112dB's 2002 Sahara Stereo Install Saga

112dB

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I finally finished my stereo this month after over a year of planning and 7-ish months of work in my free time. I'm going to go through the entire install piece by piece, one piece per post at a time. I'm going to try and provide a fair bit of detail to help anyone who may be considering a similar project, because so many of you on this site were helpful in answering my questions or documenting your projects in your own threads.

My goals were to get clean, loud sound while retaining a stock appearance.

Here's the full product list:
I also used Blue Sea Systems and KnuKonceptz fuseholders and various KnuConceptz gear. RCAs are by Stinger and the main power cabling is a Stinger Wiring Kit.

Once upon a time I was a semi-professional stereo installer (I got paid to work in a shop and had my own shop for a little bit, but it was never really my main meal ticket). My stereo installation passion was re-ignited in part from watching Mark's YouTube Channel and Dean and Fernando's YouTube Channel. (Thanks Guys!)

The Components in the list above were all purchased from Crutchfield, except for the DSR-1 which I bought from 5-Star Car Stereo in Clearwater FL. The KnuKonceptz and other installation supplies were sourced from the vendor directly or bought via Amazon.

I did not sound deaden the tub at this time. I may decide to do so in the future but as I plan to drive it with the top off most of the time it, it may not be needed.

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I finally finished my stereo this month after over a year of planning and 7-ish months of work in my free time. I'm going to go through the entire install piece by piece, one piece per post at a time. I'm going to try and provide a fair bit of detail to help anyone who may be considering a similar project, because so many of you on this site were helpful in answering my questions or documenting your projects in your own threads.

My goals were to get clean, loud sound while retaining a stock appearance.

Here's the full product list:
I also used Blue Sea Systems and KnuKonceptz fuseholders and various KnuConceptz gear. RCAs are by Stinger and the main power cabling is a Stinger Wiring Kit.

Once upon a time I was a semi-professional stereo installer (I got paid to work in a shop and had my own shop for a little bit, but it was never really my main meal ticket). My stereo installation passion was re-ignited in part from watching Mark's YouTube Channel and Dean and Fernando's YouTube Channel. (Thanks Guys!)

The Components in the list above were all purchased from Crutchfield, except for the DSR-1 which I bought from 5-Star Car Stereo in Clearwater FL. The KnuKonceptz and other installation supplies were sourced from the vendor directly or bought via Amazon.

I did not sound deaden the tub at this time. I may decide to do so in the future but as I plan to drive it with the top off most of the time it, it may not be needed.

View attachment 165868

putting the kicker in the console?

i'm almost finished with my double Tang Band install. Hoping everything should be rapped up tomorrow.

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Very cool, thanks for sharing this!

I have a killer sound system going in mine shortly with an Audiotec Fischer Helix V Eight DSP, custom made tweeter pods, and BLAM speakers all around.
 
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Very cool, thanks for sharing this!

I have a killer sound system going in mine shortly with an Audiotec Fischer Helix V Eight DSP, custom made tweeter pods, and BLAM speakers all around.
That’s an impressive amp. Does it cost an arm and a leg, or just an arm? :LOL:
 
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Very cool, thanks for sharing this!

I have a killer sound system going in mine shortly with an Audiotec Fischer Helix V Eight DSP, custom made tweeter pods, and BLAM speakers all around.

Awesome plan. What are you going to run for your head unit? Make sure you float the amp. I mounted it under the steering wheel with a custom metal bracket and that was the cause of my ground loop. The amp case is grounded.
 
Awesome plan. What are you going to run for your head unit? Make sure you float the amp. I mounted it under the steering wheel with a custom metal bracket and that was the cause of my ground loop. The amp case is grounded.

Yep, I am going to use a piece of wood to mount it on.

