Bring your XJ to the modern era of audio tech!
 

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the limitations in headu available for the XJs due largely in part to the dash bezel only being able to accommodate the stock stereo (1 1/2 din?) Or a single din unit. But if you didn't know there's now a much easier way to get double din touch screen in there for 97-01 years. Sorry older xj crowd. The Metra dash kit metra part# 95-6554b! It is available at various retail stores and offroad companies. I bought mine through crutchfield at the same time i bought the head unit so they give a discount when you buy a head unit. Normally ~$50-60 with bundling through crutchfield you get for ~$20. It comes with new mounting brakets you just need to modify the subdash a a tad to get fitment.

There's a few write ups and videos out there and they did a lot sub dash cutting, which wasn't difficult but I think I've found a much easier way! The amount of cutting totally depends on the size of the headunit. I purchased the Alpine ILX-w650 which is a very shallow unit. I only had to modify a small portion of the subdash on the drivers side instead of both sides. The rest of the cutting was on the actual mounting brackets themselves. Others will still fit, just require more cutting. I went ahead and replaced thedrivers side cigarette lighter with a usb port that looks stock to eliminate wires hanging when connecting my phone. (Less photos of that process, just the end. If anyone wants more I'd take more for you.) I used a cheapo Harbor freight dremel for all the cutting and was able to clean it all up very well.

Some additional information for those who have not done these installs before. These touchscreen double din units require a handbrake connection in order to unlock settings so you can setup bluetooth/carplay/Android auto. You can go ahead and wire it to the brake or you can bypass that, not that i condone such things. It would appear that alpine units need a specific bypass with other brands i believe you can just connect that wire to the ground when you wire it up. The bypass is like $15 or so. Search microbypass parking brake override can be grabbed on Amazon. Usb port was also an Amazon purchase. Instead of using the USB extender that came with the head unit i used this instead.

Didn't supply too much on the wiring of the stereo but that is similar to any other head unit. Match the wires. With this unit you can also put in front and rear camera that I did not do.

Sorry i realize in hindsight after typing this all up it's not really a step by step or very detailed but please ask questions and I'll be happy to explain more! I'm just super stoked about using waze and spotify because it shows the album artwork (thats my biggest pet peeve about stock bluetooth set ups on newer cars that have a touch screen) and browse playlists and what not.
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The old set up

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...681b9e26e1.jpg
Wired up and turns on!
The unit wires up like any other headunit, simply match the wires and connect via your preferred method.

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Checking fit
The new dash kit has you take off the A/C vents from the factory and they clip in. As well as the the actuals clips that keep it in place. Just pull them off and transfer to the new bezel
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...6ac92142e3.jpg
Untouched sub dash on passenger side
This is a focus on the passenger side. No need to cut.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...91f3bb7973.jpg
The cut sub dash on drivers side
here is the drivers side. This required a lot of cutting. Theres a big plastic piece that sticks out here that the old head unit mounts to. I trimmed it flush then slowly trimmed more and more till it fit. Also if you look up and to the left you'll see a hole drilled into the subdash, that's one of the other points where the new brack mounts to. It'll be very obvious. This is after the cut but before i smoothed it out. This also made out easier to cover up the opening with the supplied duct tape.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...7181e9f866.jpg
Trimming the left bracket
Pretty simple here just took the bottom corner off the bracket, you can see how shallow the head unit is compared to the bracket.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...53923f6b9c.jpg
Trimming the right bracket
same on the right as the left.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...d2bb3ce1d0.jpg
Close up on the cigarette lighter usb port
sorry for not including more pics here. I just removed the whole lower panel and took some pliers and pulled out the old lighter. Afterwards there's still some plastic in the way that i trimmed with the dremel until it fit. Then there's a little backing you can screw onto the usb port and that will prevent it from moving or spinning (especially if you trim too much plastic like i did).
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...8446820d51.jpg
Finished with Google maps display via Android auto
you can now use navigation like googles maps or waze and it's quite convenient!
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Finished with Spotify via Android auto

Let's see a backup camera in action! I added a backup camera to the last Alpine system I had. I got the camera for $20 on eBay. When I brought the vehicle in for service, the technicians were commenting on how clear it was and how it looked like a factory backup camera.

I love Alpine radios. I've been installing these since the 90's.

Tell me about it. I LOVE Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. My wife's car supports Android Auto and I use it every time I want to use Waze. It's nice with an Android because then I have a choice of Waze or Google maps. Lots of people who buy cars with Android Auto or Apple Car play don't even know that they have it since many never even plug their phones in! Lots of all new Fords have that Ford SYNC that has it built in. I showed a lady how it all transformed once she plugged her iPhone in. She went bananas after she saw all the new stuff. Making it easy for speech to text for text messages and iHeartRadio, Pandora and other cool apps.

Clean install......just another option, 9" touchscreen in a single Din hole.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...9abccb3ce1.jpg

i did see this one as well! Definitely not a bad option if youre cautious about cutting into the subdash, which to be honest i was since this was the first "permanent" mod I've done to the heep. In the end i just went for it and I'm very happy. The cool thing about this alpine unit is they make an amp that pairs with it and mounts on the back of it since it's shallow. Don't know if there's space in the opening in the Cherokee for it but i imagine that would require more cutting of the subdash than i did. When i bought my cherokee 7 years ago it had stock stereo and i put in the pioneer deh-x6500bt unit to enable Bluetooth /play my ipod and at the same time i installed 4 polk speakers (db-somethings) and it sounded great although it lacked depth/bass as they were shallow mounts and we're talking about a cherokee here. The new alpine actually drives those 7 year old polks wayyyy better than the pioneer did and i did not add a sub or amp. (Dont get me wrong it's not rattling the doors off but they can go louder, stay clearer, and have a tiny more depth).

Nfadude does that screen just attach to the unit after you install the rest of it?

Yes the screen is detachable and can be adjusted for position.

Ahh that's nice. Can you angle it a little towards you? I will say The way it sits you are kinda looking down on it. It doesn't cut much off but if the angle could be addressed than it would be perfect.

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That's what I used in mine with a Pioneer head unit. Cutting out the little bit of AC vent didn't make any difference in the amount of air it puts out so imo its worth it.

That looks super nice. Doesn't it connect to Bluetooth really easy?

Yeah so far it connects to Android auto right away when I start the Jeep. It also has wired Android auto. I put the USB port in the center console.

I toyed around with the center console idea and then found the cigarette lighter replacement. That's awesome though! That looks great, and i love the seats too. I think that's going to be my next interior upgrade.

I love Android Auto. I use it every day. It's nice to have the choice of two different GPS's to pick from now.

It was the lazy way lol. Thanks it's slowly coming together. If you can weld or know someone who can make you some adaptors for the stock sliders you'll have a lot more options for seats.

It does especially for someone that can get lost in a box 😂

I like it better than Apple CarPlay now.