mrsinister Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 so if i were a new stereo head unit, how would i go about installing myself. background: i have jvc kd-avx2 head unit laying around and it needs a car to put in, its the best darn unit in the universe and plays movies and you can burn a dvd full of mp3s and play it. and its baller. and i have an amp, and a sub. anyways. i called around locally today and no one seems to sell a harness for an after market stereo for my 86'. whats the best method for installing this bad boy, its been a couple years since ive done a full install, and that car (my vr4) had an aftermarket harness already. thanks! if i get enough good tips ill take pictures of the install for the how-to section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 You should easily be able to find the installer pigtail at Wallyworld or Best buy... Made by Scosche. That way you don't have to hack the harness... Rob L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yesterday's Danish Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Check online if they don't have a harness at walmart or best buy. I got mine from eBay for like 5 bucks. Actually had to get a replacement harness because they PO hacked the crap out of the one in the dash. Here's a link to the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/Metra-70-1002-Jeep- ... _767wt_764 Not sure if this one will work for an 86 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcturgeon Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 when i put a new head unit in mine i just spliced it into the stock harness, i did it last year but i think the vehicle wiring came to a connector then from there went into the stock stereo, it took a while to do it becasue i couldnt find the wiring info anywhere.. then i turned the stock radio over and there it was .. but ya.. i don't know if yours would be that easy because mine wasnt quite as high tech as yours but it should be similar and it wasnt a really difficult job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Here's a link to the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/Metra-70-1002-Jeep- ... _767wt_764 Not sure if this one will work for an 86 though. '86 was different. I don't remember if it changed in '87 or '88. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yesterday's Danish Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Here's another harness at Crutchfield: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120701000/ ... ml?tp=2977 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Here's a link to the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/Metra-70-1002-Jeep- ... _767wt_764 Not sure if this one will work for an 86 though. '86 was different. I don't remember if it changed in '87 or '88. very correcto as I found out. I actually just cut the plug off of my tape deck that was in the jeep, and spliced the new head unit into that. Of course there were a few spare wires, but it works fine! The wires were all color coded the same for the most part. After doing that its just plug and play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 I for one can say that the 87 harness is the same as 86, as Ive recently swapped in a 86 unit into my 87 and it plugged right up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin_k Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 figure out all the power wires and the ground. If you have a continuity tester you can figure which 2 wires are for a speaker guess and check after that. Put a sony deck into my cherokee doing that method took 30 minutes my first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostissues Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 DON'T CUT THE STOCK HARNESS PLEASE! I installed stereos for a few years and it is a pain in the butt when the harness is cut. it looks like the same harness was used throughout the life of our trucks Metra part number 70-1002. use that and wire it up to the harness that came with the radio. also try to install it correctly and not just cut the radio bezel. if you have the factory radio it should have a bracket around it that you can reuse to get it to sit right in the radio opening. looks a lot better in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsinister Posted March 10, 2010 Author Share Posted March 10, 2010 I plan to install it so that i can put it back to stock if i ever sell it. no worries there, I'm going to miss the stock radio a bit, very retro, but the radio isnt strong in out area and its kind of hard to find new cassette tapes hah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Wiring schematics for just about any car radio wiring can be found here: http://www.the12volt.com/Default.asp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 DON'T CUT THE STOCK HARNESS PLEASE! I installed stereos for a few years and it is a pain in the butt when the harness is cut. it looks like the same harness was used throughout the life of our trucks Metra part number 70-1002. use that and wire it up to the harness that came with the radio.also try to install it correctly and not just cut the radio bezel. if you have the factory radio it should have a bracket around it that you can reuse to get it to sit right in the radio opening. looks a lot better in my opinion. :agree: You should always try to make anything you do to your truck reversible. And using the stock bracket works great. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 :agree: TOO! Don't cut, slash, and/or hack; keep it PnP restorable. Adapter harnesses are cheap and available for nearly any replacement unit. Here's mine w. a Mitsubishi single DIN CD/ROM unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsinister Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 For the record: Sigh I bought the Metra Harness... Ok, so no go on the Metra Harness, i guess ill buy the Crutchfield Harness, its the only place i can find it http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120701000/ ... rness.html Am i going to have any issues with the speakers grounding and shorting out my head unit? Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostissues Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Crap, metras site is usualy pretty good about their harnesses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirteatr717 Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 the radio isnt strong in out area and its kind of hard to find new cassette tapes hah. Same! i get one station and its a rock station at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsinister Posted March 24, 2010 Author Share Posted March 24, 2010 That Crutchfield harness worked perfectly. It was really nice and came very well packaged. +1 for Crutchfield. Install took like 4 darn hours, had to do some minimal trimming of the cluster trim to allow the dvd drive to angle open to eject. Everything seems to work perfect though and loooks great. The stock will be easy to put back in if i so choose. Image Not Found makes commuting so much less tedious Image Not Found so scared to mess up this unmolested interior I'm not sure how i want to mount the amp yet Image Not Found little 12' JL for good measure. Image Not Found Thanks for looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yesterday's Danish Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Wow that interior is flawless. :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 so scared to mess up this unmolested interior As you should be. That is the best looking Red interior that I have seen. :eek: Messing it up would only bring the wrath of the Jeep Gods upon you. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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