Gen 3 Complete stereo replacement

[davidm0209]

Good morning Viper family! I'm in the middle of my stereo install in my gen 3 vert and wanted to ask if anyone has ran power wire for their aftermarket amplifier inside the cabin (under passenger side seat), back to the battery in the back? Of course there is no wide open spot, but just looking for tips if you have any on where you were able to get your wire through. Thank you in advance!

[Steve M]

Yes, I've done exactly that. Give me a little bit, and I'll get you the best pics I can without fully disassembling my interior.

[davidm0209]

Steve, you are the man!

[RSBIII]

Ill watch this one too - I am about to do a stereo overhaul and I have about everything figured out except the Sub & Amp...

[davidm0209]

I'll post pictures once I complete everything, but I am installing Polk Momo 6 1/2 inch components up front, a 4 channel JL Audio amp under passenger seat, Pioneer in dash flip up DVD player, and a dual 2 ohm 6 1/2 sundown audio subwoofer that I am going to install in the factory location. Gutted the factory box, sealed the holes and filled the box with fiberfill. Should sound pretty good once I'm done...Hopefully lol.

[Steve M]

Well crap...totally missed the part about you having a vert, which will make all of my pics totally useless to you. I'll post them anyway, but it won't really do you any good...sorry about that.

Everything in place in the hatch:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/meentss02/Viper/Stereo%20Install/1.%20Installed_zpsqb4haicj.jpg

The big box in the middle houses a 10" subwoofer with a Deans connector so I can disconnect it quickly if needed (which I'll do if I take it to any track event):

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/meentss02/Viper/Stereo%20Install/2.%20Subwoofer_zps3hrgnegs.jpg

I have 4 gauge wire coming into the cabin from the battery here:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/meentss02/Viper/Stereo%20Install/3.%20Cable%20into%20Cabin%201_zpsgpr2tpjl.jpg

Another shot here before running under the carpet:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/meentss02/Viper/Stereo%20Install/4.%20Cable%20into%20Cabin%202_zpsh4mzflvr.jpg

Note the other speaker cable...that runs back to the factory sub in the center of the waterfall, so I can run either the 10" in the back or the factory sub up front. Don't hold your breath on the factory 6.5" sub being able to do much...I sealed the box, dynamatted everything inside and out, and installed a CDT audio 6.5" sub being fed by the 5th channel of a Kenwood XR-5S amplifier that sits under the passenger seat in place of the factory amplifier. It sounds good with the car off, but as soon as you turn it on, the bass of the V-10 drowns out anything that little sub can reproduce. Unfortunately, a vert makes the 10" sub in the trunk pretty much a non-starter. It sounds really good in a coupe though.

Battery connections (you can see the 4 gauge feed, as well as the connector for my battery tender):

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/meentss02/Viper/Stereo%20Install/5.%20Battery%20Connections%201_zpshq5xhk8k.jpg

And a quick shot of it running into the cabin for another reference point:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/meentss02/Viper/Stereo%20Install/6.%20Battery%20Connections%202_zpsogm2mlhz.jpg

Like I said, I know that won't help you much, but if you can get me some pics, I might be able to help you with ideas of how to do it. As you can see, a coupe makes it really, really easy. Once you get the wire into the cabin, it just runs under the carpet and under the waterfall piece behind the seats before I pop it out from under the carpet under the passenger seat.

[davidm0209]

Thanks anyway, Steve
This is still helpful since I can see exactly how you connected to your battery. I was either going to drill a hole somewhere behind the waterfall where there is no gas tank and run along the frame to the battery, or enter the trunk from passenger side somehow and run underneath the carpet to the battery. I'll grab some pictures when I get home this evening since I still have the seat and back panel off in the car.

[Steve M]

Having the top & side posts available on the battery made it really easy to hook up that side of things...I had enough spare terminals and stuff lying around from a few of my other stereo installs that I was able to piece everything together.

