HELP! After-market radio installation
 

Hello Jeep Cherokee Community! My 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ Sport (2WD, V6) was stolen as THANKFULLY recovered, albeit with some damage. I have mostly fixed up everything myself and moved on to replacing the radio but the wires are a mess! I have posted a picture below. The thieves took the wiring harness that connected to the Jeep harness connection. I have ordered a replacement. However, I noticed a bunch of cut wires, including the grounding wire! The grounding wire is even split in two it seems! Please advise about what these cut wires are (there is a white pair, two dark blue pairs, and the grounding wire). I am afraid to move forward with the install until I have clarity on what these cut wires are and if it's safe, especially given the ground wire. Also, do I wire the ground wire of the radio harness to the ground wire running from the Jeep or the one attached to the harness I ordered? As you can tell I am so confused by the ground wire :/. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Oh and is it best to disconnect the negative battery terminal when I work on this? The pictures below try to show all the wires, so I had to take multiple pictures.

If the factory wiring harness was cut, you'll need to obtain what's called a reverse factory radio wiring harness, which will give you the wires to reconnect to where the thieves cut the factory radio wires, and then plug into the standard factory radio wiring harness (which is the harness that connects to the wiring on the aftermarket radio). This will also tell you which wires go where, but it's basically color-for-color. For the ground lead, you'll need to strip it back, and connect it to the ground wire on the wiring harness that comes with the aftermarket radio you purchased (NOT on the factory radio wiring harnesses, as they DON'T provide a grounding connection). And yes, ALWAYS disconnect the battery BEFORE working on the wiring, ESPECIALLY since you may have to install that reverse factory radio wiring harnesses, and that way, you won't have to worry about blowing any fuses as long as you follow the instructions for wiring. :)

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend NOT using the household wire nuts for securing your wires (or even electrical tape)... use Posi Products connectors available from Crutchfield for $5.99... you simply slide the bottom part of the connectors over the two wires you want to connect together, twist the wires together, and then screw on the top of the connector (there's a copper conductor in the top part of the connectors to make sure you get a good connection, which WON'T come loose when on rough roads or off-roading). :)

-Vince