Looking to put in a new stereo.

[Big Ben]

Alright,

So i've been gone for a while due to work and the hectic stuff of life and re-enrolling in school but I figured that while i'm waiting on someone who is apparently slower than I am I'd try and get a bit of help.

I really want to upgrade my trucks speakers and stereo system. I know that crutchfield has all the specs and stuff for my model year and everything BUT so far all the dashes i've seen for Bronco XLTs aren't exactly like mine. Maybe it's just my imagination or whatever but I know for sure that mine doesn't just say XLT like all the others, it actually says ranger XLT oddly enough. I'm not sure if it's the same dash with a different face on it or what so i'm going to attach some pictures for feedback.

I'm new to this whole antique truck thing so I really do feel kind of stupid but I really want to make sure I don't do anything that'll cost me a stupid amount of money and time to replace if I make a mistake or order the wrong parts.

So here's what my dash looks like.

edit: ok, so it's the same dash but why does it say ranger XLT and not just XLT like all the others? Am I just lucky because it's an '80? I'm wondering if that'll change anything else.

 

[Shadow_D]

I just searched your truck on Crutchfield and this info came up...

Installation Details Modified Fit - Requires Modification

Installation Details for your 1980 Bronco

 

[Big Ben]

Alright so while i'm waiting i've been googling stuff and trying to figure out what will work with what and all that fun stuff. Really hard considering I don't know much. Picking a receiver is turning out to be alot harder than I thought. The main reason I want this to be a DIY project is because while I can spend 2 grand getting a stereo put in at a shop and have a great system, I could spend 2 grand, install it myself and get a better system. It's just the installation that might cause a bit of a hickup.

So anyway, anybody have alot of practical experience with putting in a nice sound system? This is the first step for me in totally redoing my baby.

Anyway, here's what i've found so far, not sure if it'll work though.

Wiring harness

Dash kit

Front door speakers - PIONEER TS-A1672R 220W 6.5 3-WAY speakers

Rear speakers - PIONEER TS-A831P 240W 6x8 3-way SPEAKERS

In actuality I'm not sure if the rear speakers are the right size? one website said they are 6x8, another said they were 6X9 on a 1980. Either way, I can still use that set for either or and if I have to find 6X9's then I'll look for more pioneer ones to match or whatever.

I don't really know much about sub woofers, or amps, or even the receivers. All I know is I want it to play MP3's and all those extra filetypes since I'm a huge computer/digital music spazz.

I'm not looking for a crazy powerhouse system, just something that'll be loud enough to **** off people who I'm stopped next to at a red light. Eventually I'll go really crazy just so that I can drown out all the hip-hop/rap and techno garbage everyone always plays on their boosted stereos with some good music for once.

Anyway, I'm kinda excited to figure out what'll work and get started on this DIY project.

 

[Big Ben]

I'm no expert but do you have a Bronco 2?

I don't believe it's a bonco 2 because I haven't seen bronco 2 written anywhere on the truck (and I even have the ORIGINAL owners manual. Not even on the original tire cover. It has a removeable hard top too and from what I'm aware of I didn't think bronco 2's ever had the removeable top. Then again that could just be me being uneducated.

 

[Shadow_D]

updated my post

 

[Justshootme84]

Big Ben, I think the center dash bezel you have that says "Ranger' may just be the interior trim package, since you also have the imitation wood. I've seen two styles, one is a blonde wood grain and the other more common one is brown like your's and on my 84 Bronco. That area above the A/C controls is the most common pl,ace to mount a head unit, but it's also easiest for a thief to rip out, since it's just made of plastic. I used a removeable-face Pioneer unit, with the auxillary 32-band equalizer mounted inside the center console and a power amp under the driver's seat. If you want some security, check out the Tuffy Security center console, which replaces your factory plastic one. The Tuffy model is made of metal and alot more thief-proof. I have pics of the installation in my 84 at supermotors.net (link is in my profile). The 6.5" door speakers are fine, but you might have to use a plastic guard on the back of them to keep from hitting against the door skin. You can fit 6x8's in the rear speaker holes. I mounted a pair of Kenwood 7x10's back there with some modify'n of the trim panel and added some support for the speakers. The original owner of my 84 was running 4 JBL speakers for about 15 years. Ithink that's the best quality car audio speaker you can buy. The Kenwood's are way down on the list, but still far better than Kraco or whatever Radio Shack sells these days. JSM84

