Hey guys, I'm looking for a new stereo deck in my 2000 Dodge Dakota and I was wondering if any of you knew what the dimensions of the factory deck are and whether it is a double or single DIN because I don't want to have to buy a new face plate and I want it to look factory installed. Any help would be appreciated

 

Welcome to the forum..

Your OEM radio is a din and a half. I do not know of any stereo manufacturer that still makes a din and a half style aftermarket deck. They used to have those back in the day, I remember Pioneer made one but to the best of my knowledge they do not make those any more. Maybe there are some floating around on Ebay but they would be old and not very reliable.

If you do not want an aftermarket deck with an installation kit in your dash your best option would be to find a used OEM deck on Ebay or maybe at a junk yard. The installation kits do work out very well and look good in the dash with a nice aftermaket deck. Aftermarket will be a lot more reliable than a used OEM deck too, plus you get a lot better features like USB inputs, Blue Tooth, better tone controls and better output power too.

Jimmy

 

I can tell you that the dash kit I have for my single DIN sony is garbage. It doesn't look good at all. Can't remember which brand but I bought it at Walmart for $20.

I actually took apart my stock radio and to see if I might be able to use the housing somehow to enclose my after market one - not a viable option.

If you're just wanting a factory deck go to a boneyard, ton of the stock decks in them.

You can always try to fabricate something outta MDF or fibreglass - that's a pretty involving route though.

 

The kits at Walmart are made by Scosche and yes they are pretty bad. I bought one for my truck and it did not fit well and the trim bezel would not stay attached. It also did not fit the dash opening very well either. I took it back for a refund.

The kit that does work great is the Metra "Raptor" kit that you can buy at Autozone. It comes with both the square 99-6500 kit for 2000 and earlier Dakota's and it also has the 99-6503 kit with rounded corners for the 2001 to 2004 Dakota's. the Metra kit fits perfectly and provides a recessed mount for the new deck.

Here is my dash with my Pioneer deck installed in the Metra kit:

P1010110-2.jpg

Same kit with a Kenwood deck I used to have a few years ago:

P1010065.jpg

Crutchfield and Sonic Electronix provide a free Metra kit and wire harness when you buy any deck over $99.00 from them. Autozone sells the Raptor series kits for about $20.00.

Jimmy

 

I have the same dash kit as Silvercc. Looks great with my Pioneer. Is something wrong with your OEM stereo, or you just want an aftermarket?

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