Mopar Sound Deck Wiring Help

[Hooser]

Hello all,

Audio wiring dilemma.
I have a 2003 Rubicon with factory center console 6" sub. I recently found a Mopar Sound Deck that has an 8" sub and tweeters. I would like to install the Sound Deck and keep the center speaker (I know, do I need both?) Anyway, the stock wiring harness for the Sound Deck is for a 97-2002 Tj and I need to adapt it to my 2003 radio and retain the center sub... I'm thinking that I can simply by a wire harness kit to match the Sound Deck and splice the wires into the plug for the head unit. But I'm not sure that will work properly. The other option would be to bypass the Sound Deck 50w amp and use an after market amp. For this however I am unsure how to wire the speakers to it. Anyone done anything similar to this? I can get pictures of the harness for the Sound Deck if needed and the manual.

I added some pictures of the unit.

 

[Hooser]

Here is the harness and the page from the install manual (keep in mind the instructions are for a 97 - 2002 Tj. My radio has the single plug.

 

[T Crawford]

I’ve seen the wiring for the older to the newer, but not backwards good luck

 

[fltitan]

Do you happen to know the part number to the wiring harness for this sound deck. I picked one up but don't have the wiring or the mount. thanks, ken

 

[Hooser]

Do you happen to know the part number to the wiring harness for this sound deck. I picked one up but don't have the wiring or the mount. thanks, ken

Hey sorry no I dont have the part number. I'll look around.

 

[Hooser]

Hey all just an update.
I have not been able to add this to my Tj sadly, I mean I have the factory 2003 console sub, this was just cool and I wanted it to work. What I tried was this: I purchased a 97 to 2002 radio wiring harness kit. I identified the right and left rear outputs on the factory plug and spliced the corresponding wires on the retro harness. I plugged this into the Sound Deck plug (as if it were plugged into the radio itself) and ran power from the fuse box. No luck. I tested power and it worked, the only thing that I can think of is there is something else in the wiring that I'm missing. It may just be easier to find a small 2 channel amp and just run it that way. It would just be sweet to be able to use the factory harness. I also thought about taking it to a car audio shop but unless I can find an old-school guy willing to take on the research challenge they will want to opt for an external amp also. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I'll tear into it again perhaps this summer.

 

[SSTJ]

Hey @Hooser

Hey all just an update.
I have not been able to add this to my Tj sadly, I mean I have the factory 2003 console sub, this was just cool and I wanted it to work. What I tried was this: I purchased a 97 to 2002 radio wiring harness kit. I identified the right and left rear outputs on the factory plug and spliced the corresponding wires on the retro harness. I plugged this into the Sound Deck plug (as if it were plugged into the radio itself) and ran power from the fuse box. No luck. I tested power and it worked, the only thing that I can think of is there is something else in the wiring that I'm missing. It may just be easier to find a small 2 channel amp and just run it that way. It would just be sweet to be able to use the factory harness. I also thought about taking it to a car audio shop but unless I can find an old-school guy willing to take on the research challenge they will want to opt for an external amp also. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I'll tear into it again perhaps this summer.

Any updates? I'm in a similar situation here.

 

[Negreac]

How much of a gap is there between the sound deck and the rear seat? Asking since I wonder if would be possible to upfit a larger sub than 8". Seems with the shallow mount subs out today like the JL 12" 12TW3-D4 and the JL 13.5" 13TW5v2-4 they are shallow enough and have small enough volume requirements they could work so long as they don't stick out too far from the face of the Mopar Sound deck to the point the prevent the rear seat from latching back.

JL 12" 12TW3-D4 Dimensions & Overlay

JL 13.5" 13TW5v2-4 Dimensions & Overlay

 

[SSTJ]

Mine isn't installed yet actually. Hopefully someone else can reply.

 

[Negreac]

Mine isn't installed yet actually. Hopefully someone else can reply.

Yeah you can kind of see a gap in this install video but he doesn't have the OEM brackets installed so final gap may be a bit different.

 

[Negreac]

Mine isn't installed yet actually. Hopefully someone else can reply.

Can you tell if on yours the tweeters are isolated from the sub chamber? Would think them sharing the same space would be an issue.

 

[SSTJ]

Can you tell if on yours the tweeters are isolated from the sub chamber? Would think them sharing the same space would be an issue.

I can't remember. I'll try to remember to check.

 

[Patofnaud]

I also have one of these decks that I have had stashed in my garage for about 7 or 8 years. I've decided to refurbish and use it.

To answer a few previous questions:

• The 1-inch peizios are not compartmentalized from the sub enclosure.
• When mounted with a factory speaker bezel on an 8-inch sub, you still have about 1.5 inches from the back of the seat.
• If you wanted to install a 10-inch sub, the front of the speaker may be hitting the back of the seat if it's a long throw, and you definitely will be resting a grill against the back of the seat.
• Any speaker that you put in, you want to bias toward 'shallow' models, as the back of the shell is sloped a bit to give you extra trunk room. I measured, and you are looking at about 4.5 inches of depth roughly.

Here are a few pics:
(Pic 1 shows the sloped back through the speaker hole) (pic 2 shows rough gap behind seat) (pic 3 shows my 'mess') (pic 4 shows the peizio from inside)