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2011 PAC/Pioneer radio radio upgrade from BASE system

15K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  LereJet 
#1 · (Edited)
Well I installed my new head unit last night and I realized there were not write ups on installing a PAC harness to make your new head unit for so I figured Id make one to help people know doing your own audio really isnt that hard.

Sooooooooo here we go!

First thing first with safety and disconnection the batter and making sure you in a well lit area, because once your in the dash it can be a pain to see what wires your actually grabbing for.

Once all that is done well start like this, im sure everyong recognizes this.



There are a few write ups floating around of how to get the radio bezel off so I wont cover that. If you do not know how there is a great write up with pictures --> HERE

At which point you will see the radio is being help in by 4 7mm screws in the corners. Undo those and gently pull your radio forward making sure you dont pull the wiring harnesses to tight. Once you have access to the back unclip the stock harness/antennas from the radio and you should be left with something that looks like this (the weird looking black thing hanging to the side of the tray is the MIC for my bluetooth, Im still trying to figure out exactly where I want to put it.


Now the fun part begins...

Once you have your radio out, you can get out of your truck and go inside. This is the "tricky" part that Im sure scares most people.

PAC supplies to wiring hardnesses, you can simply match up which one you need to the back of your stock head unit. The connectors are different on both harnesses.

You can see on the back here there are two locations for connectors but only one has pins


And you can see the two different connectors happen to be the same as the ones in the back of the stock radio, so pick the connector that matches up to the shape with the pins :smileup:



Once you know what PAC connector you are going to use its time to start wiring! I think it is essential to be completely confident with your wiring job and to make that easier Ive always used male/female blade connections to "splice" wires. Its an easy thing and cheap insurance (i paid $6 for 20 connections at Lowes) because it is way more of a headache to chase down by 1 of your speakers suddently quick working cuz your twisty job came undone and you dont know it.

Here is what i used
- connectors
- crimper
- good wire stripped
- harnesses (both PAC and Pioneer)


I worked sitting on my couch and watched TopGear UK while i did this.

Just strip off 1/4-1/2" of wire, place a connector over the end and crimp! I like to keep all the connectors on one hardness the samel, weather it be the male or the female end. Ive never seen much of a point other than OCD, because it doesnt really seem like it would matter if they are all apart anyway. One thing Id like to point out here. Even if you dont think youll need or or have the "Erm, i dont have option X so i dont need to use this wire" mentality, i put connectors on every open wire. The PAC has a VSS wire, but Pioneer doesnt need em, but the VSS wire is still lugged just in case, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR AUDIO NEEDS ARE GOING TO CHANGE!

after 30 minutes and a few drinks this is what you should end up with
Pac Harness:


an once all your harnesses are done, reer to the instruction sheet your PAC harness came with to get wire indicator colors and start connecting! Although i forgot to take a picture of this :doh:, once you have all your harnesses connected, zip tie them to that it is one nice loom, not all jumbled everywhere. It makes it easier to feed into the dashboard and helps ensure you wont snag wires everywhere when sliding your H/U in.

Pac mated to Pioneer


At this time I also put the side plates on the H/U itself


Now we all know you need to do a bit of clearencing to get an aftermarket double din in place. Rather than bend of move the radio bracket bar i too a very small dremel i had with a cut wheel and cut into the frame as much as i could. From there I bent/twisted the top bar off.
Removed piece



you also need to clearence the dash where the DODGE tray sits. I had to run GPS/MIC wires through there and accidently cut too much off. It isnt too big of a deal as the screws that were there just held the little tray in. There are still clips on the tray that hold it into the dash, but you end up like this


Once your done check fitment with the radio to make sure everything fits good. It should be a snug fit, but still slide in relatively easy.


Were now in the home stretch!

From here hook your PAC harness up to the stock harness. Also hook your antenna adapter up to the stock antenna (which i forgot to order :4-dontknow: . Hold your radio up by where it will slide into and hook your provided radio harness into the back of the head unit and slide it down into the hole you've created. Bolt it in by the face plate brackets you installed earlier using the stock 7mm screws. At this point its best to re connect all your electrical and make sure everything works. Once you have everything hooked back up and the radio working cycle through all the speakers individually with the balance/fade and make sure they are all playing. In my case all I had to check for inputs were the iPhone connector, but dont forget to check your radio, CD player etc. Once thats done button your dash back up and end up looking something like this




this write up is simply to show how easy it is to install your own h/u. BestBuy prices are expensive for parts them selves, let alone labor. You can order all the stuff online (usually from say Amazon) save your self a few hundred bucks and do it in your garage in an afternoon. I did all this in 2 hours, which included doing the write up and a trip to wallmart at 1am lol.
 
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#4 ·
Took me forever to find this after it got moved lol.

I think it should get put back in A/V. A lot of people would look for an install thread there dont ya think?
 
#7 ·
Erm, i moved my photobucket around and deleted the pics, is there anyway someone can delete this thread for me so we can re sticky the new one. I have all the pics put back in

Well I installed my new head unit last night and I realized there were not write ups on installing a PAC harness to make your new head unit for so I figured Id make one to help people know doing your own audio really isnt that hard.

