OEM Radio audio input interface

I have seen a few devices that allows to connect to the OEM radio, but thought I would ask the experts in this section their opinions on which would be best.

The OEM radio is plenty good enough for me and I am just looking at being able to play MP3s from my tablet through the onboard OEM head unit.

I know there are some folks that have actually added a 1/8" input jack but I have not found any wiring diagram that explains how it can be done. That if someone has anything would also be very sufficient for me. I am very comfortable playing around electronic circuitry and can solder as well so just tell me how we can piggy-back on the external CD Changer input and I'll be good to go.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Just curious.....but why go through all that trouble when you could just replace with an aftermarket Deck?

Interested in this as well. Factory head unit in the 05 does everything else I need it to and I like the way factory head units look over any aftermarket

Hooker52 said:

Just curious.....but why go through all that trouble when you could just replace with an aftermarket Deck?

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Would like to maintain the factory look as much as possible, and cost. I'm thinking a 50 cents 1/8" jack with a little elbow grease would be much cheaper than a complete head unit.

Plus now that I have integrated my tablet in the dash it provides me with GPS features, MP3 capabilities and my Torque interface. So all I need is a way to pass the audio output to the current head unit.

If I have to go the head unit way I'll be replacing all of this with a 2DIN Android device that will incorporate all of this not requiring me to do so much thinkering.

I can actually get one of these for under 300$ with Bluetooth, GPS+maps, Android interface, backup camera and all the nice gizmos it bring on board so I could also run Torque in the Head unit rather than having to deal with another screen/tablet. But if I can keep the 300$ by just adding the 50 cents jack I'd be happier and could put the 300$ on another truck upgrade.

Stangshcky12 said:

Interested in this as well. Factory head unit in the 05 does everything else I need it to and I like the way factory head units look over any aftermarket

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I have actually found a factory head unit in my area for under 50$... I'm gonna start thinkering with it to see if I can get a working solution.

If I do I will post a How-to guide. Since there are head units available with mod from Rock Auto it has got to be feasible and easy.

Thought I'd bring an update to this topic as I have found a solution that suits me very well. Up to you to decide if it does for you as well.

Total cost : ~10$, 1 hour of optional work to "hide" everything.

I have purchased a tape cassette adapter for about 3$

and ordered a Bluetooth audio receiver from ebay for about 7$.


I can easily connect my tablet, smart phone or other bluetooth device to the receiver and get what I consider to be very good sound, considering the noise level in the truck is high to start with and would not allow for a high definition sound experience anyhow. Sound quality is actually better than the radio...

The "hidden" part is that I took the time to open the radio up to route the wire coming out of the cassette adapter internally through the radio and out the back of the instrument panel, and connected it to the BT audio receiver. I also added a 12V. charger/adapter to the receiver as it is battery powered and hooked it to the Radio power wire so it would power on/off with the radio.

Everything is tucked away under the panel and does not show. I even left a little bit of play in the wire coming from the cassette adapter so that if I hit the eject button accidentally it has enough to come out and be pushed back in without any issue or breaking the mechanism of the tape player.

Have fun !

There is a little pricier option also in a Bluetooth Audio receiver Cassette Adapter... no wires to tuck away and self Powered...


Found this one on Amazon, but I have seen it available for much less at other outlets.

I might buy one to do a review at a later time. I only found out of this option after I had done all of my setup...

Another option is this interface adapter that plugs into the cd changer input and gives you options to plug in rca etc

PIE Precision Interface Electronics CHRY02-AUX

I have my sirius running in via this adapter and it works great

I just hit the aux button on head unit when I want to listen to satellite receiver

I had seen the PIE interface but it is sadly discontinued.

I am also a cheap **** and felt it was a little on the pricy side, but I do agree it is a great option.

I have ordered the Bluetooth Cassette adapter as I found it for 25$ shipped. It works very nicely and it has a Microphone to support phone calls through the radio which is nice. However it does need to be charged, I somehow thought it could be powered by the radio mechanical but it is battery operated.

All in all it works well and I am happy.

You are right about the price but I found it a little cheaper than most places by shopping around.

It was a handy item. Hope there is someone else making somthing like it.