Alternative Stereo Mounts?

[beltwayvibe]

Hey all, new Vibe owner here. 2006 Base model with lots of fun package upgrades, including the Sun & Sounds (Moon & Tunes) package. Love it so far! Once I get some good photos I'll probably post 'em elsewhere on the forum.

Hoping for some help with installing a new stereo head unit. To be specific -- I've got it installed, but not in the way I was hoping. One of the reasons I bought a Kenwood DPX500BT stereo is that it ships with a matching trim ring specifically cut to fit Toyota dashboards. Here's a photo of the head unit with trim ring (it snaps right on):


Here it is installed in an '07 Matrix (photo found online):


Crutchfield shipped the unit to me with an American International GMK-422 plastic mounting bracket kit:


Right now I have the stereo installed using the GMK-422 trim ring because the fronts of the GMK-422 bracket mounts prevent the Toyota-specific trim ring from being attached/seated properly to the stereo unit.

I suppose I could perform some surgery on the GMK-422 (i.e. hack the problem bits off) and only use two or three bolts, but I'm wondering if there's another solution -- maybe a different dash mount kit? -- that would let me use the Toyota trim ring right out of the box. Of course I'd be happy to just use the Vibe's factory (metal) brackets, but there doesn't seem to be any way to align them with the new head unit's mounting holes.

If anyone happens to have this stereo (or the Kenwood DPX300U -- same stereo without BT) installed, can you let me know if you were able to use the Toyota trim ring (and how)?

Thanks!

[trb]

Don't know anything specific on your radio model, but when I installed a double DIN unit in my son's car, I used the metal Vibe brackets instead of the plastic ones supplied with the dash kit. The plastic ones seemed so cheap and flimsy. I did have to cut them a bit to clear a couple of screws on the new radio, and drill a couple of new mounting holes for the bolts to mate up with the holes in the new radio, but it is a very firm install. I just had to have the two radios side by side and one on top of the other to measure the exact position of the Vibe bracket on the new radio, then I marked the bolt locations I needed. The brackets are mounted with 3 bolts per side. The trim piece that came with the kit I got floats in the opening, but it is held firmly in place once the silver panel is snapped into place.

Good luck on it!

[joatmon]

If you compare the matrix install to the pic that trb posted you will see a difference in the factory silver trim around the radio. At some point, Toyota stopped using the same radios as Vibes, and they went with one that was a little shorter and wider than the Vibe radio. I once bought one of those Matrix trim pieces thinking I could just swap it in my Vibe, mostly just to be different, but it didn't work out. Left a big gap on the right side, and something on the bottom would have needed to be cut. Plugged right onto the dash if I didn't have the radio in there, and the HVAC switches didn't work quite right in a Vibe.

So while the matching trim ring for Toyota dashboards likely works in a Toyota, you need one to fit a GM radio hole. Vibes and Matrixes are nearly identical, and in the early years this included the radio, but maybe I think you got the mounting bits and trim for a Toyota after Toyota went different, maybe crutchfield sells a different kit to replace a GM radio