[GS]

I am looking at a Sony unit at Best Buy to replace the flaky OEM cd
player in my '99 Ford F250, and right now BB is advertising free install
so I thought I'd take them up on this for the following reasons:

#1 Saves me the trouble and is free
#2 Last time I installed a car stereo it had the following wires to hook
up, ground, power, and speaker wires, and IIRC was probably an 8-track..

The trouble is, I am hours away from the nearest BB store and it'd be
easier to buy online as they are too busy anytime I've stopped in to do
an install anyway. As well as re reason #2 - I am a little intimidated
but the mass of wiring that is sticking out of the back of my factory
unit, and can picture myself throwing my arms up in exasperation trying
to adapt and aftermarket unit in.

I know I need a wiring harness as well as an in dash adaptor, but is
this doable for a DIY project? Or should I bide my time and let them do
it when I catch them during a lull..


thanks!

[ck]

Right dash kit and right harness its a snap
a DIY with no problem.
What BB means by free installation is:
radio $99.00 example dash kit $15.00 to 20.00 wire harness 15.00 to 20.00
and labor FREE the parts is where they KILL you they buy in bulk for a
harness 2.50 to 4.00 you can find the kit and harness on line cheap ebay
most likely
"GS" wrote in message news:1Asri.84784$xk5.26521@edtnps82...
I am looking at a Sony unit at Best Buy to replace the flaky OEM cd player
in my '99 Ford F250, and right now BB is advertising free install so I
thought I'd take them up on this for the following reasons:

#1 Saves me the trouble and is free
#2 Last time I installed a car stereo it had the following wires to hook
up, ground, power, and speaker wires, and IIRC was probably an 8-track..

The trouble is, I am hours away from the nearest BB store and it'd be
easier to buy online as they are too busy anytime I've stopped in to do an
install anyway. As well as re reason #2 - I am a little intimidated but
the mass of wiring that is sticking out of the back of my factory unit,
and can picture myself throwing my arms up in exasperation trying to adapt
and aftermarket unit in.

I know I need a wiring harness as well as an in dash adaptor, but is this
doable for a DIY project? Or should I bide my time and let them do it when
I catch them during a lull..


thanks!

[GS]

thanks thats good info - I had a look at the harness and it looked to me
like there was a ton of bare ends, which to me meant lots of splicing to
the old wiring, not just a plug-n-play. As for buying a harness and dash
kit from ebay, good idea but do you know where I can find out which
models of each I need?

thanks again!

ck wrote:
Right dash kit and right harness its a snap
a DIY with no problem.
What BB means by free installation is:
radio $99.00 example dash kit $15.00 to 20.00 wire harness 15.00 to 20.00
and labor FREE the parts is where they KILL you they buy in bulk for a
harness 2.50 to 4.00 you can find the kit and harness on line cheap ebay
most likely
"GS" wrote in message news:1Asri.84784$xk5.26521@edtnps82...

I am looking at a Sony unit at Best Buy to replace the flaky OEM cd player
in my '99 Ford F250, and right now BB is advertising free install so I
thought I'd take them up on this for the following reasons:

#1 Saves me the trouble and is free
#2 Last time I installed a car stereo it had the following wires to hook
up, ground, power, and speaker wires, and IIRC was probably an 8-track..

The trouble is, I am hours away from the nearest BB store and it'd be
easier to buy online as they are too busy anytime I've stopped in to do an
install anyway. As well as re reason #2 - I am a little intimidated but
the mass of wiring that is sticking out of the back of my factory unit,
and can picture myself throwing my arms up in exasperation trying to adapt
and aftermarket unit in.

I know I need a wiring harness as well as an in dash adaptor, but is this
doable for a DIY project? Or should I bide my time and let them do it when
I catch them during a lull..


thanks!

[Matt Ion]

GS wrote:
thanks thats good info - I had a look at the harness and it looked to me
like there was a ton of bare ends, which to me meant lots of splicing to
the old wiring, not just a plug-n-play. As for buying a harness and dash
kit from ebay, good idea but do you know where I can find out which
models of each I need?

The loose ends on the harness are for wiring to your new deck, and both
deck and harness should have the same color codes (typically, red =
switched power, yellow = constant power, black = ground, white =
left-front, grey = right-front, green = left-rear, purple = right-rear).
The harness you'd get is the one intended for your truck, and should
simply plug into the factory connectors - no need to hard-splice the
truck's wiring.

This is an example of the dash kit:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Ford-Truck-F150-F...QQcmdZViewItem

This would be your wiring kit:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Scosche-FDK9B-For...QQcmdZViewItem

NOTE: I'm not specifically recommending either, only offering them as
examples; they may not be the specific products for your truck. If you
get both from the same vendor, you can probably save on shipping, or if
you have another stereo shop closer than the BestBuy, you can probably
just buy both there.

