A/V System Install

[DofD]

As mentioned in the RAP module thread I'm doing a bunch of interior upgrades to the Tahoe. It was time to start this thread to document the build process as it progresses. What I am doing is this.
- Changing door speakers for 6.5" BA Pro 60's
- Changing D pillar speakers for 3.5" Infinity Reference
- Replacing stock sub woofer (that is no sub woofer) with a JL Stealthbox
- Installing sound deadening mat over the whole floor and rear wheel wells
- Adding 2 JL HD600 amps for new speakers and sub woofer
- Installing RF 3Sixty.2 DSP for integration with stock Bose amp
- Installing 2 Vizualogic 9" DVD headrests
- Lockpick gmx322 for use with the headrests and front nav screen display
- Peripheral Electronics Media Gateway for Ipod integration
- ****** 9500ci radar/laser detector system

The first think I wanted to do was to install the sound deadening mat. To do this it require of removing everthing from the interior.

Rear seats and mounting brackets. Basically, unplug electrical connectors and unbolt the seats and lift them out (they are heavy!)

Electrical connector for a rear seat. It just unplugs easily. There is one for each seat.

Electrical connector for driver's seat. Locking bracket lifts up and then the connector will disengage. It's the same type of connector for the passenger's seat. Undo the connectors, unbolt (2 nuts to remove) and unscrew (two bolts to remove) the seat then lift it out (same for passenger side. Make sure to raise the seats to their highest point first!

All seats removed.

Electrical connectors within the the storage console. To remove the console, follow the instructions that came with the StealthBox LINK

The StealthBox instructions did not cover the little speaker behind that little circular grill on the driver's side of the console. This is a picture of wires for it. You need to remove the mounting clips and then disconnect the connector. Only then can you remove the console.

A picture of the Bose lux amp and sub woofer.

The Bose lux amplifier.

A picture of the stock sub woofer. This is no subwoofer! A 5.5" speaker with an enclosure does not make a sub woofer!

Console removed.

---------- Post added at 12:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 PM ----------

Dash support bracket that needs to be removed so one can remove the carpet.

In order to really get all the carpet out and access everything, most of the interior panels and trim pieces need to be removed. In the back the are all interlinked, so to get one out you need to remove them all. The trim pieces are held on with annoying friction clips.

Getting the sound mat down in the front. I decided to work around the carpet pad and wires rather than take all that out.

Sound mat down in the back.

Power line for the amps in the engine bay.
<pic to come>

The next thing was to install the front components for the 9500ci system (radar detection module and 2 laser modules) as I wanted to run all the lines need from the engine bay at the same time. The laser modules need a clear view looking forward. So this required a bit of trimming to the grill.
<pic to come>

Then to mount the 3 modules I had to fabricate custom mounting brackets.
<pic to come as this is what I am working on at the moment>

 

[iwaslowr]

Looks great! Thanks for posting the pics...

 

[COTahoeLS]

Subscribed!

 

[DofD]

Got some work done this weekend, though not as much as I was hoping to. Most of Saturday was doing family related stuff.

I got the front mounting brackets made for the laser and radar modules. I'm not overly happy with how they turned out, but they work okay. I got the front modules mounted and the cables run into the interior. I got the rear laser sensor mounted and its cable run into the interior.

Brackets cut out.

Brackets after being formed, mounting hols drilled, and painted. I made a few more mounting holes than really necessary so I could choose the best ones to use once they were in there.

This is an example (left side) of the trimming to the lower part of the grill for the laser sensor. The trimming was the same for the right and in the middle.

Right front laser sensor mounted and cable in the loom.

Centre radar sensor mounted and its cable in loom.

Left laser sensor mounted and cables in wire loom.

Following the hood release cable for routing the sensor cables (in the wire loom).

I routed the cables under the secondary battery tray then continued along the hood release cable to the firewall.

I routed the cables and the amp power line through the main wiring grommet, then sealed it up with silicone.
<pic will come>

---------- Post added at 12:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:23 PM ----------

For mounting the rear laser sensor, first I had to remove the panels from the rear hatch. Fairly easy, one torx bolt and the rest holding the pieces on were snap clips. I took the license plate off, drilled a 17/32" hole, fed the cable through and pulled the grommet into place.