 

[black beauty]

hey big ben jsm is right the space where the factory radio is the typical place to mount a head unit also easy to steal tho. any questions you might have about what to do with your system feel free to ask me. im not a certified expert but ive put a total system in my bronco complete with amps(plural) tweeters all new speakers and subs. the works. as well as install them for my friends and i build subwoofer boxes for extra $$$$, the stuff we all love. anyway i can help you ill try to if you have any questions feel free to ask

 

[Big Ben]

Awesome. It's good to have people responding. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Yeah i noticed how easy it is to get to the deck when I was goofing around in my truck seeing how hard it was to take out the old one. Even if the guy didn't want to just smash the facing of my truck it's only 2 screws really keeping him from my deck. I'll look into that tuffy one and I also plan to install an alarm system myself. I know it's apparently always better to let the pro's do it because they're good at hiding wires but i'm always paranoid that when you go into a shop there is at least ONE person who knows how it's wired and they could in fact steal my truck themselves so I'd rather take some time, plan out an installation myself (because I can be quite sneaky and good at hiding things) to see if I can come up with a solid way to install the system.

As for the stereo I picked up the speakers I posted in my previous post because they weren't that expensive, something like 40 bucks for the pair + shipping. Also stumble onto a sweet looking pioneer deck. Sadly I didn't realize it doesn't have a removeable face plate before I paid for it so I'm just going to have to be a bit more careful I guess. I mean, I live in a good neighborhood here in canada so I doubt anything will happen but while I'm at work I have to be careful because I've seen peoples cars get stolen from the parking lot of the mall where I work.

It's a bit hit or miss since I've been relying on reviews online to kind of figure out what speakers work well, which decks work well and so on. I'm a bit of a pioneer fan since my home stereo is pioneer and is fabulous to my ears.

Oddly enough my manager offered me an amp and sub since he has some from an old stereo he used to have. I haven't asked him for the price yet but I figure with what I have it's about the only thing that's missing just to give it a bit of extra oomph. I'm not heavy into techno or rap though, more of a rock man or metal man than anything so it's not like I'm going to really be pounding the subwoofer too much.

Anyway, with putting all this into my bronco there are 2 concerns. 1 will I need a new alternator to handle the load? (I'm assuming yes) and second is the install. I'm a pretty technical guy and with diagrams and such I'm pretty sure I could handle the install it's more of making sure the seal between my speakers and panels n stuff are good to avoid the rattles. For those of you who have already done this yourself suggestions would be welcome. I haven't ordered my wiring harness or dash kit yet but since the speakers, deck and nice weather are on the way, i'm sure I'll do that before the end of the week.

edit: ok, my bad, the faceplate on the cd player is detacheable. one less worry. Most receivers are like this now anyway so it's all good.

 

[Justshootme84]

If you're just installing the head unit, 2 or 4 speakers and maybe a sub and a power amp, you should be OK with the stock 65amp alternator.One thing I didn't mention that you may want to add a crossover if you use a sub. That will keep the low frequency signal going only to your sub, and not your mids or tweeters. O nmy 84, the stereo system wa wired straight to the battery, so it could be used with or without the key on. The hot wire was hooked to the battery, with an inline fuse, then ran under the passenger-side carpet to the center console. Whoever installed this (previous owner, I think) didn't realize that foot traffic could wear on the power lead under the carpet. I found out that I kept blowing fuses. Pulling up the carpet, the wire had shorted out and welded to the floorpan, and burned a small area of the carpet. The other problem was the power amp under the driver's seat. The wiringfor that was routed under the seat bracket. I had constant problems with the bracket breaking, which even cracked the floor. this also pinched the wiring to the amp. Moral of the story is to think about how to route the wiring. I think the best area is up under the dash, then along the fllor shifter to the center console. at least keep all wiring away from foot traffic and getting pinched. JSM84

 

[Big Ben]

