My Crimson Cruiser - 1996 GMC 1500 Project

For Anyone interested in doing a Double DIN Radio setup as I have:

1: don’t buy a crap Chinese one and use it in 4 different vehicles. This truck will soon be getting kenwood and so should yours.

2: It depends on what year make and model you have, and what add-ons you have (check your vin). But you will need one of the many harnesses found from Metra. I recommend getting this from rockauto or sonic electronics. I used part number Metra-701858.
You will also need a dash kit. This is to modify your dash to fit the screen. You have two options from Metra: an entire drivers dash that pops right in, or a little bracket like this that you cut your existing dash to fit into:

I went with the bracket. You will have to stick it on your dash, mark where to cut, and then pop the dash off and cut it. I just used a lil Milwaukee sawzall.

When I say dash, I mean this:

It pops right on and off.

You should be cutting the plastic line in between the radio and the AC controls. And then the line going across at the top. For a better visual , whiplash TV makes a great video on it.

Next, I went to Walmart and got this amp wiring kit.

It has worked fine for me and I’ll be using the same wiring for my kenwood when I upgrade it.

Buy some extra wires, electrical tape, and rubber crimper guys.

Once you have all the necessary parts, including your sub, amp, and double din:


Take all these off. When you take your dash off make sure you unplug the light controls and your cargo lamp control if you have it. And any buttons you might have on the left of the radio. Or else you’ll rip the plug out.

The radio, AC, and disc player if you have one will all unclip and be unplugged after taking the dash off. It should look like the picture above when your done.



Now, don’t take my word for it, yours might mess up, but I didn’t have any issues with the theftlock. I don’t know what issues it can or can’t cause, I just pulled it all out.

When you cut your dash, don’t make the mistake I did. I cut too far on the left side, for the bottom line you cut. The dash kit has nubs that hook onto the end of those lines, you have to leave a little room or else it’ll sag like mine is doing. I’ll fix it when I get an all black dash going.


The meta adapter plugs directly in the truck, and the double din is wired up to the adapter. I highly recommend kenwoods setup, where they will pre make a harness for your make/model. Saves a lot of time. If you wire it yourself, get heat shrink and crimp everything the right way. I only cross-threaded and taped everything so I can remove it easily later.

the metra kit will come with side clips, they look the exact same as the ones on the stock radio. These will screw onto your aftermarket radio.

Before you put anything back together, just put the radio in and wire it to the amp. Follow the guide from the amp kit, run it down your truck and into the amp. Your power should go to the battery, I drilled a hole in the firewall, it was easiest on the passenger side next to the existing Firewall port.

Unbolt your middle seat mount for the rear seat, put your ground there and bolt it back in. If you have a single cab, look up online where your mounting point are , but I suggest a seat mount for troubleshooting. If your seats loose , you found out why your sub ain’t working.

Hook the sub to the amp, amp to the radio (usually the blue wire). Your aftermarket radio should have a wiring diagram if you get confused. Or google it.

It took me about a day once I had everything together, and sounds great! Soon I’ll be doing the door speakers and tweeters with a guide for that too.

Feel free to ask any questions if you get stuck on a step.

Final result:

Thoughts on a billet grill setup ? I wanna either make this truck a darker red, or make it black. Either way I think the grill would fit with the style really nicely , with some new headlights as well.


This steering wheel looks like it would be a very comfortable and stylish replacement for my current one - on which the rubber is tearing off.

Giving her a good wash to prepare for the parts coming in tomorrow.

Getting the front end ready for a rebuild as well.

Fair warning, I thought I missed it but the 1aAuto video I watched on this completely left out the part where you take your 10mm out holding on the grill, just above the GMC logo. I damn near broke my grill wondering why the shell wouldn’t come out. It basically goes top headlights, then bottom, then corner lamps. Then the 4 7mm’s at the top and then three clips at the bottom (left right center). Easiest way I found was to just pull the thing holding the tab upwards til it lets go, and then bring the shell assembly towards me.

The corner lights are really a pain in the ass. Video said 13mm or 1/2 inch wrench, but only a 13 will fit. I have 10,11,12,14,15 but not a 13 wrench. So I had to take the top bolts out a step early to pull the shell and give me enough space. I had to stick a deep socket on a baby 1/4 ratchet and squeeze it in there. Took me probably 7 minutes to get one side out. Take your time and don’t get frustrated. Mine were on there pretty good from age.

A little word for advice. When you’re trying to get the corner lamp bolts off, get the big plastic piece in the headlight well to the side by taking out the four 10 mm bolts on both sides of it. The 4 bolts make a square shape. Pull the grille for leverage. Taking these out help you get more room to put a ratchet on the corner nut. Youll see this plastic piece on the floor in one of my pictures.

The little trim between the chrome bumper and the Grille shell should come out easy. for the chrome bumper you have some bolts on the top of it that even on my southern truck were almost completely stuck. I had to use a breaker bar and impact to get them off.

Only problem was that the next bolts are under the truck, they’re a 20mm I think, my 19 was too small and my 21 latched on but it’s too big. My only 20mm is not deep enough. So I’ll have to go pick that up tomorrow.

Once I do a full LED conversion with new headlights, corner lamps, and a 4-hi mod, I’ll be doing a write up on it for everyone. I’ll also be doing a little informative rant on aftermarket headlights.

Look what I found at the yard today!!

aldang25879 said:

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Look what I found at the yard today!!

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Be sure you get the cluster and dash switches out of it, if they're still there. Those are good trade goods/resale items if you don't want them. Denali seats are also specific for the model(the covers anyway, and they may have the heating option).

The disassembly begins!