Hello folks!

My son has a 1994 XLT reg cab 2wd and I bought him a Kenwood stereo and new pioneer door speakers. I bought the wiring harness adapter for both the deck and the speakers, along with the mounting kit for the deck. Everything was purchased at best buy and this is a christmas gift for him.

I want to do the install with him and I'm sure it will start on Christmas day. Any tips or suggestions? How big of a project will this be? Easy to remove the old deck?

Any help and instruction is appreciated!

 

Here is how to remove it.
For more information on making the tools go here.
http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/removal.htm



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Getting the factory one out is the hard part, once that's done it's cake. If I were you, I'd take that mounting kit back- you shouldn't need any kind of kit for these trucks.

 

you do not need a kit but you do need wiring adapters.

 

The wiring adapter for the stereo is essential IMO, the speaker ones are nice but not necessary. Since you already have them though, use them.

 

the speaker wiring and the power wiring is all included in the harness kit.

i always use the kit because it makes it so much easier.

 

Some head units don't look very clean when installed without a mounting kit. Most mounting kits include a surround that fills in the little bit of open space that exists around the outside of the radio when it's installed. The factory ford radio is single DIN, but the faceplate is SLIGHTLY larger than DIN, so it can have gaps that look...well...unfinished.

Wiring harness is a great buy, never do anything like this without one. Hacking factory wires is just plain dumb.

Getting the old one out is the hardest part. Those U hooks are a lifesaver if your radio is stuck in place with stubborn clips like mine was. You can pick up a set at any auto place for like 3 bucks.

 

agreed with the mounting kit. i didn't have one with mine and am not a big fan of the gap. not a big enough deal to fiddle with, but if i had the option to easily & quickly cover it up, i would.

my only little tip: antenna....
plugged in mine in the lower right. the bend in the cable made it hard to get the stereo in. if it was hanging out a little i couldn't get the new one to sit in all the way. install the stereo with the wire hanging out and facing the side a little. once you slide it in, reach up from the glovebox and push it in all the way. not a super-secret, but it would have saved me 30 seconds

 

When he said he bought a wiring harness for the speakers, I figured he meant an adapter that will plug into the factory speaker plug at the speaker and allow the new speaker to be installed without having to do a splice. I've always just used a line tap to put my speakers in, when I pull them I tape up the wire.
As for the mount kit, I've put several different units in both my 92 and 95 and never had a gap that the stereo's trim ring wouldn't cover, and never had a problem with the aluminum sleeve thingy for the stereo fitting just fine.

 

That's exactly what I did. I have the adapter for the deck and the speakers, 2 seperate things.

 

Nice present choice, btw.

 

Its not that hard but tricky to figure out how to do it took me and my dad a while to figure it out just need a screwdriver to pop those side clips then it slides out like in the diagram

 

There is a difference in the wiring kits if you have the premium radio and speakers.

I'm not sure how to tell if you do without removing the radio to look at the connectors.

Maybe someone can chime in on how to tell the dif?

You might want to have both kits on hand for Christmas.

 

When you pull the old head unit out, you will disconnect a big connector with a bunch of wires attached to it. The wiring adapter you bought needs to plug into that connector. Whichever fits into the connector in the truck should be the right one. Just match the wiring harness up with the wires on the head unit. There should be a sheet. "Green +, Front Right Speaker +). Just make all those connections between the new head unit, and the harness adapter you bought, then all you have to do is plug in the new head unit with the adapter to the harness in the truck, and the antenna. The speakers, pop the door panels off, take old ones out put new ones in. The door panels are the hardest part.

ps - if you order from crutchfield they give you step by step instructions that are really helpful.

 

I have the step by step Crutchfield instructions for your truck if you're interested. The actual removal and install of the head unit only takes minutes. Take your time and solder the connections between the stereo harness and the adapter harness (invest about 1/2 hour or so).

Easiest way is to transmit the instructions are by e-mail, as I have them in PDF...unless someone more experienced in this forum has a good way to post them.

The instructions make it so anyone can do it, and covers speaker installation.

Let me know.

Steve