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Panda Motorworks XL/XLT to Sync 4 Upgrade

RebellaE

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HI,
Has anyone purchased this upgrade? Is it significantly faster to boot up than the non-sync system?

I hate having to wait for my system to fully boot up before connecting my phone to the system, since connecting it too quickly means the truck and phone don't see each other. I got a dongle to do wireless Carplay through Bluetooth and it has the same issue. I'm looking at just the adapter from Panda, I actually don't mind the screen size and the cubby has grown on me since I added my cubby buddy.
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Braindead

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Any links to the product so we can know what you are exactly talking about?
 

bighap

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Yup but I went from lariat lux 8" to 12". Love it. It significantly improved the wireless connection speed over dongles.

Ford Maverick Panda Motorworks XL/XLT to Sync 4 Upgrade 1784
 

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bighap

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How was the install process?
It was super easy until dealing with the APIM. It has 4 different wiring harnesses. The first one you have to do has an incredibly short leash on it. You essentially have to do it blind. I took photos and videos of it and found a video of the same connector online to see how it releases. It has a hinged design. Once that one is done it gives you some slack to see the other 3 harnesses. You will want needle nose pliers for one of them.
 

Pudakis

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How was the install process?
I eventually want to do this with my 22, it unbelievable how much trouble it is to connect to my phone. I really dont want to spend the 1700.00 tho
 

bighap

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gjallen3

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I had problems with my phone connecting to the infotainment system via Bluetooth before the Wireless CarPlay dongle could connect. Screwed up some connections. So I deleted (unpaired)my phone from the truck so the dongle connects to be able to use CarPlay for navigation, music and whatever. I assumed by doing this I would not have a phone connection wirelessly but I do, and everything boots up correctly without issue now.
I too was interested in the Panda conversion but mostly to be able to add satellite radio, but now really don’t need it. The price point is painful.
 
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Pudakis

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I had problems with my phone connecting to the infotainment system via Bluetooth before the Wireless CarPlay dongle could connect. Screwed up some connections. So I deleted (unpaired)my phone from the truck so the dongle connects to be able to use CarPlay for navigation, music and whatever. I assumed by doing this I would not have a phone connection wirelessly but I do, and everything boots up correctly without issue now.
I too was interested in the Panda conversion but mostly to be able to add satellite radio, but now really don’t need it. The price point is painful.
Yes I also did a total reset and wiped everything, it’s definitely better and I only need to plug in now and not use a dongle but I still have to fight with it to connect sometimes
 
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RebellaE

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I eventually want to do this with my 22, it unbelievable how much trouble it is to connect to my phone. I really dont want to spend the 1700.00 tho
The upgrade without the bigger screen is only $1k. So that's what I'm planning on buying.
 
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RebellaE

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I had problems with my phone connecting to the infotainment system via Bluetooth before the Wireless CarPlay dongle could connect. Screwed up some connections. So I deleted (unpaired)my phone from the truck so the dongle connects to be able to use CarPlay for navigation, music and whatever. I assumed by doing this I would not have a phone connection wirelessly but I do, and everything boots up correctly without issue now.
I too was interested in the Panda conversion but mostly to be able to add satellite radio, but now really don’t need it. The price point is painful.
True, I had originally paired my phone via Bluetooth, but unpaired it to use the wired CarPlay. Later I bought a wireless CarPlay dongle, but the truck fails to see it at least 25% of the time.
 

Pudakis

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The upgrade without the bigger screen is only $1k. So that's what I'm planning on buying.
I’d rather go with the bigger one I planned on keeping this truck for another 10 years, but as of yesterday ram has announced the rampage and I may end up switching out to that so I may not upgrade the radio at all
 

gjallen3

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True, I had originally paired my phone via Bluetooth, but unpaired it to use the wired CarPlay. Later I bought a wireless CarPlay dongle, but the truck fails to see it at least 25% of the time.
Every once in a while I have to unplug the wireless dongle to get it to reboot but not 25% of the time. Oddly enough it does it most of the time when leaving my local Lowe’s parking lot. That leaves me to believe there is some cellular disfunction somewhere. Maybe it’s the dongle. I’ve tried several. Some were worse than others. This last one seems the most reliable but not perfect either. Frankly I grew tired of searching for that perfect one and am now settling on this one.
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