Beaver Marquis Bose Replacement

Today the goal was to finish the radio install. The wiring harness from the old Bose was well marked and I was able to cut the harness off, then connect wire for wire to my new radio harness using 18-22 gauge butt connectors. The two 12V wires ran to the same source rather than to battery and one to ACC. The ground wire was clearly labeled as were illumination wires which would serve to decrease the radio lighting when the light are on. These 2 wires don't have a purpose with the BOSS radio I installed as it has the LED display.

After making the power connections I proceeded to wiring the 3 audio connections.

My plan involved connecting the Bose front R/L speakers to the amplified R/L front speaker outputs of the radio. Also to connect the rear Bose Wave Radio outputs (from the replaced Lifestyle 20) to the front pre-amp outputs of the new BOSS radio. The other Lifestyle 20 audio outputs were connected to the Rear Pre-amp outputs of the BOSS Radio. The Bose Wave output was easy as that cable was complete - I just tucked it back into the dash so that I could poke it through to the radio.

At the radio end the other connections were done using butt connectors 18-22 gauge, and the existing RED/WHITE connectors from the Lifestyle Audio outputs. These two cables are already routed up to the TV cabinet, but they are simply wire ends which had been connected to the amplifier. For the amplified radio outputs I butt connected them to the two speaker wire pairs to drive the existing Right and Left front Bose speakers. I dry connected these first just to what I guessed was the correct pair to drive the Left front Bose speaker. Having one speaker connected I could now test the radio which worked fine and I'd guessed right about the wiring so I butt joined the remaining wire and now I had an amplified Bose front speaker right and let. I went to the back of the RV, used the remote control for the Bose Wave Radio in the bedroom, selected the AUX setting and found that its connection was ok as well as I could now hear the front radio in the bedroom coming off the Bose Wave radio.

That left the connection from the pre-amp Rear speaker outputs. I already had a male end connector coming into the TV cabinet from my Vizio sound bar so I needed a female connector and then bare wires to butt connect to the wire pairs coming from the radio. Well, this female type of connection was part of the Remote Control audio output cable from the Lifestyle 20. I had disconnected that short cable and then cut the end off and separated it from the "remote control line", and now had a cable with female R/L audio connectors on the one end and 2 positive and 2 negative bared wires from having cutoff the connector which were the right and left audio channel wires that I could now butt connect to my two pre-amp wires coming from the radio.

I took note of the positive and negative and placed butt connectors on each of these 4 wires, then returned to the TV Cabinet and located the bare ends of that audio cable in the TV cabinet. Again I guessed as to which pair of wires was left and which was right and dry tested before making the final connections.

These 3 connections took care of the audio from the radio. I am still toying with running a video line to the TV cabinet, but I haven't quite worked that out yet. The video is a two wire connection as well and one wire was the remote turn on wire coming from the original radio and the other is a wire from the remote turn on (of the amplifier) from the Lifestyle.

After thoroughly checking the radio including the NAV system I pushed it into the double din chassis to lock it into place, and pushed the pins of the dash piece through the holes in the dash so that the dash piece fit properly into place. The only thing left was housekeeping so that the nuts were reattached to the dash pins to secure the dash. I also screwed the original backstrap to the back of the BOSS radio using a short screw I had that was left over from the HDTV mounting.

I had wondered where to run the NAV antenna but had read that you can often times just leave them under the dash, and I tried that, and it seems to work fine even though I was in a covered parking space at the storage lot. So, I'll just see how that works on the road. The Bluetooth Microphone and IPOD connectors I ran out into the area previously containing the Lifestyle and after tie wrapping the tremendous lengths of audio cable from the Lifestyle now being used to drive the Vizio and rear Bose Wave, I pushed those back into the empty space previously occupied by the Lifestyle.

Now, if I want to use the radio but not the surround system, I fade the radio to the front or simply turn off the Vizio sound bar. To run the radio on full surround stereo with bass woofer, I set the fader to completely REAR position. If I want to listen to a CD in the bedroom, I use the front fader and set the Bose Wave to AUX input.

Now I have to finish cleaning up the cables in the TV cabinet and add my two shelves - one having the Dish VIP-222k receiver and the other holding the Vizio sub-woofer.

One last finishing touch was to place my custom bezel over the radio for the completed look. I'll have to use a couple screws I suppose to hold it in place but friction is doing it for now.

There are bezel kits made for this purpose (to cover a hole that is larger), the car audio guys know where to get them.

I do like your idea of installing chargers in that area, though. It's a real handy spot for that.

Yesterday I did my cutting of the Marquis dash piece to enlarge the radio opening to allow the double din cage to fit through it - pushing it into the front. I taped the wood side of the dash piece with blue painter tape on all 4 sides of the original opening.

