09 H3 full stereo replace
 

Ok here goes. Have had my H3 for just over a year now and time has come to replace the stereo (stock non-monsoon)
Installing an AVH-X4600BT, JL TR650CXI's front and rear. Adding a Boss800 sub, and 2 Dual XP2700 amps. Removing the Helen Keller effect with a Clarion CC rearview camera.

Here is all the 'gotcha's '
Where is a good/better place to mount the Amps other than in the rear cargo area. If I'm stuck to that I currently plan on making a aorta shelf with MDF space with some strapping,which will make a aorta sandwich. That will get covered with black felt and amps mounted on that exposed.
Camera, I only see one real option and that is in the bumper detention below the spare.
Nasty part:
Best/easy way to get the 8ga power lead to the back, and three sets of RCA lead from the head unit to the back.
Spkrs will be fed w/ 14ga. And looks like I can run them under the scuffle plates.
Oh and easy way to get the r.c. leads to the head unit.
All doors (and cargo door) will get the Lowes equiv. Of Fatmat treatment, so will be pulling many panels anyway.
For those already down this path.. ...
Any hints and or tips?
All items should arrive by Thurs of this week. The Lowes 'fatmat' is in stock and felt is readily avail at local Walmart.
Any and all suggestions (short of equipment) is appreciated.

initial start point
 

Starting point

is there a DIY on here for installing with pics?

install
 

Not that i have seen. Have the crutchfield install sheets so that's a big help. Was hoping someone else had already done this and might could point out any pitfalls to watch for.
Was planning on documenting the process as I go anyways.

Day 1 complete.
Removed all door trim panels, rear cargo panels and factory radio.
GOTCHA #1: You will need wheel chocks. To remove the radio bezel, the transmission must be shifted out of park.
No problem there except to remove the driver side kick panel, The emergency brake must also be off.

With that all done was surprised to find a nice deep channel running from front to rear cargo, will easily handle the power, pre-amp, and speaker wires.

I plan on running the power lead, amp turn on lead,nd front preamplifier lead down the driver side channel.
Reason being, the power lead has to get to the battery from the cab. Under the dash you will see the hood release cable where it penetrates the firewall. You can easily drill a hole 1" to the right side of that and be well clear of any obstruction either inside the cab, or in the engine compartment, and the battery is on the same side..

Sound deadening is installed in cargo area sides and door. No surprises there at all. A fair amount of disassembly, but basic skills and good trim panel tools will get you through easily. And yes you have to manhandle the rear cargo panels to get them off.

Door panels where a breeze, sound deadening finished on driver side, and front pasenger side.

Time to get this far: around 6 hours.

looks like plenty of room for an amp in that rear door... keep us posted on that radio uninstall... do we need special tools?

Only "specialty tools" I am using are trim panel tools.
Beyond that...
Phillips head screwdriver, flat head screwdriver, 7 mm socket,10mm socket, T30 torx, T50 torx
And the cheapest blowdryer i could find (helps mold the sons deadener).

System is in and tested, now adjustments/ tuning, then button it all up neat and tidy.

Mount for the amps was a 12"x42"x5/8" mdf. I screwed some 3/4"x2" pine strapping along the edges, then layed down a base of sound deadener covered this all up with a piece of black felt from the local wally world. Stapled it all along the furring strips (strips go on the bottom).
Mounted the amps down on that.
This now sits behind the rear seat and gets fed with the power leads and preamplifier leads hidden in the channels.
Amp speaker leads are 14awg (50' spool) and fits perfectly with no waste. Used EFX shielded 12' for the pre amp feeds, rear on passenger side, sub and fronts on passenger side.
Main power for the amps (6 awg)hides niclely in the driver side channel with the turn on wire, and the rear pre amp cable, all speaker leads and the front and sub pre amp cables, run down the passenger side. Pleanty of room On each side, fully concealed.

