detailed how-to for alarm

What is your method on properly prepping an alarm? Please explain in details what you exactly do. Some alarms state that you should mount the alarm first, then route your wires and so on. What I do is e-tape the wires first, then mount the alarm. I know theres not really a wrong or right way to do it, I just want to see what everyones methods are, and try them out to see if they are easier for me. TIA

I should also clarify that I have very little experience compared to most on this site.  I'm sure my preferences revealed that right away. jkj

Mounting the Brain First can be really slick, but If I ever have to access the brain later it sucks. Like I rarely ever install the antenna wire first, so I almost always need to acces the brain for that since I usually have to snake the antenna wire down from the A Pillar. 1st: Get yourself a good wire diagram of your vehicle and familiarize yourself with the connections. Next I locate the Ignition, Acc, Start and 12v+ wire in the main Ignition harness that you can trace from the key cylinder. Then I strip off an inch of the Ign, Acc and Star wires and solder my wires to them. Tape em up real good then do the same to the 12v+ wires. Then I typically look for the Brake, Parking Lights and door lock wires to see where they are and how accessible they are. Once I have made all the connections to those wires I soldere and tape them. Then I hook up the ground. Then I run my Tach and Hood pin wires through the firewall and hook up the tach. Then I run the antenna up the A pillar and stick the receiver behind the rear view mirror. I plug everything in and program it and then hook up the hood pin once everything is working. Thenb I mount the brain and put the dash back together. I am sure I left out some important details, but thats the basic order of things. Most importantly is testing the wires before making the connections to make sure you are grabbing the right wires. Like I said get a good wire diagram and get to know it. Your first one will take a while. What vehicle and unit are planning on working with? I may be able to help with more specific information.J Rilla

Owner/Installer

I just wanted the basic overview of prepping car alarms. Im not a certified installer, nor do I have any schooling to be become one. I havent even gotten past the 10th grade, but Ive installed 44 alarms so far, within the past year. I just want to familiarize myself, just so I can get a good technique down. I dont plan on actually pursuing this as a job, but I love doing it.