If you're just installing the head unit, 2 or 4 speakers and maybe a sub and a power amp, you should be OK with the stock 65amp alternator.One thing I didn't mention that you may want to add a crossover if you use a sub. That will keep the low frequency signal going only to your sub, and not your mids or tweeters. O nmy 84, the stereo system wa wired straight to the battery, so it could be used with or without the key on. The hot wire was hooked to the battery, with an inline fuse, then ran under the passenger-side carpet to the center console. Whoever installed this (previous owner, I think) didn't realize that foot traffic could wear on the power lead under the carpet. I found out that I kept blowing fuses. Pulling up the carpet, the wire had shorted out and welded to the floorpan, and burned a small area of the carpet. The other problem was the power amp under the driver's seat. The wiringfor that was routed under the seat bracket. I had constant problems with the bracket breaking, which even cracked the floor. this also pinched the wiring to the amp. Moral of the story is to think about how to route the wiring. I think the best area is up under the dash, then along the fllor shifter to the center console. at least keep all wiring away from foot traffic and getting pinched. JSM84

Cool, stuff like that is GREAT to know. I can see how running it down the center console by the 4wd shifter is a good idea since nobody is ever going to step on that in theory (or at least minimally if there are kids in your truck.) I also found out that the center speaker in the dash was torn out so i'm pretty sure the steroe thats in there now definitely wasn't stock. The electical tape on the wiring in behind it makes me think there was a swap to, probably from a tuner to the tape deck thats in there now. The wiring is a bit F-d behind the dash so I think I'm gonna open up my whole dash to get a better idea of what the **** the previous guys did to it. I'd hate for the wiring harness I just ordered to no longer be a viable option because someone did a half arsed job when putting in the last system. Before you even mentioned putting the amp in the center console between the seats I had thought of putting it there and I do like the idea of swapping that plastic one for the nice tuffy ones. I'd complain about the cup holders but i'm sure we all know the original 'holders' really don't hold anything in the first place.

Anyway, with the wiring and stuff now kinda resolved let's talk about making sure my speakers are installed nicely so that I don't get any crap vibrations. I didn't spend a grand yesterday ordering stuff only for it to vibrate and sound like garbage when i install it. Any ideas?

 

[Bebop Man]

Installed a new radio in my Bronco last December. Got a bezel / adapter kit from Radio Shack. The radio just slid in, with just a little bit of trimming on the dash face plate.

Got a Sony BT5000 head unit, with both an XM and iPod adapters. They are kept in my center console, and I run a single sheated cable from the dash to the console. I've got one amplifier feeding a subwoofer in back, and new speakers front and rear. Front are 6 1/2" Pyles, mounted in the door, and rear are Pyle 6x9's.







I wrapped the cables in loom, and screwed them through the mat to the floor next to the shifter. Keeps them out of the way.

 

[black beauty]

ok big ben in my expreiance with speakers rattling in the holes cut for the factory speakers ive never had any rattle. and this is even with 6X9 speakers behind thedriver and passenger seats(had to modify by trimming a little for the bigger speakers) that are hooked to a smaller amp to drive them. my bigger amp pushes my three 10" subs. you would be suprised how loud 6X9s are when you hook them to a small amp. they have a nice 'pop' with the bass but still hasve clear highs and mid sound. now like jsm said, if you are going to use tweeters(which i wold highly recommend since they bring out all the highs in your music) i would steongly recommend a crossover. these just make sure that all the sounds dont get jumbled and when you crank your system up, it doesnt sound like a cluster f&%$. they make the tweeters play only the highs and the other speakers play the mids, lows and very limited highs. your speakers will have a few unoticeable highs in them because they have a built in tweeter. lastly, if you use an amp, if you have the ability or i should say preference because everyone likes a different sound, i would bridge my amp. all this means is that if you have a four channel amp for your subs, you can run your wires from your sub box and channel your amp down to just two channels. this gives the two channels you know have more power for harder hitting subs. like i said any more questions you might have just ask. its great we have sites like this to help each other out

 

[Justshootme84]

Yes, I had a problem with the door speakers rattling. Solved that by putting a plastic speaker bucket on the backside of the magnet. this kept the spkr from hitting the inside of the door skin. It also seemed to help a bit to keep dust out of the contacts. Dust can be a real enemy of your system in the bronco, especially with the hardtop removed. JSM84

