So I finally got around to wiring my XM radio in. For the longest time I had the antenna wire hanging down from my sunroof.

I figured since I had a sunroof that it would be pretty simple just to mount the antenna up front. But it was impossible to pry apart the trim that runs along the seatbelt.

I went with mounting it in back and ran the wire along the weather strip into the trunk. Then ran the wire underneath the back seat and under the carpet to the arm rest. From there it was pretty easy...just a PITA to take apart the whole arm rest and backseat.

Then I just drilled a hole in the ash tray and ran the wires up.I'm still trying to figure out if I can hardwire the ac adapter. Any ideas? All in all its pretty clean install except for the ac adapter. Any suggestions?

~Nick~

 

Ditto on hardwiring the power. I'm about to do this now, and have the damn antenna cord hanging down the sunroof too :-P

 

The cig lighter adapter puts out 6 volts, so you cant just cut the end off and connect directly to 12v.
Youve got two options. You can either take the cig lighter plug apart and solder wires to the circuit board for power and ground, so that when you put the cig lighter plug back together, it no longer has any metal on the outside of it, but instead has wires coming out the tip of it that you connect to 12v behind the dash.
Your second option is to buy a female socket that youll plug that cig lighter plug into, and thatll give you two wire leads that you connect to 12v behind the dash.

 

Guys, my recommendation is to buy a universal bracket. Circuit City sells it for 25 bux and you can mount it next to the radio, very clean install. As far as wiring the power adapter, I usually just strip wire and wrap it around the ground and then wedge a wire between the plastic and metal nipple. Wrap it with electrical tape and should be good to go. I've been doing this for 2 years now and haven't ran into any problems on my installs. (CC installer 2+ years now)

 

oh and PBX, you might want to consider using a Metra 997417 kit. It'll allow you to cage mount the radio and use the trim ring. Looks ALOT better that way imo.

 

Hmm didnt even thing about looking for a bracket...but I also like the idea of tucking everything away.

I wanna keep the interior pretty much stock w/o a big bracket next to my HU.

 

put the thing in the center console or glove box and make it look 923864024x better. if you like it there, then hard wire the power, those adapters are gaudy looking.

does that make the hu stick out or suck it in? because if it sucks it in then its a waste of money seeing as you can just redrill the stock braket. if it sticks it out it looks like crap. i hate that look.