I own a 99 F250 XL SD extended cab with a plain AM/FM radio and the plain audio package, so there aren't any speakers in the back doors. The radio is wearing out and I'd like to replace it with another stock radio as well as install speakers in the rear doors. I would like to replace it with a newer one that has a CD player and preferably an audio input jack. The problem is that I don't have the premium sound package in my truck, and even though there are speaker wires going to the back doors they aren't hooked up to the current radio. I also understand that the wiring adapters changed sometime in the early 2000's. Has anyone ever upgraded their radio like this, and if so what did you have to do to it to get it to work? Thanks

 

I think your best bet would probably be to contact Crutchfield www.crutchfield.com and have them set you up. They can tell you what speakers you need, what head units will work and what wiring/plugs you need. I got my head unit from Crutchfield and they included the plug, diagrams and adaptor kit with the head unit. I already had rear speakers on my truck but if you have the wires to the doors they are probably already hooked up to the plug going to the head unit. I'm not aware of any wiring changes, the stuffs fairly universal from year to year.

This is the head unit I have installed on my 04', I really like it and it has a front mounted USB and AUX. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158GT64...&tp=5684&avf=N

 

Why would you go with another factory unit? They are notoriously overpriced and underperforming....

I've been using and recommending Crutchfield for 10+ years. Prices are good, and service is outstanding.

 

I took out the am/fm radio and added speakers in the wall behind my doors in my standard cab and put in an expedition cd player and it sounds and works great. There is another thread right on this page that he added a 6 disk head unit out of an escape and then added the ipod input. Have seen this before and it looks and works great. My brother bought the adapters and put in a Sony deck with the aux plug on the front. He also had to add speakers in the back doors of his king cab. The wires wre in the doors and we just cut the plugs off and soldered on new speaker wires. It is really simple. But...did you say the wires are not hooked to the stereo? How do you know? My am/fm cheap one had no rear speaker selection so no noise came through the wires when i hooked up a speaker but they work fine with the new head unit.

 

I replaced my radio (99 F250 XL) with a pioneer unit from walmart. Walmart sells the dash kit for aftermarket radios and also sells the wiring plug adapter kit. I would use crutchfield to find out what size speakers will fit your truck and then price shop the components you want to buy. Installation is not that hard.

 

Crutchfield is great for first time buyers helping find what fits and getting adapters and plugs included in the cost of buying speakers or HU's. However they are very expensive and you can find much better deals out there. Etronics a good site and there are many others.

You would be wasting money paying for a new "stock" unit. You would be surprised what you can get in the aftermarket for the cost of a stocker. The wires for your rear speakers are already connected in the main harness so when you hook up a new one with speakers you will be GTG. For good low priced speakers you can't beat the Pioneers that combined with an HU of your choice and you'll be rocking in no time.

 

I hear you on the OEM stereo. I'm not going to blow anybody's doors off, nor do I need to be heard 3 blocks away. Besides, the factory look keeps would-be thieves out of my truck and on to the next Civic with $10K worth of stuff installed!

Here's something to look at for an OEM replacement:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...cd6-w-mp3.html

2004 F250 Stereo Upgrade .: Articles

I bought the Audiophile 6CD w/MP3 (from eBay) and I love it. I paid $150 for it but I've heard of people paying $100 and less recently. I had a 6CD changer that was going bad and the Audiophile is worth the extra dough. The high power makes a difference even with my old stock speakers. I did have to buy the conversion harness from Replacementradios.com. It took them a couple of weeks to get it to me (it is a low volume item so they don't make it until you order one), but it was all plug and play from there. I also recommend either going to an auto parts store or eBay, spending $5 and get the radio removal tool. The coathanger trick doesn't always work and a stereo shop will charge you for their time to do it (even though it takes 10 seconds).

As for speakers in the rear doors, I remember seeing a thread on it around here somewhere, but I don't remember where. I thought I bookmarked it but I can't find it. You can either search for it or somebody might chime in with the link...

 

Does a radio like that require a separate amplifier? I don't have one in my truck, and the only plug currently going to the radio besides the antennae is the world plug. I've heard of people trying to upgrade but then finding that they don't have an amp, which then makes the speakers only give off a whisper.

 

I would still recommend going with an aftermarket HU. You can find plenty of models from Pioneer and Kenwood for under $100 that will fit your needs. Add a set of cheap Pioneers to replace the stock doors and add to the rear and you can be enjoying much better sound for less than $225. I'm not a big believer in outrageously expensive systems either. I have a HU that is about 6 years old and I am running two Kenwood amps that are very old. One is close to 14 the other is closer to 18. I've got some cheap Pioneers in the both the doors and rears with a modest RF sub.
You can do much better than stock even if it's "audiophile" stuff with aftermarket for cheaper. Take your time and look around.

 

The OP specifically stated that he wanted another stock head unit. While I agree that there is aftermarket stuff out there that will run circles around OEM equipment (and for about the same price or less), there is something to be said for the "stock" look. While I could have spent the same $200 (unit + shipping + harness) and got a pretty nice head unit with USB, screen saver and other stuff too. But a stock head unit looks just like all the other stuff on the dash, doesn't have dancing screen savers (that annoy me when I'm driving at night) and the Audiophile has 190W of power, and all of that looks like a plain old factory head unit that nobody would give a second look too. Plus it just slides right into my dash and click into place. No modification and no adapter kit (just the conversion harness).

It's all a matter of opinion. Could I have gotten more audio performance features for the same amount of money, yes. Could I have gotten more design, fitment and appearance features, no.

Nope. No separate amplifier. The power is built into the deck and all you need is the is adapter cable if the truck's harness doesn't plug directly into the unit. Once I got the adapter harness and removal tool it took me about 2 minutes to swap out my stereo for the Audiphile. It's exactly what I wanted and I got better sound quality in the process. I've been very happy with the modification.

 

I saw that he asked about a stock unit.Sometimes people don't realize how easy or inexpensive adding non-stock stereo gear can be from all the hype that's out there, just providing some other alternatives.

 

Alternatives are always good. Sometimes you may not realize that an alternative is out there (or better suited to your needs) until somebody brings it up. That's why places like this are great. Somebody out there may have a better idea or tried it and it didn't work out so well.

If I was 15 years younger and didn't have kids, I would have an Alpine sitting in my dash right now.

 

Don't let the age and kids hold ya back, I'm 44 with kids (18 & 20) and "need" my stereo. Gotta show them what real metal and rock is.

Once you can use a USB stick that holds 12gigs+ of music you will never use another cd again.

 

Hey guys, I'm cleaning up some of my old threads that I started way back when. As it turns out, the factory wiring harness on my 99 Super Duty XL extended cab had wires that went to the rear door. All I did was plug in a different factory stereo head and put some new speakers in the rear doors.