Stereo Install Advice

UTEP

UTEP

New member
Hi,

I just want to get a ~$100 stereo to run my iPhone through. Locally, El Paso, Best Buy and others are offering free installs BUT they are trying to charge me for a harness and install kit...~$50. I was under the impression most stereos should be plug and play or come with a harness/plug?

Any advice on a decent $125 stereo? My choices are Pioneer, Alpine or Kenwood. No sony's please.....

If I decide to go at it myself anyone have a list of essentials so I complete the task with one trip to the store?

Gracias,

W
 
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I will second Cruthfield. They let you input your vehicle info, and will show you every unit that will work. Free shipping, very detailed install instructions, and either cheap to free harness and mounting kits.
 
NateMob said:
Have you checked out Crutchfield.com? they usually include great specific installation instructions along with the vehicle harness for free with most of their headunits. Their prices are decent and lots of times include free shipping.


Here's a Kenwood, $90 + $15 harness = underbudget!

Kenwood KDC-155U CD receiver at Crutchfield.com
Click to expand...

Cool!

Do you like this Kenwood or just pick it for example? Seems like just what I need!

Hope I don't break the dash....too badly...:D

Thanks,

W
 
I personally am a fan of Kenwood head units, I just looked at them real quick and picked not the cheapest one available but a decent one that fit your budget. Dont be scared of the install, its really easy to tear apart the dash on our trucks, some good write-ups on here also.
 
IMHO if you're using an iPhone, I wouldn't get anything these days without built-in bluetooth. I just installed this Pioneer into my dash ($129.99) Pioneer DEH-X6600BT CD receiver at Crutchfield.com And it's pretty awesome. It comes with a microphone to also take calls and use siri while driving. Since most phones have bluetooth, you can now ditch the cords. You can also customize the LED colors to it your interior.

There are probably cheaper options that also have bluetooth, but some don't come with the mic.

This also comes with the harness. If you spend $120 or more at Crutchfield, you get all the installation gear included.
 
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I too use Crutchfield all the time. Great prices and their included instruction manuals are first rate.
 
UTEP said:
Hi,

I just want to get a ~$100 stereo to run my iPhone through. Locally, El Paso, Best Buy and others are offering free installs BUT they are trying to charge me for a harness and install kit...~$50. I was under the impression most stereos should be plug and play or come with a harness/plug?

Any advice on a decent $125 stereo? My choices are Pioneer, Alpine or Kenwood. No sony's please.....

If I decide to go at it myself anyone have a list of essentials so I complete the task with one trip to the store?

Gracias,

W
Click to expand...

The way stereo HU's are usually done is the HU comes with a pigtail that plugs into the HU and has a lot of wires that just dead end. They are color-coded and often labeled as to what they do. If you choose, you can cut off the plug on the truck that your old HU went to and mate up the wires one-by-one.

Most people choose to leave the truckside plug in place and purchase an adapter harness that mates to the factory truckside plug. This all ends in a lot of wires. Then you match these to the wires coming off the HU harness and solder or crimp them together one-by-one. This is easier (you can do it on your dining room table instead of inside the dash) and you leave the truck wiring factory original. THEN your new HU is plug-and-play using the adapter created by combining the two pigtails.

A few car/HU combos are available ready-made. Those cost about $30 bucks and are only available for a few combinations.

Crutchfield is good advice. If you just want the adapter, these guys have it for $7.95 plus shipping. Then you can get your HU anywhere. They also have anything else you might need for the job. For a beginner, I recommend the blue crimp wire connectors for the wire. If your existing HU is the same size (DIN or double-DIN), that should be all you need. If you are changing sizes, you may need some adapter mounting hardware, also available from Crutchfield or on the site I linked.

1999 Toyota 4 runner car stereo kits, harness, bluetooth, iphone, tools, wires, parts
 
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Ditto on Crutchfield, I installed a Sony BT unit in my daughter 's 4Runner. Pretty easy. Get the hands free with the mic.

Solder the adapter plug the new unit harness.
Pop 3 dash components off, unplug a couple connections
Remove old unit and amp.
Wire BT mic
Install new bracket, plug in new unit, test it
Put dash back together
Set up BT connection with iPhone.
Enjoy

I put this Alpine in my highlander and really like it. The big source button is a nice feature.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE143B/Alpine-CDE-143BT.html
 
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Another vote for Crutchfield. I've always been happy with what I've ordered from them. I order from them whenever I can, to support the amount of online reviewing and information they provide.

That said, if you don't need the tech support, make sure you check prices elsewhere. The head unit I'm planning on picking up later this year is ~$100 cheaper on Amazon than CF.
 
Thanks all,

Crutchfield sounds like a deal. I went ahead with a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X497 CD Receiver for $134. I shopped locally for installs and nothing was less than $200 after they came clean about the extras. A bit over budget but I got suckered by the HD radio option and a couple more watts per channel.

Already have the instructions from Crutchfield and am planning my attack.

Thanks again,

Warren
 
UTEP said:
Thanks all,

Crutchfield sounds like a deal. I went ahead with a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X497 CD Receiver for $134. I shopped locally for installs and nothing was less than $200 after they came clean about the extras. A bit over budget but I got suckered by the HD radio option and a couple more watts per channel.

Already have the instructions from Crutchfield and am planning my attack.

Thanks again,

Warren
Click to expand...


Kenwood arrived this evening. Took me about 1 hour to install. Most of that was splicing wires. Console came apart and went together in minutes.

it was tricky trying to determine how to deal with the amp but Crutchfield has reps on the phone till midnight EST and a quick call set me straight.

1st up: Grateful Dead Sunshine Daydream Live August 27, 1972 at Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Yea!!!
 
UTEP said:
Kenwood arrived this evening. Took me about 1 hour to install. Most of that was splicing wires. Console came apart and went together in minutes.

it was tricky trying to determine how to deal with the amp but Crutchfield has reps on the phone till midnight EST and a quick call set me straight.

1st up: Grateful Dead Sunshine Daydream Live August 27, 1972 at Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Yea!!!
Click to expand...

Man thats great! Lets see the finished product! :bravo: Glad everything went as smooth possible.
 
NateMob said:
Man thats great! Lets see the finished product! :bravo: Glad everything went as smooth possible.
Click to expand...


Aw heck...it's pretty dark outside but here's a glimpse. Way too much dust and out of focus but should illustrate what an ape with a screw driver can accomplish with the proper direction.

1st radio install I have done in the modern era without breaking something....

Thanks again and I'll post better images of the entire 4Runner soon. I pretty much finished a baseline of everything and it's running fantastic! Feels like 2x the HP from when I bought it. With the stereo cranked up on a shakedown cruise I could not hear the motor or anything beside the Dead and got to feel the ride and response without audio feedback; road noise etc... I was able to feel the 4Runner and not worry about extraneous noise. Cool!

W
 

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UTEP said:
Aw heck...it's pretty dark outside but here's a glimpse. Way too much dust and out of focus but should illustrate what an ape with a screw driver can accomplish with the proper direction.

1st radio install I have done in the modern era without breaking something....

Thanks again and I'll post better images of the entire 4Runner soon. I pretty much finished a baseline of everything and it's running fantastic! Feels like 2x the HP from when I bought it. With the stereo cranked up on a shakedown cruise I could not hear he motor or anything beside the Dead and got to feel the ride and response without audio feedback; road noise etc... I was able to fell the 4Runner and not worry about extraneous noise. Cool!

W
Click to expand...

Kenwood rocks, man. I usually buy my head units from amazon, but I think I buy the harnesses from crutchfield.

:guitar2:
 
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