Thread: How to fit a stereo into a single cab Defender

I had finally got sick of listening to the idiots on the UHF :roll: , on my daily commute, and decided to bite the bullet and put in a stereo.

Now this proved easier said than done.
Not only did my Land Rover not come fitted with a radio (ex-factory) but I couldn’t even figure out where the hell I was going to put the speakers :!:

Hopefully the following will be of use to anyone contemplating a similar quandary. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]


This is the dash position where the stereo is usually mounted. My single cab did not come from the factory with a stereo fitted, so I had installed by CB radio in that area. Obviously that needed to be moved to make space for the stereo.


Later model Defenders had speakers mounted under dash and facing into the foot-wells. The air-conditioning arrangement on these older models precludes this option.


No room for speakers up here. I want a dual cab !


Rear of cab (corner window) and seat. As you can see there is bugger all room to mount speakers in a single cab.


Once the seat is moved forward you can see there is a small space available behind and beside the seat, in the corner of the cab.


Stereo bracket was sourced from British Offroad. $25.


Eclipse MP3 CD Player looks tidy installed. The CB is now mounted below the dash (you can see the corner of it at the extreme bottom of this pic).


Alpine Speakers are mounted in a custom built housing in corners of cab.

I’m happy with the final outcome. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] Though the installation is not ideal from a speaker positioning point of view, stereo separation is still good. And it has to be better than speakers pointing into the foot-wells :!:

The Eclipse MP3 CD player is very good, and I haven’t had it skip once. It will definitely be coming with me if I ever upgrade vehicles.

I have to admit that I have no electrical knowledge and left the installation to experts, namely Northfield Car Audio, Kippa Ring.
They are familiar with Land Rovers doing a fair bit of work for M.R. Automotive who are 2 doors down the road.

You can't buy an extra-cab. Not a new one anyawy. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif[/img]