2006 sierra

[mark223]

Hello, I am looking to install a gen. lee in my 06 sierra. I am looking to mount it under the dash. I was wondering, can I wire it to turn on when I turn the truck on and off when the truck is off. The mount will be a fender mount. I was wondering if there are any gourmets in the fire-wall? Thanks for any help with this, this is my first install.

[231]

Mark you can wire it that way, but honestly you can leave the radio on for days and even weeks (assuming your battery is good) and it won't really drain the battery...not unless it's keyed up. That's when radios draw a little bit. If you decide to wire it to turn off/on with the vehicle, it means you are likely going to have to go to the fuse box for the power lead(s). It also means the connection point on the fuse box needs to be heavy duty enough to power the GL's amp draw along with whatever else is on that circuit. I have no idea what amps the GL draws, but keep that in mind.

If you decide to go to the battery with the leads (which is what I do) make sure to install at least one fuse on the (+) side additionally to what the radio will already have. This is just secondary protection. If you go to the fuse box, it likely won't be needed.

As far as the grommets go, take a look at my Jeep's grommet. This is the type of grommet you are looking for (or close to it)...and sometimes you'll need to pull the carpet back some and crawl up under the dash to find it. Grab a flash light and look in the engine compartment as well on the firewall. This one on my Jeep is right under the steering column. I don't expect yours will be as easy as I know my Dodge it was near impossible. But generally speaking what you are looking for. From there, simply pop a hole in it and run the wiring.



Hope that helps a little and best of luck.

[mark223]

Do i need to run a large wire to the battery, or can I run the stock wire? Thanks for all the help.

[231]

Do i need to run a large wire to the battery, or can I run the stock wire? Thanks for all the help.

Running stock wire the same size as the radio is usually just fine. If it has #12, I'd go with at least that if not adding #10 just for good measure. Just make sure you install a second fuse by the battery terminal.

Hope that helps.

['Doc]

If you can find a 'grommet' on the firewall you will be doing better than I ever did. There are a couple on the floorboards, usually behind the seats. They usually mean a slightly longer power line, but those openings are easy to reach.
What size wire for that power line? As large as you can manage. I've found it's much easier to 'over do' to start with than to either run another power line later, or switch out the one you already have. Who knows what 'extras' you might want to power later?
As for the on/off with the ignition, there are two basic ways of doing that. One is by finding an unused place in the fuse panel (not too likely, but do-able). The other is to power a relay from that fuse panel to turn on/off with the ignition. The relay then handles the switching the power line on/off. The only biggy with that is to select a relay that can handle the voltage/current requirements, such as used for aux. lighting.
Oh are you gonna have fun finding a place under the dash to mount a radio!!
- 'Doc

[pancake]

the more u try to hide it the more noise u will pick up at lest that what happins to me

[mark223]

I looked and dang, no metal to mount to. How do hump mounts hold? I dont want to bolt anything to the floor, because I don't want to leave a trace of anything, if I go to sell the truck. Thanks for all the help you guys have provided.

[pancake]

on the dash with velcro, i used a block of wood traced the curve of the dash while holding the radio leval, primed it painted it flat black stuck it ther used that black wire tube from the parts store and it dont look half bad, i had to because i was pickin up so musc noise when i had it under the radio in the dash

[mark223]

I was wondering, how do the saw tooth hump mounts hold to the floor. I dont see a place to put screws in em. Thanks for all the help and patience.

['Doc]

Those 'saw teeth' thingy get lodged in the carpet, generally keeping the thing where you put it. They don't 'stick' all that well, but usually don't go sliding all over the place. Depends a lot on how much weight is placed on those 'teeth'.
Depending on how your dash is constructed, and how large your wallet is, one of the 'plastic' panels on the bottom of the dash can be replaced when you swap/trade trucks. So drilling holes, or cutting things isn't exactly a huge deal, just replace that particular panel. That's a fairly common thing.
There is no absolute way of guarantying results that mean no noise, etc. You are on your own there. There are usually some fairly 'common' ways of 'curing' that noise problem though.
Good luck!
- 'Doc

[mark223]

If I run the power and coax cable thru the same hole, do I have to worry about noise from the power cable? Thanks.

['Doc]

Not really. I did it that way with no problem. The only definite suggestion I'd have is to be careful going through that grommet/hole. You definitely want to keep from leaving any sharp edges which might cause a short. Another nice idea is to put a large fuse at the battery end of that power line. Quite a bit larger than what will be needed to protect the equipment using that line. That fuse is in case the power line should short some how. Sort of fire insurance. The stereo people do that sort of thing quite often, it works.
- 'Doc

[mark223]

Not really. I did it that way with no problem. The only definite suggestion I'd have is to be careful going through that grommet/hole. You definitely want to keep from leaving any sharp edges which might cause a short. Another nice idea is to put a large fuse at the battery end of that power line. Quite a bit larger than what will be needed to protect the equipment using that line. That fuse is in case the power line should short some how. Sort of fire insurance. The stereo people do that sort of thing quite often, it works.
- 'Doc

Doc, thanks for the help. Dont you mean smaller. If it is larger it may fry the radio first. About what would be a good size fuse to go with? I dont want to big and fry my radio, or to small and keep popping the fuse. Thanks for the help.

['Doc]

I know it sounds odd, but I mean a larger fuse at the battery. That's just to protect the power line in case of a short, has nothing to do with what's connected to that power line. Whatever is connected to that power line should have it's own fuse to protect it, which would be smaller than the big fuse protecting the power line. See where that's going??
- 'Doc

[mark223]

I understand you know. I thought you were talking the line for the radio.