o.k. I was searching around and found this on ebay there is not much on this radio so i was wondering the size and bolt pattern on it matches my 01 dodge but will it work or do i need some other stuff with it it looks like the premium sound system tuner here is the link to it below

http://www.ebay.com/itm/oem-dodge-ch...6200bb&vxp=mtr

 

I've replaced several stereos in several cars/trucks, and I've always found Crutchfield is the way to go.

Also, go to Geno's Garage and get new cup holders (cup smoothy, I think it's called). Better than the factory pull out one, where you coffee does a triple lindey every time you go over a bump.

 

Yes, the factory radios are universal up until the point they got the rounded corners. Heck a radio I pulled out of my 1998 Durango bolted right into the dash of my old 1978 D100 truck...even fit behind the dash opening perfectly.

The factory radios aren't anything to brag about though. I support after market upgrades, but do it right. Head unit, 4 channel amp, use channels 1 & 2 to push good front door coaxials and bridge channels 3 & 4 for a sub in a small sealed enclosure.

More speakers do not always equal better stereos, and in a truck cab, component speakers would be lost. No point, and a waste of money.

If you MUST have rear speakers for what people call fill, power the rear 5.25" speakers off of the head unit, and power the front off of the amp.

 

yea I think i am going aftermarket I will be using this truck for back and forth to work and it's a four and a half hour drive down south to go out so I am going to upgrade and just put a custom system in it I have done a few back in the high school days LOl but nothing recent. thanks for the info another buddy said crutchfield too.

 

OK. Let's go back....as Zman stated, check/fix plenum first. This can clog a cat (boatload of $ to fix) nd/or cracked heads (another boatload of $ to fix) and a truck modded for looks is dead on the street. Need to think about making it run well first.

Other run or perfomrance things:

Replace timing set with double roller
HS rockers
E-fans
BW solenoid for tranny.
Tranny cooler.

Then, if you are going to re-gear, and can afford it, Mega Viper tranny.

Then paint a Mopar 11 stripe on it!

 

o.k. found out today that the truck has been in the shop before to repair the plenum problem...My question is what the dealership did to it then to fix it was right or wrong will it still be a problem. right now money is tight i just got cleared to go offshore for the new job i am taking and just wanted ideas right now. I am loving the truck and want to do everything right just thought i would through the redone plenum job that i have on record the dealership did.

 

another thing i get what you mean about the getting it running the 4wd is killing me i have some issue with it nothing that makes the truck run bad just non i have another thread on it so i get what you mean get it running first still LOL....l'm just loving not fighting a ford anymore

 

When a dealership service center repairs a plenum gasket, they simply do that, they replace the gasket. The problem is that the belly pan is steel and the intake is aluminum. They expend and contract at different rates and this eventually tears up the gasket. It's not a matter of when...but if.

However, a new plenum gasket might last 50K before it becomes a problem. My 150K Durango has had it done twice before and I just repaired it for a third time this weekend with an aluminum plate to replace the steel plate.

The dealership likely would not have used an aluminum plate but you can test this for yourself. Simply unplug and unbolt the throttle body from the intake. It's very easy. Peer down inside with a flashlight and see if it's clean. There should be no oil residue or pooling. Next, put a magnet extension down one of the throttle body holes and see if the magnet sticks to the pan at the bottom of the intake. If it sticks...it's a steel pan. If it does not attract to the pan...someone changed it to an aluminum and it's likely fixed and the plenum gasket is no longer an issue for you.

If it's a steel pan, but not leaking...it's kind of up to you. Unless the gasket is blown and oil is being sucked into the intake, you have no immediate issues. However, it's just a timer on a bomb and at some point that gasket will let go and oil will ge sucked in and that's when you start a chain of events that CAN lead to other harder issues to deal with.

 

^^^ Okay. Whether the steel vs. aluminum really makes a difference is not the main issue. The biggest issue present is the bolts used from the factory. They are too long, which means the plate isn't receiving the proper torque. I know tons of people think it's the steel vs aluminum thing, but the differences in heat expansion & and contraction at temperatures as low as the engine sees is so miniscule, I can't give that theory a bit of credit. Until someone can prove that 1) fixing the problem with shorter bolts doesn't work, and 2) IF it did fail after that fix, it was due to heat expansion/contraction, and not the steel plate flexing and letting the gasket blow between some of the farther spaced apart bolts, everyone should stop stating that unlikely theory as fact.

 

I think I can discredit the short bolt theory...which I was honestly more prone to believe until this last weekend when I changed the pan out in my Durango. I was honestly going to put the steel pan back in with the new gasket and shorter bolts. However, when I pulled the intake and pan...which had obvious blow outs in the gasket.

I pulled the bolts and they were already shorter and they were torqued correctly.

The last time it was changed was by the Dodge dealership service center several years ago. I think they were aware of the issue and installed the shorter bolts when they changed the gasket and put the steel pan back on.

After finding the shorter bolts, I took my gasket to work where I cut out an aluminum plate and went that route. I honestly believed it was the bolt issue until I saw I had both shorter bolts AND a blown gasket.

That leads me to believe there is more to the steel vs aluminum plate argument.

I guess I'll know for sure in another 50K miles.