From the inside.

From the outside.

Routing the cable within the lift gate. I just followed the existing wire harness.

I couldn't fit the cable through the existing rubber enclosure as there was no room in it. So I had to run it on the outside.

I sealed the cuts with silcone and wrapped it in electrical tape. The silicone will dry clear.

The module mounted.

Now I working on mount the interior components of the laser/radar system. Then I have to mount my RAP module. Then it's time to run a whole bunch of cabling.

 

[DofD]

Got more work done during the week and over the weekend. The 9500ci is all installed and connected. Got the RAP module installed and connected, got the D pillar speakers changed (more on that later), got all the speaker wiring run, the wiring for the Bose amp to RF 3Sixty.2 run, got the carpet and panels in the cargo area reinstalled, and got three doors stripped down and sound mat installed in them.

Now for the pictures.

The fuse holder for the amp power line.

Running the amp power line (within the wiring loom) across the engine comparment.

Where I run the amp power and 9500ci front modules through the main wiring grommet in the engine compartment. The silicone will turn clear when dry.

Top dash panel near the front windshield popped up. I placed the GPS antenna for the 9500ci under here. To get into this panel you need to remove the A pillar panels. To get these off remove one bolt from the left side one, two bolt on the right side one (from the handle) and then they will pull off (with some convincing). With the A pillar panels off, you can pry up on seam on the top dash panels to remove the panel. Thanks to TAKevin for the info.

The GPS antenna mounted (looks like a computer mouse). The cable is run down through the dash. I used a long zip tie to feed down through the dash and then attached the antenna cable to the end of the tie and pulled the cable through.

Where I mounted the 9500ci control unit.

Where I mounted the 9500ci display unit.

Due to the size of the RAP power module (darn problem with prototypes), I had to mount in the right rear cargo area by the rear HVAC. Yes, that is velcro I used to secure it. It's industrial strength velcro and secured on three sides, so that module isn't going anywhere.

Running the DVD A/V cables from the head unit to the rear along the bottom edge behind the glove box.

DVD A/V cabels running along the right side wire track under the door sill trim.

DVD A/V cables popping out from under carpet pad. For future reference, use smaller cables and make it easier to run them to the back.

Power, RAP control, and ground lines from the RAP module running up to the left side junction box.

Attaching the three RAP lines into the junction box (X14 connector).

 

[DofD]

The RAP lines for use with amp remote turn on, and power to 3Sixty.2 and video controller. Well, this is where the actual lines will connect to. I didn't want to hardwire right to them as then I wouldn't be able to easily remove the rear seats in the future if necessary. One of my design requirements on this project was to make everything fairly easy to remove if neccessary.

Right rear D pillar panel removed with the Bose speaker in it. To get this panel off, there is one bolt to remove, remove the trim piece along the top of the lift gate opening, and then pop the panel off.

Old Bose speakers, and new Infinity Reference 3.5" speakers. And this is a WTF, the speakers for the D pillar were listed as bing 3.5". Those are NOT 3.5" Bose speakers. They are 50mm or 2" speakers! Initially I thought that with both speakers being 3.5", mounting the new ones wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong.

Right rear D pillar with Bose speaker removed. Hmm... Going to need to do a little trimming and creative mounting here.

The new speaker mounted.

The left rear pillar was even more challenging as I couldn't fully remove it due to the rod for the power lift gate. This is with the Bose speaker removed.

After trimming the panel and mounting the new speaker. Please Note! When mounting speakers other than stock to mount then as close as possible to the corner bend in the panel, otherwise you'll run into problems with the speaker hitting the side curtain airbag module when you go to re-install the panel.

Speaker lines and Bose amp to 3Sixty.2 lines after being run. The green bits are tags/labels on each of the lines.

---------- Post added at 03:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

Now we come to removing door panels. We have to remove the plastic manual door lock cover. Pop this little panel out and the cover slips off.

Pop this cover off behind the door panel and you'll find a bold that needs to be removed.