This is the head unit I am using:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF971JK/?tag=wranglerorg-20


That’s an impressive amp. Does it cost an arm and a leg, or just an arm? :LOL:

Just an arm, fortunately 🤣
 
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For the Head Unit, I considered a number of options. The previous owner had installed a Pioneer unit, which I replaced on the second day of my trip from ND to FL. I wanted to have a stock look, so I purchased a Clarion M508 because of the stock appearance. I pre-wired the deck and brought it with me on my flight to ND.

I like the Clarion unit and may go back to it. The delay when skipping from track to track was a bit long but otherwise it was solid. I also considered my old Alpine CDE-164bt, but ultimately, I ended up with this, the Alpine UTE-73bt.

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It's a decent value. I don't need CD and a mech-less unit seems smart as this is a beach vehicle. It goes to full volume without clipping. I think I prefer my older Alpine deck as it had superior iPod control (yes I still use one of those).

One thing about this deck, even though it's mech-less it shares a chassis with 2 CD units, so it's deep. And it's deep enough that I wasn't able to fit it in easily. The RCAs I am using don't have the largest barrels, but it was still a tight fit. The RCA cables were pinched by the dash vents and would have eventually failed, so I had to find some decent 90-degree RCA adapters. Most of the ones you find are cheap garbage or ridiculously expensive and mediocre. I eventually found these:

IMG_7068.JPG


They're a decent price and I trust the KnuKonceptz brand. This gave me enough clearance to mount the deck.

I've only had a month or so to use this deck. I'm finding it to not be as good as my first impression. I may go back to the Clarion unit, or I may decide to go to a double DIN unit like the Alpine ILX-W650. I am thinking of adding front/rear cameras so that will play a part in my decision as well.
 
I run the M508. I love the appearance and haven’t noticed much of a delay skipping tracks. I am actually tempted to just run the Bluetooth module in the Helix amp and not use the HU.
 
The output from the head unit goes into a Rockford Fosgate DSR-1 digital signal processor. I mounted the DSP to a piece of lexan and added supports for the input and output wire harnesses as well as the remote knob. The molex plug connections are probably fine by themselves, but I wanted additional stress relief to ensure they wouldn't become loose as the jeep bounces around a bit. The whole assembly is tucked away inside the dash just next to the amplifier.

It takes 4 inputs and feeds six outputs (front, rear, sub) into the amplifier and is configured via an iPad app. The remote knob is used for subwoofer level control and is mounted underneath the arm rest in the center console. It is a bit on an inconvenient place for a remote but it keeps the stock look, which was one of my goals with this installation. The yellow plug is an XT-60 that allows the power/ground to be quickly disconnected if I ever need to remove the DSP.

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The Amplifier is a 5-channel Alpine PDR-V75 and is mounted underneath the steering column.

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The amplifier is mounted on a custom rack, upside down and on spacers. I cut down a piece of HDPE to the dimensions needed for the amplifier while allowing a bit of extra space for the mounting hardware. I mounted the rack to the steering wheel bolts with some 90 degree hardware from Home Depot. The holes in the mounting hardware needed to be enlarged to accommodate the larger bolts. I also cut a few holes in the HDPE to help improve airflow - whether or not it will make a difference I don't know.

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I used t-nuts to mount everything and zip tied the speaker wires to the rack to add some stress relief. The speaker connections are right behind the A/C vent so it made sense to pre-wire them before installation.

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The amp sits in there just fine. The DSP is mounted close enough to the amplifier that I was able to use some male-male RCA barrel connectors rather than a set of RCA cables. The settings for the amp can be accessed with just a little bit of contortionism.
 
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I've been doing some spring cleaning and as part of that I finally got around to finishing the sub box I started building last year. This is a slim profile Rockford Fosgate punch 10 inch. The box is about .7 cu ft.


IMG_9805.JPG


Fits like a glove. I have this and the console sub connected via DPDT switch, allowing me to switch back and forth. Eventually I'll build a sub enclosure into the rear seat but for now this seems to work ok.

IMG_9809.JPG
 
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Looks like a really nice setup so far! Once it's all said and done how much do you think you'll have into it?
 