The terminal I used on the end of the 4 gauge wire was really thick, and totally overkill IMO. I went another direction when I did a full stereo overhaul on my daily driven Tacoma...you can source closed end terminals pretty cheap here:

http://www.bestboatwire.com/marine-electrical-supply/wire-connectors/tinned-copper-cable-lugs/4-awg-tinned-lug

I bought a hydraulic wire crimping tool from Harbor Freight to crimp the terminal to the wire:

https://www.harborfreight.com/hydraulic-wire-crimping-tool-66150.html

With a 20% off coupon, it isn't too hateful, and it also came in handy when I needed to make the grounds in the cabin. Crimp the terminals on, put on some adhesive lined heat shrink tubing, and you have a watertight, solid connection that should last the life of your vehicle.

[SEASnake]

I went through the top of the trans tunnel with a bulkhead fitting:

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sorry, no pics of routing but went up and across the rear end using a combination of zip ties and new factory style clips using existing holes in the frame.

Battery connection was similar to above, except i made a bracket and used a circuit breaker instead of a fuse so I can reach through the rear fascia and easily disable the whole system if needed. Still probably need to add a splash guard to this
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[davidm0209]

Thank you SEAsnake! These pictures will help. I'll hopefully be able to make some progress tonight.

[doncmleon]

Let us know how it goes man! I'll be starting my install in the next month or so!

[davidm0209]

For sure! I'm wrapping everything up today and have been taking pictures along the way. I'm hoping to do a little write up early next week. Thanks for the tips and tricks guys, they definitely helped me along the way.

[stallion114]

Looking forward to the write up!

[davidm0209]

Thanks again for everyone's input and suggestions! I was able to complete my installation this past weekend and was more than pleased with the results! I know it's not as detailed as can be but hopefully it can help someone along the way. If anyone has a detailed question or anything, please feel free to reach out to me, I am more than willing to help out.

I had previously installed my pioneer in dash DVD player and was running that with the factory amp and speakers, but lets face it...the older vipers aren't known for their sound system. It was time to upgrade. Below is a list of the supplies and equipment used in my install.

Radio: Pioneer AVHX 7800DVDBT
Harness: Metra 70-6502
Dash kit: Metra 99-6504
Antenna Adapter: Metra 40-CR10
Front Speakers: Polk Momo AA6514-MM6501 6.5 inch component speakers
Subwoofer: Sundown Audio SA-6.5 SW D2 6.5 inch dual 2 ohm
Amp: JL Audio JX400/4d 4 channel 400 watt amp
Amp kit: StingerSK6241 6000 series
RCA Cables: JL XD-CLRAIC-18-4channel
Various items needed: 6.5 inch speaker baffles, 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, 1/4 6.5 MDF speakers spacers for sub, 14 gauge speaker wire and various connectors.

Front Door: The door speakers are pretty straight forward install. The door doesn't need to be taken off, but you will need to loosen it to install the speaker baffle and wire up your connector. Inside the door, there is a connector that has a green (+) wire and a black (-) wire that connects directly to the factory speaker. I cut the speaker loose and wired up new speakers connectors to it. Once your wire is connected, take note of the wire color is connected to the harness we just finished connecting, because you will need to know this when you connect your crossovers. I will try and take note of the factory dodge speaker wire colors and update this column in the next few days. I cut a slit in the back of the speaker baffle to fit my speaker wire though, and installed the baffle behind the plastic factory dodge speaker pod. This is the order everything would be in if you stacked it...Door frame, speaker baffle, plastic factory speaker ring, outer door panel, polk momo speaker spacer, speaker, polk momo grill. Depending on your application, you may need to shave or adjust your speaker spacer to fit everything. The basket on these polk momo's is larger than most so I had to adjust slightly with more spacers and shave the inside of the plastic spacer slightly.
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I installed the tweeters in the factory location also. Same concept as above. Remove the tweeters. connect your new speaker wires to the factory speaker harness Green (+) and Black (-). Take note of the factory speaker wire color that connects to the speaker connector. Depending on your application, you will probably have to come up with a way to mount the tweeter. For now, I used double side tape and secured it to the plastic tweeter mount under the grill. This allows the tweeter to sit in the same location as the old tweeter. I want to either surface mount the tweeter or cut the plastic under the tweeter grill to come up with a different mount but I ran out of time for that this weekend. Maybe some other time.
That's probably the easiest part of our journey...
I removed the passenger seat and back panel to reveal the factory sub box.

