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This will be a guide of what I did to my 2011 GMC Acadia FWD Denali edition. This guide can apply to Lambda-platform cars (2007-2016 and 2017 Acadia Limited) and may not work with the new C1XX-platform models (2017 and newer). You may find better or different ways to do it yourself. Before I start this guide, I am going to let you know that I'm far from being a professional nor will I ever claim to be one. You will expect to cuss a lot, sweat, and bleed if you plan to do what I did to my vehicle. That being said: Let's get to it.
This guide will be updated through out the span of the build. I simply don't have the time to write this all at once. So there will be a lot of edits to this post. I hope you learn from my experiences!
My vehicle upgrade consists of the following:
Upgrading the double din headunit. Replacing all speakers (except the factory subwoofer), including the center and 3rd row seat 3.5" speakers. Adding a 4 channel amplifier and a monoblock amplifier. Upgrading (adding) new wire for the power.
Before you start installing anything, you will want to remove the seats. I chose to remove my front passenger seat, the 2nd row passenger seat and both 3rd row passenger seats. You will need the following tools:
13mm impact socket
15mm impact socket
18mm impact socket
Impact gun (air or battery)
Ratchet with a breaker bar
Trim removal tool (plastic to avoid possible damage)
WD 40, incase your bolts are hard to get off
Front Passenger Seat:
The front passenger seat is pretty simple to remove. It only has (2) 15 mm bolts, located behind the seat next to the battery. They both have trim pieces covering them. The right trim cover you can simply pop off with your trim tool. The left trim cover, located near the center console, you may need a small flat head screw driver or a pick. Just be careful not to slip off the edge and scratch your trim cover. Once your trim cover pieces are removed, you can visibly see the bolts. The easiest way to remove the bolts is to put the seat all the way forward. Once that is done, you can easily remove both bolts. Once the bolts are removed, move the seat back a little bit to the point you can comfortably access underneath the front seat. You will see 2 CPA plugs. One is a wide (24 pin?) plug attached to the seat by 2 christmas trees or rosebuds (whatever you'd like to call them). The other 4 pin CPA plug will be held by a single rose bud on the right side (or your left if your looking directly below the seat). You will need to disconnect both CPA plugs and detach the rosebuds from the seat. For safe keeping, push the CPA plugs underneath the carpet opening to ensure you do not damage it during the removable of the seat. Once you have the CPA plugs out of the way, removing the seat is easy. All you have to do is go behind the seat, lift it up slightly and pull back. This will free the seat out of the metal rail that the hooks secure it down to. You will then need a T-30 star bit (I think, will confirm and correct later) to remove the seat belt secure bolt. Once the bolt is removed, you can simply squeeze the trim covers on the side and it will come apart. You can tilt the seat back and lift it up slightly and carry it forward to avoid the metal hooks from the seat from latching into the metal rails connected to the frame. You can then remove the seat out the front passenger door, but be careful that the metal rails do not scrap against your trim pieces.
Second Row Passenger Seat:
This seat is the most difficult seat to remove in my opinion. It's located in the middle of the vehicle where the secure bolts are exposed to a lot of outside weather conditions which cause the bolts to rust and seize up...ultimately becoming really difficult to remove. This seat contains (7) 15mm bolts. How you access these bolts...is another fun memory. Remove the trim covers (or floor covers). Remove it in this order:
Front left floor cover piece (located in the isle way)
Front right floor cover piece (located near the door)
Rear right floor cover piece (located near the door)
Rear left floor cover piece (located near the isle way)
Once you have the 4 floor cover pieces removed, you will gain access to (3) 15 mm bolts up in the front and (4) 15 mm bolts in the back of the seat. I used an impact gun to remove these bolts. You can use an impact gun on (3) 15 mm bolts in the back of the seat as well, but there is one bolt you may need a sideways torque gun for. I simply used a ratchet with a small breaker bar and sat in the third row seat and push it with my foot (my bolts were really seized up). It's best to have the seat all the way flat before removing all the bolts. Once all bolts are removed, you can remove the seat out the passenger rear door. Be careful...If I'm not mistaken that one seat is over 100lbs...or near it. The best way I learned to remove the seat row seat is by having it flat down, turning it where the rails are facing the back of the vehicle. Flip it sideways, having the arm rest facing up towards the ceiling, then removing it slowly to prevent any damage to your door panel or your trim pillar.
Third Row Seats:
These seats are the easiest considering they're the lightest (in my opinion). In order to gain access to the (4) 18mm bolts. You must remove your false floor cover piece. This is quite simple. Push your 3rd row seats down to where they are flat and lift up your false floor. You will notice 3 holes on the back side of your false floor. Those holes contain (3) 13mm bolts. You will want to remove those in order to remove the whole piece. It's hard plastic so it shouldn't do any damage to your rear side trim..but an easy way to remove it is to simply remove the 3 bolts, pull back slightly on one end and remove it. Once the false floor is removed, you will see your bolts. Unfasten those bolts with your impact gun and push the seats forward a tad then you are able to remove them since the front end is secured by a hook similar to your front passenger seat.