Sooooooooo here we go!

First thing first with safety and disconnection the batter and making sure you in a well lit area, because once your in the dash it can be a pain to see what wires your actually grabbing for.

Once all that is done well start like this, im sure everyong recognizes this.



There are a few write ups floating around of how to get the radio bezel off so I wont cover that. If you do not know how there is a great write up with pictures --> HERE

At which point you will see the radio is being help in by 4 7mm screws in the corners. Undo those and gently pull your radio forward making sure you dont pull the wiring harnesses to tight. Once you have access to the back unclip the stock harness/antennas from the radio and you should be left with something that looks like this (the weird looking black thing hanging to the side of the tray is the MIC for my bluetooth, Im still trying to figure out exactly where I want to put it.


Now the fun part begins...

Once you have your radio out, you can get out of your truck and go inside. This is the "tricky" part that Im sure scares most people.

PAC supplies to wiring hardnesses, you can simply match up which one you need to the back of your stock head unit. The connectors are different on both harnesses.

You can see on the back here there are two locations for connectors but only one has pins


And you can see the two different connectors happen to be the same as the ones in the back of the stock radio, so pick the connector that matches up to the shape with the pins :smileup:



Once you know what PAC connector you are going to use its time to start wiring! I think it is essential to be completely confident with your wiring job and to make that easier Ive always used male/female blade connections to "splice" wires. Its an easy thing and cheap insurance (i paid $6 for 20 connections at Lowes) because it is way more of a headache to chase down by 1 of your speakers suddently quick working cuz your twisty job came undone and you dont know it.

Here is what i used
- connectors
- crimper
- good wire stripped
- harnesses (both PAC and Pioneer)

I worked sitting on my couch and watched TopGear UK while i did this.

Just strip off 1/4-1/2" of wire, place a connector over the end and crimp! I like to keep all the connectors on one hardness the samel, weather it be the male or the female end. Ive never seen much of a point other than OCD, because it doesnt really seem like it would matter if they are all apart anyway. One thing Id like to point out here. Even if you dont think youll need or or have the "Erm, i dont have option X so i dont need to use this wire" mentality, i put connectors on every open wire. The PAC has a VSS wire, but Pioneer doesnt need em, but the VSS wire is still lugged just in case, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR AUDIO NEEDS ARE GOING TO CHANGE!

after 30 minutes and a few drinks this is what you should end up with
Pac Harness:


an once all your harnesses are done, reer to the instruction sheet your PAC harness came with to get wire indicator colors and start connecting! Although i forgot to take a picture of this :doh:, once you have all your harnesses connected, zip tie them to that it is one nice loom, not all jumbled everywhere. It makes it easier to feed into the dashboard and helps ensure you wont snag wires everywhere when sliding your H/U in.

Pac mated to Pioneer


At this time I also put the side plates on the H/U itself


Now we all know you need to do a bit of clearencing to get an aftermarket double din in place. Rather than bend of move the radio bracket bar i too a very small dremel i had with a cut wheel and cut into the frame as much as i could. From there I bent/twisted the top bar off.
Removed piece



you also need to clearence the dash where the DODGE tray sits. I had to run GPS/MIC wires through there and accidently cut too much off. It isnt too big of a deal as the screws that were there just held the little tray in. There are still clips on the tray that hold it into the dash, but you end up like this


Once your done check fitment with the radio to make sure everything fits good. It should be a snug fit, but still slide in relatively easy.


Were now in the home stretch!

From here hook your PAC harness up to the stock harness. Also hook your antenna adapter up to the stock antenna (which i forgot to order :4-dontknow: . Hold your radio up by where it will slide into and hook your provided radio harness into the back of the head unit and slide it down into the hole you've created. Bolt it in by the face plate brackets you installed earlier using the stock 7mm screws. At this point its best to re connect all your electrical and make sure everything works. Once you have everything hooked back up and the radio working cycle through all the speakers individually with the balance/fade and make sure they are all playing. In my case all I had to check for inputs were the iPhone connector, but dont forget to check your radio, CD player etc. Once thats done button your dash back up and end up looking something like this




this write up is simply to show how easy it is to install your own h/u. BestBuy prices are expensive for parts them selves, let alone labor. You can order all the stuff online (usually from say Amazon) save your self a few hundred bucks and do it in your garage in an afternoon. I did all this in 2 hours, which included doing the write up and a trip to wallmart at 1am lol.
 
#9 ·
Yes it did but i do not have them anymore. I eventually plan on getting the PAC steering wheel harness to get them back but for now it was money i didnt want to spend
 
#11 ·
Nice write up with images
I will REP you when i can again

The actual trimming is what most people are shying away from, they are to worried that they may cut too much, not thinking that the bezel hides all of it
 
#12 ·
The trimming is no big deal at all. I took out WAY more than was necessary and you would never know unless you took my dash apart
 
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