[adayfam]

Well, I'm finally done. Much thanks to all the people here on the forums for all the piloting they did on most of this stuff - I couldn't have done it without you all. We have 5 kids and use the van as a daily driver and for long road trips.

My factory stereo was the CD player with the 4.2" LCD display.

I've linked a lot of the stuff I bought for this project in case anyone wants to know what I'm talking about.

Head Unit
Pioneer AVH-X5800BHS
Key features I wanted: dual bluetooth connection and dual Aux inputs for Microphone and external video.

Rear Overhead DVD
BOSS 12.1" DVD
Key features I wanted: HDMI input. Note: anything bigger will hit the headrests below it. This one touches, but it sneaks by.

HDMI/USB inputs
Just to the right of the A/C controls (replaced a lighter outlet). HDMI goes down to my component box and splits through an HDMI duplicator. One goes into an HDMI to RCA converter box, then up to the head unit. Other goes back to the rear overhead DVD. I can plug in a DLNA or MHL device and have it stream to both units, or only one. I hooked it up to my phone via MHL, turned on the camera, and did the TV-on-the-camera loop thing just to demonstrate.

Microphone signal booster
Also in my component box, with the 3.5mm plug right there as well. This allows us to talk to the kids in the back without yelling or turning our heads. I put the box in that mostly-useless space under the main cup holders. I also put in a center console, which happens to block the area off, making that space closer to completely useless anyway.

Rear headphone jacks
I wanted to allow the kids to plug in headphones to listen selectively, because with 5 in the van, not all would want to listen to whatever we're playing. I put in a powered headphone splitter and exposed the volume controls through the headliner. Not sure cutting it was the best idea, but it's done now. It took a fair bit of soldering to do all the wiring, but it was worth it. The headphone jacks (not pictured) are flush-mounted onto the trim plastic below the windows.

Including some other pictures just because. I tapped the battery directly to a fuse box. One fuse for the front component box, with a Relay trigger. One fuse for the rear DVD and headphone splitter, both triggered by the an ignition splice tap. I also put down ~100 sq ft of sound deadener in the rear of the van, and I think it made a big difference.

Things I learned in the process...
* Get the Metra 71-5524 harness, not the 70-5524.
* If you take out the headliner, take it ALL out, from back to front. Trust me.
* Reverse camera feed was tap-spliced from the plug that used to go into the 4.2" LCD.
* Ignition and Accessory tap for the head unit was tapped from the ignition column (pic attached).
* Reverse indicator feed was splice tapped from a fuse box, info pulled from this thread. However, there are 5 "green with brown stripe" wires in that block. Mine ended up being on the left side (looking from the back), 5th pin down from the top.

Feel free to ask questions. Again, there's a lot of amazon links to the stuff I used, but I'm sure I missed some stuff.

 

[justcallben]

Head Unit
Pioneer AVH-X5800BHS
Key features I wanted: dual bluetooth connection and dual Aux inputs for Microphone and external video.

I chose this head unit for the dual video inputs and I've had lots of trouble with it. I installed the parking brake bypass kit and it works occasionally. The remote worked at first but now the head unit doesn't respond to it. Mu USB never worked with or without the extension cable. Amazon has refunded my entire purchase price since Pioneer is walking away from the warranty (bastards. See another post for more on that one.) Looking for opinions: should I replace the 5800 with the same unit or move on to something else?

Things I learned in the process...
* Get the Metra 71-5524 harness, not the 70-5524.
* If you take out the headliner, take it ALL out, from back to front. Trust me.
* Reverse camera feed was tap-spliced from the plug that used to go into the 4.2" LCD.
* Ignition and Accessory tap for the head unit was tapped from the ignition column (pic attached).
* Reverse indicator feed was splice tapped from a fuse box, info pulled from this thread. However, there are 5 "green with brown stripe" wires in that block. Mine ended up being on the left side (looking from the back), 5th pin down from the top.

I started with the 70-5524 then tried the BX-FD3 and found out that I can't have SYNC or ANY steering wheel controls unless I leave the 4.2" screen and radio control attached. Even then it's sketchy. Spent four calls and hours on the phone with Metra/Axxess. What does the 71-5524 provide that I don't have now? Do you have steering wheel controls? Do you still have SYNC?

Sidenote: the touchscreen on the 5800 seems kinda crappy, too (non-respondive/inaccurate). How's yours?

I'm about ready to scrap everything and build my own system that will somehow combine SYNC with a nice tablet and a good DSP.

 

[adayfam]

Looking for opinions: should I replace the 5800 with the same unit or move on to something else?

What does the 71-5524 provide that I don't have now? Do you have steering wheel controls? Do you still have SYNC?

Sidenote: the touchscreen on the 5800 seems kinda crappy, too (non-respondive/inaccurate). How's yours?

* I never had any steering wheel controls, so I'm sorry I'm no help there.
* The 71-5524 has a full bank of pins, where as the 70-5524 has a lot of missing pins that did not line up with my harness.
* Honestly, I don't even know what SYNC is. As best I can tell, my van was supposed to have it, but I never used it so I have no idea.
* I'm happy with the 5800; I've had no issues or problems with it. I bought mine from "Audiosavings" on Amazon and it's worked fine (after a bit of difficulty wiring it).

 

[jncarter]

Thanks for all the great info! We just picked up a 2015 and am getting ready to replace the radio and possibly add a drop down tv as you did. I have a couple of quick questions though....

1.) Did you use the Metra 99-5832G dash kit?

2.) Any additional info on splice tapping the reverse camera?
2a.) When you did this, do you get the raw video feed or is the reverse sensors super imposed on it?

Thanks!

 

[adayfam]

Thanks for all the great info! We just picked up a 2015 and am getting ready to replace the radio and possibly add a drop down tv as you did. I have a couple of quick questions though....

1.) Did you use the Metra 99-5832G dash kit?

2.) Any additional info on splice tapping the reverse camera?
2a.) When you did this, do you get the raw video feed or is the reverse sensors super imposed on it?

Thanks!

1. Yes.
2. I used standard splice wire connectors for it after identifying the wires.
2a. It has the sensor stuff superimposed, fortunately

 

[jncarter]

Awesome! Thank you!