ALIAS-XR6T

BA 2003 XR6 Turbo Utility Manual - 98,320km Stock standard, always serviced. Only had a ball joint and the famous bonnet cable go. That's been it so far. Still waiting on the infamous braking shudder to start. Still running original control arm bushes.

I got a set of 20" Starcorps on my ute. Only down side to em is they are heavy as f*#k and the fake chrome peels off em. I picked them up dirt cheap and the 10" rears really suit the ute. Though expect to lose some power at the wheels.

There is an old thread with all the work I had done to achieve. I have copy and pasted it below. So just to clarify, I have a stock Ford ICC (so I can maintain factory look and controls) tapped early as possible in wiring loom from behind the ICC and used the most shielded, thinnest wire I could find (to eliminate as many positive electrical signals in it's pathway) and have them wired into an Aerpro AP3044. That wiring goes from under the ICC, to under the centre console (where the line level converter is stashed) and then RCA leads from out under the centre console off to the amplifier. Now there is no wiring up the centre console and where I tapped, the wiring leaves individually and comes in no contact with any other looms that would contain positive wires. So the only contact it really gets, is with any of the positive wires bundled in that loom coming out the back of the ICC before I tapped. Which is obviously not enough to interfere as I have a perfect signal. It really is amazing how much signal noise you eliminate when giving them an interference free path. I only ever thought it was big 8/4 gauge power wires that gave interference. But it's really any positive wire over a certain gauge. And believe me guys, this stereo is LOUD! so it's not like I don't have the gains up high enough to hear it. And it's powering up a big RMS 5 channel amplifier. It's also all bout the tune too. Just because you have a clean enough signal, doesn't mean you can't improve it with a tune. We spent a good 30 mins tuning it by finding the best balance between the initial source, the line level output and the amplifiers gains. Audio processors are fantastic for gaining lost EQ, adjusting EQ and providing a much more controllable input signal. But they are not miracle machines that eliminate signal noise more than any other converter. That's up to you to clean up, they can only work with what they are given. If anything didn't make sense, feel free to PM me.

I have an extremely beefed up system, all running off the factory ICC. It can be done. There are a few tricks in the trade that will remove all engine noise through the system. But that comes from over 10 years experience in the car audio industry. You cannot see one bit of aftermarket gear in my ute, but by god is it clear and extremely loud (when I want it to be) I've helped out a few guys on here already. Anyone who tells you it can't be done, have only run into the common problems associated with the factory ICC and have not been knowledgeable enough in audio electronics to get around them.

Exactly right. Customers want installs for cheap cheap cheap and car audio places can't afford then to waste time and money to figure out custom installs if no one wants to pay. Plus with all the chinese companies making Fascia Kits. If they don't make one for a particular model of car, it's either not popular enough, or not do-able.

Mine has no hiss, pops, whine and I'm using the Aerpro AP3044 ($40 converter) Believe me guys, when our car audio manager told me to try it this way, I argued the point for about 20 minutes. Saying where I have tapped is no different. When we finally agreed to do this and just run the wires directly to the amp over my centra concole and seats (as I was not going to any effort to run these properly) and wouldn't you know it. It worked. So much clearer. So obviously the next day when I had a free hour or 2, I ran all the wiring up under the centre console, tucked away neatly. So just to clarify, I have a stock Ford ICC (so I can maintain factory look and controls) tapped early as possible in wiring loom from ICC and used the most shielded, thinnest wire I could find (to eliminate as many positive electrical signals in it's pathway) and have them wired into an Aerpro AP3044. That wiring goes from under ICC, to under the centre console (where the line level converter is stashed) and then RCA leads from out under the centre console off to the amplifier. Now there is no wiring up the centre console and where I tapped, the wiring leaves individually and comes in no contact with any other looms that would contain positive wires. So the only contact it really gets, is with any of the positive wires bundled in that loom coming out the back of the ICC before I tapped. Which is obviously not enough to interfere as I have a perfect signal. It really is amazing how much signal noise you eliminate when giving them an interference free path. I only ever thought it was big 8/4 gauge power wires that gave interference. But it's really any positive wire over a certain thickness. And believe me guys, this stereo is LOUD! so it's not like I don't have the gains up high enough to hear it. And it's powering up a big RMS 5 channel amplifier. It's also all bout the tune too. Just because you have a clean enough signal, doesn't mean you can't improve it with a tune. We spent a good 30 mins tuning it by finding the best balance between the initial source, the line level output and the amplifiers gains. Audio processors are fantastic for gaining lost EQ, adjusting EQ and providing a much more controllable input signal. But they are not miracle machines that eliminate signal noise more than any other converter. That's up to you to clean up, they can only work with what they are given. If anything didn't make sense, feel free to PM me.

