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Thread: Complete Audio System Replacement

  1. Top Of Page | #51
    Mortifera's Avatar

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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    I’ve decided to solder directly into the wires at the amp.

    This is because I can cut out two more splice points and several feet of wire.

    I’m trimming to minimize wire and connections.

    I can repin everything if I sell the truck down the road.

    I have the tools to do that and have been making my own harnesses and such on motorcycles for a while now.


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  3. Top Of Page | #52
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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    Any Updates?

    2016 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Cummins Deleted

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  5. Top Of Page | #53
    Mortifera's Avatar

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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    Yes,

    I ordered new subs that would, in fact, fit in my enclosure.

    They get here tonight.

    Everything else is installed; the only thing I have to do is place the amps want the boxes put in there.

    I should have this thing completed tomorrow.


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  7. Top Of Page | #54
    Mortifera's Avatar

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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    To add to that, I will do a write-up.


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  9. Top Of Page | #55
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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    Quote Originally Posted by Mortifera View Post
    To add to that, I will do a write-up.

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    Write up?

    2016 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Cummins Deleted

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  11. Top Of Page | #56
    Mortifera's Avatar

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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    In Illinois for wife’s grandma's funeral.

    I want to include photos, and my truck is back in Hawaii.

    I'll get it on the backside of my trip.


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  13. Top Of Page | #57
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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    I decided to go ahead and do the write-up portion while traveling. I didn’t want to forget all the points I wanted to bring up during my install.

    The items that were installed are captured in a previous post. I will copy and paste them into this writeup at a later date. This write up is to serve not as an instructional guide as to how to do this work. There are plenty of resources out there and not every truck is the same. I would rather capture what I found easy and what I found hard.

    Research:
    I cannot overstate the importance of research. I have done plenty of projects that are more in depth than this and I still made mistakes. I misread some specs and that resulted in me having to purches brand new subwoofers that would fit my box. In the end, it worked out better because the sub specs were more conducive to my amplifier. I am also in luck because the original subs are on backorder, and I have already found a buyer. My main requirement was retaining space and not making it obvious that I had subwoofers, so I was not willing to part with my box that I purchased from Fox Acoustics. By the way, that box is amazing. I absolutely love it. For those wondering, I stepped down from TW3’s to TW1’s. The basket on those TW3’s is thick. What I would recommend is that if you are new, post what you want to get on the forums and have some of the more seasoned folks take a look at it. I am sure that if I would have done this my mistake would have been spotted.

    Purchasing Parts:
    After researching, there are multiple ways to get your parts. You have to decide for yourself what you are willing to go without and what you will not compromise on. I ordered the majority of my stuff through crutchfield with the help of their staff and a friend who runs an audio shop. Probably should have mentioned the box to him, since I’m sure he could have helped with that. There were plenty of items out of stock and on back order so I had to search around and find places that had them. In the end, the only thing I had to buy off of ebay was the head unit. The seller had great reviews and I was dead set on that particular head unit. With that, my advice here would be to not get married to a plan up front. Sometimes things will have to change unless you are willing to give up certain comforts. In my case, it was a warranty. If that head unit was DOA, I would have been SOL. I did a lot of research on the seller before I purchased it, though.

    Tools:
    Just like research, I cannot overstate the importance of having the right tool for the job. Here are a list of tools and parts I found useful and made life easy.
    -Soldering Iron
    -Wire Strippers (Good ones)
    -Heat shrink
    -Wire Loom
    -Zip ties
    -Tesa Tape
    -Sawzall (Proper blades. Smallest for the job.)
    -Knee pads or soft pad to kneel on.
    -Trim removal tools (I borrowed from my neighbor who had very high-quality trim removal tools. I didn’t think it would matter but man, did they make life easier than the cheap versions that break or bend way too easily.)
    -Sockets to remove the seatbelt anchors and seats.

    Removing stock speakers / headunit / seats / panels:
    I found that removing the seats and pulling the carpet up will make the job of running wires too easy. I also took this time to detail in areas I couldn’t reach easily. I had to be careful with all of the AC ducting that was on the floor but in the end, it was pretty easy. Don’t forget to disconnect any wires in the door panels before you rip them away. If your truck has the lighted handles on the interior, there are little plugs that will need to be removed after you take both panels off. Youtube is your friend but it is far from perfect. People will gloss over certain details and you will find yourself watching two or three videos to piece together one job. Take your time.

    Install:
    Installing the head unit wasn’t too difficult. I had to cut a bracket that sits behind the stock head unit with a Sawzall, though. Using Tesa tape to clean up the bare wires, and make some of the stock harness look better, is highly recommended. There are plenty of sharp objects behind the dash to cut them. I put tesa tape on literally every wire. This includes the wires going into my Maestro module. I felt that the metra adapter kit was cheap as could be. I may replace it one day.

    Installing the speakers required that I used brackets that I purchased from metra or sosche. I made my own wires to connect to the crossover that came with the speakers. This is where having the proper tools enabled me to make solid connections with no loose points. I also used the speaker adapter wires from crutchfied so I didn’t have to splice as much as possible. I did have to rewire the end of the connector so it would run into the crossover but that was too easy.

    Installing the amp kit required that I drill a hole in the plastic cover (I have an automatic) in the plastic cover for the firewall. I just drilled straight through and used an adapter kit that was designed to run wire or cable through barriers. It made the installation look fairly clean, or at least I thought it did. I used a zero gauge power wire so I this is where picking up the carpet became important. I was able to get all wires and cable ran to the back, using zip ties and tesa tape run wires side-by-side, for a professional as possible look. It also layed flatter this way. I did this for all of the RCA cables as well. Lastly, I took a second strand of the 9-wire speaker wire kit from crutchfield and gutted it. I took the 8 speakers wires and used them to run to where the stock amp was and spliced into the harness to power my speakers. I made it look very clean with solder, heat shrink, tesa tape, and zip ties. In fact, when you look up there under the floorboard, it is all looks uniform and stock. I had to gut the 9 wire so I could wrap it with tesa tape and fit it along the door frame. The wiring diagram that I found became VERY important.

    Overall advice for anybody replacing everything by themselves is to have a plan and take your time. If you are getting tired or frustrated, for the love of God just stop. Take a break or start again the next day.

    Once all that was done, I was basically finished. If you have any questions, fire away and I will try to answer them from here. That will help add to this post. I am 100% sure I skipped something and would like to cover as much as I can.


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  15. Top Of Page | #58
    Mortifera's Avatar

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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    I forgot to mention, the help I received in this forum made it possible.

    Thank you so much for the help!


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  17. Top Of Page | #59
    No Vacancy Power247's Avatar

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    Re: Complete Audio System Replacement

    Quote Originally Posted by Mortifera View Post
    I forgot to mention, the help I received in this forum made it possible. Thank you so much for the help!


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    Congrats on getting it all done!

    Greg
    2019 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | 6.4 HEMI
    2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

    Greg
    2019 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | 6.4 HEMI

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