It's getting late, I will add more tomorrow if the time allows. Pictures will be added in the future. I did not take many since I was just a big ball of anger, but I will research and find pictures to help support my words.
Before I start the wiring, headunit installation and bypassing the bose amplifier..I am putting a link for beginners to audio.
www.audiodrive.org
This guide will be updated through out the span of the build. I simply don't have the time to write this all at once. So there will be a lot of edits to this post. I hope you learn from my experiences!
My vehicle upgrade consists of the following:
Upgrading the double din headunit. Replacing all speakers (except the factory subwoofer), including the center and 3rd row seat 3.5" speakers. Adding a 4 channel amplifier and a monoblock amplifier. Upgrading (adding) new wire for the power.
Before you start installing anything, you will want to remove the seats. I chose to remove my front passenger seat, the 2nd row passenger seat and both 3rd row passenger seats. You will need the following tools:
13mm impact socket
15mm impact socket
18mm impact socket
Impact gun (air or battery)
Ratchet with a breaker bar
Trim removal tool (plastic to avoid possible damage)
WD 40, incase your bolts are hard to get off
Front Passenger Seat:
The front passenger seat is pretty simple to remove. It only has (2) 15 mm bolts, located behind the seat next to the battery. They both have trim pieces covering them. The right trim cover you can simply pop off with your trim tool. The left trim cover, located near the center console, you may need a small flat head screw driver or a pick. Just be careful not to slip off the edge and scratch your trim cover. Once your trim cover pieces are removed, you can visibly see the bolts. The easiest way to remove the bolts is to put the seat all the way forward. Once that is done, you can easily remove both bolts. Once the bolts are removed, move the seat back a little bit to the point you can comfortably access underneath the front seat. You will see 2 CPA plugs. One is a wide (24 pin?) plug attached to the seat by 2 christmas trees or rosebuds (whatever you'd like to call them). The other 4 pin CPA plug will be held by a single rose bud on the right side (or your left if your looking directly below the seat). You will need to disconnect both CPA plugs and detach the rosebuds from the seat. For safe keeping, push the CPA plugs underneath the carpet opening to ensure you do not damage it during the removable of the seat. Once you have the CPA plugs out of the way, removing the seat is easy. All you have to do is go behind the seat, lift it up slightly and pull back. This will free the seat out of the metal rail that the hooks secure it down to. You will then need a T-30 star bit (I think, will confirm and correct later) to remove the seat belt secure bolt. Once the bolt is removed, you can simply squeeze the trim covers on the side and it will come apart. You can tilt the seat back and lift it up slightly and carry it forward to avoid the metal hooks from the seat from latching into the metal rails connected to the frame. You can then remove the seat out the front passenger door, but be careful that the metal rails do not scrap against your trim pieces.
Second Row Passenger Seat:
This seat is the most difficult seat to remove in my opinion. It's located in the middle of the vehicle where the secure bolts are exposed to a lot of outside weather conditions which cause the bolts to rust and seize up...ultimately becoming really difficult to remove. This seat contains (7) 15mm bolts. How you access these bolts...is another fun memory. Remove the trim covers (or floor covers). Remove it in this order:
Front left floor cover piece (located in the isle way)
Front right floor cover piece (located near the door)
Rear right floor cover piece (located near the door)
Rear left floor cover piece (located near the isle way)
Once you have the 4 floor cover pieces removed, you will gain access to (3) 15 mm bolts up in the front and (4) 15 mm bolts in the back of the seat. I used an impact gun to remove these bolts. You can use an impact gun on (3) 15 mm bolts in the back of the seat as well, but there is one bolt you may need a sideways torque gun for. I simply used a ratchet with a small breaker bar and sat in the third row seat and push it with my foot (my bolts were really seized up). It's best to have the seat all the way flat before removing all the bolts. Once all bolts are removed, you can remove the seat out the passenger rear door. Be careful...If I'm not mistaken that one seat is over 100lbs...or near it. The best way I learned to remove the seat row seat is by having it flat down, turning it where the rails are facing the back of the vehicle. Flip it sideways, having the arm rest facing up towards the ceiling, then removing it slowly to prevent any damage to your door panel or your trim pillar.
Third Row Seats:
These seats are the easiest considering they're the lightest (in my opinion). In order to gain access to the (4) 18mm bolts. You must remove your false floor cover piece. This is quite simple. Push your 3rd row seats down to where they are flat and lift up your false floor. You will notice 3 holes on the back side of your false floor. Those holes contain (3) 13mm bolts. You will want to remove those in order to remove the whole piece. It's hard plastic so it shouldn't do any damage to your rear side trim..but an easy way to remove it is to simply remove the 3 bolts, pull back slightly on one end and remove it. Once the false floor is removed, you will see your bolts. Unfasten those bolts with your impact gun and push the seats forward a tad then you are able to remove them since the front end is secured by a hook similar to your front passenger seat.
It's getting late, I will add more tomorrow if the time allows. Pictures will be added in the future. I did not take many since I was just a big ball of anger, but I will research and find pictures to help support my words.
Before I start the wiring, headunit installation and bypassing the bose amplifier..I am putting a link for beginners to audio.

Everything You Need to Know to Build A Car Stereo System!
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