crackling speakers

If you replaced the head unit, you don't need your factory amp any more. You will need a wiring harness to bypass the factory amp unless you really want to splice or solder, not worth the trouble IMHO. I know cutchfield.com sells the wiring harness you need.

If all of speakers are crackling, it is probably an Amp issue. If it is only one speaker - the wiring from the speaker through the door jamb to the interior probably has a bad spot from the opening of the door.

To Captian Coleman alone: If the reasoning behind your post was allowing for the speakers "crackling" due to the Ford amp being overdriven (clipping the input), then you were certainly on the right track, and the following wouldn't apply. ;)

I'm posting this from the standpoint that he has an amplifier with problems (or damage) -and to me, if that's the case, the POS isnt worth repairing (or even using in the first place if you have an aftermarket head unit of any decenct account) lol

Nice idea but...not "entirely" accurate. (no offense)

I have the same truck (94 XLT), and there would be nothing for any replacement harness to plug *into* at least per your quote:

The only "factory adaptors that I've seen at Crutchfield and the like, do NOT bypass the amp (without running wires). They simply adapt speaker-level output from your aftermarket stereo, to the oddball fixed-input level design that Ford decided to lock everyone into.

That is, the signal that Ford's built in amp requires is neither speaker level, nor RCA-level. It's somwhere in between. ;)

There's only two ways to *truly* "bypass" the factory amp. One requires running 4 separate pairs of wires. One from each door speaker to the area that the head unit rests in. OR the the way that I ended up doing things. (which was a time/frustration saver, as opposed to running things 100% dash to speaker)

I didn't fancy the idea of having to go through each individual door jam assembly. So, while I was considering the task of running 4 separate lines to each door (and then obviously to where the head unit rests)...I stumbled across a "central harness" point that allows you to tap into all 4 speakers at one convenient junction.

Bottom line: I still had to run 4 pairs of wires, but averted having to go into each individual door!!! (I simply ran the pairs from the stereo in the dash to the area between the passenger side doors).

If you would like to do the same, there's a quick-connect point that's at the base (under the floor/side panel molding) between the passenger side doors (in the dividing frame, the same one that the rear pass. door mounts to).

You have to remove the single piece of floor molding (that extends up the sidewall) on the passenger side, but once you do, you should be able to see a little opaque-white connection box, that feeds both the amp, and the speakers. It'll have roughly 10-12 wires. (hint: it's not within the wiring loom that feeds nearest the rear passenger door rail.) I don't remember if I used the male or female side of that connector, but one side comes FROM the amp, and the other goes to the speakers. At least Ford afforded us that much! A nice little tap point!

Sorry that I didn't retain the wiring pinout that I created while sorting out which wires went to which speakers (color codes and polairty) once the job was finished... I even thought about it. I just figured... no one here would want to go to the same trouble I went to for the sake of "quality sound". (translation: for most, it'd make more sense to just pay some stereo joint to have it installed.) But if you have the basic knowledge of how to install a stereo properly, it shouldn't be too hard to trace speaker wires... ;)

Something told me to save that little piece of paper...

Hi there -

You sound like you have a couple of things going on.

There are three different wiring harnesses available -

The first one is a pigtail unit that allows you to wire your head unit to connector plugs that plug directly into the factory dash wiring.

The second one is that you can wire in to decrease the output from your head unit and is wired between the head unit and the pigtail unit mentioned above.

The third one is the amp bypass unit. This allows you to unplug both of the connectors that plug into the factory amp and bypass it. No wiring is necessary. The amp is located in the side panel in the right rear of the the truck.

I tracked down a JBL amp/subwoofer unit and added this to my '94. It replaces the factory amp and add the amp/subwoofer to your system. You do need to run a full time power source to the amp to run it - this is standard if your truck has the JBL system.

My local Checker auto parts store has the first pigtail and the third one packaged together for something like $16.00.

You could bypass the amp and see if that is your issue very easily - although it is fun to pull the panel to get to the amp.

Hope this helps,

Randy

Well!! An old dog learned somethin new! *chuckles* :) 'Preciate the info Randy!

Everywhere I've checked around these parts doesnt have such a harness though. :/

Even though the job's already done, I'd much rather have used the above method.

Any chance of a link (if they have an online presence) to the harness? I'd like to keep the option available for the future... :)

Sadly, no Checker Auto Parts in these parts, nor have I even heard of them before now. Are they a local only chain, or nationwide (regional)?

TIA :)

Hi there -

Checker goes under different names in different parts of the country.

Main web page is

Randy