Installing DDIN Units & Bose Amp Bypass

[Kaiser-Wave]

I apologize to the moderators for posting a "how to" in this section of the forum but i feel it would benefit itself to be here since it pretains to this sub-forum. This is your official "how to" install a double din headunit if you have bose in your 2003 - 2007 (classic) style chevy truck, tahoe, suburban, etc......


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4474.jpg
We will be walking you guys through how to install a double din deck with these parts here, the in-dash kenwood, and the harness; Metra 70-2003, dash kit; Metra 99-2003, and antenna adapter; Metra 40GM10
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4476.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4479.jpg
Just start by lowering the steering wheel all the way down and put the truck into 1st gear, then proceed to pull the dash bezel off from around the factory radio
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4480.jpg
This is what it looks like when the bezel is off and everything is exposed
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4482.jpg
The next thing to do is to use the 9/32 socket (mines on the end of a drill) and take out the two bolts under the dash to remove the knee board (you will be down here later)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4483.jpg
Here i have removed the knee board exposing the underside of the steering column and the ignition harness cover
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4485.jpg
Now take your 9/32 socket and remove the three bolts to remove the factory radio and unplug the harnesses and set it aside
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4487.jpg
This is the inside of the dash after the radio has been removed and you can see the plastic that will need to be cut in order to better fit the Double Din and the harnesses, (you dont have to cut this out if you are installing a single din deck)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4490.jpg
Here you can see the air saw near a 90 degree angle piece of plastic that you will need to cut off both sides and the big chunk of plastic in the middle by the metal bracket rising to the top of the dash
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4491.jpg
You can see my saw cutting through that big chunk of plastic in the middle and do not cut out the metal piece because it is a support for the top of the dash (i have seen alot of ghetto shops rip that out please dont do it) there is plenty of room to cut the plastic without cutting the metal bracket
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4492.jpg
Here just use a metal panel tool or a long screw driver and pry off the plastic where it is connected to the metal bracket
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4494-1.jpg
You can clearly see where both 90 degree angle pieces are cut off the sides and the big plastic chunk has now been removed, after this step just wait before you do any work with wiring
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4500-1.jpg
Remove the cup holders in the center console where it touches the rising part of the dash towards the radio (they just pull straight out) when you are looking down you will see that harness in the picture (if you are in drivers seat the wires you will need will be on your side of the harness)
Speaker Wire Colors:
Dirver Side: Tan (positive) Grey (negative)
Passenger Side: Light Green (positive) Dark Green (negative)
Left Rear: Brown (positive) Yellow (negative)
Right Rear: Dark Blue (positive) Light Blue (Negative)
The front pillars have tweeters and as long as your grab the front wires from inside the center console they are crossed over with the tweeters and will automatically work when you connect them to the Deck
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4505-1.jpg
Now you can cut the speaker leads to the left of the bose harness and begin to connect the speaker wire

[Kaiser-Wave]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4504-1.jpg
This is the wire i used it is from theinstallbay.com and in contains all four speaker leads in one wire (your normal white, grey, green, and purple for speakers in an aftermarket radio harness) this just simplifies the process of bypassing the bose amp becauseyou can do everything in one easy step and when you run it up to the dash you wont need to worry about figuring out which speaker is which, but if you cannot get a piece of this from a local audio shop then just use four speaker leads about 2 and 1/2 ft long.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4506-1.jpg
This is what is looks like when you finish wiring up the speakers leads into the big wire
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4502-1.jpg
Now grab the storage pocket the pull on it and it should just pop out of place and remove the cigarette lighter haress and set it aside
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4509-1.jpg
run the speaker leads up throught the front of the dash and under the pocket that is next to the radio (its just some clips that pulls right out also) and leave the leads hanging out of the dash where the new radio is going to be and pause there
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4512-1.jpg
Go underneath the dash and look to the right next to the gas pedal and you will see a small black box with a cover, remove the plastic screw and pop this cover off to reveal the loaction where you will be getting an accy signal for the accy wire (red ignition wire)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4517-1.jpg
I know this is a bad picture and im sorry but my SLR didn't want to fit under there but there is an open post on the very top left corner and it provides an accy signal for the radio to turn on and off with the ignition (remember 03 and up chevy's do not have a accy signal in the factory wiring harness) when you are using the Metra 70-2003 harness it comes with a long extra wire with a clip connector of the end, all you have to do is remove the plastic cover from around the connector (of the wire supplied with the harness) and it will be small enough to slide over the open post on the top left side of the block.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4521-1.jpg
After you have connected the red accy wire to the block under the dash run the wire along the front of the dash (where yiou removed the knee panel earlier) and then remove the A/C controls so you can grab the accy wire and pull it up to the radio and leave it there for now along with the speaker leads
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4523-1.jpg
Now this is where you can start wiring everything up, grab the speaker leads and run them around the metal bracket to the left side so that you can have more room otherwise when you try to stuff everything back it will be a nightmare because the speaker leads will be going to the right whereas the harness will going to the left causing everything to bunch up and not fit properly, grab your Metra 70-2003 wiring harness and the only thing you need to wire up from here is power and ground forget about the speaker leads because you already have them from when you bypassed the bose amp. So hook up yellow to yellow for constant 12volt, black to black for ground, your red accy wire on the aftermaket unit needs to be hooked up to the red wire that you ran from the junction box up to the dash and then wire up all your speaker leads to the corresponding colors on the Double Din's radio harness and all your wiring is done!
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4528-1.jpg
Now grab the Metra 99-2003 dash kit and cut the middle bar off, put the brackets on, and use the supplied screws to hold the dash kit on the Double Din and plug the harness into the radio, set it into the dash and screw it back in, from there you can put the knee board back on and finally the dash bezel
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/Kaiser-Wave/IMG_4529-1.jpg
YAY! this is the final product if you followed our instructions!