 

[Big Ben]

ok big ben in my expreiance with speakers rattling in the holes cut for the factory speakers ive never had any rattle. and this is even with 6X9 speakers behind thedriver and passenger seats(had to modify by trimming a little for the bigger speakers) that are hooked to a smaller amp to drive them. my bigger amp pushes my three 10" subs. you would be suprised how loud 6X9s are when you hook them to a small amp. they have a nice 'pop' with the bass but still hasve clear highs and mid sound. now like jsm said, if you are going to use tweeters(which i wold highly recommend since they bring out all the highs in your music) i would steongly recommend a crossover. these just make sure that all the sounds dont get jumbled and when you crank your system up, it doesnt sound like a cluster f&%$. they make the tweeters play only the highs and the other speakers play the mids, lows and very limited highs. your speakers will have a few unoticeable highs in them because they have a built in tweeter. lastly, if you use an amp, if you have the ability or i should say preference because everyone likes a different sound, i would bridge my amp. all this means is that if you have a four channel amp for your subs, you can run your wires from your sub box and channel your amp down to just two channels. this gives the two channels you know have more power for harder hitting subs. like i said any more questions you might have just ask. its great we have sites like this to help each other out

Ok, well since 2 people are recommending a crossover and since I like having clear sound now I'm going to have to ask... what specifically am I looking for in a crossover? For a deck I knew I was looking for a sub output so that I could regulate the volume from the deck (or so I was informed on another website). I know for speakers that the best 'bang for the buck' was the 3-way since they were actually a big step up from the factory speakers vs just 2 way speakers. I know that for the sheer volume and power of the speaker you go by the db that it can pump out and the watts or whatever (I'm new to all this so I could be very much misinformed) I knew tweeters did the highs but I didn't think that having some independant tweeters would make a HUGE difference... apparently according to you guys they do. I already bought the 6x8's for the rear and have a pair but I still need one for the dash because the old one was ripped out when buddy put in his tape deck apparently. I guess I could just keep the pair of 6x8s and use one as a single for the dash and have a spare then but the 6x9's in the back. It's the trimming of stuff that kind of makes me nervous.

So again, what are the features I'm looking for in a crossover and an amp? I actually kinda want to know what I'm doing and why i'm doing it. And with more than just "because it makes it louder" would be nice. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[black beauty]

yea i agree with jsm on this one. a plastic speaker bucket is a good idea to stop rattle. ive been lucky so far and not experianced rattle with mine but if it ever does occur thats ther route ill take to stop it. also one other thing to stop rattle that just came to my mind is clear silicone. ive never used this on speakers in the actual truck however i do use it to seal up subwoofer boxes before i ***** them together for final assembly.but anyway some of my friends who put it bigger and more powerful speakers experianced rattle. they experimented around and some of them did use the speaker bucktes but the others swear by running a bead of clear silicone around the back of the speaker where it mounts flush to the mouting surface. sounds like it would work because the elastic properties of the silicone would absorb the rattle. ive never done it myself but i know silicone is the way to go as far as sealing a sub box. its waterproof moldproof and will tremendously help a box from busting as long as you pre drill your holes before you sink your screws in there.

 

[Big Ben]

Alright, that covers up the 'rattling' issues if ever there will be any. Back to my last question. What am I looking for in a crossover? How many channels, etc. If I have 2 front speakers, 2 rear speakers, a sub, and lets say I decide to put tweeters in too. That a 3 channel? 1 channel for sub, 1 for tweeters and 1 for the other for mid range speakers?

As I said, I'm not a genius when it comes to amps and watts and hz and stuff so I need some serious stereo help.

