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06-08 Convert 1.5 Din to Double Din Aftermarket Radio

120K views 50 replies 37 participants last post by  TexasRam 
#1 ·


I have a 2006 Ram Night Runner edition. I had a standard 1.5 Din stock radio, and i wanted to convert to double din. However I was unable to find much on forums to explain this process or tell me if it was even possible, so hopefully this isn't posted somewhere else. I put a lot of time in doing this wrong, until I figured out what to do right, so hopefully this helps someone else.


I had to remove the top of the cup holder lid in the red box to get to the 2 screws that are the red dots that hold in the radio bezel.



Alright, I will try to make this easy, to pull out the Cup holder lid, you need to reach into the compartment and push out the 3 tabs labeled as 1. Once you have pushed the tabs loose, the whole thing will pull up and out, when you pry with some force the 4 secondary tabs will pull out of label 2. Finally you need to remove 3 small screws, to get to the next set of screws in the bottom of the dash.



I then removed the 2 red bottom screws and the 2 trim pieces came out, and was able to unscrew the 2 blue screws from the bottom. (Note!: From what i have read not all rams have the 2 blue screws so depending on your interior, you may not even need to do all of these previous steps) Then I pried very, very hard and pulled the bezel off. It takes a lot of force so don't be shy, shown in the red box is one of the many tabs that hold it in place. Then unscrewed the 4 screws that hold in the radio and the small compartment underneath it.



I also unscrewed all the accessories in the red circles, and many more for the 4x4 control and the A/C and heat. I unplugged the wires in the red square and the other 4, whatever was not on the replacement bezel.



Now the radio is fully removed, once again I have the standard stock non-premium stereo. There are 3 plugs to the radio, 2 wire harnesses and an antenna plug. Because I did not have the premium stereo my aftermarket harness does not connect to the smaller wire harness in the red box, I did not use this harness at all.



This is the harness fully plugged in, the antenna plug will require an adapter. I purchased everything i needed for this installation on Ebay.

I purchased:
Pioneer avic-x930bt (I chose this unit because of it's dvd, gps navigation, bluetooth, and ipod/iphone compatibility)
OEM Ram bezel with the bigger navigation hole
Metra xsvi-6502nav - wire harness
Metra 40-cr10 - antenna adapter
Scosche cr1289b - dash kit



New unit installed!




I also removed the top of the dash and installed my gps antenna under it with a custom plate so that it would not be seen, works great!



Here is the final product, installed, looking great and sounding great!!
Next I plan to do the speakers, tweeters and subwoofer!
 
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#2 ·
Nice and clean install. nice write up. Thanks for the pics!!! :rep:
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the writeup. I am doing same thing with a Kenwood this weekend. I am going to give it a try with the dremmel and make my original bezel opening bigger. I have already put some holes in it from mounting snow plow equipment, so no loss if it doesn't work. Then I will buy a new bezel if needed, otherwise I can save $100.

I see you have the console in stead of a flip seat with flip down cup holders. I want that, but don't want to pay for it. I plan on building one out of wood. Any chance you can do some rough measurements, height width, length, where it angles from the front of the seat to the dash.

thanks, and great job.
 
G
#8 ·
Nice job. I went through this last year going from the stock 1.5 DIN head unit to a DD Mopar REC/NAV unit.

I didn't have the two screws but it still wasn't easy to get that console unbolted so I could release the bezel.

Nice project, nice write up!
 
#12 ·
I should've known. Cheaters! LOL!

That's a real good job.

One question on the head unit. I haven't looked at head units since the early '90s, so I don't really know what's up with them. I noticed that it is a Pioneer unit and it has the Dodge Ram on the screen. When you hook it up, does it ask you what vehicle it is being installed in? Just curious if installed in a different vehicle, if it would show other brands emblems.
 
#14 ·
Perefect time for this thread!
I so needed this. Alright @night runner where did order your bezel from? And can I get it in the wood grain? How much did it run you?
 
#15 ·
Perefect time for this thread!
I so needed this. Alright @night runner where did order your bezel from? And can I get it in the wood grain? How much did it run you?
 
#16 ·
If you read through the thread, I stated that I purchased everything through ebay.
I would search for "ram bezel navigation" on ebay you should a bunch that have the wood grain. From what I've searched most are roughly $85-115 depending when you look. If you have any other questions feel free to throw them at me and, good luck.
 
#19 ·
Excellent job NightRunner!!!
I have an Avic 90bt and absolutely hate the thing! The touch response is complete crap!
I have not played with the version you have but I did have 2 diff. avic navi's and both were complete junk. Hope that isn't the case with that one.

Any way, thanks for the posted info! Great pic's and explanation's!
 
#20 ·
Thank you for putting this on this site. I have a 2006 Mega cab 2500 SLT with the infinity six cd premium sound non-nav with steering wheel control. I would like to install a non-OEM nav, hd radio, xm, back up camera. Do I need an adapter for my existing controller or will the one in place work? Which one is best I have the radio but have not ordered the back up camera or adapters until the radio came in to find out what else I needed to install this. Is there any suggestions that may help and what kind of back up camera should I buy? Take this as I know very little, every step will be help.
 
#21 ·
Need a little help. I have a 2006 Dodge ram SLT 2500 mega cab with a six cd premium sound infinity non-nav steering wheel control that I would like to change to a double din, Nav, HD radio... and back up camera. What adapters will I need? Can I used a Lariame Bezel instead of a SLT? Its less for the Laraime then SLT, why? Also I would like the best back up camera, any suggestions?
 
#22 · (Edited)
This is a great write up! Damn you 2006 and greater for having so much more room in the back of the radio! I got a 2004 and I've got the custom made bezel now to accept the double DIN radio fine but the Clarion NX501 is too big in the back to go in without me having to cut the plastic piece in the middle or sand....I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do to make this unit fit in the dash...

Got my bezel from ebay.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180734162378
 
#23 ·
Thanks for this! Got mine installed last night and finished wiring the amp and installing the sub today. Your instructions really helped and put my mind at ease. I kept worrying about the extra plug that my XSVI-6502 came with and the accessory power wire in it. This was extremely troubling when I hooked my battery cable back up and returned to my new stereo greeting me with demo mode. I came back and looked at this post again and didn't see where you did anything else but plugged it in, so that put me at ease. I finally figured out that I had initialized the XSVI improperly. You have to hook up power to it, let it have power for thirty seconds and shut it back off, all before you plug the stereo in, my bad, lol. Works like a charm now!
 
#24 ·
Great write up info

I have an 07 Quad with the 1.5 din and now have the info needed to update my stereo. Thanks I am a newbie here to the forum and the search led me to this thread. I have plans for a stereo upgrade and you just eased my mind about this... :smiley_thumbs_up:
 
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