So last night I got a wild hair. I decided to pull out my sub, box, amp, pioneer dvd/nav system, backup camera,,,,,,,everything except the door speakers. What I found was ridiculous. I cant believe my truck never went up in flames.
About a year and a half ago my truck was broken into and my stereo/speakers were stolen(only tool they used was a sawz-all to cut everything out of the dash and doorpanels literally). I got the beautiful insurance check to get everything fixed and it was twice what everything was worth as usual. So I decided to go splurge on my new head unit. I bought a head unit with nav, bluetooth, dvd, camera's, the works pretty much. and because my check was so big and I was in such a hurry to have my new toys I payed the shop to install it.
I pulled my dash apart last night and what I found almost made me crap myself. They cut my factory wiring harness for no reason whatsoever, wires were everywhere, Not to mention the plethera of homeade fuses that were attached to any power source. I spent 4 hours last night trying to match up unlabeled and badly faded wires. Plus they must have used 150 zip ties, I literally dulled my snap-on wire cutters getting rid of them. Whatever you do, make sure you install your own electronics. What scares me is these guys expanded to setting up home entertainment systems. Im counting the days till they make someone's house burn down.

 

Well you since they do various cars a day, they will chince out alot. I laugh when people pay a shop to install there system because when they get it back, It looks like something I could have done 10 years ago. Also, its nice to know how everything is wired when you do it yourself just in case something goes wrong.

 

IDk, I need some pics on this one. Cutting the OEM harness isnt bad. It is needed in some cases if you dont have a harness. Nothing wrong with cutting it if it is done right. As long as everything is crimped or taped off it is fine.

Nothing wrong with homemade fuse holder either. You can use insulated female spade connectors to make a fuse holder for blade style fuses. Im assuming if they added them, the your gear didnt have them already and so they were right to add them. Now they do make fuse harnesses you can add on but again, it still takes two crimps to install them. It is cheaper to make your own (provided the terminals, wire and crimps can take the amps) than to buy a premade holder and add it in.

Sounds like they saved you money by not having to buy a harness, fuse holders and other minor parts.

Zip ties are used to make things neat, organize, secure things and keep things from being pulled on or snagged. If you truely dulled your tools cutting them off then you need some better tools. Ive got Kliens I have used for years and never dulled them.

IMO, its not as bad as what you think it is or make it out to be. I understand it is not up to your standard but being nothing shorted out or burned to the ground tells me they did something right ;-)

But being everything is apart now you can change things as you see fit. I do all my own installs also but I installed car audio and security for years.

 

I wish I took pics. Im no moron. I paid for the adapter harness, as well as all the proper connections to make it a pro quality install. It was the most senseless display of an installation. They cut every corner possible. I could understand if I told them to I was on a budget, but I told them specifically I wanted everything done the right way and they charged me for the high end connectors, wires, fuses, etc. It looked like a couple idoits went to walmart bought a system and installed it in the parking lot with a knife and 8 rolls of electrical tape. and cutting a factory harness is not bad when you have to do it, however there was absolutlley no reason too. I could understand If they wanted to use larger wire for the speakers but they diddnt. and since when is it acceptable to use a burn off jumpper wire as a fuse.

 

What i would do is tear out the whole interior, go down and get some nice 12g speaker wire. Re-wire everything, run your rca the right away, away from any power wires. You might want to throw some sound deadener while your at it. Remove the unnecessary wires. Seal the door speakers foam tape. its super easy to gut our trucks anyway.

 

Yeah, thats WAY off from what I was hoping. I was wanting to give the benefit of the doubt you know but none of that right there sounds cool at all, especially if you had a harness to use.

I would be upset also.

 

welcome to the world of car audio installers. I hate to say it (heck I used to run my own shop several years ago) but car audio is one of those things that you don't see under normal operation, so they cut every corner they can. I personally found that I can install a system faster if you use all the right parts. Yea it might be a little more expensive, but it makes it easier, cleaner, and much less hassle to do it right the first time. Everything that I installed was soldered/heat-shrunk and used harnesses. this allows for quick installation, with minimal bulk added to the wiring behind the HU.

best of luck with the clean up effort OP.

nateroach