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I removed the factory sub box from the car and took the sub out. Beside the 4 screws that are visible from the front holding the sub, there is one stupid screw holding the sub from the back so don't forget about that one and nearly rip out the sub in frustration like I did.

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I ended up cutting out the old port tube that is inside the sub box and then sealing the box back up using ABS plastic to mend the wound. I stuffed the box with polyfill and secured my spacers to the box. Here I used a 3/4 inch spacer, and another spacer that was a little over 1/4 inch stacked together and attached to the sub box. Make sure you are started to test fit your sub at this point because its easier to make modifications to speaker spacers not than when they are in the car. I had to shave the inside of the MDF rings because the basked of the speaker and the speaker terminals were hitting.

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Once your spacers are attached to your sub box and you have test fitted, you can set that aside and move over to the amp install. I installed my amp in the factory amp location. Just disconnect, and remove the old one. I ran my RCA and remote turn on from behind the radio, under the carpet, and through the existing hold in the carpet under the seat.
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Power wire is a b*tch to run in the vert, but there is no other way around it. At least that I was able to find. I drilled a hole in the lower drivers side back panel to push my power wire through. I don't have a picture yet from under the car, but there is a sport where I drilled that ends up above the frame rail. I ran my power wire along the frame wire and existing factory wire loom to the back of the car. Be mindful of your axle shafts and suspension to not run your power wire anywhere it could pinch or bind. I did this while the car was on the ground but had to lift the car with a floor jack on one side enough so I could crawl underneath to run the wire. Note to self...Buy a two or four post lift for the garage.

[davidm0209]

Have to start another reply...got cut off. Below is a shot taken from above to show where my power wire went through.
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Once the battery wire is good to go, I moved back to passenger side to complete the amp and crossover install. I installed the crossovers here because 1, there was room, 2. all my speaker wires are located at the harness so it only makes sense. Input on crossover is directly from amp, woofer and tweeter wires from crossover go into the factory wiring harness. This is where taking note of the factory speaker wire colors from earlier comes in handy. For anyone needed them, I'm sorry I don't have them now, but am more than willing to get them if you need them. The old sub and rear speaker wires and not connected to no signal is passing. The top of this picture points towards the front of the car, the crossovers are towards the rear of the cabin.

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Now we can start putting the car back together. Install your sub box complete with your spacers installed, and the back panel back over the top of it. It should nicely and the spacer will be right up against the back panel factory opening. Here, I have an additional speaker spacer (painted black) that will install over the factory back panel to create the necessary space to clear the new sub. Then your sub will install over the spacer. An extra set of hands comes in handy here to help hold the sub while you screw it in. Make sure again that your spacers clears your subwoofer basket before you install. When you get it installed, sit back and admire your work, you've earned it!
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How does it sound you ask??? AWESOME! The Polk Momo speakers are 2.7 ohm they are going to draw a lot more power from the amp and they sound great. The speaker baffle help with the bass response. I have the HPF on the amp set to 'off' and am letting the crossover do it's job. I can also control the frequencies from the radio so I prefer to have them off at the amp. Just my preference.
The sub is still a 6.5 inch sub in a shitty location in the cab, but overall it's so much better! I get a little rattle not but a little dynamat should help me out. The sub is punchy but not overpowering. I can actually listen to music with the top down and over my exhaust! lol.
I went with Sundown Audio because I've been hearing good things about their products, and so far I'm not disappointed. The other option is the JL 6.5, but I just can't help but to be different. Keep in mind this sub fought me along with way with fitment and spacers issues. Another unforeseen issues is that now I can't open my center console lid all the way. I can still open it and get my stuff in and out, but not all the way because of the sub. Still worth it if you ask me. You may be able to dodge this with another sub or smaller spacer. If you have a router, you will be fine. I had to make many trips to home depot because I wasn't equipped to do the work I needed to do. Had the skill and know how, just not the right tools! Now I have both. I hope this helps my fellow gen3/4 vert owners who are on the fence about upgrading their sound system. Do it! If anyone has any detailed or additional questions please feel free to let me know. I will do my best to answer and provide more pictures. Thanks!

[doncmleon]

That's my boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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[davidm0209]

Thank you doncmleon!