Question on swapping stereo head units

[skidoofan]

I'm attempting to swap an Alpine CDM-7861 unit from my 1997 F-150 that was existing when I purchased this truck to a 96 Explorer for it's factory AM/FM Cassette unit. (My son has the Exp and would like the Alpine unit) I've removed both units to find the following: Alpine unit has a harness with a single, small rectangle plug approximately 1/2 - 3/4" long by 1/4 - 1/2" wide that plugs into the head unit. This harness has 2 connectors on the reverse end that are rectangular - approximately 2" x 1/2" that plug into the existing wiring connectors from the F-150. The factory unit from the Explorer has a small rectanle plug as described above as well as one (1) of the larger retangular plugs (described above) that plug into the back of the unit. My question is: Do they make a convertor harness to convert the wiring to the correct plugs I need in both cases? Or is it a matter of cutting and splicing the existing in each vehicle? Thanks!

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[iceman6827]

metra makes harnesses called smart harnesses, they go from the head unit you have (in your case the alpine but there are others) to a universal plug, then you can get the other side which is the other end of the universal plug to whatever the vehicle is (explorer or whatever) they can be found in most places that instal like circuit city, best buy etc or if you dont want to get them just cut and splice

[skidoofan]

OK...I found out that I couldn't install the factory unit from the Explorer in my F-150 as the Explorer has either the Premium Sound or JBL package. The amplifier is separate from the head unit.

I've installed the Alpine aftermarket unit into my son's Explorer so now I'm looking for a new unit for my truck. As I indicated before, I don't need to have all the fancy, newest and latest and would also prefer to have it look more stock.

Does anyone know if you can adapt a newer...say 2000 or 2001 unit to the 97?? I have a possible lead on a unit from a co-worker but not sure what the wiring connectors are like on that year.

Thanks!

[worland]

The '97 had a 1.5 DIN head unit (about 3 inches tall) typically an AM/FM Cassette F75F-19B132-AA. That was the standard style unit from roughly 1995 to 2003. The 2004 and newer models use a 2 DIN unit (4 inches high) with a bezel surround.

The '97 head unit was 1.5 DIN at the faceplate and slimmed down to about 2 inches at the rear. There is a metal rail behind the dash prohibiting the use of normal 1.5 DIN units (3 inches high their entire length).

The '97 head unit typically had two very long rectangular connectors (Metra 71-1770 style ). The 1998-2003 head units often had a square connector (Metra 71-1771 style). Also, be aware other models of Ford vehicles were wired slightly differently than the F-150 at the stereo connector.