Pioneer Head Unit Success!

Thanks to the advice from the members who replied to my previous thread along with the help I got from my good friend Google, I was able to install my new Pioneer AVH-x5800bhs all by myself. What a project!

I'm not going to write this post as any sort of a tutorial because, honestly, there's enough of them out there. I'll just show the before and after pics and provide a couple points of commentary.

To start with, I had the 130 (not the 430 I previously thought I had) :



Following the directions I found in a few different places online (YouTube, this forum, Crutchfield, and others), I ripped apart the console and center dash panel. I used a skinny plastic putty knife as a panel puller and it worked perfectly. $.99 at Ace Hardware.



As expected based on my research, I did have to get out the hacksaw to remove a portion of the dash support as well as to cut the plastic between the tan upper radio support screw holes and the black lower radio support screw holes.

I used the Metra 95-611 radio bracket, the Metra Axxess ASWC-1 steering wheel control module, and the Metra 40-EU10 radio antenna adapter cable. Because I didn't purchase any kind of wiring harness adapter, I did have to cut and splice each wire from the radio harness and the SWC module to the appropriate wires on the stock vehicle harness. Not a big deal thanks to the clear instructions with both the Pioneer and Metra units as well as this very handy breakdown, here:



In a moment of panic that turned into about an hour of panic, I was testing the head unit when all of a sudden my wipers came on, my gauges died, and all my idiot lights started doing funky things. I noticed a "NO BUS" error on the EVIC so I turned to Google to try and figure it out. No dice there as everything I read had no relation to my situation. Fortunately, I had the good sense to check the vehicle harness ground connector that I had tapped into to ground the SWC module. Sure enough, as soon as I touched it, my wipers shut off and the dash cluster returned to normal. Whew! All I had to do was re-adjust the connection, and tighten down the chassis bolt. I didn't take a picture of this because I was too busy being frustrated but, for those who may find this in a future search, I'm referring to the ground connector that is attached to the metal dash support on the right hand side behind the center dash panel.

When it was all said and done, the only thing I have to correct at a later date is the DODGE pocket on top of the center dash panel. Due to the increased height of the new radio, the pocket can no longer sit deep enough in the hole it goes in (as shown in the picture below). I'll correct that by trimming down the screw nubs on the bottom of the insert.



Here's the finished install. I'm using a phone holder that I bought at Walmart and routed the BT mic through the vent so that I can clip it directly to that mount.

Looks good.

That is about the only thing I am jealous of with regards to the 2012 and down rams, the ease of radio installs.

Hootbro said:

Looks good.

That is about the only thing I am jealous of with regards to the 2012 and down rams, the ease of radio installs.

Click to expand...

Oh, man...you and I have very different ideas of the term "easy".

Since I didn't use any adapter harnesses, I had to figure out the wiring for every. single. wire. in the setup and, for somebody who hasn't installed a radio in a car since the mid-'90s, that was pretty crazy. Like anything, I suppose if you do this a lot it gets to be pretty simple.

Two things I left out: For this particular deck (don't know about others), you have to connect an Accessory power wire (keyed circuit). Well...the Ram doesn't have one of these in its stock radio harness so you have to find one for yourself somewhere in the vehicle harness and tap into it. I spliced into the keyed power outlet in the forward console for this one.

The second thing is that the ASWC-1 module did not work when I first fired everything up. But I'm pleased to report that the instructions that came with it were spot-on when they say all you have to do is press and hold the "Reset" button for three seconds and the unit should begin automatically detecting your radio and programming your switches. So I did and, sure enough, it did. Steering wheel controls now work like a charm!

(I know I'm wordy but I figure this info may help others who land here via future searches.)

Glad it worked out well for you. However I really hope you didn't cut the factory harness and only spliced instead.

Take it as a lesson learned... it is well worth the $50 to spend on a harness. The ASWC would have plugged in and you could have wired everything up in the garage so when you get to the car it is plug and play, and it converts the ACC data line into an analog wire, so you don't need to hunt for it.

Crazy, I'm doing the same install on my 2012 ram right now. I also bought the same deck! tonight i ran the pioneer backup camera wire and ripped out the stock deck. Same exact setup as you! Any other info is appreciated. ill finish up tomorrow, this stock deck sucks. Oh, also installing some 6x9's in the front door also!!

Great radio. I didn't have any issues with the dodge tray though. Might want to check your dash kit mount. There are a lot of holes that can make them installed higher or lower. Double check your mount points to the radio and see if that is the cause of that.

Hook up a front camera too. It's cool when you got to park right up on to something like a wall. Here's my installed 5800:

https://vimeo.com/156136933

I routed the mic under the dash and tucked up under the a pillar and clipped it flush on the headliner just left of the top console.


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alfred.romero said:

Great radio. I didn't have any issues with the dodge tray though. Might want to check your dash kit mount. There are a lot of holes that can make them installed higher or lower. Double check your mount points to the radio and see if that is the cause of that.

Click to expand...

@alfred - I finally had a chance to pull the unit, today. I installed a better backup camera and cleaned up all the wiring (also did a pre-wire for a front camera per your suggestion so all I have to do is plug-and-play when I buy one). During re-install, I played around with the mounting points on the bracket kit and looked everything over real good. There's no physical way to make this unit fit without pushing up the plastic underneath that tray. It just can't be done in my rig. And, when the plastic under that tray gets pushed up, it sets the height of that mounting point too high relative to the separate dash panel for the tray to sit flush.

Are you sure you didn't cut or trim anything out of that area? It looks to me like the only way I'll be able to do it is by trimming down the portion of that tray mount that rolls under the actual mounting point (this would be easier to describe if I'd stopped to take pictures.... ). The tray mount is flat on top where the tray screws in, but underneath where it's only accessible with the radio out, the front of that horizontal plastic actually rolls under to create a lip that's about 1cm deep. THAT'S what the radio body is pushing up on and causing all the bother. If I were to trim that lip away, the tray would fit perfect.

Grrr. I hate having such a clean install that I'm quite proud of completely ruined by this silly tray issue.

Edited to Add: Boom! Scrolling way, way, way down on Google Images got me to this write-up where the author had the exact same issue and did, indeed, need to trim the piece I'm referring to. Looks like I'll be re-doing the damned install again next week....

http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=69090

Sorry just logged on now. I've been on travel. I didn't have to trim for the tray to fit. Might be a different batch of parts? But I am glad you got it to fit right! The front camera is pretty cool when you are trying to park right up on something.


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We could be twins except mine is a Pioneer 4100NEX...