Installing Sub into Stock Deck

[tyler_arish]

this is just a temporary thing for now.
but i was wondering how i would go about installing a sub and amp into my stock deck.
i have a clarion 500watt sub,and an Ultimate amp.
is it worth buying a line output converter or should i just go out and buy a new deck?
would it be easier to install it to the stock deck?

 

[kshicks]

From my experience LOC's have limited sound range because you are just splicing sound from your factory speakers. For the price of headunits today, I would personally say just go out and buy an aftermarket..

 

[rileyrs]

i bought i nice jvc deck for about $100, with aux input for my ipod, and hooked my amp to that.
it makes it alot easier to just use the rca outputs on an aftermarket deck, and it will produce better sound quality from the speakers too since you arent splicing into those lines. it also will make it more convenient to attach the remote wire for the amp.

if i were you id buy a new deck because of all these reasons.
just my 2 cents, good luck

 

[tyler_arish]

i bought i nice jvc deck for about $100, with aux input for my ipod, and hooked my amp to that.
it makes it alot easier to just use the rca outputs on an aftermarket deck, and it will produce better sound quality from the speakers too since you arent splicing into those lines. it also will make it more convenient to attach the remote wire for the amp.

if i were you id buy a new deck because of all these reasons.
just my 2 cents, good luck

thanks a lot guys!
i have no idea about "ultimate" amps,i got it for free from a guy at work.
but once again,im just doing this for a while until i can save up for an actual decent system.

 

[rileyrs]

often a small amp and sub is enough, i have one 10 inch kicker with a rockford amp, both about 4 yrs old, bought from a friend.
unless you wanna rattle your mirrors off or win audio competitions a small system usually isnt bad.

its all about good wiring, and setting bass boost and gain levels just right, and getting the settings on the deck just right, so that you can get the sound that you prefer.

 

[tyler_arish]

often a small amp and sub is enough, i have one 10 inch kicker with a rockford amp, both about 4 yrs old, bought from a friend.
unless you wanna rattle your mirrors off or win audio competitions a small system usually isnt bad.

its all about good wiring, and setting bass boost and gain levels just right, and getting the settings on the deck just right, so that you can get the sound that you prefer.

yeah totally!
do i need those U shape things to pop out my head unit,or can i do it without it? i wanna do this soon,how long do you think it will take to wire all of this up? im only putting my sub behind my passenger seat. but i dont know what its like to wire a ford explorer sport trac.
because i know some cars are just a nightmare to get it done properly and all the wires hid

 

[rileyrs]

are you going to install a new deck, or wire this to the factory deck.
i dont really know much about the wiring in a 2002. i had my deck put in professionally, since i dont like messing with wiring into the ignition, but you could probly get a wiring harness that would plug right in for an 02', but i would check that out at a local car audio shop, or best buy car audio.
i needed mine hardwired sine the wires in my dash were all messed up, and there was no stereo in it when i got it, but mines a 93 lol.
a simple harness for $20 should do it for you though, and then an adapter to make the new deck fit into the dash.
crutchfield will sell all this stuff.

anyway, the deck should be easy to get out. crutchfield might have info on how to take it out, or a hanes repair manual.
or you can buy something like this:http://www.carstereoremoval.com/htm/stereoremovalFordExplorerSport01_03P.htm
anyway, once its out, you have the old deck out, and new deck in, you can start wiring the amp, which is really easy actually, it took me about 4 hrs for my first time, working at a casual pace.

basically all you do is mount the amp, then run the remote and rca wires from the deck to the amp.
run the power wire from the batter or other 12 volt source to the amp, and ground the amp well.
then run speaker wire to the sub, and your set.
that is a very simplified version of it.
but you can find tons of stuff online about amp installs, or if you want i can take some pics of mine and show you how i did it.

it should be easy to do, if you do a bit of research, and i will be glad to help you out if you need it.
riley

 

[kyleyz762]

stock deck

to run a sub off the stock system you need to use the high output left and right signals. this means tapping into the left and right rear speaker wires, primarily because of a little more bass. this is what i did and it works just fine, and its pretty simple.