Hi All,

I'd first that to thank this entire community, it's a goldmine of information for the avic's. I'm trying to install the AVIC-Z1 into a 2004 Yukon XL. First does anyone know if grounding to the wire in the harness is the same as grounding to the car? I need the ground for the bypass. I have a May 2006, but I plan on doing the upgrade to 7/06 firmware. I currently ground it to the harness wire, but I still get the parking brake improperly installed error message.

The hardest part seems to be mounting the darn thing, anyone have experience there? Some installers are calling the yukon a 1.5 DIN, wth is 1.5 DIN? Typically you would remove the brackets from your stock radio, but they are build into the frame. I can't find any local stores that have any mounting bracket kits. These installers are talking about shaving and whatnot, I'm so confused. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

An 04 yukon is a slightly oversized double din. You shoud have no problems fitting a z1 in there. The dash kit is 99-2003. that comes with the double din kit for your truck. you will have to remove some plastic at the back of the radio opening to accomodate the avic. That's not a big deal though. As far as the ground goes, everything can be tied into the same ground wire at the radio harness. There's a post around here about a classic body 07 silverado which detail exactly what you'll have to do to put a z1 in your yukon.

hey batman,

thanks for the reply. i got it all done now and for the benefit of the rest of the world, i'll ramble a little.

CAR: 2004 GMC Yukon XL, no bose, no ext amp, no on-star - base model

UNIT: AVIC-Z1

My stock harness has a ground wire, but for some reason that ground was not sufficient for grounding the parking brake wire. Maybe the contact wasn't good, but I solder'd it so it couldn't have been that bad. My recommendation to all, just ground it to the chassis or something metal connected to the chassis.

Btw, removing the entire dash makes everything much easier. Careful when you remove the A-pillar panel, i broke mine =(. Pull it NOT towards you, but at a 45 degree angle becuz the pillar is at a 45 degree angle.

The hardest part was mounting it, it took me two hrs to make my custom brackets because no one in town sells them. I saw them online for like 6 bucks, but i needed it done today, so I went to home depot and bought some l shaped brackets and drilled my own holes. After its was all done I found that it doesn't fit 100%. The avic is a little deeper, so some trimming is needed. Maybe 1/4 inch. I haven't trimmed mine yet, but I've reinstalled everything and it's fine. If you aren't picky about how it looks, you don't need to trim anything. since it comes out farther then the stock, the frame that came with avic to hide the gap does not fit.

Topics I had trouble with:

For the newbs: you need a wiring harness for your car, and an antenna adapter.

VSS Wire: If you had taken off the dash, you'll have access to the connector on the back-top of the instrument panel. Wire A-4, green/white (mine looked green/yellow-ish), is the VSS wire. Tap into that wire and connect it to your avic speed sensor wire.

Assesory Power: My Yukons stock so no accessory power came to the radio, I used a fuse tap and tapped into the Optional Accessory fuse in the driver side fuse panel. I connected that to the accessory connector on the z1.

Bypass: Used ducatiboy's method (thanks!). Upgraded my firmware to 07/06 using the ISO image found on avic411. Grounded the parking brake sensor and the bottom right wire of the connector 2 to the chassis.

Thanks to everyone again for all the info, it was a great help.