Looks like a really nice setup so far! Once it's all said and done how much do you think you'll have into it?
hard to say...

Headunit - ~$90 but i recently upgraded (yet to to install the new one which lists for $200)
DSP - $290-ish?
Amp - $550 or so
Front speakers - $300 - plus ~90 for the pods and ~30 for the tweeter mounts (which I am going to replace)
Rear speakers $200
Kicker Sub - $70 (refurb) - Rockford Sub $130 + 30 for the grill
materials and cables, etc - probably $250-300 which seems a bit high but those hex head bolts and inserts can really add up if you aren't smart enough to buy them in bulk. :LOL:

So it'll probably be close to $2k once I get everything finished, if that ever happens. I'm already thinking of upgrading the DSP....
 
hard to say...

Headunit - ~$90 but i recently upgraded (yet to to install the new one which lists for $200)
DSP - $290-ish?
Amp - $550 or so
Front speakers - $300 - plus ~90 for the pods and ~30 for the tweeter mounts (which I am going to replace)
Rear speakers $200
Kicker Sub - $70 (refurb) - Rockford Sub $130 + 30 for the grill
materials and cables, etc - probably $250-300 which seems a bit high but those hex head bolts and inserts can really add up if you aren't smart enough to buy them in bulk. :LOL:

So it'll probably be close to $2k once I get everything finished, if that ever happens. I'm already thinking of upgrading the DSP....

Okay, so I'm not the only crazy one then. I thought that being into my audio system for around $2500 was nuts, but I'm just a huge audiophile and I love good music.

I need to figure out a good place to mount a sub and it's looking more-and-more like due to my space constraints I'll need to figure out if I can fit something under the front seat.
 
Okay, so I'm not the only crazy one then. I thought that being into my audio system for around $2500 was nuts, but I'm just a huge audiophile and I love good music.

I need to figure out a good place to mount a sub and it's looking more-and-more like due to my space constraints I'll need to figure out if I can fit something under the front seat.

I'm going to work out an under-rear seat solution. I know there's a walkthrough out there that goes through it, but I'll probably just use that as inspiration and develop my own design. If I go that route, I'll likely go with a JL Audio sub because of similar or smaller airspace requirements plus the venting through the pole piece is different and you don't have to have clearance between the sub rear and the enclosure wall.
 
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I'm going to work out an under-rear seat solution. I know there's a walkthrough out there that goes through it, but I'll probably just use that as inspiration and develop my own design. If I go that route, I'll likely go with a JL Audio sub because of similar or smaller airspace requirements plus the venting through the pole piece is different and you don't have to have clearance between the sub rear and the enclosure wall.
I was actually thinking about a under the rear seat solution as well. Some have done it and it seems like a nice option. Heck, I even saw one guy managed to build the subs into the bottom of the rear seats!
 
The front stage is a pair of Alpine R-Series 5.25 component speakers. They're mounted in the Select Increments pods which I stuffed with some polyfill. Here you can see them next to the stock 'premium' 4 inch + tweeter pod.


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I had to trim the dash a bit with a sawzall to prevent the speaker surround from hitting the metal dash support bracket.

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I added FAST rings to help direct all the sonic energy out of the dash.

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I did need to trim the rings a bit to get the factory grill to go on, but it wasn't a big deal.

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This was the original tweeter location - custom steel mounts that put them down in the kickpanel area. Needless to say, the performance was sub-par (If you want to find out first hand, I'll sell you these mounts for a buck plus shipping). I've had success with kickpanel mounts in the past, but it's not a good solution for the Wrangler.

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I designed and built these mounts out of 1/4 inch ABS. They're a little rough, and they aren't stealthy (at all) but the sonic improvement is incredible.

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IMG_9826.JPG
 
Very cool, thanks for sharing this!

I have a killer sound system going in mine shortly with an Audiotec Fischer Helix V Eight DSP, custom made tweeter pods, and BLAM speakers all around.
your upgrading again? what’s up with the used components?