Alpine Cd player install (1 Viewer)

[Cruiserhead05]

Just wondering. i have been looking at circuit city's website. they make harnesses that supposedly will plug the alpine into the toyota harness. Take two 15 dollar hanresses. Will i still need to run some type of 12 volt wire or should this take care of the problem.

 

[phishtaco]

I got my Alpine CD player and the correct harness from Cruthfield. Simple install everything connected to the supplied harness. Very easy to do, sometimes it pays to pay a little extra for the right parts and knowledge.

 

[DRTDuck]

Some have advised running an independant 12v fused source for an aftermarket stereo, usually with 10 ga. wire. Seems to make sense as an aftermarket unit will be pulling more juice than the factory.

 

[Seminole]

Cruiserhead05, I did the same exact thing as you are pondering. Bought the head unit and the adapters from CC and plug and play. Just remember to cut out and or block the power antenna wire (IIRC it is blue) and that's it. Well you need a spacer or pocket to fill in the space. If you want any more info just PM. HTH

 

[Cruiserhead05]

thanks guys. i think this is the route i will go. While we are on the subject of stereo's i did a search with www.tweeter.com. here are some speakers they said would fit in the front doors. What do you think, they all look legit? http://www.tweeter.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=1124481&cp=1124288.1124550

 

[Cruiserhead05]

what do you think about this? http://www.crutchfield.com/S-YHW1q4FZhaE/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&I=113DPX4070

 

[Cruisin'Carolina]

The front door speakers are 5.25, not 6.5 IIRC....I guess it depends on surface mount or behind the door panels..

 

[fzj80kidpen]

Sorry to bust your bubble but there is no way those speakers will fit without 1/4 to 1/2 spacers.
Take the OEM speaker out and look at. Freaky inverted cone looking design to make its profile as flat as possible so that it will clear everthing inside the door. I went with 5 1/4 Infinity reference upfront but they could not be mounted with the stock cover, had to use the infinity and spacers.
Good luck.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

thats what i figured. I knew the stock speakers mounting place didnt allow for very many speakers. The only reason i posted that was b/c tweeter supposedly said it would mount in stock location with no problem...thanks anyways. for now, my goal is to replace the head unit so maybe i can acually play a CD when i want and be able to eject it when i want. Upgrading the speakers can come later. I'll take this one step at a time. so by running a 12V wire straight to the batter from the back of the head unit(yellow wire) would this drain the battery? just wondering.

 

[Lothar80]

thanks guys. i think this is the route i will go. While we are on the subject of stereo's i did a search with www.tweeter.com. here are some speakers they said would fit in the front doors. What do you think, they all look legit? http://www.tweeter.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=1124481&cp=1124288.1124550

I just installed that same unit in my cruiser last week. The install went great, it fits perfectly using the stock mounting brackets. Just remember you are not going to use the same factory connector the stock radio did, if you look carefully you will find two smaller connectors attached to the same wiring harness Toyota provides for after market radios ( very cool on Toyotas part ). I got the adaptor to match up from Rickie Smiths.

I also bought the recommended eclipse speakers for a factory look but was disappointed to discover they were still too deep. I ended up installing them to the door panel. The back doors are no better, the FAQ recommends cutting a corner off the speaker then mounting it to the factory plastic mount in the door. This works okay but you press the speaker into the grill then snap it in place (not explained in the FAQ). The added weight tends to eject the grill from the door when closed too aggressively!

The radio is okay but could have been thought out better. The large display is wasted by stupid pixell grafics and could have been put to better use displaing song titles and such. The intense red lighted buttons would be better if you could dimm them or at least change the color to match the display.

Sound wise, Its better than stock but that aint sayin' much... things are way too bright for my taste and if I would have known the problems mounting the speakers to keep the stock look I would have bought better speakers and The hell with the stock look.

 

[Lothar80]

sorry, I quoted the wrong article, I meant to reply to the radio question :whoops:

 

[Docmallory]

I just installed that same unit in my cruiser last week. The install went great, it fits perfectly using the stock mounting brackets. Just remember you are not going to use the same factory connector the stock radio did, if you look carefully you will find two smaller connectors attached to the same wiring harness Toyota provides for after market radios ( very cool on Toyotas part ).

Did you do anything with the factory amp, or just leave it connected?

 

[Lothar80]

Did you do anything with the factory amp, or just leave it connected?

No, I left it the way it was. I could be wrong but I think the after market connectors bypass the amp. All speakers work except the dash.

Lothar