A quick shout out to the many that have shared their story/process for the Sync 2 to Sync 3 conversion. I spent several hours researching and watching different youtube conversions / checking information - this forum, Focused Garage youtube channel and the F150Forum provided the details and confidence for me to successfully make the conversion. I did want to summarize what my experience was - as it was not 'plug and play' as I had hoped.
Video:
F150forum:
Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans
1. Purchased Screen+APIM from car-parts.com for $300 - it ended up being an SB screen from a 2017 Lincoln MKC (without Nav) - so it was not recessed on the sides - so I quickly found out I was in for some work - without spending $50 for brackets....I may still try to get a NAV APIM based on Julian's suggestions above - as I can be more patient knowing my system is fully functional and I will use CarPlay for now - it would be nice to have true navigation once I travel off the cellular grid - which does happen from time to time.
www.car-parts.com
2. Bracket material $10. (2) Strong-Tie framing angles (yes, these are $0.79ea - I had a few trial/error iterations to get it right) and modified them with a dremel. This was the most time consuming part of the process for me. One could argue the $50 I could have spent on pre-made brackets would have been worth the time versus the money - let's be honest, for some of us, the project is about the experience and learning not always just about getting it done. Had I sat down and drew out of the opening, screw locations, etc to scale, laid the brackets out against the screen on the drawing (as I finally did)....'measure 2x, cut 1x' does mean something - I would have saved several hours, and I knew better.......
Ace Hardware: Item no: 5606579 | 044315046001: Simpson Strong-Tie Galvanized Steel Framing Angle 1(A35)
3. Purchased the (p/n: WPT1239) pig-tail wire harness from National Fleet Parts - $24 with tax/shipping - wired this inline with the existing harness for the USB. 4Dtech was out of the Gen1 pig-tail, glad I made the choice to do it myself - it wasn't too difficult to solder in. Solder pin 1 (+) to pin 1 (+) and pin 10 (-) to pin 4(-) (reference original harness wire to new harness wire - should be intuitive as the new harness only has 4 options, not 12
)
Part:
[WPT-1239]Motorcraft/Ford car/truck part-wiring pigtail(WPT1239)
Solder Diagram:
How-To: Upgrade 4.2" Sync to 8" MFT - Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans
4. Purchased the CarPlay USB on ebay - HC3Z-19A387-B for ($45).
5. Bezel - cover that replaces the original cover for a nice finish GC3Z-19C149-A ($30). I did purchase this from 4Dtech before I realized I could have gotten it a lot less expensive somewhere else - but I did watch their videos - so I will consider it payment for their time.
www.4DTech.com
6. GPS Antenna - purchased this off ebay as well for $13 - used aggressive velcro I had around from sticking up my IPass on my windshield to place under my front dash speaker. I did not disconnect the original antenna - as I understand it is needed for the dash compass - I do not see any interference between the two as some have experienced.
7. Purchased a Forscan ODBII for $30 for programming. The programming also took some time - but thankfully was not bad. It was probably the most stressful as the risk of 'bricking' something. I saved the original, and saved every step along the way. Thankfully, I did not need to make very many changes. Everything is functional! Steering wheel controls / front-back climate controls / heat-cool seats / steering wheel. As a side, I changed the lane-change blinker value from 3 blinks to 5, disabled the 'double-honk' when closing the door when left running and changed the screen from Lincoln to Ford 350 Performance - which my son tells me is 'sick' (or is it 'syck')
summary:
Screen+APIM (No-Nav): $300
Bracket material: $10
WPT-1239: $24
CarPlay USB (HC3Z-19A387-B): $45
Bezel/Trim for USB (GC3Z-19C149-A): $30
GPS Antenna: $13
Forscan: $30
All-in cost: $452
Time: ~8 hrs for conversion (damn brackets)/ ~10hr research/confidence building
Overall, a little more than I want to spend - I was hoping for <$400 - I am very happy with the outcome! I might - might - sell my original for some cash to offset the difference. There has been some discussions about modifying the original, which can be a concern (I am out of warranty so no issue on that front). I rationalized making the change by, there are after-market radios installed all of the time and this is 'kind of' along those lines. To each is their own!
Hoped I helped someone along the way!