinese factory no matter the brand or lack there of.
Just look for the options you want and with anything the more CPU, ram and rom the better.
I went with the $100 cheapo to mess with for the time being.

Whoever designed Sync should be beaten badly about the head and shoulders. Something much worse for the ass clown who decided to put it into production. It sucks on so many levels.

As with any job having the proper tools makes life so much easier and makes the work better.
I am not a woodworker and have very few tools. So my Rotozip, a level, Square blade, and some crappy clamps were my guide.
Screwed up the 2nd two cuts royally on my first attempt.
So went for a 2nd try and came out much better.


But of course I am a moron and did not take into account the depth of the housing where it gets wider and my 5/8” thick board is much too thick.
Not really sure if one can put MDF in a planer so I guess I’ll go get a sheet of 3/8” board so the screen is not recessed in the opening.