Kenwood (DDX5707S) Stereo Upgrade.

[Diesel_67]

I have a 2015 F-350 Dually … Just bought a new Kenwood stereo.. Had to buy the steering wheel control wiring harness with a box, and a main wiring harness to hook up the stereo.

Both of the wiring harnesses have A Lot of wires that I can‘t even figure it out with instructions that I scanned the code on the box to get.

Has anyone installed a Kenwood stereo (DDX5707S) in their truck?

It’s all those different colored wires that I’m having a problem with… Don’t even know where to start.

A couple of pics of the steering wheel control wiring, and main wiring harness… Both are made by AXXESS… Don’t know why they didn‘t have “plug and play“ for this.

Any help would be appreciated!

Steering Wheel Control Box.

Main wiring harness for stereo.

Click to read more...

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Any help would be appreciated!

First splice all the known wires like Power, Speakers, Amp Remote, et cetera. Not all may be used. So post a picture of the ones left over after you do the commons.

 

[Diesel_67]

First splice all the known wires like Power, Speakers, Amp Remote, et cetera. Not all may be used. So post a picture of the ones left over after you do the commons.

Hey Thanks for the reply!
I don’t even know where to begin on hooking up the wires that you mentioned lol… To the main wiring harness from the truck stereo plug?.. Nothing is labeled… Go by color?

And I don’t know about the steering wheel control box harness.. I’ve hooked up a few stereos before, but not in my Ford Super Duty...The other stereos were just plug and play with the harness that I bought.

I appreciate your time.. I contacted the dearer where I bought my stereo and all the other parts, I scheduled an appointment but he can’t get me in until next Friday, because I guess he has other people like me that don’t know what they’re doing lol.

He’s charging $200 to hook everything up, but the price will be a little cheaper because I’m installing the backup camera, and I have to take my old aftermarket camera off first... I really want to install the stereo myself and not have to pay someone else.

Thanks!

 

[Diesel_67]

Here’s the instructions for the Data Interface that I scanned from the box… They told me it was very straightforward.

 

[Diesel_67]

And here’s the instructions for the steering wheel controls that I scanned the code on the box.. Not sure if I know where the factory steering wheel control harness is on the truck.. I took the factory stereo out yesterday, looked at the factory harnesses that plugged into the stereo and installed it back in because I had no idea where to begin lol.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

I don’t even know where to begin on hooking up the wires that you mentioned lol… To the main wiring harness from the truck stereo plug?.. Nothing is labeled… Go by color?

To start off, all of the wires from the adapter harness and steering wheel control module will connect with each other and the Kenwood's harness. Once all those are spliced with each other, you will just plug it into the truck's OEM harnesses.
Like you stated, all like colors go together. There will NOT be dissimilar colors that go together. Any wire that does not have a partner will just be taped off.
The instructions look daunting but take one wire at a time and it will make sense as you go. You will NOT splice into any wires from the truck. These harnesses are designed to be completely plug & play.
If you get stuck on something, post it. I will periodically eye this thread.

 

[Diesel_67]

To start off, all of the wires from the adapter harness and steering wheel control module will connect with each other and the Kenwood's harness. Once all those are spliced with each other, you will just plug it into the truck's OEM harnesses.
Like you stated, all like colors go together. There will NOT be dissimilar colors that go together. Any wire that does not have a partner will just be taped off.
The instructions look daunting but take one wire at a time and it will make sense as you go. You will NOT splice into any wires from the truck. These harnesses are designed to be completely plug & play.
If you get stuck on something, post it. I will periodically eye this thread.

Thank you very much for this reply!
OK, I understand it now since you explained that … I was thinking that I had to splice into the harness from the truck.

And the steering wheel control harness with that box was confusing me because I didn’t know where the wires from the steering wheel was when I looked yesterday on the truck... I guess I’m ready
to tackle this now... I’ll do what you said about taking one wire at a time.

Thanks again for taking the time to try and help me with this!

 

[Diesel_67]

I have a quick question.
The steering wheel control harness has a black wire for “chassis ground”, the big harness has a black wire for chassis ground and the small harness that came with the stereo also has a black wire for chassis ground.

Do I wire all 3 black wires together?…. Or wire the 2 together?… And the small harness from the stereo that has a black wire, should I ground that wire with a screw to somewhere in the dash like it says in the manual? (If yes about grounding with a screw, where should I ground it?)
Thanks!

Some pics.

Black wire that I’m not sure of.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

(If yes about grounding with a screw, where should I ground it?)

In the radio cavity there should be bare metal somewhere. Screw onto that. If not just use the oem ground.

 

[Diesel_67]

In the radio cavity there should be bare metal somewhere. Screw onto that. If not just use the oem ground.

Thanks a lot !
I’m just wiring all wires right now to see what I might have left over… Should I solder the wires or just use heat shrink tubing and also tape everything up good over the heat shrink tubing??

You have been a lot of help, and just like you told me, it’s not that hard lol.
Thanks!

 

[Diesel_67]

Well I’m stuck on the steering wheel control harness… I have too many wires not connected to anything and nothing in the instructions mention where they go, and the wires doesn’t say on them where they go.
Also have a 3.5mm jack that I have no idea where to hook it up and the instructions doesn’t help.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Well I’m stuck on the steering wheel control harness… I have too many wires not connected to anything and nothing in the instructions mention where they go, and the wires doesn’t say on them where they go.
Also have a 3.5mm jack that I have no idea where to hook it up and the instructions doesn’t help.

Currently reading trying to make sense of it.

 

[Deiimos]

It says in the info you posted for the 3.5mm jack: For Kenwood radios, connect the 3.5mm plug brown wire to the Kenwoods Light Blue/Yellow (Steering remote control wire). Then it says, if the Kenwood radio auto detects as a JVC, to manually set it as a Kenwood. So take the 3.5mm plug, plug it into 3.5mm coming out of the steering wheel control module, then connect the brown wire to the Kenwoods light blue / yellow wire. That seems fairly straight forward as the Kenwood manual shows the Light Blue/Yellow (Steering remote control wire).


Stuff like this you kind of have to put on blinders, and take one step at a time = one wire at a time. Hard to say what the extra wires are used for, but if you absolutely can’t find anything about them, tape them up and see if it works without them, sometimes not all wires are used.


Otherwise, I would take it slow and re-read the installation a few more times, even just to confirm you have everything else right (I've seen at least one person smoke a brand new head unit wiring it wrong). Last resort, find a local shop willing to take a look at it. I'd personally get the head unit working 100%, then move on the the steering wheel control module.

Good luck with the project.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Well I’m stuck on the steering wheel control harness… I have too many wires not connected to anything and nothing in the instructions mention where they go, and the wires doesn’t say on them where they go.
Also have a 3.5mm jack that I have no idea where to hook it up and the instructions doesn’t help.

This may help you-

Like Deiimos said, if your Kenwood has that Blue/Yellow wire, you will connect it to the Female 3.5mm adapter that has 1 Brown and 1 Brown/White wires. The Blue/Yellow will connect to only the Brown wire.
Then that adapter will plug into the Male 3.5mm plug.
As per instructions, All other wires will be taped off. Including the Brown/White.

But if your Kenwood has that 3.5mm jack in the back, then you plug that Male 3.5mm plug into it and tape off All the wires.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Should I solder the wires or just use heat shrink tubing and also tape everything up good over the heat shrink tubing??

I am a twist & tape practitioner. But I actually use painters tape. It does not come undone with the heat, does not become gooey, stays put, and squishes well like aluminum tape.
Very hard to take apart if you have to undo a splice.