"how to" Done by Kaiser-Wave and Reddedsilvy05, if you have any questions feel free to ask and i will answer them, i have these body style trucks down to a science and know alot about the electrical system and car audio in general, thanks for reading this!l

[zubbiez]

Very nice step by step Im sure ppl here will find it useful.

[TRPLXL2]

Wow that was a super nice write-up! I have never installed an aftermarket stereo before, but that was really something to see from start to finish. Nice clean look in the dash after it was installed too, thanks for sharing with us.

[across75]

Wow. This is eactly what I have lined up for myself. It's nice to have a good visual and step-by-step. Thanks.

[ippielb]

That's a really good write up, i also agree with this being helpful.

[Kaiser-Wave]

Thanks guys, I hope it helps out alot it would be nice if the moderators made it sticky so everyone could read this because it applies to every radio not just double dins and this weekend I will be doing a write up for the steering wheel controls for these body style trucks

[Kaiser-Wave]

Thanks guys, I hope it helps out alot it would be nice if the moderators made it sticky so everyone could read this because it applies to every radio not just double dins and this weekend I will be doing a write up for the steering wheel controls for these body style trucks

[Crawdaddy]

Moved to write-ups forum with a permanent redirect from Electrical forum.

[kujawat]

thats great, but that harness won't retain the door chimes or onstar... both run through the factory head unit... you'll need to use a gmos-04 or equivalent to keep those functions... all bose systems have the chimes and 95% have onstar... also, any rear entertainment will cease to function when you remove the factory head unit... as will any factory sat radio options... you can get the steering wheel controls to function with an additional adapter.. other than these issues, the pictures and basics of a head unit replacement are great.. oh.. also.. when bypassing the bose amp, dont forget the bose speakers are 2 ohm so they wont match impedance exactly... not good for the head unit... good time to replace them too...

[DIGS16]

how much would it run to have someone do this install? been thinkin of getting me a new radio with the screen just like that

[ZSI52]

how much would it run to have someone do this install? been thinkin of getting me a new radio with the screen just like that


I called a few shops when I was looking around and they wanted 200 for the install. I already had everything though.

[DIGS16]

o man, deffinetely will save this thread for later use

[damion]

Just wondering if the place you got the accessory power from also retains the RAP ( retained accessory power ) , or radio on, untill door opened ?

Also, behind the little cubbyhole thats under the center vent, there is a harness in behind there that you can also get spkr leads from instead of going to the console.

[ZSI52]

Just wondering if the place you got the accessory power from also retains the RAP ( retained accessory power ) , or radio on, untill door opened ?

Also, behind the little cubbyhole thats under the center vent, there is a harness in behind there that you can also get spkr leads from instead of going to the console.


I ordered mine on Crutchfield for 80. It keeps the RAP and onstar. If I wanted the Bose it would have been $10 more for a harness that kept it all. Ive heard a few people say they have bought the harness from wal-mart for around 20, But that doesn't keep the Onstar or bose. Just the RAP. If your doing the install yourself check out amazon or ebay. If your having trouble finding the correct parts needed just go to Crutchfield and enter your vehicle info and if you don't like the price just search for it on amazon or ebay. Crutchfield is normally more expensive, but they have great customer service.