Adding 3.5mm Aux Input on Rear DVD Equipped (non Nav) Expy's

[kmh1596]

When I bought my truck, I was disappointed to find that I couldn't easily make use of an AUX input on the front (or back) of the radio without sacrificing the rear DVD. I soon figured out that I could use the CD/Aux feature to access the AUX input on the front of the rear DVD player. For a while, I had a cord hanging down that was a RCA L and RCA R into a 3.5mm male plug, and I would keep my iphone or MP3 on the center console while using it. I got sick of that hanging down, and decided to make it a bit cleaner of an install.

BEFORE:



To do this, I picked up a 15' RCA Male to 3.5mm Stereo Male cord. I then drilled a small hole on the side of the DVD housing (pulled the whole unit out of the truck to be sure I was not drilling into the electronics). I have since used a rubber plug ironically enough from a rear drum brake adjustment window to fill the gap shown between the wire and housing, here.



I then ran the remainder of the wire as follows, up to the front cubby area.

Over the headliner
Down the drivers B-Pillar (where the seatbelt is mounted
Across the door sill (under the trim).
Behind the Drivers kick panel
Up on the drivers lower dash panel (the removable piece), zip tied as necessary
Into the cubby area, drilled a hole.





While this did exactly what i wanted, I also found it a bit cumbersome to manage, with the cord being so thick. To solve this, I decided to pick up a 3.5mm stereo female to 3.5mm sterep female adapter and an iSimple setup, mainly for the one cord, which allowed me to make the connections behind the cubby, and have a clean 3.5mm female port labeled "Audio Input". Much better!




With the connections made behind the cubby, and dash back together, here is the FINISHED PRODUCT (I had a rubber plug for the larger hole down below, may replace this whole piece with the one from my old (pre King Ranch) center console):






Rather than the short male to male cord included with the iSimple, I also picked up a coiled 3.5mm stereo male to 3.5mm stereo male cord from Amazon, which I can put in the console if the Aux is not being used. Do not mind the small extension on my iphone, I have the lifeproof case which means I have to use a lifeproof 3.5mm fitting to attach:




I understand that this may not work for all setups, but it worked on my 04 Eddie Bauer, non Nav, WITH rear DVD.

Parts needed:
15' heavy duty RCA Males to 3.5mm Stereo Male cord
For only $4.14 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 15ft Premium 3.5mm Stereo Male to 2RCA Male 22AWG Cable (Gold Plated) - Black

3.5mm stereo female to 3.5mm stereo female coupler
Amazon.com: C2G / Cables to Go 03170 3.5mm Stereo Coupler Female/Female: Electronics

iSimple IS335 setup:
Amazon.com: iSimple IS335 Dash Mountable Auxiliary Input Adapter: Car Electronics

3.5mm stereo male to 3.5mm stereo male coiled jumper
Amazon.com: AmazonBasics 3.5 mm Coiled Stereo Audio Cable Stretched Length 6.5 feet/2.0 Meters: MP3 Players & Accessories

Any questions at all, please feel free to ask.

 

[Mikes05expy]

Great write up, ordering parts today

Sent from my Bag Phone using Tapatalk

 

[kmh1596]

Great write up, ordering parts today

Sent from my Bag Phone using Tapatalk

Happy to hear that it helped! Monoprice is awesome, I would have ordered everything from them if they had it. This was kind of two separate projects, as the iSimple was an after-thought.

 

[b514]

Great writeup. I can confirm that the RCA setup works with the NAVI version too. I'm at the "hanging cable in the rear" stage you started with
I need to buy a longer cable and hide it the way you did. But i'm thinking of getting an actual iPod dock connector to RCA (composite) cable (if there are cables that long) and set up a dock in the cubby where I can just plug my iPhone in. That way I can also play movies / Netflix for my kids straight off my iphone without having to fiddle with DVDs.

 

[kmh1596]

Great writeup. I can confirm that the RCA setup works with the NAVI version too. I'm at the "hanging cable in the rear" stage you started with
I need to buy a longer cable and hide it the way you did. But i'm thinking of getting an actual iPod dock connector to RCA (composite) cable (if there are cables that long) and set up a dock in the cubby where I can just plug my iPhone in. That way I can also play movies / Netflix for my kids straight off my iphone without having to fiddle with DVDs.

Here is an Iphone 4 connector to RCA (http://www.amazon.com/iSimple-PolyWire-Connector-iPhone-IS75/dp/B001TH8O7E/ref=sr_1_10?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1371003446&sr=1-10&keywords=iphone+rca+cable) ...and looks like you can tap into 12v so that it also charges your phone. You could always run that and get a female to male jumper to extend the rca wires to the AUX on the DVD.

