2001 - Looking to replace stock radio

[AlexR]

I have a 2001 Sport Trac and am looking to replace the stock radio with something that can do hands free calling with a microphone I could mount somewhere. The ability to add a backup camera would be a nice bonus but not necessary.

Any recommendations? Thank you,

 

[christianjpolzin04]

I have a 2010 sport trac with a custom stereo that I put in and I got it off of crutchfield. It’s a boss stereo I got for around $300. The nice thing about crutchfield is that if you put your vehicles data into it, it will automatically sort the ones that will or won’t fit into your car and during purchase asks if you would like all the wiring harnesses and connections to come included with it that fit your trac, to make sure it works 100% I would suggest visiting their website.

Hope this helps!

 

[blert]

If you want double din you will have to modify the bezel. It is nothing more than trimming off a bit of plastic but it ruins the bezel if you ever want to put it back to stock or install a single din. Also, once you add the mount for a double din it cannot be easily removed without taking the whole dash apart.

Avoid the JVC KD-X380BTS and probably all of its family and comparable Kenwoods. They have what I consider design flaw in the Bluetooth power circuit. You can hear the Bluetooth module "talking" through the speakers.
Strange pulsing whine in speakers caused by bluetooth

 

[curtis james]

I have had a few from flip outs to single and double dins,,the price point ya mentioned is so borderline on really nice units to ok, you can go cheap like boss etc. and replace fairly quick as they do not last or step it up and do it in a few years as far as longest lasting with features i had the best luck with kenwood but thats the higher end unit. and it lasted 10 years, some basic single alpine units are great but basic. i tried a few reverse cameras and prefer a separate unit up on dash or above the rear view mirror so i do not look down, and if it goes bad it is separate and cheap, but that's me. combining to much in a cheaper unit is a train wreck.

 

[blert]

Completely agree with Curtis here.
No offense meant to christianjpolzin04, but Boss is quite low end. They do offer a five year warrantee, just make sure you buy it from an authorized dealer.
If you have the means, avoid Boss, Dual, Jensen, and any brand where the features outweigh the price tag, they tend to prioritize flashy displays over sound quality. Out of the budget brands Boss is probably the best because of that five year warrantee.
JVC/Kenwood is probably the lowest of the major brands (Kenwood eXcelons are a different story). Kenwoods also do not dim with headlights/dashlights, instead rely on setting day/night times, weird. Not sure what I think of Sony but they have moved away from the flashy display Xplode crap they were putting out. Pioneer and Alpine are always a solid choice with a few exceptions, some Pioneer double dins have proven to be laggy a while back and I think Alpine had some bluetooth connection issues a while back, newer units likely solved this.
Always research your purchase first. If you buy from Crutchfield you may not get the best price but you can return it for ANY reason within 60 days (they cover shipping), and they give you free (or deeply discounted) installation stuff (like harnesses and such).

 

[Adrian Drenalin]

I have a 2008 Factory radio from my 2008 Sport Trac Adrenalin. full size, no DIN adapter required.

 

[blert]

I have a 2008 Factory radio from my 2008 Sport Trac Adrenalin. full size, no DIN adapter required.

Ok, but OP has a 2001. Modification of the bezel is required.

Edit to add: So too is the double din mounting bracket/hardware.

 

[Adrian Drenalin]

ok

 

[blert]

Another thing I will mention is don't pay for features you don't need/want. There are always choices in a given family of headunits, they are all based on the same hardware. Do you need to pay the extra $100 to have 6 pre-outs at 5volts when the cheaper one with 4 pre-outs at 2volts will work perfectly fine for you?

Important stuff: 24bit DAC, 10band or more equalizer, current bluetooth/handsfree standards. Other than those things it's all up to what you plan to do with your system (amps, subs, etc).

 

[curtis james]

Blert has it dialed in, i had some insane sound systems back in the day and sony, alpine were so good and they just starting making junk,,a head unit is important but the speakers is where the sound matters. if your still rocking the factory in your 01 your going to be happy with any upgrade. i just threw in a alpine in kids 2010 titan and for a 100 bucks from crutchfield and it is basic but he loves the upgrade from factory and a simple install. i have similar in my trac that replaced my kenwood and has been working great for 6 years. the phone works with it.

