Hooking a I pod up to a 2001 Chevy pickup original radio.

[Pikemaster101]

I went out and bought a auxiliary cord for my I pod so that I would be able to ply it off the car radio and some one told be that one end goes into the top of the I pod and the other goes into the back of my radio because my radio is not knew enough to have the plug in on the face of the radio. So my question is how do I get to the back of my radio to plug the other end into it and does the back of my radio really even have a plug in for this cord.

[cliffy]

I could be wrong but, I am guessing your radio probably does not have such a jack/hook up. Like I said, I could be wrong.

I have a 2005 ford f-150 and no such hook up. I bought a little transmitter/charger thingy for my i-pod and its awesome. You just plug it into your cig lighter, doc the i-pod and tune your truck radio to a certain station and away you go! It allows you to play all your i-tunes and also charges the ipod as you go. I think it was around 45bucks. Just an idea.

Cliffy.

[Pikemaster101]

doesnt it ever get staticy? i have heard that in certian places, where you dont get good radio you cant get the ipod music to play clearly. i dont know if that is true, but just wondering.

[Bobb-o]

nope, the ipod transmitter will always have a good sound, unless you are near another car with a transmitter that is on the same station, in which case you either get away from that car or change the station slightly

[Pikemaster101]

which brand and/or which one would you recomend g etting?

[wishing for walleyes]

I would recomend a monster.

Monster iCarplay Wireless 200 FM Transmitter

Different from other Ipod FM Transmitters!!. It automatically scans all of FM stations to find a clearest on to work with your Ipod.

It also displays station information on your Ipod screen!

Features:

• Exclusive Monster AutoScan automatically finds the clearest available FM station.

• Simple, intuitive 3 button control.

• 24k gold contacts for optimal signal transfer and corrosion resistance.

• Smart Digital Charger technology charges your iPod while you drive.

• 3 programmable station presets.

• iPod screen displays station information.

• International modes allow use in North America, Europe, and Japan.

• Ultra low profile power adapter minimizes dashboard clutter

[Bobb-o]

I bought a cheap one on ebay and it has worked for over two years for me without any problems

[Pikemaster101]

so as far as you know, there is no way to hook it directally up to the radio ? without a fm transmitter and only with a cord, that hooks up to a jack on the back of my stareo ?

[LMITOUT]

A couple things....

I use an FM transmitter with my iPod and it's a pain in the butt trying to stay off a channel that has a radio broadcast on it when you're traveling. You always have to keep changing the channel to find an unused one, and even then it's never perfectly "clean" because of the side channels bleeding over a little. It may sound OK, but the sound quality is hardly great. This is nothing new and common to any FM transmitter I've used since back in the days of the Discman portable CD player that I used way back when.

Do you have a BOSE radio in your truck? I'm not sure how much of a price difference there is between adapters for Bose or non-Bose, but the other option you have is to purchase a harness that plugs into the back of your radio, Bose or not, if you wish to wire the iPod direct (which will give you the best sound quality by a long shot). I priced out an adapter for my truck which has the Bose radio and it's upwards close to $100. All you do is unplug the factory harness, plug this adapter into the radio, and then plug the factory harness into the other end of the adapter. It has a pigtail for aftermarket accessories such as your iPod that you simply plug into.

So, if you want to go the cheap route and have mediocre quality, go with an FM transmitter of any flavor. If you want the best set-up with your factory radio, look for an aftermarket harness adapter.

[walleyedude]

if you want really good reception you could just buy a new deck for you truck that has the aux. hookup, my friend got one for around 100$ and it sounds amazing. or you could just get a a cassette hookup, those dont work that great but they get the job done.

[hitthebricks]

Sounds about right! $100 is about what it cost me to hook up my MP3 with good sound on my 05 chevy. I used some type of direct wired aftermarket conection that I thought was expensive but did work well. My boats stero has a MP3 input in the face plate and does the same thing with a $3 cord

[PierBridge]

Depending on which Radio you have in your Truck which is the first step in determining the correct adapter you are looking at $49 to $99 for the adapter, mine was $59.

I will say I have been suprisingly impressed with some of the wireless transmitters I have heard lately, but like stated above the hardwire will give you the best sound quality.