Keep us posted!

 

[b514]

Will do. Hope i'll find the time to do this in the coming weekends.

 

[Notrega]

Great write up - but can you tell me a few things before I do it wrong and spend more time doing this than I need to?

1. How did you remove the DVD unit?
2. How were you able to fish it over the headliner?
3. How were you able to get it down the pillar?

 

[kmh1596]

Great write up - but can you tell me a few things before I do it wrong and spend more time doing this than I need to?

1. How did you remove the DVD unit?
2. How were you able to fish it over the headliner?
3. How were you able to get it down the pillar?

1. The DVD Look at the outside of the DVD unit, and you'll see that there are 4 (torx and/or ~4.5mm hex heads). Those hold the DVD player to the roof. Once removed, you will have to tug on the unit to get it un-clipped (spring clips holding it into the roof)

2. Remove the weather-stripping around the LH rear door, and you'll see that there is room above the headliner. Didn't take much to sneak it over to the DVD opening

3.Un-clip the B-Pillar trim, and you can just run it behind it. Be sure not to hinder the seatbelt mech. In the process of the King Ranch conversion (grab handles), I had had the b-pillar trim off, so I was familiar with it already, but much of it can actually be done without removing any screws in the B-Pillar.

Good Luck!

 

[Notrega]

Many thanks - this is the only thing I am missing from my 'new to me' truck...

 

[Notrega]

Finally got around to doing this... thanks for the tutorial.

 

[DmanNC]

Great write up! Works great!!! And I do have the navigation.

 

[DmanNC]

Oh and I do have the navigation .

 

[b514]

Will do. Hope i'll find the time to do this in the coming weekends.

Came across this thread again and I must confess that 2 full years later I'm still at square one: a 3-foot cable hanging from the DVD unit

 

[kmh1596]

Well, technology has come a long way since. If I were to do it again, I'd do Bluetooth. I use this dongle in our camper, and it's fantastic. Give it 12v+ and ground (all available right in the wires on the back of the DVD) and call it a day. Maybe add a small round rocker to shut it off when need, though not necessary.

Milennia Bluetooth Dongle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYGEVA4/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_0nJDvb04QGZJ2

 

[b514]

Well, technology has come a long way since. If I were to do it again, I'd do Bluetooth. I use this dongle in our camper, and it's fantastic. Give it 12v+ and ground (all available right in the wires on the back of the DVD) and call it a day. Maybe add a small round rocker to shut it off when need, though not necessary.

Milennia Bluetooth Dongle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYGEVA4/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_0nJDvb04QGZJ2

Nice! That's a much cleaner setup indeed. thanks for the link!

 

[2005exp]

If you are using bluetooth, should add "Ground Loop Isolator" inline to stop the thing from humming.

 

[46L281GT]

I actually disassembled my DVD unit and soldered wires to the back of the unit and ran the wires through the headliner and it worked great for me.

 

[chadecoen]

Well, technology has come a long way since. If I were to do it again, I'd do Bluetooth. I use this dongle in our camper, and it's fantastic. Give it 12v+ and ground (all available right in the wires on the back of the DVD) and call it a day. Maybe add a small round rocker to shut it off when need, though not necessary.

Milennia Bluetooth Dongle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYGEVA4/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_0nJDvb04QGZJ2

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, can't say it enough.....

Was about to do your install with a twist, I was gonna solder in female RCAs behind the radio and a USB charger port to perm install ipod adaptor cables. I know the radio won't control the ipod so I though I'd just run the wire near the cup holder area and drop the ipod in the cubby space for easy access. I was even trying to figure out how to reprogram the ipod to turn itself off them the power goes off!

Man oh man, am I getting old. I am so glad I read your post. No one uses an ipod any more! (My kids have been telling me that for years) I am now going to install the same dongle and going to use my darn phone for tunes. Why the heck did I buy a 32gb phone anyway! Will still need to solder in the RCAs but who cares. Hide the dongle behind the radio and go completely wireless. Fantastic idea man. Bravo!

Thanks again,
Chad

 

[b514]

I've decided to take my setup to the next level and add video! I've ordered a $12 HDMI to RCA Composite adapter off e-bay and a 6ft RCA cable and hope to be able to stream movies from my android phone. This way I won't need to fiddle with DVDs anymore for the kids' cartoons. Hoping to get the gear soon to try it out.

 

[kmh1596]

chadecoen,

So glad that this thread helped you! I put it up here because at least at that time, I hadn't seen an easier way. With Bluetooth technology being cheaper and more accessible nowadays, some of it may not be unnecessary, but I still use mine!