Pop this cover off behind the door arm rest to reveal two bolts that need to be removed.

Bolt that needs to be removed behind the door handle.

Bolts that need to be removed behind the cover on the arm rest.

Pop the sail panel off.

Pop the control panel on the door off. It's held on with two friction clips. Then disconnect the four connectors.

I need to take a couple more pictures here of how to pop the actual panel off tonight. Basically there is a series pop clips around the left, right, bottom edges of the door panels that you need to pop loose. With the door panel loose, you'll need to reach up into the panel to unstick this inner styrofoam like panel that is attached to actual door with a bead of a rubber like sealent as this inner panel comes away with the door panel. Then once the door panel (or panels) are free of the door, lift up on the panel to remove it from the lip along the top. Now you'll need to remove the cable for the door handle. You'll need a pair of needle nose pliars to do this. Once the cable is off you can remove the door panel and set it aside.

Stock Bose door speaker.

Stock speaker and new BA Pro60 speaker.

Door after everything is removed.

Door after sound mat is put on. Both on the inner and our part. But just on the bottom of the inner part! Otherwise it'll affect bringing the window down.

 

[DofD]

The left rear door with the panel and speaker removed. The process for removing the rear door panels is the same as the front with the exception that there is only one bolt under the arm rest cover.

Left rear door with sound mat on.

Right rear door with sound mat on.

Tonight I'll do the passenger door and get some pics of the door handle cable and such. Then I have to run the speaker lines into the doors. Using a zip tie to feed through the rubber wiring case between the door and body will make this much easier. The I need to mount and wire the cross overs for the door speakers in the doors. This is going to be interesting. Then wire and mount the speakers, and close up the door panels. I'll see if I can figure an easy way to test the door speakers before putting the panels on.

 

[tast101]

Good stuff. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Ferank]

Great progress thread!

 

[iwaslowr]

DofD, Great write up! Thanks! Would you mind adding details of how to remove the panels from the lift gate?

 

[DofD]

The panels on the lift gate were pretty easy. They are just held on with plastic clips. There is one torx bolt on the manual pull down handle that needs to be removed. Other wise I just went around the edge and pried up to pop the clips loose. I didn't need to remove the panels fully for what I did, but I think there are couple little bolts around the lift glass latch that need to be removed. I'll check on that tonight and take a couple more pictures of it.

I got the mat done on the passenger door last night and the speaker wire run into the door.

The couple pictures of the door release cable didn't turn out too well, but it wasn't easy getting pictures of them.
This is a picture of how the cable it attached to the door.

To release the cable from the door you need to rotate the cable so that the two latching clips are verticle, then insert the needle nose pliars to depress the clips and the cable sheath will release. Once cable sheath is release, just unhook the actual cable.

You can see the two clips here that need to be depressed to release the cable sheath.

Passenger door ready for mat.

Passenger door with all the mat put on.

 

[tonybat]

Nice Work, I did similar but im stuck at the doors fiberglass, didn't want to go kickpanels

---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:08 PM ----------

http://s688.photobucket.com/albums/vv248/tonybat/08Denali/

 

[DofD]

Nice Work, I did similar but im stuck at the doors fiberglass, didn't want to go kickpanels

---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:08 PM ----------

http://s688.photobucket.com/albums/vv248/tonybat/08Denali/

Check out this build. It might give you some ideas for the doors.
http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/index.php?showtopic=10216

 

[Eagle]

Very awesome and I'm very thankful... i'm redoing the wiring on the PO installed DVD system (I thought it was cluttered, messy and possibly a fire hazard ) so this came in super handy tonight.

 

[Modded]

Nice write up man, good thing to know theres actual GMT900 people doing work on here outside the off topic section.
I have some questions;
What do you plan on doing for a sub and where?
Possible amp locations?
Type of sound mat used and how hard it was too apply?
I am going to undergo something like this with unampepd aftermrket speakers, amped sub and sound deadening sometime in the future.

---------- Post added at 06:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:02 PM ----------

BTW, this is def. sticky material!!!!!!

 

[matt14]

Very nice isntall so far. Keep us updated.

