Hey. I'm gonna be looking to replace the factory head unit on my 04 Screw. I have the steering wheel controls and I know there is adapters out there to make an aftermarket head unit work with them. Does anyone know of an aftermarket head unit that already has an adapter or is wired to hook up directly to the steering wheel controls? Thanks.

 

I got a brother that works as a stereo installer. There are no head units the will hook up to the steering wheel controls, or that he knows of. Like you said, there are adapter harnesses for it, but the suck the wire up. We tried finding a head unit for my 06 and couldnt find one, so we just going to go with the harness.

 

Thanks. That saves me a bunch of searching around.

 

No problem. From what I understand Alpine is suppose to be looking into making one, but theres no tellin how long it will take before they do anything.

 

totally custom has been done before. use the 2 wires from each contacts you want in the faceplace and parallel the wheel buttons into them. its just a matter of finding the right wires in ur headunit and right ones in ur steering column/dash.

 

no current makes come with this feature in it already they are working on it. this is only $70 though -
northshoreford this might help as long as the aftermarket you put in has a remote then this will be what u need

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-mbmUo6K...heel&i=127SWIX

it uses the remote signal to program this unit witch relays it. It goes from factory steering wheel controls to this mini computer unit sends a remote signal to the unit. There u have it how to keep the factory ones working. WILL NOT WORK WITH SONY head units! This should help you.

 

Actually Alpine already has several units out like this. There is a plug in port in the back that is designed for their wired remote, but PIE makes a converter that plugs into that jack and then into the ford harness. It's seemless. There are other options out there that use an IR blaster (remote signal repeater that mounts on the outside of the dash) to convert steering wheel control inputs into remote signals the deck will understand.
Lot's of HU's have ports for wired remotes, including Sony, Eclipse, Kenwood and Pioneer. Any car audio store that's worth a damn should already know this. Your best bet would be to head over to the forums on Ecoustics.com and post your question there. Most the people on that site are professionals and know what model HU's you could use and what model adapter from PIE would work best for you. Good luck.

Edit: Here's the link to a few of the available converters over at crutchfield. These are only a few as many are now available from various makers.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fTxaVQL...g=118900&avf=Y

 

I wonder if the Ford 500 HU would do the trick. It has navagation built in and should fit in the same slot.