Whatcha guys think...can i install my riocar myself? is it easy?!...any tips? thanx

Whatcha guys think...can i install my riocar myself? is it easy?!...any tips? thanx

In a word (well, three words): It all depends...

If you have an existing installation with an external amplifier and you are just replacing your CD player with the empeg... then, yes. It's a piece of cake.

If you have an existing CD player with Auxillliary inputs, and have room in your dash for a second DIN-sized player... then probably. It's not quite as simple, but it ain't rocket science either.

If you are just replacing your existing CD player and have never done stereo installation... then probably not. It depends on how comfortable you are about ripping your dash apart, removing carpeting and trim panels, drilling holes in your car, finding creative locations for amplifiers, and figuring out and stringing the appropriate gage wire, along with knowing about things like avoiding ground loops and not running your signal wires along the same paths as your power wires, etc.

It's not that hard to do if you've done it before. If you haven't, then you will be best off having it professionally done, or having an experienced friend lend a hand.

tanstaafl.

IN a word YES!!!! This is not that hard to do and I don't understand why people say it is. Yes, you can easily install this yourself. If you don't think so, check out my step by step guide on my website to see how I did it and how easy it is.

Greg

I've always found the installation more fun than the purchase. It's challenging enough to spark ingenuity, but not so challenging that you can't do it.

If you have a brand-new car and you're going to need to make some visible modifications to it (cutting holes in the rear deck, etc) I would be a little concerned. I was, but I did a careful, acurate, slow, painstaking job and it turned out great.

The key is if you want to be proud of the installation, don't rush it. Depending on the complexity, plan on spending a Saturday or a whole weekend doing it. Don't try to do it in a couple of hours, you'll only cut an important wire, gouge your new leather seats, or scratch up your dash furniture.

None of this is rocket science. The hardest part is finding the screws for the dash to take it apart. Those car manufacturers like to hide that stuff.

I'd visit an owners forum/website for your car make and find details on how to disassemble the dash, remove seats (if necessary), route cables through the firewall, remove the rear deck (if necessary), and remove the door panels.

Doing it on your own with no outside information is challenging. If you can get some pointers before you get started on these key tasks, you'll be able to do it, save yourself some money, and you can do a great job.

Greg

I'm no pro, but I have installed systems in several cars. In my opinion, the most difficult part is drilling the hole through the firewall for the power to the amp. You don't have to do this in every car, some cars already hace a place where you can put it through. If you do have to drill. be very careful and make absoutely sure that there is nothing but the firewall where you drill. I have a friend who drilled through an electronic transmission module. Bang, $600 down the drain.

I know of a shop that will just run the positive cable for less than $50 (including the price of the cable and the firewall grommet.) If in severe doubt, you might want to go this way. The rest of the job is much eaiser in my opinion, and there is much less chance of expensive error. It's really a nice feeling when you know that you did it yourself.

Of course, all of that is assuming that you don't have amps already installed. If you do in fact already have amps installed, then you really have an easy job in store. The fact that the unit is a pull-out makes the install much eaiser in my opinion. It took me about 10 minutes.

Good luck!