 

[DofD]

Thanks guys.

For a sub I'm using a JL Stealthbox that fits in the place of the stock sub. With a family, camping, skiing, etc, I need the cargo area, so sub enclosures there don't work for me. For the amps, RF 3Sixty, video control module, and power distribution module, they are all going under the second row bench on custom mounting platforms. For the sound mat, I used B-Quiet sound mat. It's specs are as good as better than the usual brands, and is cheaper. I ended up using about 180sqft. It was really easy to work with. It cut well (with a sharp knife, formed around the textures of the metal really well, and sticks really great.

---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 PM ----------

Here are the latest sets of pictures from the build. Yet again I didn't get as much as I wanted to of the previous week and weekend. This time I've been getting my butt seriously kicked by a nasty flu virus from Thusday night on. But I've gotten a few things accomplished though. I've gotten all the speaker wires run into the doors, got all the speakers and cross overs mounted in the doors, tested all the new speakers, got all the interior panels and trim pieces on, got the video headrests mounted on the seats and their wires run through the seats, got the front carpet put back in and cables run through the carpet, and got all the connectors put on the stock amp output for the wiring to the 3Sixty.

Here we go with the pictures.

This is the connector that is on the body side of the wire routing sheath between the rear doors and the body.

Running the rear door speaker wire through the connector and into the door.

Here is where I mount the driver door's crossover. The passenger door one is mounted similarly. I didn't use the usual self tapping screws, but with bolts, washers, lock washers, and nuts since the surface of the door isn't smooth I used a few extra nuts as spacers to create a flush mounting surface. I also used left over rubber gasket material on the back of the crossovers to avoid any vibrational noise from being generated.

Driver door speaker wired up.

Driver door speaker mounted. I used bolts, nuts, washers, and lock washers to install all the speakers and crossovers .

Speaker mounted in the left rear door. Where the arrow is pointing you can see where I mounted the crossover on the inside of the door.

Passenger door speaker mounted.

Right rear door speaker mounted. Where the arrow is pointing you can see where I mounted the crossover.

Passenger door panel remounted. The process is the reverse of taking it off. Rest the door panel on the door using the hooks on the bottom of the panel. Feed the electrical connectors up into the arm rest. Connect the connectors to the control panel (they are colour coded and only fit in one spot. Snap the control panel back in place. Connect the door release cable. Snap the door release cable sheath back into place. Lift the door panel up and slide the top of the panel in the rubber mounting grooves by the window. Push all the plastic connectors on the panel back into the holes in the door. A smack of the fist works well here. Put the bolts back in and put the covers back on. Finally, put the manual door lock release back on. The proceedure is the same for all the door panels.

Right rear door panel back in place.

 

[DofD]

Left rear door panel in place.

Driver door panel back in place.

Now I went to install the video head rest on the driver's seat. You'll need a little finishing nail or such to release the head rest from it's adjustors on the seat. The instructions just said to feed the wires down through the back of the seat so they come out the bottom. This is not going to happen with these seats. You'll need to take the cover off the back of the seat to properly run the wires. This picture shows the inside of the cover on the seat back. There are six clips (where the arrows are pointing) that need to be released to get the cover off. You should work from the bottom up. You can release the clip by inserting a panel tool in and giving the clip a push to release it (a screw driver may work as well. Once all all the clips have been released, pull the bottom of the cover away from the seat and pull down on the cover to remove it from the seat.

Initially feeding the wires through the seat back.

We now need to feed the wires out of the seat back. Behind these little panels by the seatbelt latch there is a metal bracket that you can feed the wires through.

Wires run through the seatback and out. I secured the wires to the existing wiring harnesses. Make sure to leave enough slack so the headrests can be adjusted up and down.

The video headrest installed and cover back on. To get the cover back on insert the upper guides into their places, then snap the clips back into place. The back wires you see are just the headrest wires from the bottom of the seat, I just put them under the headrest to keep them out of the way.

Passeger seat with headrest wires properly run and secured. They run through the same location they did on the driver's seat.

Front carpet reinstalled and wires run through the carpet.

Another view of the carpet and wires.

