I installed the Alpine HCE-RCAM-WRA rear view camera last week and it was now time to install the new head unit, an Alpine iLX-W650 just like what I installed on the Cayman last year and thankfully this was a much easier install.
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| Alpine iLX-W650 |
Removing the dash was as simple as removing four 7mm bolts and popping the clips, then the old head unit could be disconnected. I had to take a dremel and trim a bit of the plastic at the top of where the new head unit would hit to give it adequate clearance.
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| Old stock head unit out |
I then ran the wire from the rear view camera through the rear side panel then along the carpet where the wiring harness ran.
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| Running wire from the rear view camera |
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| Tucked the wire behind the carpet |
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| Ran the wire through the side panel then behind the glove box |
Since the camera doesn't plug directly into the head unit directly even though it's made by the same manufacturer, a provided power unit adapter had to be installed. The 12V power was tapped from the rear light wire in the passenger footwell by the firewall, then grounded to one of the bolts on the side where other ground wires were connected. I ordered the head unit from Crutchfield so it came with the easy to use adapter harness already. The only thing I added was the ebrake bypass to allow you to operate the head unit normally without doing the ebrake dance all the time.
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| Splicing and soldering into the harness |
The rest was simply installing the new head unit in and making sure the bezel was as level as I could make it. Overall, it wasn't a hard install. I need to fix one issue where I may need to re-pin the harness since I'm not getting phone audio when making a call through the head unit. I accidentally requested a harness for a regular Jeep audio system but Chopper has premium audio and needs the front channels wired differently.
