aftermarket stereo fitment

[white04alero]

hey, i'm wanting to get a panasonic or an alpine for the alero.. well on crutchfield they have that nice little "outfit my car" feature - well when you type in 04 alero.. only like a couple hu's fit.. but you go to 04 grand am.. and you have a million with modified fit (i know that you can modify the dash support behind the stereo, which i'm fine with. but if its a modified fit for a grand am, is it also a modified fit for an alero? or are the dash openings different?

[Ryan from Ohio]

The biggest issue with the alero is the plastic and metal bracket in the back. All of which can easily be cut/ground away.

Now where the wires/RCA's come out could pose an issue. All depends on how bad you want it...

I bought an $850 radio, it wouldnt fit it. I sure as hell didnt toss it aside. It went in, eventually...

[bratch15]

I have an Alpine head unit and it BARELY fits. By that I mean the wires are squeezed against the cd player (heat from cd player is bad when touching wires) and I have satellite radio hooked up and the trim barely stays in. I even cut the plastic out and it is really bad. Don't forget the 70 or 80$ module you have to buy to trick the computer into thinking the after market cd player is factory and so you still have the "chimes"

[teflone]

screw the chimes !

[bratch15]

I was told by the local electronics store that the cd wouldnt work and the security system would be messed up and the chimes wouldnt work...

[bratch15]

Dont know if anybody has ran an aftermarket cd player without the module....

[greenbastard]

my alpine fit really tight in my car. like bratch15 said the wires are squeezed between the HU and the back of the HU space. i can't fit my trim around mine because it gets caught on the face plate when it tilts. the trim with the heater controls that goes around it doesn't fit as good as it should and leaves a gap but where i sit i can't see it so it doesn't bother me. if you get an alpine, make sure you cut thelittle plastic piece out in the HU space. i used a drill and made a series of holes and broke it out. this will allow you to plug in your RCA's. also only take your deck out if you have to, it is a pain in the ass trying to put mine back in.

[_01Alero_]

My dvd player deck isn't using the module. I don't have any problems with my alarm (stock) and I don't have any issues with the player. They are just feeding you crap so you will buy the expensive harness. You will loose chimes, but who needs them? Not like you are running with your doors open without you knowing. Anyway, don't listen to what they said, you won't have any problems with the cd player or the alarm, unless they mess up the wiring. When I had mine installed, they just used a standard harness and attached wires, no big deal. And like I said, no problems at all here. Hope that helps a little...

[sound_xtreme]

I was told by the local electronics store that the cd wouldnt work and the security system would be messed up and the chimes wouldnt work...

theyre full of it. all that module does is reproduce the chimes. the chimes are ran through the radio and come through the speakers by factory. with that module they no longer do that, they come straight from that module. if you dont have one, your security system, airbags, abs, etc WILL STILL FUNCTION NORMALLY. Ive done several cars without one.

[white04alero]

would a Pioneer DEH-P4900iB fit in the alero? says it wouldnt on crutchfield but said it would with modified fit on grandam same year and everything

[03alerospl]

If the layout for the wires are the same as most the other pioneers, you should be ok , but you'll prolly have to cut the back of the plastic bracket out. I have a panasonic, and cut most of the back of that plastic peice off, but where the wires come out of the deck, is right where the metal bracket is, so mine is very tight, but the layout on the back of the pioneer decks seem to be more forgiving than my panasonic. Good luck

[DaRockwilder]

I have the adapter harness that retains the chimes, and what I did was mount it down near the floor and run the wires up from behind and through the back so there is the least amount of wire in there possible. No fitment issues. My RCA cables all come out the right hand side where the big hole is.

When I need to pull the radio out, you can tilt it down to unplug it.

[clutch1]

theyre full of it. all that module does is reproduce the chimes. the chimes are ran through the radio and come through the speakers by factory. with that module they no longer do that, they come straight from that module. if you dont have one, your security system, airbags, abs, etc WILL STILL FUNCTION NORMALLY. Ive done several cars without one.

Can vouch for that. Both of my airbags deployed in my crash, and I had an aftermarket radio in without that module.

[tseebs]

yeah i have an alpine radio... barely fits and i didnt buy that adapter and i still have chimes

[white04alero]

well you shouldnt..
thanks for the info guys.. what head or w/e do i use on the dremel to cut that shit out? or can i ubolt it? or what

[sound_xtreme]

i just use pliers and pull it out chunk by chunk. takes me bout 10 seconds with pliers. it's really brittle plastic

[strtrydr]

I have a Pioneer headunit and I still have the factory chimes! I think it has something to do with the year of the car ... I remember reading a thread about that before.

[sound_xtreme]

ya 99-00 dont have retained acc(chimes)

[white04alero]

ok sound, thanks for the info. so basically any stereo thats not like.. double-din or w/e will fit? cuz if so then that is badass

[AftermathAlero]

yea.. get any headunit you want and just cut the plastic out in the back of the dash. Best route goto

[Cliff8928]

even a double-din unit should fit the opening.

[white04alero]

could someone provide pics of what all was cut out.. i wanna do this cleanly.. without too much taken out.. and is it technically the dash support or the stock stereo support?

[white04alero]

anyone?

[sound_xtreme]

it's the radio support. and just do what i did, use a pair of pliers.

[white04alero]

ok thanks