I measured 5/16ths of an inch above and 1/4 inch below so that the total opening was 9/16ths of an inch higher along the entire length to fit my radio's double din cage. I purchased a dremel 200 from Home Depot and got 5 carbon tipped blades. After marking off the two lines described above on the metal side, I cut the lower stud in this area first (that stud was used to attach the dash piece to the fiberglass dash but I've got 5 left which should be enough to hold it firmly in place). Besides, I noted, when I took the dash out that this particular stud didn't even have a nut on it to secure it.

I took my time but it still only took about 5 minutes or so before I could smell the (and see the smoke) carbide saw wheel cutting through to the wood side for my line. After making sure I'd hit wood and gone clear through, I unclamped the piece and examined the other side. I also had to cut up the right and left sides of the opening to finish cutting the piece. After that the tape I'd used was cut through with a knife and I found I'd not harmed my dash finish at all with this process.

I then took a break, then came back and finished the lower (1/4in) cutout side in the same fashion. Again no harm to the original finish. So I am glad I didn't pay Car Toys for a ridiculous install simply because they were afraid of damaging the wood finish.

But, after cleaning up the edges (using an attachment included in the dremel 200 kit - saving the price of a carbide bit I'd purchased for this purpose), and fitting the double din through the front of the dash radio cutout, I found that when pressing the radio head in, it does stick out nearly 3/4 inches. I thought it would be more flush but I guess if I'd looked at it earlier I would have known. I didn't think that would be a big deal as I thought the radio trim piece could cover entirely the double din cage edges but no such luck.

The result is that even though I didn't mar the exotic wood trim, I will still have to finish the front with a custom wood trim piece to cover the perimeter of the cage and fit snuggle around the protruding radio head. I plan on staining this piece or perhaps simply painting it black, then I will place a wood trim behind the opening as well, then attach the front trim (which shows) to this hidden trim piece with 2 wood screws (black screws). I may also create openings in the trim piece to allow for the USB and IPOD adaptors to poke out on either side of the radio. Keep in mind the width of the old Bose was about 3/4 of an inch wider so by centering the new radio into the cutout I still have that space available. The only decision is to center the radio is push it to one side or the other. My gut tells me to center it, then allow one cable on each side to poke out.

Regardless of how the radio is centered this install will allow a perfectly serviceable radio change out if necessary or desired later by myself or the next owner. All they'd have to do is remove the two screws to gain access to the double din cage key slots, insert the two keys and the radio will pop out. Just hope my custom bezel cover fits their new radio head or they'll have to create another one!

Just further notes on my progress with this A/V update if others find this topic while searching something like "replacing radio in beaver marquis".

I did remove the dash panel by moving the cup holder and ducting out of the way, and then I removed the nuts from the dash which fit through the fiberglass dash shell to secure it.

The dash was then able to be withdrawn and freed. I removed the 4 screws holding my computer in place and it releases from the wood grain/metal reinforced dash section. Oh, there was a strap running from the top of the fiberglass dash around the back of the computer and Bose radio and I did undo the nut from the stud on the back of the radio which was necessary to free the radio.

Also during this process, I did undo some wire wraps to make it easier to push wires out of the way in under the dash so that I could work to take those nuts off the dash studs I mentioned earlier.

Just a side note - it is very easy (I've done it more than once) to unhook the passenger side fan connection while working in this area. So, if that fan no longer works just look for the fan housing and you'll see that you've bumped that connection off its post.

Once the computer was unscrewed the only connections remaining were those of the electrical connections to the 4 switches (gen/closeout/rear cam wash/outdoor speaker) and two nuts holding the radio to the dash piece on the metal side of the dash piece. I needed a deep socket > 1 inch deep and 11/32nds to get at one of those nuts as it was between the radio and the switches. All other nuts on those "dash studs" we reachable with a small wrench which loosened them, then I used my fingers to twist them off while laying on my back and working up from under the dash. I may be reached 1 by undoing the center dash top cover - and it also allows more light in if you open that Velcro connected dash piece.

I carefully labeled and recorded on paper the wiring to all switches and now have the dash piece separated from the vehicle.

I took it to CAR TOYS to see if they would cut it for me so that the radio opening would fit the Double Din requirements (its very close, maybe 1/4" to 1/2" short height wise. The width is larger than that required by the double din.

Surprisingly I was told that what they would do is throw out the DIN CAGE which is what requires most of the cutout work and simply place the radio BEHIND the dash so as not to possibly wreck the wood finish on the front side. And it would cost between $100 and $200 for them to secure the radio to the back side of the dash in this fashion.

While it is true that the actual radio face is only perhaps 1/16th of an inch oversized to the existing cutout, it would have to be carefully centered as the DVD slot is near the very top of the radio.

