Over the years, Jeep has been listening to owner?s grips about the difficult to work with sound systems in Jeeps. The engineers have made great advancements on the TJ?s sound system with CD players, sound bars/pods, and optional bass boxes. However, In spite of these advances, the life of a head unit, or speakers for that matter tend to have a short life span due to the top down life style of many jeepers which exposes these components to harsh extremes.

My 2000 TJ?s CD player finally kicked the bucket and wouldn?t play my CDs anymore after 3 years of use. The dash speakers were blown from trying to drown out the tire noise of my 35s on the freeway. I decided I?d replace the whole system from the blown speakers to the non-operational CD player.

When it comes to new stereo equipment, your choices are endless. You can get units with the ever popular XM radio option, MP3 ability, organic displays and so on. I wanted a more basic unit, nothing particularly fancy but that would get the job done. That's probably the same logic I used to buy the Jeep also, now that I think about it.

The Sony model works well for my needs with flip down display, detachable faceplate, AM/FM, and remote. Since this unit is of a 1 DIN size, I needed an adapter kit from Turbokit to fit the unit into the big 1.5 DIN hole in my dash. I decided to replace the speakers in the sound bar with some Sony 3 way Xplode 5.25? speakers. The dash speakers are 4"x 6? units from the factory. I found an adapter from 33 Engineering which allows you to fit a 5.25? speaker in the dash with minor modifications. For this location I purchased 2 more Sony Xplode 5.25? speakers.

Part #'s of used products:
Part numbers, description and aprox. street price at date of publishing.

Sony CDX-L510X - Sony CD Player receiver ~159.99
Sony XS-V1333 - Sony 5.25" speakers....2 pair needed for full replacement ~$89.99pr
33 Engineering Adaptor from http://www.offroadtoystore.com/ ~$29.99
Turbokit Adapter - I found it at 4wd.com -part #809965- for a TJ. ~$14.99

Tools needed:

• some sort of cutting tool like a dremel rotary tool
• screw drivers (Both types)
• soldering gun or iron
• electrical tape
• wire strippers
• small socket wrench set in metric sizes
• I also recommend the 1987-2000 Jeep Wrangler "Haynes Repair Manual? by Mike Subblefield and John H. Haynes for very clear wiring diagrams, and illustrations on how to remove the CD player and more. Its a worthy book for any Jeeper to own. It shows you how to fix just about everything and even has a useful diagnosis section. I use mine more often than I?ll ever admit. You can find them at just about any auto store.

CD Player Installation

The Haynes Repair Manual gives a much better description on how to remove the center bezel from the dash. But this is what it should look like once removed.

First off, disconnect the battery from the Jeep. From there, you need to remove the center bezel from the dash. To do this you need to pry off the top plate carefully (found right above the center bezel but directly behind the windshield) with a screw driver. Once that's off, you?ll see the exposed top two screws for the bezel. Remove those two screws and then two more which are behind the ash tray. You can now pry off the bezel. Next, undo the two bolts holding in the CD player. Depending on year of your TJ, you may have this funky looking bracket bolted to the back of the CD player that attaches to two more screws in the dash which will need to be removed before pulling the head unit out. I guess this is an antitheft device, but I think it would drive a criminal to destroying your dash instead of walking away, just my opinion though. Once the CD player is pulled you?ll just unplug the antenna, speaker, and power wires.

This is the mess left once the CD player is removed. Again this is where the Haynes Jeep manual is of particular use to you. The wiring pages are found in the back on pages 12-51 and 12-52. They clearly label the colors and such so that you can wire up your new CD player with ease.

Here is where this install gets tricky, putting in the new player. You need to get the head unit into the adapter kit the way you want it. You can set the head unit flush, intermediate, or embedded into these turbokit mounts. I went with the intermediate mount style.

The wiring isn?t as bad as I expected, but I ?ve done a fair amount of electrical work in my time. I got the factory wiring diagram from the back of the Haynes repair manual for a jeep and then matched it to the
Sony wiring diagram that came with the unit. This takes a little time to sort things out, but its not too bad. I recommend soldering the connections and making sure they?re fully tapped up. This is especially true in a jeep which will see rough roads that can loosen connections.

The installed Sony CD Player! Its a nice unit that blends well into the TJ's dash.

Once wired up, you need just to clip the tabs off the turbokit which
won?t be needed for your model and then plug in the head unit?s antenna, and speaker/power wires in. Slide the unit into the dash and bolt it up. Then reinstall your dash. Next try it out by reconnecting
your Jeep?s battery.

Speaker Installation:

Disconnect the battery again, and pull the covers off the dash speakers by removing the two screws on the side and prying off the covers. Here you will see 4 bolts holding in the factory 4x6 speakers. Remove those bolts and unplug the speaker. Get your 33 Engineering speaker plate and install it once you?ve cut the area shown below. Solder up your wires, and reinstall your dash speaker covers.

To install the 33 Engineering adaptor plate you'll need to cut this small portion from the dash. I've highlighted the areas you cut in red. This makes just a little more room for your new larger 5.25" speakers.

Here is the 5.25" Sony 3 way speaker and 33 Engineering adaptor plate installed. Much nicer than the factor 4x6".

This is the installed 3 way 5.25" Sony speaker in the sound bar. This is the easiest part of the installs we performed as you're just swapping speakers, no adapters needed!

The Sound Bar is simpler than the dash as the new 5.25? speakers will bolt right in. Remove the factory speaker covers held on by 4 screws, they should also be holding the speaker in place as well. Rewire the new Sony 3 ways in and bolt them up. Reconnect the Jeep battery, and test the whole set up. Make sure each speaker is wired correctly connected by checking that each is producing sound in step with all the others in the car. You?re done! Bask in the new 5.25? 3 way speaker glory!

Final Thoughts:

The install isn?t too bad. It only took me about 3-4 hours to wire everything up and get it all rolling. Much of that time was figuring out the wiring , which would have been impossible without the Haynes manual. My stereo wasn?t even functioning before, so this obviously was a huge improvement and the 5.25? 3 way speakers all around are a nice improvement over the factory system. Total cost of this project was about $385 bucks for the new CD player, turbokit mounting kit, 4 Sony 5.25? 3 way speakers, and the 33 Engineering mounting plate for the dash speakers. Overall, a small price to pay for having a nice working stereo to listen to on my 35 minute drive to college every morning. You have no idea how mind numbing it is to drive 35 minutes listening to the howl of your tires, or maybe you do and thats why you decided to read up? -AP