[tsm106]

where can i buy a Tribeca Faceplate. i really like this aftermarket navi
THANK YOU

You can't buy it because I made it. Man, damn that imageshack and their money grubbing changes. I'll have to dig thru my pics and re-host the pics since they're literally held ransom by imageshack.

What I did was order a replacement faceplate from ebay. When I did this in '11, there were a bunch of new faceplates around 130 bucks or so but these days it looks like units from crashed cars. Get whatever you can it doesn't need to be pretty. If you don't want to touch your stocker then get one with all the dials. Then from there I cut it, bondo'd, shaped the opening, sanded and finally paint.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=subaru+tribeca+radio+face&_sacat=0

 

[redb9man]

My hat off to you Sir ,being a electronics buff and having played with the wiring on the beca i know all the problems you probably had to sort out ,well done!!!

 

[tsm106]

Thanks. The electrical was the most difficult part but luckily after switching to the replacement stock faceplate it was just a matter of logistics. Removing and discarding all the stock stereo parts and then reconnecting the hvac was the hardest part, or should I say pain in my ass.

 

[Dodik]

I completely removed the stock changer, except for the radios heatsink plate and tuner pcb which runs the HVAC electrics. You kinda have to keep the tuner board.

you got anymore info on what is OK to remove from stock HU, I thus far thought of just keeping intact original HU in there but lower then the new stereo, if there is a way to make stock HU smaller then I'd like to try it. IF yoo still remember after all these years.

 

[tsm106]

you got anymore info on what is OK to remove from stock HU, I thus far thought of just keeping intact original HU in there but lower then the new stereo, if there is a way to make stock HU smaller then I'd like to try it. IF yoo still remember after all these years.

There's no room to keep the stock HU. Where would you put it in there if you replace it with a double DIN NAV unit? Thus I removed all non-essential stock parts, which left the hvac controller and the tuner board which supplies power to the hvac controller. Everything is modular in that it is connected by ribbon cables. I was able to remove stock HU, cd drive, satellite unit w/o issue. The hardest part was keeping the tuner board connected to the hvac controls. The ribbon cables that connect it are very short and finding a longer set of ribbons was near impossible. In the end I just reinforced the stock ribbons and jury rigged the tuner board to the hvac controller, duct tape to the rescue more or less. I also had to stuff the steering wheel control module in there, further taking up room.

I haven't had one issue with hvac operations since making this thread so it's been working. I have to open it up sometime as the steering wheel buttons are intermittent. I knew I should have soldered the connections instead of crimping.

 

[Dodik]

i was able to fit stock HU in there and a double din, and like you said i had problems with connecting tiny ribbon cables, while messing with all that I knocked on of the ribbon connectors off the PCB and at that point started to solder in longer wires instead of the ribbon cables, and that is where I kinda lost the motivation. all i need now is to finish something like 40 tiny (.76mm) solders and plug it in.

So what you are saying the cd player part can just be removed while keeping all the rest?

 

[psygnal11]

There's no room to keep the stock HU. Where would you put it in there if you replace it with a double DIN NAV unit? Thus I removed all non-essential stock parts, which left the hvac controller and the tuner board which supplies power to the hvac controller. Everything is modular in that it is connected by ribbon cables. I was able to remove stock HU, cd drive, satellite unit w/o issue. The hardest part was keeping the tuner board connected to the hvac controls. The ribbon cables that connect it are very short and finding a longer set of ribbons was near impossible. In the end I just reinforced the stock ribbons and jury rigged the tuner board to the hvac controller, duct tape to the rescue more or less. I also had to stuff the steering wheel control module in there, further taking up room.

I haven't had one issue with hvac operations since making this thread so it's been working. I have to open it up sometime as the steering wheel buttons are intermittent. I knew I should have soldered the connections instead of crimping.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but MY08-14 have a tuner board that is separate from the HU, no?

On the '06 & '07, there is no external tuner board; rather, everything HVAC either passes through (or is processed by) the HU's main board.

