Aftermarket headunit where stock radio is

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Earthworm

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Is there a combo for a headunit that fits in the same spot as the stock radio. So far I only found a center dash kit. Does it have to be a headunit without a cdplayer? I have a 1988 k1500.

Thank you all
 

Hobie

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Since GM uses a 1.5din radio in these trucks, a single din unit with a filler will have to be used unless you want to do a double din. Then you will have to buy a dash kit, cut up the dash, and plastic weld the new bezels into it. Lots of work to be done, and there are a few write ups on here
 

98chevy2500SS

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The center dash kit is all you can find for the 88-93 trucks, to my knowledge. The reasoning is, the radio on pre-94 trucks is not as wide as the aftermarket head units, so the aftermarket head units will not fit. The 95-up trucks are able to be put in the same location as the stock radio since, like @Hobie said, a 1.5" din radio was used, so the 1" aftermarket radio is able to fit in.
 

Earthworm

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Thanks for the replies. I will try to search to see how others did this. I may do the center dash for now and when I do an interior swap I will prob clean it up a bit
 

east302

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df2x4

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Was going to mention the RetroSound but east302 beat me to the punch.
 

Earthworm

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Retrosound makes one that is Bluetooth and satellite radio ready. I think it’s a fairly new product.

@Franks installed one...

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/im-just-showing-off.46368/



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https://www.google.com/amp/s/cerebr...the-santa-cruz-radio-for-88-94-gm-trucks/amp/

Its on Amazon and Crutchfield. Very interesting. Its a slightly pricer than the center dash/head unit combo but really cool at the same time. And does exactamundoly what I wanted. Thanks for the suggestions all.
 

Hobie

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The center dash kit is all you can find for the 88-93 trucks, to my knowledge. The reasoning is, the radio on pre-94 trucks is not as wide as the aftermarket head units, so the aftermarket head units will not fit. The 95-up trucks are able to be put in the same location as the stock radio since, like @Hobie said, a 1.5" din radio was used, so the 1" aftermarket radio is able to fit in.
Whoops, didnt realize he said 88, not 98. But you nailed it on the 88-94
 

Eveready

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Glad someone is making an aftermarket radio that will actually fit the factory radio space. I'm not purist enough to want it considering the nearly 300 buck difference between it and my center mount Kenwood. It does look nice though. However you do it, the hands free bluetooth phone capability is a real upgrade for these trucks. If this radio only does bluetooth audio from your phone and will not handle telephone calls then in my opinion you would be better off with a center mount. They really don't look that bad.​

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DerekTheGreat

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I'm not a fan of that overpriced Retrosound unit. And it only looks at home in our trucks if you've already got a W/T with the ultra rare AM only radio with knobs and manual HVAC controls.. You still have to put the amp somewhere and spend a lot of time wiring stuff. If I was going to go aftermarket (which I didn't), I'd do what Everready did.

Would be really cool if someone made a kit in which the instrument cluster "shroud" and center dash piece were replaced by units which made the shroud more like the 95+ dash with ducts & vents to reroute the HVAC flow to it and accommodation an aftermarket radio. Since they don't, what I did was upgrade to a 92+ Equalizer tape deck radio, add an auxiliary input & route it to the instrument cluster bezel like where the defrost button would be on a Suburban, put Infinity Kappa Plate 4x6's in it and have been enjoying it ever since. The factory unit actually sounds pretty damn decent once you throw the factory speakers in the trash for those Infinities.

Edit/observation: The representative pic east302 posted shows a pre '92 truck with two options I've never seen one with; Rear defrost and the ultra base instrument cluster with dummy lights in place of the gages. Do those even exist?
 
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