Left to do: tie wrap the wires in the dash, finish mount the head unit, and modules to keep door chimes and onstar.
Re-install the trim panels, and enjoy it.

Total peak power = 1600W
Total RMS power = 400w
200 to 8" self contained sub woof
And 50 to each (x4) speaker.
Sound output is awesome running around 80db A weighed, and very clean and sharp.

that was quick . this is on factory radio?

nicely done, I just saw this post or I would have chimed in for ya, but you did everything just the same as I did (except the amp mounting, but thats kind of dealers choice). I mounted my amps in the little cargo cubbies in the back, I think they look nice there. There's a lot more room under the plastic panels along the door channels than it looks like, no trouble getting all the power/RCAs to fit under there. I ran a 6ga power from battery to the back (drilled the same hole into firewall as you did, got a universal firewall grommet to keep it neat) and then into a power distribution block, and 8ga from there to the two amps.

Only question I have....When I ran new speaker wire from the 4channel amp to the doors, I wasnt able to get the wire to go into the existing loom. I had to take my front doors off and drill a small hole and install a new grommet next to the existing one for the new speaker wire to go through. Did you run into this same problem?

Yes, did some reading on the audiophile forums.
The long and short of it is under 6' you will hear no detectable degrading of sound by using a 18 awg wire, over mega expensive monster cable. Only when runs get lenthy is there any issue. So i ran my amps to the front using high grade 12 awg. And connected to the cars existing harness.
Besides being easier and neater, my warning chimes work with out having add a standalone speaker.

I cant believe how.much room those channels had, and in the dash as well. No stuffing, cramping anything, any where.
Tomorrow will have the final pics up. Only had one snag and that was the turn on wire wad 3' to short once i had everything in place.
Am also re-doing the grounds. Picked up some 10awful primary wire from AZ. Will run the amp grounds under the amp mounts and attach to the front most cargo tie downs.

It's all in and buttoned up nice and neat. Sound quality is huge. Rear blind spot is gone. Well worth the time and effort.

Powered up, settings, etc

Red lines on the rear view are approx. 3' from the rear.
And yes that is the spare tire in the top of that picture.

Total materials used:
12"x42"x5/8" mdf lowes
3/4"x2" furring strips lowes
18" length of black felt walmart

Sound deadening is the peel and seal rolls from lowes
Same thing as dynamat/fatmat etc except it come only in 6" wide rolls x 25' long, cost per roll (12.5 sq ft)
Sells for 17.00 compared to 70.00 plus much easier to deal with in 6" pieces.
Deadening was 2 - 3 db compared to prior to install. No smell, and sticks well when heated with a small hair dryer and pressed firmly against the surface.

10 AWG 10' (1 roll of red,1 roll of black ) primary wire from Auto Zone.
6mm nut and 3/8" ring lugs also from Auto Zone.
6 AWG amp wire kit from Walmart.

Tools:
3/8" drive ratchet and 2" extension
10mm socket
7mm socket
T50 torx
T30 torx
Medium Phillips head screwdriver
Trim panel tools
Tie wraps 4"

looks good Larry. clean install

Total install time was just over 2 days, including running out for needed items and taking it slow.

Nice system and install work, but ...... a wee tad of constructive criticism.

You are still using the POS OEM battery terminal connectors, bad idea. Those things are absolute junk, it is not a matter of if they will fail, but when. Do some searches, you will see that they are the first thing to replace with quality aftermarket terminal connectors as cheap insurance against the rise of electrical gremlins.

Maybe you were already planning on getting around to doing that?

Which terminals you can recommend for replacement of POS OEM?
Sorry for the question. I found them from previous posts already- it's Stinger!

Had not considered that as yet, suggestions?

Ok... did a search... looks like some more research in store for new terminals is
in the near future.
thanks for the "heads up"

I love my Stingers. Funny how when you Google "Stinger Battery Terminal" and look at them in images, mine is first up? :D

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