Most of these kits you'll find are made by Scosche - you can alway just
check their website at www.scosche.com, or even contact Schosche and
make sure you get the proper ones for your vehicle (from looking at
this, there are several different wiring harnesses available, depending
on the various factory system options).

[Matt Ion]

Matt Ion wrote:
GS wrote:
thanks thats good info - I had a look at the harness and it looked to
me like there was a ton of bare ends, which to me meant lots of
splicing to the old wiring, not just a plug-n-play. As for buying a
harness and dash kit from ebay, good idea but do you know where I can
find out which models of each I need?

The loose ends on the harness are for wiring to your new deck, and both
deck and harness should have the same color codes (typically, red =
switched power, yellow = constant power, black = ground, white =
left-front, grey = right-front, green = left-rear, purple = right-rear).
The harness you'd get is the one intended for your truck, and should
simply plug into the factory connectors - no need to hard-splice the
truck's wiring.

This is an example of the dash kit:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Ford-Truck-F150-F...QQcmdZViewItem


This would be your wiring kit:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Scosche-FDK9B-For...QQcmdZViewItem


NOTE: I'm not specifically recommending either, only offering them as
examples; they may not be the specific products for your truck. If you
get both from the same vendor, you can probably save on shipping, or if
you have another stereo shop closer than the BestBuy, you can probably
just buy both there.

Most of these kits you'll find are made by Scosche - you can alway just
check their website at www.scosche.com, or even contact Schosche and
make sure you get the proper ones for your vehicle (from looking at
this, there are several different wiring harnesses available, depending
on the various factory system options).

Actually, it gets even easier... if you click the "Autosound
Encyclopedia" link on the main Scosche page, or better yet just go
directly to www.scosche-cars.com, you can select the make, model, and
year of your truck, and it will list the appropriate dash kit and wiring
harness. You can then either order directly from Scosche, or use that
info to search eBay.

ck is right, the proper dash kit and wiring harness should make DIY
installation pretty straightforward for you.

[Daniel W. Rouse Jr.]

"Matt Ion" wrote in message
newsdCri.19317$fJ5.15859@pd7urf1no...
Matt Ion wrote:
GS wrote:
thanks thats good info - I had a look at the harness and it looked to
me like there was a ton of bare ends, which to me meant lots of
splicing to the old wiring, not just a plug-n-play. As for buying a
harness and dash kit from ebay, good idea but do you know where I can
find out which models of each I need?

The loose ends on the harness are for wiring to your new deck, and both
deck and harness should have the same color codes (typically, red =
switched power, yellow = constant power, black = ground, white =
left-front, grey = right-front, green = left-rear, purple = right-rear).
The harness you'd get is the one intended for your truck, and should
simply plug into the factory connectors - no need to hard-splice the
truck's wiring.

This is an example of the dash kit:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Ford-Truck-F150-F...QQcmdZViewItem


This would be your wiring kit:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Scosche-FDK9B-For...QQcmdZViewItem


NOTE: I'm not specifically recommending either, only offering them as
examples; they may not be the specific products for your truck. If you
get both from the same vendor, you can probably save on shipping, or if
you have another stereo shop closer than the BestBuy, you can probably
just buy both there.

Most of these kits you'll find are made by Scosche - you can alway just
check their website at www.scosche.com, or even contact Schosche and
make sure you get the proper ones for your vehicle (from looking at
this, there are several different wiring harnesses available, depending
on the various factory system options).

Actually, it gets even easier... if you click the "Autosound
Encyclopedia" link on the main Scosche page, or better yet just go
directly to www.scosche-cars.com, you can select the make, model, and
year of your truck, and it will list the appropriate dash kit and wiring
harness. You can then either order directly from Scosche, or use that
info to search eBay.

ck is right, the proper dash kit and wiring harness should make DIY
installation pretty straightforward for you.


One should also be aware that even the proper dash kit might not fit all new
headunits without some minor modification.

Depending on the size of the headunit, the dash kit opening may need to be
enlarged a bit before the headunit will actually fit through the slot. (In
other words, some of the plastic may have to be carefully shaved away to
enlarge the dash kit opening that the headunit goes though.)

I encountered this issue with both Scosche and Metra dash kits, when
replacing an OEM Clarion headunit in a Nissan Sentra with a Pioneer
DEH-P3800MP.

(I also realize this discussion is concerning a Ford Truck, and that I don't
have any experience with Ford dash kits from either Scosche or Metra, so the
above issue may not even apply to Ford Truck dash kits.)