New radio install

[crispyboy]

I finally broke down and decided to install a new radio with a wired backup camera and SiriusXM tuner.
It was a bit of a job hunting down all the different components and the lack of detail on some of the installation had me scratching my head a few times. It ended up being an all day project for me as I am slow and meticulous with making sure things are done correctly.
I think the project turned out ok but I do have two disappointment in the head unit. 1.) The radio must be on to see the clock. 2.) The radio must be on to use the backup camera.
Items purchased:

1.) Head unit - Kenwood DNX577s with Garmin Navigation
2.) PAC CDK651 - mounting kit. The dash bezel must be trimmed.
3.) C2R-CHY4 - vehicle to radio adapter kit - There are many wire connections to be made. Figuring out a few of the wires took some time as the colors weren't the same. It doesn't help when you have color blindness.....
4.) Metra 40-CR10 - Adapter from the vehicle antenna to the radio.
5.) Idatalink Maestro SAT2 - HRN-ANT-SAT2 - adapter from the vehicle satellite antenna to the radio. This allows you to reuse the existing vehicle satellite antenna. The vehicle satellite connection to the antenna is behind the glovebox.
6.) SiriusXM - SXV300 Tuner
7.) Kenwood CMOS - 240U - backup camera.

 

[crispyboy]

 

[crispyboy]

 

[Regcabguy]

Nice unit and installation.

 

[Ozymandias]

Does the unit show guide lines with this camera?

Because that was my only "mistake" when I bought my Pioneer head unit and the associated (expensive) camera - no guidlines.

A couple years later I bought a fairly cheap camera from Amazon that shows me guide lines which makes life so much easier.

 

[crispyboy]

It has guidelines which can be turned on/off. The manual says you can adjust the guidelines to your liking. I need to adjust them as I noticed they were not parallel to the truck and double check that the camera is mounted properly.
I wasn't too concerned about having guidelines as the camera is mainly for hooking up trailers. They are helpful for backing into a parking space.

 

[CVR222NV]

I have wanted to do a radio upgrade for some time, but I wanted to keep my satellite antenna. How does the SiriusXM perform?

 

[crispyboy]

I've only had one short trip so far and it works fine. SiriusXM tuner was pretty much plug n play. I mounted the SiriusXM tuner with some 3M vhb tape behind the heater controls. Plug the tuner into the radio. Plug the truck satellite antenna into the adapter and the adapter into the SiriusXM tuner. BTW - the trucks OEM SiriusXM tuner is behind the glovebox. There you will find the antenna end. I purchased the tuner only from Amazon. The adapter cable (Idatalink Maestro SAT2 - HRN-ANT-SAT2) came from ebay. Amazon failed 2x trying to send it to me.
My previous subscription expired back in June so I had to start over with them. They had a special on their middle of the road plan for 1 year. If I recall it was $5/month plus a fee, etc... They set you up for automatic renewal for a much higher amount. I already have it on my calendar next year to call them to renegotiate or cancel. It is a luxury and I don't have to have it.

 

[Ozymandias]

It has guidelines which can be turned on/off. The manual says you can adjust the guidelines to your liking. I need to adjust them as I noticed they were not parallel to the truck and double check that the camera is mounted properly.
I wasn't too concerned about having guidelines as the camera is mainly for hooking up trailers. They are helpful for backing into a parking space.

Awesome.

I used tape on the driveway to adjust camera and lines.
20' straight lines back from the outer edge of the tires and one line across where the hitch is to define the red indicator.

 

[crispyboy]

The new radio and backup camera have been working fine BUT I found out the hard way last Friday night that I screwed up something else in the process. My Maxbrake brake controller would not work.

Last Friday night I was taking my daughter and her horse to a local 4H fair to show her horse. I was coming to a stop and discovered I had no trailer braking from the stock trailer. I was able to use the brake controller manually to stop the trailer. This told me that there was no communication from the transducer attached to the brake master cylinder. The Maxbrake would not calibrate.
I called a friend up who travels a lot and carries a spare brake controller. I was in a pinch and needed to borrow my nephews trailer and skid steer on Saturday. So Saturday morning I installed the friends brake controller. What a nightmare this turned out to be.... The controller was a Hensley TruControl and was supposed to be pretty good back in the day and I was excited to see how it would do.

Well the brake controller would not do much and then all of the sudden it would go full on, lock the wheels with smoke billowing out from under the trailer. Adjusting the output made little difference. I only had to go about 5 miles and it was awful. I tried the controller on another trailer and it just wouldn't stop the trailer.
I examined the damage Maxbrake cable. This is a Cat5e cable that goes from the pressure transducer to the Maxbrake controller. I called another friend who happens to be a computer guy. He was able to repair the cable with two new connectors and coupler. My Maxbrake controller is back in business. I am so relieved. I thought I was going to have to replace it and the only controller that seems worthwhile would be a Direclink controller which are over $400. https://tusonrvbrakes.com/products/direclink-dl-100
It's so sad that Maxbrake controllers are no longer made......