Kenwood to Pioneer headunit swap

Happy thanksgiving folks! Treated myself to a pioneer 9” DMH-WT3800NEX last night and I’m super excited to have this installed! I currently have Kendwood 7”

$520 DMX7706S 6.95" Digital Media Receiver w/Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android

DMX7706S that was installed for free by Best Buy. I don’t think I have the free installation option this time around though I would have to call tomorrow to confirm. I was wondering how hard would it be so I can do myself. For some reason I never understood these radio wirings. I have everything already needed from my prior install (harness, maestro, dashkit, ect) I’m wondering if I can just follow the wiring the same way it was done on the previous install? I haven’t gotten a chance to remove my old headunit to take a look at the wiring but I’m hoping it’s a simple swap. Does anyone have any experience in this? Thanks in advance

 

Depending on what adapters they used, you may need to splice the head unit pigtail in to the adapter (they SHOULD have used an adapter to the factory harness so you don't have to cut the factory harness). Thats really not hard to do. The maestro, however, will need to be reprogrammed for the Pioneer. That's not super straightforward if you've never done it before, but still not complicated. Just takes some time.

I have a Pioneer unit in my tundra and a Kenwood in my sequoia so I've done both on these vehicles. Would have gone with a Pioneer but Covid shortages when I purchased it, so I took what I could get.

 

I've gone back and forth from Pioneer to Kenwood a few times with my 2014..
The dash kit shouldn't be an issue.
You'll need to rewire the aftermarket wiring harness.
And as @blenton pointed out you'll need to reflash your Maestro..


https://youtu.be/xR3grQvnfZU?si=IJWsrdi1qgQIEVmj


https://youtu.be/UKI4ejjNOeQ?si=W4WPGYpHPH0hoFCQ

Weblink Desktop (weblinkupdater.com)

 

Thanks guys, I’ll look into it. I figured it wouldn’t just be a swap.

 

@ChrisLopez Did you install the new Pioneer yet? I 'm considering this unit and wondering how it looks in the truck.

 

@SoCalTundy not yet. I’m scheduled with Best Buy for install on December 9th. Will def put pics up once installed.

 

Hmm I'm thinking about getting the 3800NEX head unit as well and I wanted to do what the guys did on the 8600NEX thread by mounting it flush and not looking like a floating screen.

I wanted to know what wiring harness kit you used for your truck. I want to keep all steering wheel control and do not want to splice wires if possible.

 

^ Maestro RR with the TO2 harness is the easiest way. I was able to build the entire harness outside of the truck and plug it all in.

 

Thank you!

 

I’m planning on doing the same. I talked to Best Buy and they said they will do what they can but I don’t think they want to customize the mount for the flush fit. I’ll most likely tackle that myself and like @ninjajay said, those are the items you need for factory steering functions to work

 

These guys carry Alpine and Sony with a true plug and play harness installed on the unit. Watch the videos in the product pages.

https://trailgridpro.com/pages/toyota-tundra-accessories

 

It's just elongating holes basically. The 8600 thread has pics. I did mine....wasn't bad at all.