I haven't confirmed 100%, but my understanding through recent trial-and-error is such... you have three systems working together, the Auto AC Unit (ACU) located by the blower unit (below the glove box on LH-drive models), the audio head unit (HU) and the Control Panel (CP). From an off position, when you press the AUTO button on the control panel, the CP tells the ACU to turn itself on and go into auto mode, and the ACU sends two signals out in response: one to the CP instructing it to light the LED on the AUTO button, and the other to the HU containing the temperature settings and current fan setting data (which is indicated on the temp/fan dials). The material difference between the two signals is that the former completely passes through the HU while the latter is actually processed by the HU (and thus, the HU then relays a separate signal to the CP instructing the CP what to display on the temp/fan dials).

Similarly, when you adjust any of the dials (temp or fan up/down), the CP again signals the ACU directly with the adjustment signal (via pass-through), but in response this time, the ACU only sends the new display data to the HU (which, again, then sends the signal to tell the CP what to display on the dials) because there are no LEDs to light.

So if you simply cut power to the HU on the 06-07, the HVAC will still work and respond to the controls because the CP and ACU communicate directly (via pass-through the HU) on everything except the temp/fan displays; however, because the temp/fan displays are controlled by the CPU on the HU, the temp and fan settings in the middle of the dials would go blank if main power to the HU was cut (or in my recent experience, a failed HU).

Accordingly, if you remove the HU from the '06 or '07, you're going to lose all HVAC functionality and display completely... you could easily regain functionality by bridging the pass-through signals, but getting the temp/fan displays to work without the HU seems like an epic-level hack.

 

[tsm106]

i was able to fit stock HU in there and a double din, and like you said i had problems with connecting tiny ribbon cables, while messing with all that I knocked on of the ribbon connectors off the PCB and at that point started to solder in longer wires instead of the ribbon cables, and that is where I kinda lost the motivation. all i need now is to finish something like 40 tiny (.76mm) solders and plug it in.

So what you are saying the cd player part can just be removed while keeping all the rest?

Yea, I removed everything or more like disassembled it all and only kept the tuner board (the pcb with the tuner dial), which supplies power to the hvac.

http://i.imgur.com/oTZIA6s.jpg


From this, I connected the tuner board which used the two ribbons. I wrapped the ribbons in tape and superglue to strengthen them. I also removed the dial from the tuner board (important later) and once connected via the ribbons the bare tuner board just folds over right on top of the hvac controls. Imagine in the above pic with the tuner board folded over and being taped to there. This is made easier by removing the dial. Normally the tuner board would sit in front of the stock HU in that main opening, and on the front of it is the dial knob. In short, I removed the HU and all the junk, kept the tuner board, removed the knob, connected the ribbons to the hvac knobs, folded the tuner board over, taped it together securely.

I'll have to open it up. It's been 5 years now, lol I've probably forgotten a lot of what I did.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but MY08-14 have a tuner board that is separate from the HU, no?

The tuner board is the front pcb on the actual stock HU. **Or maybe it was connected to the faceplate? Ya I think it was mounted to the faceplate, lol. The power runs thru that board then is sent to all the other boards. To run the hvac seamlessly, I had to keep that board and just that board from the stock HU. Thinking back, I believe the I had to keep the stock HU's powersupply, the amp section. The tuner gets it's power from the powersupply, then passes control of the hvac thru to the dials, knobs, etc. Maybe I will time to pull it apart tomorrow to solder the connections for the metra swc. And at thatt time I will refresh my memory and take some inside pics.

 

[tsm106]

Just snapped some pics. The tuner board plugs into the powersupply. The standard harness goes into the powersupply in the back. The connector hanging from the top goes into the faceplate, it connects the dash lcd panel.


Back of faceplate with tuner board

http://i.imgur.com/IDH0bOr.jpg

Stock powersupply, 2nd pic you can see the amp heatsink

http://i.imgur.com/Xh6YNsM.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YGnYjnu.jpg

 

[Dodik]

ok yeh we are did almost the same thing, only you slightly rearranged stock HU to make it smaller, and i cut a piece of the plastic below to fit it as is.
heres my face plate

and here is where that tiny ribbon cable holder was, i decided since i knocked it off to solder wires to pcb and to the connector thus extending the cable length, now i just need to do the same on the other side.

