This past weekend a friend and i tackled putting in my sony 701hd. it wasnt the easiest job but it is possible for the ones out there that want to swap out the factory head. personally, to be able to never use the cd player in the bottom storage bin again made it all worth it. (pictures are garbage, actually a sunny day and all i had was my phone, sorry)
Since there are no kits available we had to rig up a mounting plate. First you have to cut out the stock bracket since the 3.0 unit is only single din
we just used tin snips on the bottome piece then rigged up the new cage in place
at the harness all i did was tap/soldered into the speaker lines, power/ground.
I had an unused plug that i found the illumination off of by the climate plugs(just hanging free). voltage for the illumiation wire will vary from 2 to 11+ volts when you adjust the guage cluster knob. my truck has two lighter/accessory plugs up front, one constatant one key on. i soldered on to the one for key on for accessory. A multi-meter is your best friend on this job.
running the power is easy, just go through the grommet next to the brake booster
.
I did the speakers as well
placed the crossovers under the dash
We ran a backup camera to the handle on the tailgate(guessing that is where the factory one sits from the convienent spot to put one.)
tied everything in behind the tail light
i fiberglassed my own box for a JL 10 W3v3 4ohm
just placed the amps under the seat, nothing crazy.
put the bluetooth mic up my the mirror and finished off the head unit by putting some flat black strips of plastic to fill out the opening with backing strips behind them.
there are two little gaps at the sides of the deck that arent noticable to anyone unless you point it out, but once a kit is made i will most likely swap it in.
we tried to tie in the factory usb cable but didnt have any luck so i just dropped one into the sliding bin under the climate controls. I placed the ipod connector in the glove box and used an xm kit since the factory plug is funky and we couldnt get it to connect to the aftermarket unit. just placed the new xm ant. under the dummy plate at the center of the dash.
All in all, i couldnt be happier with the system. it sounds amazing and looks pretty good for my taste. Not the easiest install but it is possible.
Since there are no kits available we had to rig up a mounting plate. First you have to cut out the stock bracket since the 3.0 unit is only single din
we just used tin snips on the bottome piece then rigged up the new cage in place
at the harness all i did was tap/soldered into the speaker lines, power/ground.
I had an unused plug that i found the illumination off of by the climate plugs(just hanging free). voltage for the illumiation wire will vary from 2 to 11+ volts when you adjust the guage cluster knob. my truck has two lighter/accessory plugs up front, one constatant one key on. i soldered on to the one for key on for accessory. A multi-meter is your best friend on this job.
running the power is easy, just go through the grommet next to the brake booster
.
I did the speakers as well
placed the crossovers under the dash
We ran a backup camera to the handle on the tailgate(guessing that is where the factory one sits from the convienent spot to put one.)
tied everything in behind the tail light
i fiberglassed my own box for a JL 10 W3v3 4ohm
just placed the amps under the seat, nothing crazy.
put the bluetooth mic up my the mirror and finished off the head unit by putting some flat black strips of plastic to fill out the opening with backing strips behind them.
there are two little gaps at the sides of the deck that arent noticable to anyone unless you point it out, but once a kit is made i will most likely swap it in.
we tried to tie in the factory usb cable but didnt have any luck so i just dropped one into the sliding bin under the climate controls. I placed the ipod connector in the glove box and used an xm kit since the factory plug is funky and we couldnt get it to connect to the aftermarket unit. just placed the new xm ant. under the dummy plate at the center of the dash.
All in all, i couldnt be happier with the system. it sounds amazing and looks pretty good for my taste. Not the easiest install but it is possible.