Wanting to throw the original radio back in my truck.

[Fireball5657]

Yep, perfect. That there, unplug it and it plugs directly into the brain unit. No splicing needed

Wow I guess I got lucky, thank you a lot for the help! I’m honestly more happy then I should be about this lol, I’ve always liked the look of the stock radio, but I’ve been hesitant to buy one since there were so many things I wasn't sure about. Guess I better start saving up, huh?

 

[AK49BWL]

If you're gonna spend the money, you ought to get one that is retrofitted with Bluetooth and an Aux input jack lol.

 

[Fireball5657]

If you're gonna spend the money, you ought to get one that is retrofitted with Bluetooth and an Aux input jack lol.

Any ideas where to find one? I’ve been looking for one, but all I’ve seen are the 95+ models and none for the 88-94. I saw that there was a “Santa Cruz RetroSound” radio that looks like stock, but there’s something off about it to me. Either way if I can’t find one, then I’ll probably just get a cassette to Bluetooth adapter.

 

[AK49BWL]

EBay is the only place I ever see them, but they do kinda come and go. And it'll be just the CDM, not the complete 3 piece set.

Here's one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVY-GMC-...-iPod-AUX-INPUT-GM-DELCO-CDM-AMP/202812984009

 

[Fireball5657]

EBay is the only place I ever see them, but they do kinda come and go. And it'll be just the CDM, not the complete 3 piece set.

Here's one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVY-GMC-...-iPod-AUX-INPUT-GM-DELCO-CDM-AMP/202812984009

Damn that’s a pretty penny, that is cool though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203107719449

Saw this one for a bit more, but honestly I think I’ll save the money and just buy a cassette to bt adapter unless my job decides to give a 200$ bonus lol. I may consider it later down the line, or I might try to find someone who will convert it for me.

 

[Steven Petersen]

Damn that’s a pretty penny, that is cool though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203107719449

Saw this one for a bit more, but honestly I think I’ll save the money and just buy a cassette to bt adapter unless my job decides to give a 200$ bonus lol. I may consider it later down the line, or I might try to find someone who will convert it for me.

I bought a CDM from that seller on EBay for my 88. I have the factory cassette/equalizer unit. I got the 94 model CDM as it has more output than other years. Bluetooth and Aux jack too. I’m really happy with it.

 

[Fireball5657]

I bought a CDM from that seller on EBay for my 88. I have the factory cassette/equalizer unit. I got the 94 model CDM as it has more output than other years. Bluetooth and Aux jack too. I’m really happy with it.

Hey that’s good to know thanks.

Was it just plug and play or did you have to do some wiring?

 

[Steven Petersen]

Hey that’s good to know thanks.

Was it just plug and play or did you have to do some wiring?

Just plug it in. He doesn’t modify the plugs or harness. You end up with a little toggle switch to turn Bluetooth on and off. And another cord with the aux jack.

 

[Fireball5657]

Hey also to anyone who knows, what size bulbs are in the stock radio buttons? I've converted my entire truck to LEDs and I can imagine that most of the bulbs in a stock radio will be burned out over the last 25+ years. I know the climate controls use T4 or T4.2 but I've never even seen a stock radio in person, let alone taken one apart.

 

[Eveready]

The easiest way to hook up an aftermarket radio is to salvage the factory radio plug and a short length of each wire and solder those wires to the adapter for the new radio. Unfortunately there is a fairly high percentage of idiots in the world who will do it the other way and butcher the truck.

Its 60 / 40 in favor of it being done right but there are a lot of them done the wrong way. I vividly remember the install of a Kenwood into my old Dodge Van. First I had to chase down the MOPAR color codes which are a lot harder to find than GM ones. Then I had to solder the aftermarket adapter to the wires and as you might guess none of colors matched.

If you are unlucky and the truck has been butchered I suggest you salvage a factory harness plug at the junkyard and carefully solder and shrink wrap the harness back together and then the factory radio will plug right in. If anyone goes aftermarket later on the new radio's harness can be soldered onto a factory plug.

You should know that there are modern radios with phone/bluetooth that look exactly like the factory radio and fit the same spot in the dash. They are expensive but might be an easy solution. Good luck and let us know how you come out.