My 2003 Chevy dually needs a new radio. I'd like one so I could use my phone hands free. It has the Bose system in it now. Is there a drop in radio that will work? Mark me clueless.

I replaced my radio in my 2003 dodge with an android head unit. It wasn't really drop in, I purchased a wring pigtail for the truck and used the pigtail from the head unit to solder all the connections before I even started. Now, adding all the extra stuff was a little work.
When finished I had a hands-free phone, Google Maps giving me directions through the stereo with real time traffic alerts, backup camera, a camera at the back of the trailer, a camera inside the cargo area.
Because it's an android, I can use most android apps. When traveling and there is bad weather ahead, I will pull up the weather channel and look at the radar. Not to mention, I have all my music loaded (2000+ songs). Overall, not bad for a 2003.


Joe

Bruce,
I just did this to both of my Fords a 2000 and a 2001.

The 2000 I used a nice high end Kenwood DNX997 unit. For the 2001 I just went with a more basic inexpensive unit from Amazon...a Boss Audio BE7ACP. The Kenwood was in the $1K range and the Boss Audio was in the $200 range.

I used wiring and dash kits from Metra for both installs. Can't recommend them enough.

The guys at Crutchfield are super helpful and have all the right parts and are great about explaining how to do the install.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-...02500/3500-Kits.html

You will like the upgrade a lot. It will be a little more involved since you have the Bose audio package. I believe those have 2 connectors on the back of the factory radio instead of 1 like the basic models have.

quote:

Originally posted by nomad:
My 2003 Chevy dually needs a new radio. I'd like one so I could use my phone hands free. It has the Bose system in it now. Is there a drop in radio that will work? Mark me clueless.

I'll trade you a 2013 with working radio!!!

If you buy the proper wiring kit & installation kit for your vehicle, you can basically put any aftermarket radio in there and the installation is pretty straight-forward and will look good... the harness on the new radio and the wiring kit will be industry standard colors, so you basically just connect the 2 and plug into the factory harness, the installation kit then makes the aftermarket radio fit in the factory dash hole. The factory radio in your truck is double din (basically a twice the size of a standard radio) so you could probably put a new head unit in there that has Apple Carplay & bluetooth for under $200.00 from Amazon or eBay.

I put a Kenwood unit in our '05 Pontiac, and was able to make most of the steering wheel controls function, but lost some of the DIC displays, bluetooth etc. all good. Under $300 stuff, plenty of sound and power for OEM speaker packages, and good audio tailoring menu. Speak to text hands free used to work, but a new phone messed that up.

Almost any radio with an MP3 or auxiliary jack will allow hands free through your phone.

Or you could just give me your RWD, Gas, Crew cab dually, and get yourself a new one....in a few months.

Thanks for the help. I had no idea what a double din was.

Good, I ain't giving up my DuraMax, no how.

You should check with a quality auto AV shop. I believe the Bose speakers do not work well with an aftermarket head unit. I may be wrong but that is my understanding.

quote:

I believe the Bose speakers do not work well with an aftermarket head unit. I may be wrong but that is my understanding.

That sounds like an odd statement. Speakers certainly are highly engineered pieces of equipment and as such have their own "personalities". However if a speaker is fed the proper wattage for it rated ohms then it should reproduce the sound within it frequency capabilities. Certainly sound electronics is a complex field, maybe my understanding is too basic.

quote:

Originally posted by Canted Valve:

quote:

I believe the Bose speakers do not work well with an aftermarket head unit. I may be wrong but that is my understanding.

That sounds like an odd statement. Speakers certainly are highly engineered pieces of equipment and as such have their own "personalities". However if a speaker is fed the proper wattage for it rated ohms then it should reproduce the sound within it frequency capabilities. Certainly sound electronics is a complex field, maybe my understanding is too basic.

There is typically a bit more to the high end sound systems than just nice speakers. This is also the era in which external multi disc CD players were common with the high end sound systems.

I would expect the Bose system to be much like the Ford Premium Sound System which has a external powered amp with speakers attached to it.