Tapping off a factory head unit

[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

Hi all,

Did some hiking in the Adirondacks this weekend and while I was hiking I was thinking about better/easier??? ways to add an after market head unit to a vehicle while keeping all the factory steering wheel, etc. controls using a minimum of harnesses, connectors, etc. It was a random thought that popped up.

I was thinking about dismantling the factory stereo to its' smallest footprint by removing face plate, etc. in order to tuck it into the dash while keeping all controls, etc. active. Then tap off the wiring necessary to power and control an after market head unit.

The factory device would do nothing more than allow the steering wheel control interface.

Is this even possible and workable? I'd think the steering wheel control for the factory device and aftermarket head unit perhaps would not work or work properly???

What other problems would there be?

I'm not considering doing this as my system works great but I was thinking about it and wondering if it is even possible?

What do you people think? Has it been done?

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[germanyt 10+ year member]

Years ago people used to mount GM head units into the trunk out of the way because there was vehicle info like tire pressure built into the brains tied to the h/u. These days there are many aftermarket products that allow you to retain factory controls with new head units. Not sure it's worth relocating the guts of your factory unit.