Ever wonder if you could do a car stereo
installation yourself? Yes, you can do it yourself. You can spend much money on your hardware but not on labor. Doing a car stereo installation yourself can be a very rewarding experience, not to mention you can learn a lot from it. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your "creation" in action, functioning smoothly and perfectly. But still be very careful so that you won't damage your new hardware upon doing it.
There's a saying, "All that your hand finds to do, do it all your very power (to succeed). -King Solomon." Isn't it wonderful that everything you should do, you should do it with all your power? It may serve as your motivation to do the installation by yourself. Hows that?
Well, most car audio hardware are no-brainers to install, you’d find that most of the time the parts have specially shaped sockets and slots etc. and would only fit where it’s supposed to be installed. Still, it’s best to proceed methodically. And also, you can have your friend or your fellow car nut to assist you.
In a car stereo installation, you have to determine what kind of head unit you’re going to put into your vehicle. If you’re a beginner, it’s best you do a car stereo installation if it’s just a simple system. You may want to leave the complicated stuff to the professionals, like installing delicate equipment like LCD
panels, motorized parts etc. especially if it requires the creation of custom panels and such.
Head units
are one of the easiest to do in a car stereo installation. Fortunately, most units follow the same size standards (DIN). In many cars, once the factory radio is removed the aftermarket radio will fit in the hole. In many other cars, a kit is needed if the factory hole is too big, or not deep enough. Any car stereo store should have kits required for installation.
There are two types of mounting in a car stereo installation. ISO mounting and Ring mounting. The former is when the radio can be screwed to existing factory radio brackets, such as in most Japanese cars. The latter is when an aftermarket radio comes with a metal ring that gets mounted to the factory radio hole or aftermarket kit via bendable tabs. In many cars, dash and trim rings have to be filed to enlarge the radio hole. Once the ring is installed, the radio slides in and is held by snaps. In most cases, special tools
are required to remove the radio.
Speakers
are very critical in a car stereo installation. No matter how expensive your speakers are, if they are not properly installed, the sound will not be up to par.
In a simple car stereo installation, you’ll probably be using speakers that fit into a factory location. Just make sure there are no gaps or holes. Sometimes building a wood or fiberglass baffle helps reduce holes and gives you much better sound. But always be careful when using power tools
around speakers. Car stereo installation warranties usually don't cover holes in speakers.
For unconventional speaker locations, sometimes metal has to be cut. You might want to leave this to the professionals installers for you to be safe. But if you’re going to insist, a pair of metal snips (left and right cut) will do.
Bear in mind that when a car stereo installed, you will experience vibrations and other noise sources in its environment. Even though it is impossible to eliminate these noises completely, there are products that will greatly decrease the noise and rattling. You can make use of liners
, sprays
and adhesive strips
and even carpeting
applied onto the panels that you can avail in any auto accessories shops.
installation yourself? Yes, you can do it yourself. You can spend much money on your hardware but not on labor. Doing a car stereo installation yourself can be a very rewarding experience, not to mention you can learn a lot from it. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your "creation" in action, functioning smoothly and perfectly. But still be very careful so that you won't damage your new hardware upon doing it.There's a saying, "All that your hand finds to do, do it all your very power (to succeed). -King Solomon." Isn't it wonderful that everything you should do, you should do it with all your power? It may serve as your motivation to do the installation by yourself. Hows that?
Well, most car audio hardware are no-brainers to install, you’d find that most of the time the parts have specially shaped sockets and slots etc. and would only fit where it’s supposed to be installed. Still, it’s best to proceed methodically. And also, you can have your friend or your fellow car nut to assist you.
In a car stereo installation, you have to determine what kind of head unit you’re going to put into your vehicle. If you’re a beginner, it’s best you do a car stereo installation if it’s just a simple system. You may want to leave the complicated stuff to the professionals, like installing delicate equipment like LCD
panels, motorized parts etc. especially if it requires the creation of custom panels and such. Head units
are one of the easiest to do in a car stereo installation. Fortunately, most units follow the same size standards (DIN). In many cars, once the factory radio is removed the aftermarket radio will fit in the hole. In many other cars, a kit is needed if the factory hole is too big, or not deep enough. Any car stereo store should have kits required for installation. There are two types of mounting in a car stereo installation. ISO mounting and Ring mounting. The former is when the radio can be screwed to existing factory radio brackets, such as in most Japanese cars. The latter is when an aftermarket radio comes with a metal ring that gets mounted to the factory radio hole or aftermarket kit via bendable tabs. In many cars, dash and trim rings have to be filed to enlarge the radio hole. Once the ring is installed, the radio slides in and is held by snaps. In most cases, special tools
are required to remove the radio.Speakers
are very critical in a car stereo installation. No matter how expensive your speakers are, if they are not properly installed, the sound will not be up to par.In a simple car stereo installation, you’ll probably be using speakers that fit into a factory location. Just make sure there are no gaps or holes. Sometimes building a wood or fiberglass baffle helps reduce holes and gives you much better sound. But always be careful when using power tools
around speakers. Car stereo installation warranties usually don't cover holes in speakers.For unconventional speaker locations, sometimes metal has to be cut. You might want to leave this to the professionals installers for you to be safe. But if you’re going to insist, a pair of metal snips (left and right cut) will do.
Bear in mind that when a car stereo installed, you will experience vibrations and other noise sources in its environment. Even though it is impossible to eliminate these noises completely, there are products that will greatly decrease the noise and rattling. You can make use of liners
, sprays and adhesive strips and even carpeting applied onto the panels that you can avail in any auto accessories shops.
