2018 Greyhawk Entertainment System Replacement

[JDPEagle]

Like so many others on this forum, I'm about over the Garmin/Furrion head unit in my 2018 29MV. Has anyone replaced it with something usable and reliable (preferably with CarPlay, bluetooth connectivity, etc)?

[t18skyguy]

I went out and bought a stand alone Garmin unit with the big screen. I love it. I don't even bother with the dash unit.

[JDPEagle]

Originally Posted by t18skyguy

I went out and bought a stand alone Garmin unit with the big screen. I love it. I don't even bother with the dash unit.

I have a drawer full of stand-alone GPSs. I'm looking for an in-dash replacement with CarPlay and bluetooth to play mobile device music through the coach system.

[billjmck]

Originally Posted by JDPEagle

I have a drawer full of stand-alone GPSs. I'm looking for an in-dash replacement with CarPlay and bluetooth to play mobile device music through the coach system.

The 2019s have a Soundstream VRN-65HXB. So far so good.

[DocBrown]

https://www.crutchfield.com/m_266150/Car-Stereos.html

And if this is overwhelming, give them a call. They are fantastic and can point you in the right direction. They often give you the mounting hardware and harnesses for free and give you lifetime technical support.

[MontanaBBQ]

My '16 Greyhawk came with a Jensen JRV215 installed by Jayco. It had every option imaginable - bluetooth phone, nav, DVD, 3 cameras, weather radio, etc etc etc. Unfortunately it proved to be an unreliable, frustrating, buggy device that didn't do anything particularly well. Since I have been putting more miles on the MH than my daily driver, I decided an upgrade with an emphasis on AUDIO was in order.

I narrowed my choices to these two:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_113DDX...tp=72357&avf=Y

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XAV...tp=72357&avf=Y

Some of the difference I clued into include:

The Sony has an actual volume knob, will power three cameras, and includes the Sirius XM hardware.

The Kenwood has up/down arrows for volume, will only power a single rearview camera (plus and optional dash camera), and requires you to purchase the Sirius hardware separately.

After much back and forth, I ended up buying the above Kenwood from Crutchfield, including their mounting kit, wiring harness, antenna adapter, etc. I didn't have to use any of the installation accessories since they were already in place from Jayco's Jensen installation. I did have to source and purchase an adapter from Rearview Systems for the camera that's housed in the third brake light. The master installation sheets provided by Crutchfield for the Ford E-450 were invaluable for the disassembly/reassembly of the dash. I upgraded the door speakers and those instructions were also helpful.

I can't stand the sound quality of Sirius, so I skipped that option. The sideview mirror cameras proved to be worthless for me, so I left them unhooked as well.
The bluetooth connectivity and Apple CarPlay work perfectly with my iPhone. Additionally I keep an iPod loaded with music plugged into the second USB port. I find the display much easier to read (even in bright sunlight). The thing just works! After thousand of miles I have't had any "freeze ups". I'm happy with the upgrade and don't miss the lost "features" from the factory junk one bit.

-Doug

[MontanaBBQ]

I forgot to include this link in my last post. I think this shop owner does a nice job of highlighting and comparing the brands, models, and features of many CarPlay units:

Best CarPlay Head Unit 2018 - Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony and Alpine Review - Car Stereo Reviews & News + Tuning, Wiring, How to Guide's

Most all of these should be for sale on Crutchfield.

-Doug

[billbeyer]

Anyone know how to disassemble the dash to get to the Jensen radio to install a Sirius Radio unit?

[Forwardever]

This video was helpful for dash disassembly when I wanted to remove my Garmin Fusion to add the Sirius XM module:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8I6_IxloFk

[donfiori]

Doug i know most people dont like the mirror cameras but i know that there is a way to make the kenwood unit display all cameras on the vehicle becuase the loaner cars i get from my audio guy all have sideview cameras and rear cameras working
not sure if its allowed here but the shop i use is JML audio out of st louis mo. they do great work but not for the inexpensive type

[GABob]

billjmck, have you had any luck with using the GPS on the Soundstream? Every time we hit a number of letter, we get thissssss. Pretty annoying, so I end up using my cellphone.

[billjmck]

No, i haven't really tried it. In the habit of using my cell phone also. I have noticed when I have the unit totally off, the camera still works when blinker is used and then the radio comes on momentarily and then goes off. Strange. On another note, I talked to soundstream tech support while trying to turn off the side view on the camera and he said that was not part of their options. He said it must be hooked up to a relay or something outside their unit. Might explain why it works so weird.