Hopefully these are at least a little helpful. one more note; If you have the infinity system, and you are installing a head unit with NAV, you may need to connect the front output pair from he head unit to the rear pair of the harness (leaving the rear output and front harness connections disconnected) This is because the inifinity system takes the rear channel of the harness into the amp then shoves that through all the speakers and leaves the front channel unused, most NAV head units use the front outputs to push the voice commands.

 

You need to work for Chrysler That is an incredible job
You could also just use RCA's and go to new AMPs ad then re tie into speaker harness

STEVE

 

That would be another option. There are also wiring kits to simply bypass the amp.

 

That is an excellent and very timely thread. Great work, and thanks for the great information. 1000% improvement over the stock look. I just need to find a black bezel instead of the silver.

 

Your thread inspired me to get off my ass and get this done. It's been over a year since I did this

Possible part numbers based on this (07 and up may be different)
1DK921D5AA (Silver/Grey), 1DK371D1AA, 1DK921D1AA, 1DK381J3AA, 1DK371J3AA, 1DK921J3AA, 1DK921J3AA

It seems like places are allergic to stating the colors online for the most part...

5KQ631X8AA also shows up as a nightrunner part, but I'm pretty sure that is the same as your existing bezel. Might be able to dig through the diagrams on that site to find the right piece

 

I could always get the bezel you got and paint it with a good quality paint, not the biggest problem. Funny, I was just reading the thread (again), and feeling my own inspiration. It would completely change the look of the interior, really modernize it. The job you did on it is really fantastic. How's that unit working? What model is it?

 

It's a JVC KW-NT310. Does Blutooth, Nav, Sirius (I still need to run cabling from the external antenna to the receiver, currently using the tiny little antenna that came with the receiver mounted under the dash), DVD, rear view camera if I decide to mount one, and rear screens. It works great, though the view angle on the screen isn't the greatest, but I find it mostly readable from driving position, and I suspect that I could probably play with the adjustment to make it somewhat better. The Nav pronounces some things funny, for example it says "caly for nia" or at least it did prior to me doing a software update a few weeks ago, I haven't used it since to know if it still does. Overall I would definitely recommend it.

I also like the silver better than the wood. The wood always seemed completely out of place since it was the only wood in the entire cabin. The silver at least matches the door handls, and the center of the dials in the instrument cluster

 

Hello,
Awesome thread and as was said earlier, very timely. I just picked up an 06 SLT. My first project is to replace the stock head unit. I have bought the Navi bezel and the PAC plug in harness. Looking at the finished installation I see you have quite a large hole to fill in the factory radio bezel. I assume the new head unit came with a "filler" bezel but it looks like you have two around your radio.
My question to you is;
Where did you get the larger bezel around the radio.
Great job and thanks for any input.
Willie

 

Yeah the way it comes is kinda weird. The two matte black pieces are actually from the same installation kit, presumably either to handle differences in the way double din head units are made or because it'll also allow you to mount a single DIN unit. All of the new head unit plastics are shiny. This is what I used, came free because I bought the head unit from them.

 

Well everything is on order so I will be trying mine one of the next couple of weekends! Thanks for the excellent write up. Ive heard some people replacing the power connector with a usb input. Anyone tried that?

 

Well beastofwar, I completed the Navigation system install. Went very well thanks to your fine write up! Sounds great and looks great too. Where did you put your gps antenna?

 

That's a nice clean looking headunit.

IIRC I passed the GPS antenna up and shoved it under the piece that has the tweeters in it right at the very front of the dash.

 

Anyone looking to do this, great time to grab a circle USB port from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MNGCDVS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I popped out the cover on the driver side that matches the power / cig lighter on the passenger. I have pictures around of the install if anyone is interested. Had to trim the opening a little to make it fit but it looks factory. I actually put one in for each row of seats.

 

Love this write up, and it's very cool to see more gen 2 owners doing it.

 

I just did a similar upgrade on mine this past weekend. Put a double DIN JVC unit in.
The hardest part was actually cutting into the dash panel...once you do that and make that cut your either gonna make the new radio fit or get a new dash panel...theres no going back.
I used the factory amp and the infinity speakers. Maybe some day I will change them, I figure the dash mounted tweeters are 10 years old, sitting in direct sun, so may not be good for much longer.
I got the steering wheel controller so those are intact still. But the wiring had me a bit confused for the speakers..didnt make much sense to me.

 

Yeah the wiring is weird. Based on descriptions I found it seems like the factory amp takes the rear output from the head unit, and pipes it to all of the speakers in the car. meaning your front outputs from the headunit go nowhere.

 

And doing so means your fader on the new radio does not work.

 

I am trying to install a double din in my wifes durango she has an 05 with the infinity system. I bought the PAC adapter because I was told i need that but i am not so sure, i have wired it up 3 times and each time go back to the factory radio because i can not get the amp to power on and play any audio.

Please help. I have read several forums searched google etc. with no luck

 

I am trying to install a double din in my wifes durango she has an 05 with the infinity system. I bought the PAC adapter because I was told i need that but i am not so sure, i have wired it up 3 times and each time go back to the factory radio because i can not get the amp to power on and play any audio.

