Double Din into a VX HOW!!!

[BOGANV8]

Hey guys i am re-fitting my Kenwood double din unit into my car as i wasnt happy how mounted in before. But im having prob with trying to fit the cage in there so as i can slide the unit in and out if needed. The cage is tto big for the black dash part and doesnt fit in

I have rang a few places and they say that they dont make a install kit like what you can get for the VY-VZ.. Does anybody have any idea as to how to make the cage fit in there..

Cheers Dave

P.S sorry if it has been asked before but i searched and couldnt find anything relevant

[HARVZ-6]

if you pull the dash surround out, (the plastic bit)

you get alot better access to metal cage and can fit the cage in easy then the stereo will sit flush with the plastic.. looks alot cleaner

like this

[BOGANV8]

I have gone that far down and the cage will not fit in the black box... It is physically to big to fit in there..

Will get some pics up

[HARVZ-6]

i pulled the stock cage out and cut it to fit the stereo with all the wiring etc,,

i dont use a actuall cage for the stereo just the stock spot and prob it up on rubber

[BOGANV8]

As the pictures show i can get to slide in bout 20 or 30mm then it stops and if push it in anymore ie force it in then the stereo wont slide in and out at all...

[Tasmaniak]

mate, its getting caught up on some tabs on the side...they usually do, tap them flat with a small hammer and it should slide back in. Failing that, most double din units don't actually come with a cage...I use back strapping and make up my own brackets to screw it into the top two screw holes on you can see on either side of the hole.

[BOGANV8]

Ok might have to try that... looks like its going to be a nice weekend job cutting a filling and hammering down to make it fit. There is a installer in town who said he can do it so that it slides in and out maybe i just bite the bullet and make it his prob and spend my time on other parts of the car

Every kenwood i have seen or bought has come with a cage to mount it. single and double din. Its listed in the spare parts book this cage i got.. So i dont know when i rang a few suppliers of dash mountings they all said that no one makes a mount for the vt or vx (like the vy vz) due to the stereos coming with cages and that what people use in a vt or vx..

[Tasmaniak]

most kenwoods do...clarions don't...some pioneers do. don't recall alpine as I won't deal with them.

[<RaBBiT>]

yeah get a pro to do it if u ur confident but as said above make up some bracket's and cut and mod the hole to get it to fit and don't use the cage

[BOGANV8]

But if i dont use the cage then i wont be able to slide the unit in and out of the hole as needed..

[Tasmaniak]

once it's in, why do you need to pull it out again? Mate I'm an actual fitter and I don't even pull mine out. Once it's in....its in and it can bloody well stay there.

[BOGANV8]

Yeah thats true once it in its in. But i dont want to pull the dash apart to get the thing out if it plays up and needs to be sent away..

I think by the looks of it i will be taking to the local guys who said they can fit so i can slide it in and out..

[KAL SPL]

Does this help ?


First thing you will need is the keys to remove factory head unit , it will slide out and unplug from the rear , make sure you take your cds out first or in this case remove cartridge from the stacker.




Remove the glove box , the pin needs to come out from inside the drivers side at the rear , then carefully push the rubber tab in and the glove box will fall out.
The panel below the steering column unclips and swings down with the same clip as the glove box then it will also come out.




The 2 sides of the console have screws going up into the dash and 1 at the rear.



The passenger side end of the dash has 1 cover plate with 5 screws in it and the end of dash plate has 3.





The panel above the glove box has 10 screws holding that up , it will then drop and the wiring harness can be unplugged from the back of it.



The panel around the shifter has 2 screws hidden under the ashtray , once they are out the rear of that panel will unclip upwards and you can unplud the electric windows if you have them.




There is 2 screws at the base of the main dash surround that hold the ashtray then that will also come out.



The main facia has 2 screws going upwards above the instrument cluster.
There is 3 either side of the steering column then that main facia will unclip and you can remove the plugs from the back of it.





The center console has 2 10mm nuts inside it.
There is 1 screw either side of the center console in the middle.
There is 4 screws around the area where the cigarette lighter is.





The main surround has screws everywhere , once they are all out you will need to unplug the cigarette lighter and that piece will lift out.



Everything going well it should start lookign like this




You will have a pile of panels that looks like this and a handful of scrwws like this




The screen I had to fit is a Pioneer 2 DIN DVD 6 disc screen , slide it in to where you want it , in this case I had to lift it 6mm to be central with the face , I then marked where 2 holes will line up drill it out.





Once you have bolted the deck up fit the facia back on the check that it lines up correctly , the facia is usually supplied with the head unit and may need to be cut down to fit flush.



The below pic shows how far off the front lip the deck sits as a guide to where you want your facia.
The deck itself is about 4mm narrower than the steel box in the car , instead of doing the bolts up that tight it bends the head unit I glued a 2mm washer on either side as a spacer.





Now all you need to do is wire it all up and test that it works before you put all the dash back together

[BOGANV8]

Found that write up before but he has solid mounted it in there.. Thanks for the post but..

I think i may have got it sorted thanks..

[Milktoast]

I know this is an old thread,but thanks for the pics Kal..I'm about to put a 2 din in my VU ute and these will come in real handy.

[johnno010684]

i am having trouble fitting my cage for a single din in my vx aswell, i had a vt and guy before me put head unit in and it fit no worries (with cage). so is the black metal surround on the vx different to the vt? also i have 6 rca plugs in back of head unit and cant get it to push all the way in and sit flush!! aaaaaargggghhhh just wedged in there with a bit of cardboard atm.

[StoneX]

Nope, the black metal surround is the same on VT and VX. You just need to push harder or flatten the raised bits on the black metal cage.

You might need right angle RCA plugs if the sockets are actually on the rear of the head unit rather than on flyleads.

[johnno010684]

haha all fixed! i spent the last few hours following this step by step of what you have to pull off and i was able to pull out metal cage and angle grind the piece that was in the way of the rca's (couldnt use right angle ones cos there were six lined up) and have now firmly secured cd player in place.