Funnily enough I just went through all this in the last 2 weeks. Stage 1: Tapped into speaker wires at kick panels as all tutorials say, ran speaker wires directly to high level input of my Soundstream amp - I had crap sound, engine whine and hiss. NOT HAPPY. Stage 2: Ran a $40 4 Channel Aerpro High to Low level converter - Better sound (via RCA), no engine whine (due to onboard isolator) but still the famous ICC hiss and pops. Stage 3: Re tapped the wires from behind glove box (for FL, RL & RR) and under ICC (for FR) instead of tapping in the kick panels where all other previous threads all say. Ran these back under the centre console (where I also stashed the converter) and ran the RCA's to the amplifier without going down any sides of the car (where there is power). So they have a power interference free run all the way form the ICC to the amplifier. Now I have crystal clear sound, no hisses, no pops, no loss of volume, nothing. The amplifier is running front and rear Type R's and a subwoofer. I work in a car audio place and we do heaps of BA/BF/FG's and by just doing that, I have now convinced other installers to do it that way for any installs maintaining Ford ICC.

Well I took a pic at lunch anyway. You can even see the outline where the old tie down knob use to be lol Plus there are that many tubs about where blokes remove them, throw an alloy work tray on and then flog it on ebay for around $500-1000. I would rather repaint a BF (no hole) tub than sit there welding up 20 holes

@Wenier - If I worked for Tuff Tonneaus, don't you think I would be trying to sell Hard Lids worth bigger $$$ then a pack of friggin plugs worth $30 lol. This is just a good find I thought other members might find useful. It's obviously no use to you, so please butt out. @IMLOCO - That's exactly my point. The Ford ones are quite chuncky and not every person here has the time and money to go filling up holes and repainting everything.

Hey guys, As some of you may have experienced, when fitting a hard lid, or already having a hard lid fitted, sometimes the soft tonneau tie down knobs are still on the tub and IMO look horrible. Yeah they are just a quick drill and remove, but now the little holes are left. Just like most, I chased up Ford Spares, and was quoted $4.50 a plug (unpainted), so over $80 for the 20. Ouch!!! I decided to be a tight ass and chase up all the aftermarket Tonneau Lid companies to see if any of them supplied these plugs. None of them did except for one. Good old Tuff Tonneaus (www.tto.com.au) They ended up costing me something like $32 posted to my work (interstate) But before I created this post, I had them painted and fitted first and they turned out fantastic. They took the paint perfectly and are about as small as you can get (smaller than Ford's). They each clipped in nice and strong and don't budge a bit.

Due to that being a custom gauge holder piece (not a genuine FPV one) they don't attach securely to anything. It's either Velcro or good double sided tape. Just like freeze_dk said, get some good decent double sided tape that wont melt. 3M pretty much make the best stuff going around. Line up the holder and take note of all the areas it comes in contact with the top of the ICC, then that's the best places to add the double sided tape. I know on mine, the guys who made it even had a big sponguey piece at the back so it could still be taped down (as usually the back has nothing to stick to, its only at the front)

Yep that's the best way to do it. See the wires for the speakers can either be found behind the ICC (in the main loom) or in the kick panels of either side of the car. All depends on what type of install your doing, will depend on which is easiest to tap into. Yeah there should be a diagram somewhere on here showing which wires are what etc. I just bought myself a new ute, so I can't wait to expose what I'm doing in mine this time.

Score! Yeah there a few on eBay and they are far more cheaper than sold here in Aus. Yeah I could probably do a step by step thing. Just need to probably find out what wires are speaker outputs again (as the last time I done this, I just done the old installers trick to find the speaker wires) Let me know how you go.

Can I just ask to where you purchashed your Alpine head unit?

Ok seeing you have bought the Alpine iDA-X305S, you will need to purchase a few things to do this. 1. The Alpine KCE-237B (which will allow you to now have the Auxilary Input via a Male 3.5mm plug) You can get these on eBay 2. A line Level Converter (Which will need to be tapped into the left and right speaker outputs of the ICC and end up giving you 2 x Female RCA cables) - DNA make a pretty good one. Have a look on eBay for those as well. 3. Then a good old Male RCA to female 3.5mm adapter) guess where?? eBay lol If you struggle to find them, PM me and I'll send you links. If you need help on how to hook it all up, just let me know as well.