Next up - New Double Din...

[myfirstlincoln]

So I may be able to get a new Kenwood DDX318 Double DIN 6.1" for around 275...I was wondering if anyone has experience with this particular model??

Also, I haven't really done much with car audio so I'm kinda a newby. What wire harness will I need and what would I need to make the steering wheel controls work. Any help is appreciated. I have an 03...

Btw, I'm not a huge audiophile and I don't really need navigation...just looking for a decent unit.

Double Din is here (not for this price):
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-FmDwUTHP4bq/p_113DDX318/Kenwood-DDX318.html

 

[loomis22]

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_33449_Kenwood-DDX318.html

Buy it there and they throw in the double din bracket and harness.

 

[Geldtron]

Not that it means anything in a sense...but dam that is a cheez photo on the crutchfield site...wait its not even a photo...more of a digital rendering. the cricle button has absolutely no depth to it.
As i said not importatnt...but how hard would it be to put up a real pic of the product... imo the digital rendering makes the display look TERRIBLE and for the likes of a 5 yr old.

 

[1LoudLS]

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_33449_Kenwood-DDX318.html

Buy it there and they throw in the double din bracket and harness.

except for he said that he could get it for $100 less, and with that $100, he could buy the dash kit, wire harness, and the steering wheel control adapter.

for the harness, you'll need to remove the radio first as some of the eariler 03's use the 98+ "mach" harness
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_14392_Scosche-FDK13B-FDK13.html
but a couple of the later 03's had the 03+ audiophile harness
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_7628_Scosche-FDK11B-FDK11.html

for the dash kit you will need either the metra 95-5000s
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_17867_Metra-95-5000S-Silver.html

which is the easiest to put together, perfectly matches the interior silver, but is harder to get to line up just right because of the plastic brackets that hold it together. these brackets also are easy to flex when placing the radio back into the dash, it is very tight behind the radio and there really isnt any extra room back there and it can really push out on the radio a bit.

or the scosche LN1329
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_14212_Scosche-LN1329B-LN1329.html
which is a lot more difficult to mount up because you have to reuse the factory bracket and make some modifications, first you will need to hammer out or dring off some bumps and then you will need to measure and drill a few holes to hold the radio in. because you now using the steel brackets, its much stronger but may take awhile making fine adjustments to get it right.

i also havent seen this kit in silver yet (havent really look either since mine was put in) so it will need to be painted to make it look right

to retain steering wheel controls you will need the pac swi-jack

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_8762_PAC-SWI-JACK.html

 

[myfirstlincoln]

1LoudLs thank you for all the info. It is extremely helpful and much appreciated. How hard is the install? I have access to just about every general tool and I'm not a complete moron but like I said, I've never done this before. Would I be better off taking it somewhere or is it pretty straightforward? Thanks again!

 

[1LoudLS]

its just a radio, if you have ever installed one before, then you've got a good ideal of whats to do, the car comes apart pretty easy as long as you know what to do (there have been a few great write ups done in the past )

the key is making sure your wiring is as clean as possible, all wires are zip tied together neatly and securely, there are a couple of tricks that will need to be done, such as using a resistor for the factory subs, and tapping into the correct wire at the ash tray for a dimmer signal, the hardest part is just getting every thing to go back together right, as i mentioned there is not a lot of extra room, so you will need to be patient when seating the radio, make sure that you stuff all the extra wires off to the sides as you push the radio back in.

if you do a search for "AVIC installs" you should be able to find a few threads on what you will need to do, the install will almost be the same, except the avic's have a couple of extra things like a GPS antenna and a mic for BT

Tru's was one that comes to mind
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=56565&highlight=avic+installs

 

[pektel]

I don't know if the gen 2 is similar, but I found with my 2000 that if I remove the glove box, I can actually reach up and grab the wires to help guide them out from behind the unit while pushing it into place.

 

[1LoudLS]

never tried it, but it sure would help.

i always tuck it a little, then move the radio two inches closer, tuck a little more, then move it two inches closer...

once you get it in far enough to get the bolts started, then you can just tighten them up a little at a time to draw it in.