After my truck got smashed up and it's contents thieved last month, Read about it HERE, I've started to look at a replacement head unit. I'm wanting to go with a double DIN unit like the Kenwood DNX-7100, Pioneer AVIC-Z2, or Eclipse AVN5500. The opening is 4" tall, but Crutchfield says no DoubleDIN's fit. Any input? Anyone installed one in their rig?

-Kevin

 

i dont know what 2003 has but it does fit 2001 , and i thing Strokin has 2002 or 2003 , and he installed DD Pioneer touch screen. but i think it should.

 

I believe that our trucks are DIN and a half. I have a DIN sized radio in my 2000 and judging by the room left, I dont see a Double DIN fitting.

 

Kevin, I've seen them installed on our trucks and they fit. You missed out on the live tuning, but David Salazar had his truck out there and he fit a DDIN in his and it looked great. He said he had to drill new mounting holes, but that was it. Convinced me to get one. I've ordered the Kenwood DNX7100 and it should be arriving any day now. If you want, I'll let you know how the install goes since I'll be doing it all myself.

 

Damn, Im wrong again


Im wanting to upgrade my head unit and if the DD works, that would open up more choices!

 

have fun with it guys, i just put an alpine iva-w200 DD in my 02 f250 and is was a nightmare. had to use backstraps and all sorts of clever ideas, maybe an 03 is different but it was an absolute nightmare in my 02. on the brightside, it does look great, people ask about it all the time, then they go to the shop to get one and they are told nope.

 

Here is the scoop at least for the a 99. Should be good for all 99-03's. When I went to install my DD Pioneer AVIC-D1 it would not fit. The opening was more than a 1/4" short of being a true DD. I trimmed the top and bottom. I even had to trim 1/32" or so off the heater control unit module. Now it fits perfectly. So the answer is yes and no... No it won't fit without trimming, but fits great with trimming. Take a look at my gallery and the pictures shows it pretty good. Good luck and measure 300 times and cut once...

Marty

 

I have a Jensen 4" touch screen fits great. If your unit is also a DVD player you can get the codes off the net to bypass the security code of having the emergency brake on to watch the dvd.

 

I have been installing for a few years now and right after Katrina hit here the shop I was working at got 5-6 250's a week wanting doble din navigation and I was the guy who got to do all of them. You have to some cutting on the dash piece (minor fileing really), and it has to be held in with back straps. If you attach 4 back straps to the side of the radio to where they stick out past the face of the unit you can slide it in and then bend the straps back around so that they touch the plastic of the dash that is right beside the radio cavity (kinda like bend them in a U shape) and screw them into the plastic with short screws. I have done this on probably 30+ of these trucks and it holds the radio in there better than stock

 

I have a double din clarion touch screen dvd/ nav system going in this week. Im having it installed so not sure if any dash mods are needed.

 

Curtis, that's the unit I've been considering as well. Maybe I should drive down one of the next couple weekends and it can be a double install experiment. I will probably order mine tomorrow.

Bummed I missed hanging out with you guys and my live tuning appointment. The dealer had to swap out some harnesses after the break-in and they kept the truck that whole weekend.

 

You need to remove the dash, or place cloths every where, and cut/dremel out the little plastic lip on the top and bottom of the radio opening. I have a Pioneer AVIC D3 based on the recommendations from the forums, but the navigation is not up to par IMO as well as other peoples. However the rest of the system works great!

 

Hehe, I'll be installing new gauges too, so my truck will be fun.

I picked the Kenwood after visiting a car stereo shop and playing around with both the AVIC-Z2 and the DNX7100. Controls felt pretty close to each other, but the navigation on the Kenwood is much nicer and a whole lot faster. Try what I did and visit a place that has these units up and running so you can see first hand which one will work better for you.

Well Jody should be back sometime late spring/early summer. Have you talked to him about that yet?


As for the installation of these units. I'll find out soon enough how easy or difficult the DNX7100 is to fit in the dash. Some units require more modification of the dash than others, so it's anyone's guess. Can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere it was that the 7" screen DDIN units are harder to fit in than the 6.75" ones. Not sure how much truth there is to that statement, so don't shoot me for saying it.

 

Hey Kris, how did you/what did you do to mount the unit in the dash? Did you have to drill any holes or were you able to use the framework in the dash to secure and tie-down the unit?

Thanks again for your input mi amigo...

-Kevin

 

I have a 2003 f250 and I was wanting to install a Pioneer avic-z2. Can anyone point me in the right direction with the installation process, as far as fitting the double din unit? Biting off more then I can chew? Is it worth it?