Better stereo that will fit

[James Morse]

I have radio/cd but cd is kind of flaky and I was thinking the Explorer stereos are better? What years will fit and can I swap just by removing dash trim and pulling old one and putting new or will I need any special tools of procedures?

Pulling one from junkyard probably is iffy, no way to know if it works until you have it, but, they're cheap.

 

[Dirtman]

Just get any single DIN aftermarket stereo. If you buy from crutchfield they usually throw in the wiring harness and dash adapter free so it only takes about 30 minutes to install.

 

[James Morse]

I think mine is 2Din. Pretty sure.

Crutchfield has the stuff, all right, just kind of pricey, but I do like them and use them when I can.

 

[Dirtman]

How much do you wanna spend? And you do not have a double DIN, you have something close. A single DIN will fit nicely, a double DIN requires some grinding. You can get a stereo, adapter and harness for under $100 at Crutchfield so not sure what you want?

 

[James Morse]

Wow that's some interesting and very good info if in fact I don't have 2x DIN because I was going on that assumption all along. Thanks.

Oh - are you talking about sheet metal behind the bezel? Because they did mention that, or someone here mentioned it. But that doesn't show... I think... correct me if I'm wrong about that please.

Yeah that's the thing for something with all the features I'd want it would be more like 500.

The OEM really isn't that bad, and today the CD was working pretty good, but we'll see how long that keeps up. When I got it, it wouldn't read anything, and I ran the cleaner thru it about 100 times and finally it started working. If it continues to work then I'll just use what is there, for now, but, I'm trying to plan for the future what would I ultimately want, and I think that would include upgrading the speakers as well and when I went and chatted with Crutchfield for the stereo and the speakers I was at about 1000 so - yeah - it depends what one can afford.

It seems like whoever had the truck just never used the CD at all and it was super dirty. Still though I do want to upgrade at some point. Or else mount some kind of mid-size screen for navigation, like a pad or something.

 

[fastpakr]

A double din is an easy conversion with the mounting brackets. You can run either one with no problem. But i definitely agree, your best options are aftermarket for sure.

The hardest thing right now is finding a radio you like that's actually available. A ton of things are simply unavailable because of manufacturing issues.