was at best buy today and was going to pick up the kenwood ddx419 but one of the employees told me i had to have an install kit that costs $115!? he said i could by pass it but not recommended unless i know what im doing. do i need this kit? what exactly is the purpose of it? thanks

 

that's why you don't go to best buy... story behind that one lol pm me if you want to hear it, it's quite good

but you can do it yourself, I have a video on how to remove the dash, do you have a dremel or anything? someone with a dremel could probably do whats needed also.

For the install you will need the following:

-Wiring harness: The cheap one at Walmart works fine (for GM vehicles), Frank here has used it for a while with his DDX514 (same as mine, yes he copied me :p) and he's had no problems.

-Mounting Kit: Walmart also has one, should look like this:

In-dash Receiver Kit Fits select 1995-up Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Geo, GMC, Hummer, Isuzu, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Suzuki & Toyota models — double-DIN at Crutchfield.com

-Antenna Adapter: Walmart should also have one again, should look like this:

Antenna Adapter Works with select 1985-up vehicles (Motorola male to OEM antenna female) at Crutchfield.com

That's all you'll need for the install, plus a soldering iron or crimp caps to put the wiring harness together. That stuff shouldn't run you over $50.

When you go to install, the part that I was talking about with the dremel is that there is a plastic bracket behind the stereo that gets in the way of the wiring and doesn't allow you to fully put the headunit in. That will need to be cut out, it won't hurt the support structure at all though.

That's about all you need done.

Here's my video for removing the dash:


The wiring harness wiring is pretty straight forward, just color match for the most part, but check the wires, they should all be labeled.

That should be all you need, let me know if you need anything else

EDIT:

Here's the wiring harness that Frank used, it has low reviews, but Frank used it with great results

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scosche-Ca...-06-GM/4213069

 

thanks!
are you still able to use your steering wheel functions or no?

 

i dont think you will be able to unless you spend that 115 dollars, not sure though... i mean headunits dont usually come wired for that kind of stuff so unless chevy made up for that and made their wiring work with aftermarket wiring harnesses your probably going to be left with a harness unused behind your stereo that allows the steering wheel controls etc, thats why you need the 115 dollar bypass unit so you have an interface to plug the unused harness into and in doing so allowing you to control the volume in line right there instead of at the back of the headunits harness. that would be my opinion, no idea if i am right though cause i have never messed with my stock stereo in the monte.

 

Even if you spend that $115 you won't be able to use the steering wheel controls. Thats a different $40-50 harness that I can send you a link for once I get to my computer.

EDIT:

This guy here:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120ASWC...ml#details-tab

You can find it cheaper on ebay or other sites and there's different models that you could use also.

 

Would that be the only harness I would have to buy? Also the avi in ports what can be plugged into them? Looks almost as if you could hook a gaming system too it I just doubt it would recognized it

 

they are rca outputs, so you can run rca's from the HU to an amp in the trunk if you want some subs or just an amp to run the speakers off of.

 

You'd need the steering wheel controls harness and the wiring harness

You could hook a gaming system to it, but not through those RCA's, there should be an AV port in the front of the unit and the video in (yellow RCA) on the back of the headunit.

The red/white RCA's on the back are what go to the amps for either a sub or speakers.

 

lol, for some reason though I doubt kenwood thought of including a video in.

 

I have a Kenwood DDX514...

So they thought of it, once you hit a certain level of their products.

As you can see here, there is an AV in and AV out.... this is how I have a reverse camera also...



With the 419 you can see there is also video in, one for the reverse camera and one for standard video and then also a video out, if you were extend to other monitors.




So it looks like Kenwood thought of just about everything for these units, which is why they're my favorite headunit brand.

EDIT:

This adapter can be used to retain steering wheel buttons and can be used as the wiring harness.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120GMOS...r.html?tp=3486

I would advise just getting the separate harnesses, you'll save some cash too.