Tonymac617

Hi all. I just picked up an 01 Tahoe LT and I already got the bug to change things up. I have a nice Kenwood head unit from my Bonneville and want to swap it over but I wanted to know what I need to do in order to complete the swap?

This is not a Bose system and I have radio controls in the rear, and a cassette player near the console up front. Do I just buy a harness for my Kenwood, splice it in, and plug and play or??


I welcome any and all advice.


Thanks,

Tony

Tonymac617

I managed to find out the answer to my question about swapping over my stock 01 Tahoe LT Non-Bose audio system to an aftermarket system by asking a local installer here in MA. I figured I would post the answer here in case anyone else may be looking for it or need the info.

I purchased a wiring harness, an antena adapter, and an in dash mounting kit. I was told that no other items are needed and once swapped over, the cassete deck down on the console and the rear radio controls, will simply no longer operate as they should. Im already thinking of a mod of some sort for where the cassette deck is mounted, but Ill hold that under wraps until I can figure out if it will in fact work or not.

Thanks,

Tony.

Tonymac617

UPDATE* 01 Tahoe LT non-Bose w/Onstar: Went to swap out the stock for aftermarket, realized I had the same wiring harness (for GM cars) on my aftermarket stereo from my other vehicle so it was plug and play or so I thought. Got power and all function but no sound. Went to a couple of car audio places and one was helpful and one wanted to charge me $45-50 to wire the harness, which was already done, to get sound out of the Tahoe. So a couple of myths on this particular unit, may apply to other years but im not sure. If someone says you need a module to bypass the stock amp and keep the onstar, they are only half right. You dont need to bypass the stock amp. If someone wants to re-wire your aftermarket harness and charge you an hours labor, dont let them. Theres no secret wiring method to get sound out of your 01 Tahoe LT non-Bose system.

The Solution: After looking online for wiring diagrams etc etc. I realised that the stock power amp needs a remote turn on like any aftermarket amp. So, I hooked up the blue (sometimes blue and white striped) wire to an Accesory source and got my tunes back. Simple and straight forward and I didnt have to pay $45-$50 bucks to get it done. Remember folks, Google is your friend. USE it!

Auburn Dad

Hi Tonymac617,

I too have a 01 Tahoe that I want to change the head on...did you ever get the rear controls to work or am I just SOL on that?

I also want to take out the cassette player but not sure what I can replace it with...did you find a solution?

Crutchfield tells me that I "might" get the rear controls back with a harness that controls the steering wheel controls (which I dont have) but they werent sure...and for $70 I wasnt just going to order it...

Thanks for any updates...

WyrTwister

The Head End Unit I installed in my 2008 Silverado WT has a blue wire for power radio antenna and a blue - white for amplifier control . I think the power antenna wire is almost universal on the after market HU's ? Maybe not quite so common for the Amp controle wire ?

I think either will work ?

My truck does not have an amp so it did not matter in my case .

God bless
Wyr