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Hi all, I am a bit of a purist regarding my vette and I want to keep my stock radio. Does anyone modify or make a kit to add a usb port to my radio. I dont want an auxillary port but a usb port so I can charge my Iphone while listening to my music. Any and all help or advice appreciated and thanks. Also I am aware of some of the adapter quackery, however I just want to add a usb to my stock head unit.
Last edited by chevrolee; Feb 6, 2020 at 09:05 PM.
Hi all, I am a bit of a purist regarding my vette and I want to keep my stock radio. Does anyone modify or make a kit to add a usb port to my radio. I dont want an auxillary port but a usb port so I can charge my Iphone while listening to my music. Any and all help or advice appreciated and thanks. Also I am aware of some of the adapter quackery, however I just want to add a usb to my stock head unit.
I'd like that also...listening for one of the electronic gurus to chime in...lol
I would be interested in something like this as well, I have seen the USB plugs that you can wire in to replace the lighter plug but I have never heard of anything that would actually be connected to the stereo itself.
Unfortunately, there's really no way to do that in such a way that it would charge your phone AND send audio from a single USB port. It's a little more complicated than just splicing one in.
What I would do, to have the least impact on the stock appearance of the car is put an aux port on the REAR of the radio, not the faceplate, and then use something like this:
Then just plug the aux port into the rear of the stock head unit, and cut the USB connector off and hardwire it to the cigarette lighter in the console.
I 100% support the BlueTooth mod from 'Discount Car Stereo'. I did this mod a few months ago to my stock unit and its Awesome! Even a novice can do this in about an hour. I'm streaming Spotify everyday!
OP , if you don’t find away to add a usb I installed this in my 04. This adapter plugs into back of stock radios and has cable that connects to IPhone. It will charge iPhone and you can play music from iPhone library. You still use radio controls for volume , fast forward, etc. I had this adapter in 04 for about 5 years with no problems. I had it so cable came down center console and went into compartment/ arm rest area. Left in car at time of trade in. Cost back then was around 85.00 dollars.
If you decide to go this way make sure when you order you get model with or without cd changer depending on if your car has cd changer in rear or not . Dave
Last edited by Borntorun04/17; Feb 7, 2020 at 10:19 AM.
OP , if you don’t find away to add a usb I installed this in my 04. This adapter plugs into back of stock radios and has cable that connects to IPhone. It will charge iPhone and you can play music from iPhone library. You still use radio controls for volume , fast forward, etc. I had this adapter in 04 for about 5 years with no problems. I had it so cable came down center console and went into compartment/ arm rest area. Left in car at time of trade in. Cost back then was around 85.00 dollars.
If you decide to go this way make sure when you order you get model with or without cd changer depending on if your car has cd changer in rear or not . Dave
I installed a device like this in my 2003 C5 a few months ago. It gives me an AUX port which I put in my armrest console. I went an extra step and plugged a bluetooth device into the Aux port and paired it with my iPhone. It's great. I also replaced my lighter with a dual USB port. The combination means I can listen to tunes from my iPhone and charge the phone at the same time.
Aux Port in armrest (I don't have a picture of the Bluetooth dongle, but you can get them pretty cheap and they're small):
USB Port next to ashtray (I had to enlarge the lighter 'hole' a little):
The reason I put the USB port up front, instead of in the armrest compartment is that the lighter socket up front was broken, so it had to be replaced anyway. If that hadn't been the case, I would have put the USB port in the armrest. (It's always good to have a lighter socket to plug in your tire inflator!!)
So, while it takes 2 steps, (adding USB where the lighter used to be, and adding an AUX port with bluetooth device) it may solve your problem.
helphos, I like the usb port in place of the cigarette lighter. Where did you source it? I'd rather have that permanently in place instead of the cigarette lighter with a usb adapter.
helphos, I like the usb port in place of the cigarette lighter. Where did you source it? I'd rather have that permanently in place instead of the cigarette lighter with a usb adapter.
Just sent you a PM. (The one from Amazon that someone else posted looks nearly identical, though!)
If you want to see the Bluetooth adapter I used, here's a picture (less than $10.00 and 2" long. An easy fit in the armrest compartment):
Radio
