I tossed my head unit and speakers for a basic Kenwood unit with Polk db speakers. Less than 2.5 hours to install and sounds great. The Kenwood puts out enough power for my needs but won't shake the windows. I may add a sub box someday. I bought the whole lot from Crutchfield.com and it came with everything I needed, adapter plate, wiring harness and clear instructions. Check them out on line, they have awesome customer service and options from basic to over the top. The best part is you can look up model specific stuff on their site or call and they will hook you up.

 

yeah ive looked at crutchfield for some help. they carry the pac converter to install a aftermarket radio, but i couldn't find anything about using my factory radio and installing a new sub and amp.

 

To use the factory radio to feed a amp/sub combo you will need to splice in a LOC to get the rcas for the amp or get an amp with high level inputs and just extend the wires back to the amp.

 

I have a 2012 Crewcab Big Horn that I kept the factory head unit, but changed the door speakers, and added an amp. I had to use a LOC to connect the amp to the factory wiring harness because Ram uses a CAN/BUS system. It eleminates the need for taping into the factory harness. The 130 radio I have does not have RCA outputs so I ran 9 wire from the LOC to the AMP. It is a rather simple process. The only problem I now have is the speakers can produce better sound than the factory head unit. So I have a new head unit that came in yesterday and am adding an additional amp and sub. So I had to buy a different LOC unit to work with after market head units. I took photos of the complete install if you need something to reference. Just need to get them off my camera and can resize them.

 

thanks. i would like to see the photos if you get them uploaded. i'm still trying to decided which way i want to go. i want to keep the factory head unit but i have read mixed reviews on the quality.