Xceler8x
New Member
- Joined
- August 2, 2004
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Richmond, Va
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1992
Just for info's sake...
I installed an Alpine 9826 into my 92 Xploder over the Xmas holiday. All went pretty well baring a minor problem I'll detail later.
What I wanted:
CD/mp3 ability
aux output
under $250
I found the 9826 on sale locally for $225. After buying wiring adapters and the aux input cable I got away for about $270.
Then the installation began.
I first pulled off the front of the dash by prying gently on the upper right hand portion to the right of the right hand vent. That came lose then I worked my way around gently pulling a bit more. At that point he radio was exposed. Also, to pull this part of the dash you'll need to remove the two screws holding the ashtray frame in place.
Nxt I tried to use a cut-up coat hanger to get the hold radio out. No dice. So I finally broke down and ran to Autozone to pay $5 for the removal tools. Get the f'in tools. Don't mess around. Just buy'em. That or have the audio retailer pull the radio for ya before you go.
After pulling the radio you'll need to disconnect the plugs on the back. They are a long thin plug and a square plug. The Long thin one works for the radio controls and power while the square one connects the speakers. The audio shop gave me two of the same thin ones so I had to run to Wal-mart for the square one. That caused me some trouble later...
At this point I went inside and spliced the adapters to my alpine deck's wires. That was pretty easy as the wires were all color coded to match the stock wiring harness's colors. Blue to blue, orange to orange, etc. Simple. I used butt splices, the kind that you crimp on both ends after inserting the wires.
After crimping and splicing the correct adapters on I went to the truck and pushed the radio frame into the dash. I pushed down some tabs to keep in the truck and then connected all the adapters to the wiring harness on the Xploder. Shove the cd player in there and you're done but reinstalling the dash parts. Simple.
The hassles:
1. Trying to pull the radio with a coat hanger was stupid. Get the tools. They're $5.
2. Getting the wrong adapter from the audio store. You can get the right set from Wal-mart but they're cheaply made. My square adapter came from the wal mart kit. When I installed the radio for the first time I had a bit of noise out the speakers, like feedback almost. So I pulled it out and checked, one of the pins in the back of the square adapter had come loose. I shoved it back in making sure that the pins would all connect. I then used electrical tape to keep all the wires located in the back of the adapter. No problems since
3. Be careful pulling the front dash cover. Mine had some broken pins on the back. Someone wasn't too gentle removing it before.
Future plans:
Now I need a sub. I have the out for it and I need to decide if I'm going with the stock sub (doubt it) or going MTX, or going with some enclosure with my own amp and woofer combo (more than likely). I figure after a sub is in I'll be all set with my system. I'm not into mega sound so this will suffice to drown out the g/f's *****ing in the seat nxt to me.
The deck:
It rocks. Sounds great, mp3 navigation is straight forward. I have as much adjustment as I want in it so I'm a very happy consumer.
I installed an Alpine 9826 into my 92 Xploder over the Xmas holiday. All went pretty well baring a minor problem I'll detail later.
What I wanted:
CD/mp3 ability
aux output
under $250
I found the 9826 on sale locally for $225. After buying wiring adapters and the aux input cable I got away for about $270.
Then the installation began.
I first pulled off the front of the dash by prying gently on the upper right hand portion to the right of the right hand vent. That came lose then I worked my way around gently pulling a bit more. At that point he radio was exposed. Also, to pull this part of the dash you'll need to remove the two screws holding the ashtray frame in place.
Nxt I tried to use a cut-up coat hanger to get the hold radio out. No dice. So I finally broke down and ran to Autozone to pay $5 for the removal tools. Get the f'in tools. Don't mess around. Just buy'em. That or have the audio retailer pull the radio for ya before you go.
After pulling the radio you'll need to disconnect the plugs on the back. They are a long thin plug and a square plug. The Long thin one works for the radio controls and power while the square one connects the speakers. The audio shop gave me two of the same thin ones so I had to run to Wal-mart for the square one. That caused me some trouble later...
At this point I went inside and spliced the adapters to my alpine deck's wires. That was pretty easy as the wires were all color coded to match the stock wiring harness's colors. Blue to blue, orange to orange, etc. Simple. I used butt splices, the kind that you crimp on both ends after inserting the wires.
After crimping and splicing the correct adapters on I went to the truck and pushed the radio frame into the dash. I pushed down some tabs to keep in the truck and then connected all the adapters to the wiring harness on the Xploder. Shove the cd player in there and you're done but reinstalling the dash parts. Simple.
The hassles:
1. Trying to pull the radio with a coat hanger was stupid. Get the tools. They're $5.
2. Getting the wrong adapter from the audio store. You can get the right set from Wal-mart but they're cheaply made. My square adapter came from the wal mart kit. When I installed the radio for the first time I had a bit of noise out the speakers, like feedback almost. So I pulled it out and checked, one of the pins in the back of the square adapter had come loose. I shoved it back in making sure that the pins would all connect. I then used electrical tape to keep all the wires located in the back of the adapter. No problems since
3. Be careful pulling the front dash cover. Mine had some broken pins on the back. Someone wasn't too gentle removing it before.
Future plans:
Now I need a sub. I have the out for it and I need to decide if I'm going with the stock sub (doubt it) or going MTX, or going with some enclosure with my own amp and woofer combo (more than likely). I figure after a sub is in I'll be all set with my system. I'm not into mega sound so this will suffice to drown out the g/f's *****ing in the seat nxt to me.
The deck:
It rocks. Sounds great, mp3 navigation is straight forward. I have as much adjustment as I want in it so I'm a very happy consumer.