---------- Post added at 12:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------

Front carpet installed from the passenger side.

All the wiring the comes through the carpet.

Now I got into the wiring on the stock Bose amp. What I needed to do was to locate all the speaker outputs, snip the lines, and put connectors on them for the wiring from the 3Sixty. There are two connectors involved here J1 and J2. J1 has the subwoofer lines, and J2 has the rest of them.

The two connectors with the taping peeled off.

All the lines identified and labeled (at both ends of the lines so that once snipped ever line will have a label. This is necessary since not all the lines are of a unique colour.

Lines that needed to be snipped are snipped.

Connectors all put on.

Here is the map of the wires as to purpose, colour, connector, and pin location
Connector..Pin..Wire.Colour....................Purpose
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
J2.........4....Tan............................Front Left +ve
J2.........5....Grey...........................Front Left -ve
J2.........15...Brown..........................Rear Left +ve
J2.........14...Yellow.........................Rear Left -ve
J2.........11...Tan............................Aux (D-Pillar) Left +ve
J2.........10...White..........................Aux (D-Pillar) Left -ve
J2.........12...Light Blue.....................Centre -ve
J2.........7....Light Green....................Front Left +ve
J2.........6....Dark Green.....................Front Right -ve
J2.........16...Dark Blue......................Rear Right +ve
J2.........8....Light Blue.....................Rear Right -ve
J2.........3....Tan with White stripe..........Aux (D-Pillar) Right +ve
J2.........2....Orange.........................Aux (D-Pillar) Right -ve
J2.........13...Yellow with Black stripe.......Centre +ve
J1.........1....Dark Blue with White stripe....Subwoofer1 +ve
J1.........2....Light Green with Black stripe..Subwoofer1 -ve
J1.........7....Dark Green.....................Subwoofer2 +ve
J1.........3....Light Blue with Black stripe...Subwoofer2 -ve

Next up (other than getting rid of this flu) is to get the Bose amp back in the truck, connect the lines from the 3Sixty, install the subwoofer.

 

[OKLAGMCRUISER]

looking good! That pin out should be in a sticky in tech articles!

 

[DofD]

Well, the build is finally done! Yay! The sound is so much of an improvement. I ran out of time to do any real tuning on the sound since we had to go meet the wife's family (who are in town till Friday). I also think I figured out the issue between the IPod adapter, GMX322, and the headunit. I believe it's the order in which things need to be plugged in. Initially I had it was harness->GMX322->IPod Adapter->Headunit. I think it needs to go like this harness->IPod Adapter->GMX322->Headunit. I ran out of time to fully try it.

Everything seems to work just fine. The audio controls on the headunit (surround, normal, etc, fader, balance, etc) all seem to work. I can view the video from either headrest on the front nav screen and have the audio come through the main headunit. The 9500ci (radar detector) works and it's GPS is really accurate for locations and speed. But I've only just brushed the surface with the options available. My daughter really likes to be able to watch her shows on the headrest.

All in all I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It was more work than I anticipated, but it was worth it.

Here are the final set of build pictures.

Getting ready to make the connections between the RF 3Sixty and the Bose amp.

Connections all made between the Bose amp and the RF 3Sixty.

Holes drilled for the StealthBox subwoofer.

Subwoofer mounting spots tidied up.

Subwoofer put into position.

Another view of the subwoofer in position.

Another view of how the subwoofer fits in there.

Bolt for the subwoofer through the floor. The transmission is on the left there.

The other bolt for the subwoofer.

Washers and nut on the bolt and sealed with silicone.

---------- Post added at 05:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

Washers and nut on the other bolt and sealed with silicone.

Subwoofer connected.

Templates for mounting bases.

Inside of truck with the centre console put back in.

Testing layout of components under the second row seats.

I needed to customize the cables between the amps and 3Sixty for proper lengths.

Trimming wires to lengh and doing the initial connections. The blue lines are the power lines for the amps. The purple wire loom is the power for the other components and remote turn on power for the amps.

Connecting the audio and video cables to the components.

The mounting bases. They do look better than the picture shows. I just made them out of 3/4" MDF.

Components mounted on their bases.