ok. taking my expedition out of service(other than moving wood or heavy parts). she's been good to me, but needs too much, including some kind of repair where the body itself rotted away around the mounts. 

 new vehicle's an 02 excursion. she's got the factory stereo, which works perfectly. I have no desire to replace it. the expedition had an aftermarket stereo that had a usb port that I could use to plug in a thumb drive for music. the factory stereo obviously doesn't have this. what i'm looking for is a way to still be able to use my thumb drives for music. I have a mini-transmitter that lets me connect my phone to the stereo for music from pandora or rhapsody. it's also got a usb port, but when I plug the thumb drive in to that, it doesn't play it. 

 

 anyone done anything like this? I guess I could load the music from the drive to my phone.....but it'd be so dam much easier to just have it already playing when powered up. 

If you car stereo supports MP3 then you should be able to use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/AUX-USB-Converter-Oxsubor（CAR-Function）/dp/B0794MK9NY/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1542209371&sr=8-15&keywords=usb+to+aux+adapter

 

3 minutes ago, MartyZ said:

If you car stereo supports MP3 then you should be able to use one of these:

My guess it doesn't, since it's an '02, but that newer add on radio in the other vehicle did.

His other choice is to copy the MP3 files to a cheap tablet and play it thru that transmitter cord he uses for his phone thru the headphone jack.

7 hours ago, MartyZ said:

If you car stereo supports MP3 then you should be able to use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/AUX-USB-Converter-Oxsubor（CAR-Function）/dp/B0794MK9NY/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1542209371&sr=8-15&keywords=usb+to+aux+adapter

 

 

7 hours ago, Sniper22 said:

My guess it doesn't, since it's an '02, but that newer add on radio in the other vehicle did.

His other choice is to copy the MP3 files to a cheap tablet and play it thru that transmitter cord he uses for his phone thru the headphone jack.

no headphone jack. it's a stock 02 ford. i have one of these...https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Transmitter-Wireless-Function-Hands-Free/dp/B078V6WLT4/ref=sr_1_27?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1542237622&sr=1-27&keywords=bluetooth+transmitter+for+car&dpID=51RwtxJHvuL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 but mine's older. while it has usb ports it won't play either of my thumb drives....although finding this link i may have answered my own question, as this one supposedly does play them......

 

 i just don't like aftermarket stereos unless they're necessary.

47 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

no headphone jack. i

OK, what I thought you had was a transmitter with a male plug that could be plugged into the earphone jack of the tablet.

So, just go get a cheap tablet, copy the MP3s from the thumb drive to the tablet, then stream the music through Bluetooth to that receiver, just like you do now with your phone.