 

[blert]

That unit is discontinued now Here is similar...
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500UTE73BT/Alpine-UTE-73BT.html?tp=72310No CD though, if that is important to you. Alpine's 3band parametric EQ can be tricky to get used to.

 

[blert]

Oh! Forgot something concerning Crutchfield... if you do want to return your headunit (for whatever reason) and try something else, they will ship the replacement right away! No waiting to get the return item first. You have 14 days to get the item back to them and they send a prepaid shipping label to your email right away. Put up with what you dont like about it for a couple days, get replacement, install, pack return up and ship. I will gladly pay a few bucks more for that kind of customer service. They have good sales too, I just recently got a pair of JBL Club and a pair of Infinity Reference 6x8s for 50% off.

 

[Foxman276]

I have a 2001 Sport Trac and am looking to replace the stock radio with something that can do hands free calling with a microphone I could mount somewhere. The ability to add a backup camera would be a nice bonus but not necessary.

Any recommendations? Thank you,

I bought my 2004 a couple of years ago. It had the stock radio. I replaced it with a BOSS unit that has performed just fine for BT and radio. I am choosing to not invest significant money in a 20 year old vehicle, and don't expect HiFi sound in any vehicles I own. It's all about your perspective and how much you want to invest.

 

[blert]

Totally in agreement with you. There are a few points to keep in mind though when searching for a new headset that can stream from bluetooth and do hands-free calling...

Bluetooth suffers enough from being crippled with low audio quality. Making sure the hands free and bluetooth standards are current will go a long way to improve audio quality as these improvements usually come with codec improvements, of course your sending device also needs to be capable. Then passing that signal through a 16bit DAC only hurts it more, look for a 24bit DAC. Once you find a headunit that satisfies those two points you can be pretty sure it will have at least a 10band EQ. Everything else are options you may or may not need, fancy marketing terms, better hardware, better software, and better design. All things you may or may not want to drop a few more bucks on, everyone's outlook is different.

 

[Kirk Rich]

I had this Pioneer NEX2500 in my 2005 for a few years and loved it. I used it with Android Auto and SiriusXM.
Pioneer Multimedia Double-Din In-Dash 6.2" WVGA Display Receiver Apple CarPlay. Built-in Bluetooth, AppRadio Mode/ Spotify & Pandora Bundled with Alphasonik Earbuds https://a.co/d/9uXgYNH

 

[Doug Kaye]

avoid Boss, Dual, Jensen, and any brand where the features outweigh the price tag

as Blert says, avoid these.. I've done a couple replacements for my son in his Subarus, both times the cheapish one I tried first, had all kinds of problems - one ate the CDs and wouldn't cough them up, the other just flat didn't work after a couple of weeks. Dual used to be good, I still have a Dual turntable from the 80s in use, but I guess the company got eaten up by some conglomerate and is now just another brand. Luckily Crutchfield is good with returns. It's worth paying just a bit more for JVC, Pioneer, Alpine etc.

 

[Dmiranda1269]

I have a 2001 Sport Trac and am looking to replace the stock radio with something that can do hands free calling with a microphone I could mount somewhere. The ability to add a backup camera would be a nice bonus but not necessary.

Any recommendations? Thank you,

 

[Dmiranda1269]

View attachment 3982

That's my radio it's android based and I absolutely love it front camera backup camera also

 

[ReggieT]

I am wondering about the installation. Did you need an adaptive harness? or did you have to make any changes to the truck bezel to make it fit? I am looking for a nice radio too and this one fits my budget.

 

[terence mcgovern]

Yes, unless you want to splice all the wires. I picked up my adapter at the local auto parts store. Maybe two adapters for wiring. I picked up a wiring chart to verify wiring. Standard coloring. Also needed adapter for antenna. Found that at O’Reilly auto parts