[cliffy]

The one I use is called a Griffin Road Trip and I paid around 35-40 dollars for it. I think it works great....very good sound quality and I can take it from car to car. I have not noticed any problems keeping it on a clear station (88.3) but I have not done any long road trips with it.

Good luck.

[blakjack23]

I have the Griffin RoadTrip in my 04 F150 also. I bought it off Ebay for $30. While it works decent, I do hate the occasional static. I saw a direct wire hookeup on ebay for my truck for around $100. I'm probably going to buy that and then use the Griffin transmitter in my commuter car. I was also wondering what station everyone uses for the transmitters. I use 89.1 cause a friend told me that was the best, but I'll try Cliffys station and see if that works better. What station does everyone else use?

[rundrave]

do a search for iPod2car and look for a site like peripheralelectronics (Contact Us Please) com.

its an ipod interface that connects to the back of your radio. they have a link on the site that shows what vehicles it will fit.

i really like this, it was an easy install, i still have that origianal look in my truck, my in-dash 6-disc changer still works as well as the steering wheel volume controls etc.

i saved money on mine by purchasing on ebay as well

good luck

[Pikemaster101]

I looked at the monster ones they were only about 40$ the thing is, when i travel on a long trip, will the stations have to keep on changing for the music to ocme in clearly? and if anyone else has any opinions on this device, please comment. thanks

[LMITOUT]

Yes, you'll have to keep scanning as you drive into the territory of other radio stations regardless of the brand or type of FM transmitter you're using. That particular one just makes it a bit easier since it looks for an open channel for you.

I see some frequencies that are suggested to use earlier in the thread, and that's fine if you don't have a radio channel broadcasting in your area on that particular freq. and you never leave that area. When you're traveling you'll eventually bump into one and have to change your FM transmitter setting to "stay ahead" of the interference.

Turn your channel to the lowest freq on the dial and go up one notch at a time. Some of the spots on the dial you'll hear a buzz or something else besides white noise (static). Even though you can't hear a radio channel playing, your radio is picking something up on that frequency and it will affect your iPod quality trying to compete with that buzzing or noise. The iPod music starts to get muffled and you don't have the sound response you should becuase of that background interference that's picked up on that particular channel.

If you really want to knock out that noise or even any long distance channels you may be picking up, unscrew the antenna from the fender of your truck! Done deal....until you want to listen to the radio again.

[enclak]

I read the initial post, but skimmed over the other replies in between. All of the auxiliary plugs I've ever seen are on the front face of the radio, it would not make sense for consumers to have to dig their radio out to hookup a cable in the back. So I'm guessing your radio doesn't have any auxiliary plugin whatsoever, because if it did it would be in-your-face and staring at you along with the other buttons on the radio.

Your only option without replacing your radio would be to get an FM transmitter as some others have mentioned. But I wouldn't go with anything name-brand specific or suggestive to the iPod (such as the "iCarPlay".) Why? Because you're going to pay a lot more for that one than you would for a normal FM transmitter which will work just as good. The iCarPlay ranges anywhere from $30-50 online, but something like this or this will do the EXACT same thing, but for like 1/10th or less of the cost. Essentially all you are looking for is a FM transmitting device that hooks up to a personal audio device (MP3 player, CD player, etc.) through the headphone jack, and transmits a signal at a specific radio frequency that can be played on any radio tuned to that frequency within a small distance (usually 6-8 feet I think.) You can pay about $3 for the ones I pointed out, or multiply that many times and get the iCarPlay. If they wouldn't have put the "i" in "iCarPlay", it probably wouldn't be a top-selling item because it makes people think it's the only iPod-compatible FM transmitter which is anything but true.

I drive an old car and I still have the factory radio in it, which was made before compact disks became popular. I've been using a cheap/generic FM transmitter (similar to the ones I pointed out) for years, and it comes in crystal-clear over the radio as long as it's tuned in on the right frequency.

[TRITC]

enclack,

There are decks that have aux plugins in the back. I put a new deck in my wife's car and it had the input in the back; came with a long cord so you could run it to just about anywhere in the car.

[enclak]

Whoops, my bad! I've honestly never seen one before, but I believe you.