Metra 99-6000 Single DIN Installation Kit for 1974-2003 Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, Jeep, and Plymouth Vehicles,Black

I started out with another Metra part, 99-6500, which fit my Dodge Ram 3500 Van right, but offered no support beyond the deck’s steel bracket fixed to a thin plastic frame. It worked well with a cheap after-market deck, but when I put a heavier (and more powerful) deck in, the bouncing you get on a heavy truck suspension warped the plastic frame so badly the deck rattled enough that it would skip on CD playback. It bent so badly that the position of the deck was off, pointing up 10-15°. With the quality of the streets in my city following a snowy winter, this is bad, because we are nothing but potholes.This dash kit first off is based around a plastic frame roughly three times as thick as the first, and it is substantially stronger. Furthermore, the included tray (which is “welded” on and can’t be removed) offers a strong backside support, giving the deck something solid to sit on.The only issues are that there are no included spots to tie the deck to the tray as additional support, however it took me 5 minutes use a Dremel-type saw to convert two of the unneeded holed tabs into braces which applied tension against the deck bracket, which prevents any upwards motion (in excess of what the vehicle sees) on the deck during bounces. A second bit of work with another removed part (the X braces that fill the deck space and need to be removed before a deck can be installed) and a couple self-tapping screws let me tie the tray into the steel frame of the dash, and we are rock solid. This additional work isn’t the fault of Metra, as this kit is highly multipurpose and not necessarily intended for truck installation, but I did remove one star for the hassle. There are better kits that include back braces and additional support, but they well likely cost much more than this kit.Once installed, this does fit very well, with no gaps, and looks as good as you would expect. While I would have liked a better surface texture on the exposed portions of the frame, the deck I’ve used has a large high-gloss frame as well which covers most of the area (aside from the pocket) and overall the install looks very clean and professional.And after one quick trip down the street my home is on (it used to be a street, now it is a bunch of connected holes) the deck didn’t skip once, so the desired result has been achieved!