I told them I'd consider it, but there is very little wiggle room and if the radio was to shift at all, the DVD slot might become obscured during travel and then what a mess to try to fix that given that it would basically require me to disassemble the whole dash again and then how would one insure it just wouldn't jostle again!

So, what I've decided to do is to go ahead and try being careful in cutting the larger entry hole, with a fall back plan of simply using a custom sized wood piece over the radio if I goof up and mar the existing trim (in other words cover the marred finish with newly finished wood trim as if it had always been there).

I have to have a trim piece anyway to fill the oversized length of the old Bose radio, so I needed a piece of material (wood I think) behind the opening, so this would just mean I would overlay a similarly sized piece in front. I might try taking the existing dash to an exotic wood store to see if it can be matched. At any rate, the way I am going to do it, any double din can easily replace what I have because I will use the cage and as some of you might know, to remove the radio is simply a matter of removing the wood trim, then using two "keys' to allow the old radio to slide out. Of course in this installation I do plan on putting the strap back on for additional security of the install so one would have to reach up in there and undo that nut as well, but at least the dash would be left alone!

What's nice about the new radio install is that speaker wire already runs up to the TV cabinet where all my existing electronics are. In fact there are two sets of audio wires running there. One set is from the radio which I will use to drive the front R/L original bose speakers and another set was from the lifestyle music center which I will connect to the pre-amp outputs from the radio an into the Vizio surround sound system.

In addition there is another pair of wires (from the old Lifestyle 20 system) will run to the rear bose system so that the radio output can drive the rear stereo as the lifestyle used to before I took it out.

Besides all those wires, there are also 2 additional wires which I assume were used to power the amp (or not) which run from the radio and lifestyle. I don't know much about what type of wires are used for video signals but I think wire is wire so I can now use those two spare wires together to connect the video from the new radio up to my cabinet without running a new video cable. This way the DVD player can be tied into the flat screen video. I'll test to see if that is true or not.

Before I continue with my mod on this dash I would love to hear from anyone who has replaced this vintage Bose Radio with a double din. Can't find anyone online who has posted.

Both outlets are fed by the inverter but one has is switched off when you turn the key on. It doesn't matter whether or not the generator is running; that's irrelevant. The relay that cuts off that outlet doesn't care what the power source is, only that the key is on.

ok, thanks I'll have to look into that. Not sure why it would run on the generator but not with the key switched on. I can understand if one is on the inverter and one is not, but why wouldn't both be available while on the generator. Unless...that one is actually on the inverter (I had the inverter off) and the inverter circuit is isolated while driving such that you have to have the inverter on...hmm...but the inverter is bypassed when the generator is on. Ok, I still don't understand it, the rationale of operation of that circuit. Obviously, as long as I don't draw too many amps, I can just use a buss bar to light my 5 devices. thanks again for the prompt info!!

My Beaver also has two outlets and one is switched as you describe. Since we don't run any of the audio/visual system while driving it is not a problem for us. Anyway, it's usually pretty easy to bypass the cut-off switch.

mgrovesjai wrote:
A side question here - off to the right side of this cabinet in my Beaver are two wall outlets one on top of the other? I wonder if yours is the same. The reason I am interested is that while testing my audio system I had the sound bar and subwoofer plugged into the top outlet set, and while playing the music I was testing my rear view camera. To test the camera I had to turn the ignition key on (generator was running this whole time to provide power) and when I did this, that outlet cut out. The one below it was still hot, but that one cut out. I didn't look too closely but it appeared that both outlets were on the same loop of wire so it didn't make sense that one went out and the other stayed hot. When I switched the key off, the power to the top outlet returned, so I wondered if you knew why. Looks like I'll have to plug in the TV, Sound Bar, subwoofer, satellite tuner and Satellite controller to the bottom outlet.

Probably a safety feature so that owners aren't watching and listening to TV when on the road.

A side question here - off to the right side of this cabinet in my Beaver are two wall outlets one on top of the other? I wonder if yours is the same. The reason I am interested is that while testing my audio system I had the sound bar and subwoofer plugged into the top outlet set, and while playing the music I was testing my rear view camera. To test the camera I had to turn the ignition key on (generator was running this whole time to provide power) and when I did this, that outlet cut out. The one below it was still hot, but that one cut out. I didn't look too closely but it appeared that both outlets were on the same loop of wire so it didn't make sense that one went out and the other stayed hot. When I switched the key off, the power to the top outlet returned, so I wondered if you knew why. Looks like I'll have to plug in the TV, Sound Bar, subwoofer, satellite tuner and Satellite controller to the bottom outlet.

Sounds like you're making good progress. Here's one approach to mounting the swing-arm TV mount. I can swing my TV nearly to the mid-line of the MH.