Please help. I have read several forums searched google etc. with no luck

I had a similar issue with the PAC adapter....I put a double DIN radio in mine, with the infinity system....I will post a pic tomorrow. I had to call Crutchfiled who I bought it from and had him on the phone going over the wiring...the pics I had telling me how to do it didnt make sense. I wish I could tell you what I did, but its been a long time now that I did this.

For mine, I cut the existing silver plastic bezel to fit the size of the double DIN...so if I take out I need a new bezel..lol

I also left the plastic bracket the held the radio, and cut the back of it so it spread open to fit the new radio, I figured it would ok to hold the radio, and its been fine.

 

The PAC adapter is only really useful for the steering wheel controls (in my opinion) if you don't have those all you should need is the wiring (metra usually make one) and then, if necessary due to Navigation audio, to wire the front output to the rear position on the truck harness due to the previously mentioned amp wiring. There is often a trigger wire to turn on the amp. I forget if that was required in this case.

 

I started with this;

Parts I used;

Double DIN bracket (used by models that came standard with NAV) 55056269-AD - $12.20+Tax from dealer
Bezel/Head Unit Surround (again, used by models that came standard with NAV) 1DK921D5AA $123.03 From Tasca (through Ebay) Nb this code is color combination specific, this is Silver/Grey
Gizmo to interpret Steering Wheel Controls PAC RP4-CH11 $74.99 + Tax from Crutchfield
Double Din install kit Free from Crutchfield due to buying the head unit there. I lied to thier tool and told them I had a Durango with Nav that way they believed that it would fit without further mods

Someone with more time/skill could probably hack away at the mounting bracket and bezel to avoid those costs. Also note that some eBay sellers bundle the bezel and the bracket, so worth looking for.

The process is very easy. I apologize in advance for the blurryness of some of these pictures. I took them with my cell phone since I forgot to take my camera out with me.

Step 1 remove two hex head screws from the top surface of the pocket area under the bezel. Looking up from the very bottom;

The slightly blurry cirxlish shape toward the bottom and slightly right of center is the head of the screw. There are two, one each side.

Step 2 pull very gently on the bezel starting at the bottom, be very gentle and don't pull too far, some of the wiring does not have much slack. Once all the clips come free angle forward slightly to get to the HVAC connections.

Yes that bottom cable is plugged into the rear of the 'blank' in the front of the bezel. There are a variety of clips on these connections. I was hoping to have captured them in at least one of these pictures, I apparently failed. But none of them were too complicated so I'm sure anyone doing this for themselves can handle it.

Set the bezel aside and unscrew the head unit from it's mounting bracket

One of the four already loosened in this image.

Pull it out gently and unhook the connections.

The antennae connection (image right) has a locking collar. I believe you have to pull on the collar to allow the cable to move, this was very stiff and I had to kinda push in on the cable too.

Remove the bracket.

Six screws for this, 4 obvious on the front, 2 in behind the wiring

Everything is now out.

If cutting, etc this would be the time. Otherwise install replacement bracket.

Move the HAVAC controls, little pocket thing, and the 'blank' to the new bezel

HAVAC at top had 4 screws, then 4 again in the back of the pocket. note the fake electrical connections. those with heated sets have their controls here instead.

From here reverse the removal steps

I ended up with this

Nice work! I am working on my 08 Durango with an updated stereo. It has an additional white connector harness on the factory stereo that I need to tap into. It has become a wiring nightmare. Will post pics soon....

 

great post brother

 

Ok. so I upgraded my Aspen to a double DIN aftermarket stereo - a Kenwood DMX706s from a single DIN Pioneer unit that was in the SUV when i got it.

Lesson's learned:

• If you have the center dash bezel with the funky half-moon circles, go ahead and buy a 2nd hand bezel for a navigation unit and don't try to cheap out (the bezels are < $100) and get one of those trim kits (I got a Scosche kit). It's a pain to get to fit properly. This youtube video accurately describes the process:
  . You have to do some dash interior surgery...
• The 12v power outlet below the climate controls are a pain to remove - there are two small plastic clips reachable from the front that are very difficult to depress enough to remove the outlet so you can put an USB outlet there instead connected from the back of the radio.
• It does look a lot better after it's done though

TBD:
* install backup camera (and front mounted camera as my unit supports both) - I'm not looking forward to that after having just installed one in my wife's car.

 

if I do this will my DVD player for the rear still work as it should?

 

Unfortunately I don't have the rear DVD so I'm not sure on the hookups for that.

 

In March, I had a JVC 10.1" Media Receiver w/idataLink Maestro Module installed. On the bottom left, opposite the cigarette lighter also had an HDMI and USB port installed since there was nothing there.

 

In March, I had a JVC 10.1" Media Receiver w/idataLink Maestro Module installed. On the bottom left, opposite the cigarette lighter also had an HDMI and USB port installed since there was nothing there.

Does that module only use the sensors that are factory equipped? I have been looking to add a transmission and oil temp gauge to mine since I do a fair amount of heavy hauling.