Project Overview:

I originally bought this stereo for my truck. When we decided to get rid of our truck and trailer and get another Jeep instead, I wanted to keep the stereo. For those of us who remember hearing "Don't cross the line, or you and your brother/sister will get out and walk!" an in-dash DVD player is a pleasant alternative to child-control. Am I too lazy to deal with squalling kids in the back seat? Maybe. Does a good movie help me avoid it altogether? You betcha!

Before

After

Product Selection:

There are a lot of in-dash DVD players on the market now. Some of which are a lot less expensive than the Alpine units. However, I did a lot of homework on the subject. I read the reviews, I studied the specs, and I picked the one that I thought would work best for me. As an added benefit, the Alpine IVA-D901 came out shortly before I bought this. The 901 replaced the 900, but didn't have any new features. The only difference is that the 900 has green buttons and has built-in XM controls, and the 901 has blue buttons and has XM and Sirius controls. When the 901 came out, the price dropped on the 900s. I was able to pick one up for a "discounted" price. (The 901s listed for about $2500!)

I wanted satellite radio because:

	I hate commercials
	I like variety
	I wanted to be able to travel long distances and not have to constantly change the radio station to hopefully find a good one
	And, oh yeah... I hate commercials

I wanted to be able to use my head unit to control the satellite radio, so I went with a matching Alpine XM radio unit. The IVA-D900 has XM controls and display built in. What I didn't want was a make-shift solution that requires me to tune my FM radio to a small transmitter mounted inside the vehicle. I've always thought that was tacky. I want integration, not afterthought.

I bought my mounting kit and wiring harness from Crutchfield. They include a free installation instruction guide specific to your vehicle when you buy from them. In my opinion, they're the best audio/video site on the Net.

Other Notes:

One annoying aspect of in-dash DVD players is their parking-brake sensor safety feature. The screen won't function unless the parking brake is engaged. Not only that, but you have to do a certain sequence of foot brake and parking brake actions to get the screen to "enable." The whole reason I bought the thing was to be able to watch movies! Now, I understand that manufacturers do this for public safety - and to cover their butts from law suits. They don't want people getting into accidents because they were watching a movie. But to me, that comes down to personal responsibility. I have enough self-discipline to not watch a movie while the road demands my attention. Besides, there are no "vehicle-disable" features on cell phones that automatically shut them off when you get in your car. How many idiots cause accidents because they can't shut up and drive?

So, to get the player to work while driving, I had two options. The first option was to leave my parking brake engaged just enough to get the light to come on. The brake itself wouldn't actually be engaged, but it would be enough to disable the screen safety feature. But the whole idea of driving around with my parking brake even slightly engaged seemed terrible to me. Even if it wasn't an unsafe solution, it was still a sloppy solution. Option two was to trick the head unit by sending it the brake signals it needed in order for the screen to come on.

As it turns out, you can buy a device on E-Bay that sends those necessary brake signals. Do a search, you'll find what you need. But install at your own risk. If you get in an accident while watching a movie, and they discover you've installed a bypass, you're toast. I got the one that comes with a bypass-disable switch. That allows you to disable the bypass, essentially re-enabling the safety feature of the DVD player. That way, if you get pulled over, you can flip a little switch and your screen will shut off. Handy.

Installation:

