I bought a '94 S-10 Blazer Tahoe LT 4x4 w/4 Doors. I am doing a complete audio system. The engine compartment and dash in this vehicle are incredibly tight. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I feel as if I have lost Round One! Please help with any tips on your own installations.
Are most vehicles this tight to work with and install these days? My last installation I did was years ago, in a Honda CRX and it was very easy.
DECK:
I installed my head unit with a kit. It is a tight fit, because of the depth issue, but it is seamless. It was tricky getting it right, but it did work.
DASH SPEAKERS:
I installed Alpine 4x6's in the front dash. I first did the one on the passenger side. It fit perfect and I was very happy. When I attempted to install the same speaker on the drivers side it would not fit! There is a big plastic corner that comes out of the dash, preventing the large magnet on the speaker from going down.
I logically pulled out my file and started grinding it down. Eventually I could see a printed circuit board. I then decided that it was a good time to stop filing down the obtrusive plastic corner.
My solution will be to get 4x6 plate speakers with the 4-inch round woofer and 1-inch dome tweeter. This orientation should allow the woofer to slide by. Alternatively I could try a 4-inch round speaker, which would be nice, if I could get find 4-inch component speakers.
I want to run these speakers off of an amp, but I think it will turn into another nightmare. The dash is so incredibly tight! I have no idea how I am going to run the speaker wire up to the dash. I fear this day! I believe I will be tearing my entire dash apart.
AMP POWER:
My next step was trying to install an amplifier in the hatch. I was attempting to do it in steps.
My first step was to run power, but it was really tight. I started tearing out parts of dash, until I ran into a stripped screw that would not come out. I tried for a very long time. I ended up having to cut the trim of the piece I was removing and then cutting out a chunk of dash to remove the screw.
After wasting way too much time with that, I started looking for a place to run my (+) through the firewall. The only potential place I could find was a place on the drivers side, just to the right of the fuse panel. There is a single black cable going through it already.
I don't like this location too much. My battery is on the passenger side and I don't want to run cables across the engine compartment. I want to avoid running 'extra' cable under the hood, saving the wire to run to the amplifier itself.
Trying to find a suitable location to run the power through the firewall on the passenger side was a nightmare. There were no obvious locations. Drilling through the firewall from the passenger compartment, I have no idea where and what I would be drilling into.
Drilling from the engine side in... yeah right. I could hardly crawl under there, never mind see what is going on, or fitting a drill in there. I could try driving it up on ramps to get a better look, which is probably what I will attempt next.
After I get through this hurdle, I was going to run the power cable down the door trim. Hoping I can get it to run on the passenger side, where the battery is.
RCA's and SATELLITE RECEIVER CABLES:
I can tell that the next issue is going to be running the RCA and satellite recevier cables. Even though I had quite a bit of the dash ripped apart, I still could not see up into the stereo compartment. It may be quite obvious when I attempt to run the RCA's out from the deck, but any tips would be great.
REAR DOOR SPEAKERS:
I want to run these speakers off an amp as well. Preferably they will be component speakers. I will just follow the door trim, up the B Pillar, into the door conduit and to the speaker.
The tweeter will run up the B Pillar and reflect off the roof. Most likely it will be tilted back a little, so as not to scream in your ear and share it with the rear passengers.
The only problem I have thought of is that the power cable will be running down one of the sides. I don't want to run the speaker along-side the power, because of interference. I'll probably have to run the wire through the carpet and cross over the power cable.
CONCLUSION:
This is going to be a huge job! I had no idea that it was goingt o be such a big project. I have done other, older vehicles and they were much easier!
I will add information to this install as I tackle my problems, for others to follow. Thanks to anyone who helps me!