 

[black beauty]

ok im gonna have a hard time picking words to make sense of this but bear with me and if you have any questions you'll have to ask me again and ill try to be more clear next time around. now, when i did my system i only ran two tweeters. they came from a company called clif designs and the make an excellent product. i swear by them. the tweeters came with TWO crossovers. thats one for each tweeter. you dont have to have one crossover for every tweeter but mine came that way. now, i did my setup very simply. all a crossover consists of is a small box so their easy to hide. anyway, i ran my midbass to the tweeter(thats o say a 6X9 or 5X7 or whatever you decide to use un the back of your bronco) then from there i ran the wires to the tweeter mounted on the door posts near the headlinre on the plastic trim oiece that goes above the door. so basically all a tweeter does is splits the sound at the crossover. it takes the frequency from the midbass(6X9 or whatever you use) and splits it so that highs are played solely on the tweeters and the other speakers handle the mids and lows. now that the simplest and usually the best way to do this type of setup. as far as a crossover with a sub and amp ive never done that myself because my radio has a RCA jack input on the back of the head unit that runs to the amp that is for subwoofers only. thats all its for is to channel all of the bass to the subs to hit. but if you are partial to a crossover for your subs i think i know of a way to do that too.

 

[Big Ben]

ok im gonna have a hard time picking words to make sense of this but bear with me and if you have any questions you'll have to ask me again and ill try to be more clear next time around. now, when i did my system i only ran two tweeters. they came from a company called clif designs and the make an excellent product. i swear by them. the tweeters came with TWO crossovers. thats one for each tweeter. you dont have to have one crossover for every tweeter but mine came that way. now, i did my setup very simply. all a crossover consists of is a small box so their easy to hide. anyway, i ran my midbass to the tweeter(thats o say a 6X9 or 5X7 or whatever you decide to use un the back of your bronco) then from there i ran the wires to the tweeter mounted on the door posts near the headlinre on the plastic trim oiece that goes above the door. so basically all a tweeter does is splits the sound at the crossover. it takes the frequency from the midbass(6X9 or whatever you use) and splits it so that highs are played solely on the tweeters and the other speakers handle the mids and lows. now that the simplest and usually the best way to do this type of setup. as far as a crossover with a sub and amp ive never done that myself because my radio has a RCA jack input on the back of the head unit that runs to the amp that is for subwoofers only. thats all its for is to channel all of the bass to the subs to hit. but if you are partial to a crossover for your subs i think i know of a way to do that too.

See... I went on crutchfield and from what I read they suggest a crossover before the amp? Apparently it stops the amp from amplifying the garbage noise it should amplify and ends up saving power to boost the good noise. But then when I go to their install video it shows the crossovers being mounted in the door for the tweeters like you say here. Now i'm just plain confused. I was even shopping for an amp yesterday and even that is way more complicated than I originally thought but I think I understand now. This whole setup is gonna end up costing me like 1500 bucks by the time i'm through with it. However since I've done most of my shopping online or on ebay I'm pretty much making sure that I get everything at half or 3/4 of regular retail value. If I work it out by the time I install it myself (if I don't blow anything up) I'll probably have the equivalent of someone who just went to a stereo shop and paid over 2k for the stereo and install. From my point of view that means that my truck should sound GOOD despite the fact that she's not the prettiest lady on the streets.

I really didn't think a sound system was this complicated. Originally it was just the deck and 4 speakers. I guess that would have been 'ok'. But I was thinking about adding and amp and sub later (but not to be like those crazy people in their suped up civics who drive me up the wall) but more for just richer fuller sound (I'm a music FREAK). Now I'm contemplating putting in a 5th speaker in the dash (6x8) because there's a slot for it as well as mounting some tweeters (which i have yet to buy or figure out a solid place to mount) So now I'm pretty sure the crossover is essential. The amp, moreso only for the sub but at the same time if I can really power my bigger speakers to get the most oomph out of them why not?

anyway, my brain is fried for now but i'm still really psyched about the whole deal.

 

[black beauty]

yea a sound install like this can be a headachae at first but if you can just clear your mind of all the wires and junk its pretty straightforward. just remember, everyting that you will hasve in your truck to produce sound must have a power source and what i think is even more important is a good connected ground wire. if you know that its pretty simple as long as you focus and dont stress on it. for the most part overyting is color coded so thats half the battle won right there. past that its just a matter of knowing where you want to mount your components like your crossovers and tweeters amp and so forth. really my biggest gripe anymore is just running the wires cause i cant stand exposed wires. i have to have it hidden or ill lose my mind. everything else just falls into place now and running the wires arent that hard so really the more you do it the easier it gets. just like anything else practice and just fooling around with it makes you better at it. any questions you may have further down the line just send me a personal message and il try to lend you a hand