	First, you need to remove the stock stereo. To do that, you have to remove the dash trim. I had already removed mine for my color-matched dash and door trim project. Once the dash trim is off, there are only two 3/8" bolts that hold the stereo in place. Remove them, and the stereo slides right out.
	Disconnect the wiring harnesses, ground and antenna from the back of the stock stereo. It's now free to pull out all the way. There should be a sticker on the stock stereo with a wire "pin-out." That can come in handy later when wiring the new stereo into the wiring harness.
	Next, I removed some of the interior trim panels to plan out where I'd be running the wires for the new stereo. Some of the spaces were pretty tight, and I knew I'd have a problem routing the rather thick wiring harness for my new stereo. I also had to find a place for a few smaller boxes that were necessary to make the whole system work. Although this picture doesn't show it, I also removed the center console.
	Next, I put together the wiring harness for the new stereo. I soldered the harness adapter from Crutchfield onto the wiring harness that came with the stereo. Crutchfield's installation sheets were very helpful here. Their tech support is also fantastic. I had to make a couple of 3-way and 4-way splits on the battery (constant power), ignition (accessory power) and ground leads. These were used to power all of the multiple boxes in the installation. Note the small box in the foreground. It was one of two small boxes I had to find room for.
	In-dash DVD players come with safety systems that prevent DVD playback unless the parking brake remains engaged after a series of foot brake and parking brake actions. In order to get the DVD player to play while driving, you either have to leave the parking brake on (scary!) or "trick" the system into thinking the brake is still on. This little box, courtesy of E-Bay does just that. This was the second box I had to find room for. It also required accessory power.
	Before screwing down any of the control boxes, it's a good idea to "dry fit" everything. Put everything in, route your cables and see how it all works. Especially considering how many wires and cables there are, and that you'll have to pull the carpet up to really do a "professional" looking job, you'll want to make sure you get it right the first time. I used a wire hanger to help pull wires through some tight spaces.
	There are a lot of little cubby holes behind the glove box. Plenty of room for me to mount my brake bypass unit. It allowed me to see the lights on the unit to make sure it was functioning, but it was still hidden and out of the way. I used foam-backed double-sided tape from 3M (sitting on top of the glove box in the picture) to fix the unit behind the glove box.
	If Johny Law pulls you over and you're watching a DVD, you're guaranteed a ticket. By installing a "kill switch" on the simulated parking brake line coming from the bypass unit, I can essentially bypass the bypass. That allows the stereo's safety feature to kick in and disable video playback. I mounted the switch in a hidden, but easy to reach location between the glove box and the dash panel. To install it, I drilled a 1/4" hole in the dash panel that surrounds the glove box.
	The kill switch fits nicely in the gap between the glove box and the dash panel that surrounds it. When I reach for my registration and proof of insurance, I can easily - and inconspicuously - disable the bypass unit. Even with the glove box open, it's still very well hidden.
	Another wiring challenge was finding a good spot for the XM antenna. It needs to be somewhere unobstructed so you get clear reception, so the roof is an obvious choice. I wanted to use my third brake light as the "point of entry" for the antenna wire. Pulling the wire through the rubber cable boot between the rear hatch and the body was tough. But my trusty wire hanger and a liberal glob of Vaseline helped me pull it through with no problems. Once inside the cabin, I routed the wire through the left rear quarter panel, down by the driver's side rear door, and under the driver's seat. This was easily done since all of the interior trim panels were already removed for my vinyl floor project.
	The antenna itself barely fits between the top of the rear hatch and the roof. It's difficult to see in this picture, but the antenna doesn't rub or touch the roof at all when the hatch opens and closes. But it tucks nicely inside when the hatch is open. On a side note, the XM radio still gets perfect reception when the hatch is fully open and the antenna is tucked in under the roof. Also note that this picture and the previous one are shown out of sequence. I thoroughly tested the clearance of the antenna before going through the ordeal of pulling the antenna wire.
	The finished antenna installation was nice and tidy. The wire is thin and doesn't create a gap in the foam rubber seal around the third brake light. That will keep water and other debris out of my rear hatch. It also keeps the wire from being chaffed or cut against any sharp body panel edges.
	With all of the wires pulled and the system checked out to make sure it worked, I then installed the head-unit into the dash. Before sliding the head unit in, I used some more 3M foam-backed double-sided tape to "piggy-back" the small metal box onto the top of the head unit inside the dash. (Sorry - forgot to get a photo!) I used the stock 3/8" screws to fasten the mounting bracket in place. I checked operation again, just to make sure none of the wires got disconneced behind the head unit when I slid it into place.
	With the head unit in place and working, I could then replace the dash. I popped it back into place, replaced the knee board under the steering wheel and put the glove box rubber stoppers (that keep it from flipping open all the way) back in place. Note that the center dash is now color matched to my exterior paint. I really hated that fake wood grain!
	Since the screen slides out and then flips up, I had to check to make sure the screen wouldn't hit the dash when it was open. When the screen is perfectly vertical (you can adjust the angle of the screen when it's open) it clears the dash by about 3/8". The only drawback of this set up is that it blocks the HVAC vents. The upside is movies while you drive! By the way, the IVA-D900 has awesome image quality.
	With everything installed and functioning properly, it was time to hide the cable harness beneath the carpet. Since I was mounting the control box under the passenger seat and the XM box under the driver seat, I had to pull up the entire passenger area carpet to run some cables between them.
	Next, I placed each control box approximately where they would be on the floor. I ran the wiring harness from the dash to the main control box. I also ran the XM control box power wires and antenna. I routed the wires along the structural cross-members in each floor pan. With everything in place, I planned out the best place for all of the wires to come out from the carpet and cut slits in it. I made two slits - one for each control box.
	Some of the cables, especially the Alpine AI Net cable, were way too long. The wiring harness from the head unit to the control box was really long, so I routed it behind the hand brake to take up the slack. But the other cables that were too long had to be stowed somewhere. Coiling them up and putting them under the carpet wasn't an option as it would leave a big lump under the carpet. To get them safely and neatly out of the way, I simply fed them into the holes cut out of the floor pan cross-members.
	With all of the wiring and cables laid out, tucked away and zip tied together, I replaced the carpet. I fed the leads for each of the wires out through the carpet through the slits I cut. I left only enough wire visible as was absolutely necessary. This reduces clutter and helps prevent catching the wires on something and yanking them out, potentially damaging them or the audio equipment.
	After getting the carpet back in place, I reconnected all of the audio system components and checked them one last time before replacing the center console and trim molding. This photo shows the HVAC duct to the rear seats in place before reinstalling the center console.
	Everything was still working fine, so I replaced the center console and center dash. I didn't replace the trim molding yet, however. I knew I would need to look under the carpet to mount the control boxes. I double and tripple checked where I drilled each hole before drilling. I wanted to be sure that I didn't cut any wires under the carpet, and that I wasn't drilling a hole into anything other than the floor pan under the Jeep.
	I used #8 self-tapping metal screws to mount the control boxes to the floor. The padding under the passenger seat is substantially thicker than under the driver seat. I used 3/4" screws for the driver side and 1 1/4" screws for the passenger side. Before drilling anything, I made sure that the boxes would fit beneath the seats.
	After securing the control boxes to the floor, I replaced the trim molding, all 5 seat belts, and the rear seat.
	After replaceing all of the trim molding, seat belts and the rear seat, I replaced the driver and passenger seat. As you can see in this photo, the main control box is a very tight fit between the rails of the passenger seat.
	Voila! Finished installation.