 

[tsm106]

The ribbons are the biggest pita. Since I had two faceplates, I ended up using the ribbons that connect the knobs to the hvac controller. They are wider so I trimmed them down. Worst case I would buy the one faceplate on ebay going for 130. Oh btw, here's a pic for the steering wheel control. It's not detailed anywhere well that I could find. It's the brown wire here correlating with the green from the pac unit. I used a pac swi-ps, giving full access to the steering wheel buttons.

http://i.imgur.com/DvBQqoA.jpg

 

[Dodik]

I have the same PAC system, all connected and programmed, i also installed alpine rear camera,

 

[tsm106]

I have the same PAC system, all connected and programmed, i also installed alpine rear camera,

Nice nice. Now you gotta finish man!


Btw, have you looked into the rear sub? I have a whole set of separates f and coaxes r (iirc). But I might just run the speakers off the pio nav unit and run a mono amp to the sub. The stocker is a puny 6" lol. Oh I also wired the center speaker bridged-stereo-center to the pio unit. This way it's not such a big deal, won't have to make a amp tray etc.

 

[Dodik]

iam ok for now with factory speakers and sub, at a later point i will probably address them,

 

[bobjersey1]

Looking for someone who can do this custom panel work..

Hello everyone. I'm looking for someone who can do custom work that will allow me to fit a double-din receiver into the dash where the current stereo is located in my 2008 Subaru Tribeca (loaded) SUV. While keeping all functionality of existing switches and knobs. The pictures I've seen here were outstanding and very professional. So I need someone who can do the custom panel relocating whatever you need to relocate and give you the room to mount and fit a standard double-din receiver in that spot.

I can buy extra parts if needed and send them to you. I'm located in New Jersey and have the ability to install the double-din receiver into the new panel. Just need someone to re-design that panel for this install. Feel free to call me anytime at: 201-321-0438. Thank You for your time....Bob

 

[bobjersey1]

ok yeh we are did almost the same thing, only you slightly rearranged stock HU to make it smaller, and i cut a piece of the plastic below to fit it as is.
heres my face plate

and here is where that tiny ribbon cable holder was, i decided since i knocked it off to solder wires to pcb and to the connector thus extending the cable length, now i just need to do the same on the other side.

This is outstanding work! Very professional and nicely done!

I'm looking for the same thing need to fit a double-din receiver into the dash where the current stereo is located in my 2008 Subaru Tribeca (loaded) SUV. While keeping all functionality of existing switches and knobs. The pictures I've seen here were outstanding and very professional. So I need someone who can do the custom panel relocating whatever you need to relocate and give you the room to mount and fit a standard double-din receiver in that spot.

I can buy extra parts if needed and send them to you. I'm located in New Jersey and have the ability to install the double-din receiver into the new panel. Just need someone to re-design that panel for this install. Feel free to call me anytime at: 201-321-0438. Thank You for your time....Bob

 

[Dodik]

you'll need to find a custom audio shop near you, most of them know how to do this, its not a simple receiver install as it pretty much requires you to keep the stock HU inside the dash with another added on receiver. that panel cut is probably the easiest part of the whole thing.

 

[avk]

You will probably have to remove this before taking the car in for the airbag recall. Much too valuable.

 

[bobjersey1]

Thanks for the advice. I bought a perfect new face-plate like the stock one. Came with all the knobs and switches on it fully workable. I just need someone to do the cut-out and proper arranging of the knobs and or switches. My audio guy is good but crazy about really hard custom work. If I give him the finished product he can make it work. would anyone here have the time to do this for me? Of course paying for this job would be no problem.

Question: When you mention "HU" unit has to remain, what's that? I thought from reading and looking at the really GREAT pictures here that once the panels done you just fit the double-din receiver in and wire it. I guess you need to split the antenna/gps and rear entertainment system feeds according? Heard someone mention "air-bag" recall, what's that? Anyway, I would really like to get a double-din receiver in this spot. Anyone willing to help with suggestion/wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I also don't want to break the bank on this. If it makes sense I'll do it. The parts I bought already were pretty fair used. Thanks Everyone!

 

[Dodik]

sorry to say this but you are underestimating this, by a lot, nothing in this setup is easy and every step will fight you, and when you think you are almost done it will knock you down again with something small and stupid.

that pic of soldering wires is where i left off, i haven't touched it in over a year.