explorer5.0

Has anyone ever tried it? I have a 6 disk player our of a friends Ram and it looks like it would fit the hole opening. It would give me a nice upgrade while keeping a stockish look. It looks like the mounting tabs will have to be cut off, and I am sure I will have to make some brackets, but I think it is doable.

Any thoughts?

JKmotorsports

iTrader: (1)

What yr Ram is the radio from? Brackets can be made to make it fit, but if it is canbus controlled, you can't use it.

explorer5.0

Got a little progress on this. I bought a DVD touch screen and installed it, but I am pretty unhappy with the aesthetics of it. I like the "stock" look, and its too stand-outish. The Dodge radio has everything I am looking for- it can play Mp3s off of disk, and there is an adapter for it to control an Ipod. This particular radio (RAQ) can be used on Canbus vehicles, but can also be turned on by older 12v trigger vehicles. I was also able to come up with an antenna adapter and a pigtail for the radio.

I took the dash apart to connect my Ipod cable, so I decided to see if it would fit today. It is as if the Dodge radio was designed for retrofit in the dash- it slid right in, and two of the screws on the front of the radio have flat plastic behind them for securing. Unfortunately, the hole size on the dash bezel is a little off. I am going to try to find a junk Dodge bezel to cut the surround off of to make it look more stock.

JoeGibbSilverado

iTrader: (9)

look like a cool swap, keep us posted with pics, im interested in seeing the bezel

explorer5.0

I have to trim the bezel height about 1/4", or either 1/8" top and bottom. The radio slot actually doesnt squarely line up with the bezel. I have to shift the radio to the right about 1/4" to center it. Then it will need to be trimmed a little for the ***** on the sides. I will wait until I see how it looks in the hole before I decide to fill in the voids above and below the *****.

explorer5.0

I ran into an unforeseen problem, the lights stay on all of the time. I tried it on the bench and everything seemed fine, I just didnt realize the buttons were staying lit. I may have to scrap this project because of this. Everything else works great though. I guess that on this particular radio the dimmer is controlled by the Canbus. They stay on even if I ground the wire on the harness labeled panel light.

I wish I found this before I modified the radio. It will still mount into the original truck, I just cut off the bottom two plastic screw holes. Maybe I will just offer it for sale really cheap.

Does anyone have any ideas as how to make the lights go out when power isnt applied to the ignition wire? I could put a relay on the main power wire, but I would have no memory on it.