Joined
·
844 Posts
Finding a place to install an amp in a wrangler was giving me fits. I wanted it 100% hidden and protected from water when going topless.
I finally bought an Alpine KTP-445U Power Pack Compact upgrade for any car radio — 45 watts RMS X 4 at Crutchfield.com
I was hopeful that I could fit the amp behind the head unit Pioneer MVH-X560BT Digital media receiver (does not play CDs) at Crutchfield.com
This head unit is a digital media receiver and since it does not play CDs, it is much more shallow, does not go as far into the dash as a standard head unit.
Finally got some spare time to play with it and it fits easily, don't think it would even be close with a CD head unit.
Used a thin piece of maple plywood (I had it sitting in my shop) and cut it to fit the shelf under the stereo, there is plenty of clearance. you can see in the picture below that it widens out after it passes the plastic shelf. I could only get one mounting screw on each end attach to the wood shelf.
I mounted it so the RCA connectors come out on the passenger side and the speaker connectors on the driver side. I ran an 8 gauge wire directly from the battery (overkill) but again, I already had it. For a small amp, it does pretty well. I you want to blow out the neighbors, probably not the amp for you.
Wood is held in by 2 zip ties you can see in the front. If you are wondering about the hole towards the rear, my plan was to run the antennae wire through that because it was quite short, then I found that the antennae was just catching and once I released it the hole was not necessary.
I am running Rockford Fosgate speakers in the sound bar and have a pair of Pioneer 4x6 speakers that I found as an open box real cheap that will go into the dash.
Here it is prior to the head unit going in.

Hopefully this helps someone out.
I finally bought an Alpine KTP-445U Power Pack Compact upgrade for any car radio — 45 watts RMS X 4 at Crutchfield.com
I was hopeful that I could fit the amp behind the head unit Pioneer MVH-X560BT Digital media receiver (does not play CDs) at Crutchfield.com
This head unit is a digital media receiver and since it does not play CDs, it is much more shallow, does not go as far into the dash as a standard head unit.
Finally got some spare time to play with it and it fits easily, don't think it would even be close with a CD head unit.
Used a thin piece of maple plywood (I had it sitting in my shop) and cut it to fit the shelf under the stereo, there is plenty of clearance. you can see in the picture below that it widens out after it passes the plastic shelf. I could only get one mounting screw on each end attach to the wood shelf.
I mounted it so the RCA connectors come out on the passenger side and the speaker connectors on the driver side. I ran an 8 gauge wire directly from the battery (overkill) but again, I already had it. For a small amp, it does pretty well. I you want to blow out the neighbors, probably not the amp for you.
Wood is held in by 2 zip ties you can see in the front. If you are wondering about the hole towards the rear, my plan was to run the antennae wire through that because it was quite short, then I found that the antennae was just catching and once I released it the hole was not necessary.
I am running Rockford Fosgate speakers in the sound bar and have a pair of Pioneer 4x6 speakers that I found as an open box real cheap that will go into the dash.
Here it is prior to the head unit going in.

Hopefully this helps someone out.