Car Stereos: 2008 150 radio removal, pin hook, cotter pin

Question
hi Brian, Im getting ready to upgrade sound system on my ford xl 2008 pickup. Currently it has am fm only. When  did this on my 2004 f150, the radio had 4 holes in front, i had the tool to insert,and easy out easy in. My question, i see NO HOLES  on face of radio on my 2008,suspect there may be something hiding under the trim......Now , before i BREAK something,lol, can i just pop trim off,hopefully exposing screws or some other kind of lock? Or am I missing something here? This is a regular cab, no frills, THANKS BRIAN, Cody

Answer
Hi Cody,

You won't find any new Ford vehicles with the front-loaded, easy-to-remove radios like the one in your old truck.  In your new F150, the radio is held in place with four screws, accessible once you remove the plastic dash panel that goes around the radio.  The good news is that the dash panel is just held in with pressure clips; all you need to do is pull it to remove it.  The bad news is that the pressure clips are extremely tight; you'll have to pull pretty hard to get the panel off.  I use a tool called a cotter pin hook to get under the edge of the panel.  The dash panel is pretty strong, and won't break easily, but the hook lets you pull right at the pressure clip location; this minimizes flexing, and reduces the chance of cracking the panel.

Once the dash panel is removed, you'll see the screws holding the factory radio in place.

Hope this helps!

Brian