AIRSTREAM Interstate Front & Rear Camera Kenwood Radio Integration We recently purchased a 2014 Interstate Ext this past fall; actually built on a 2013 Mercedes Benz Sprinter 3500 Chassis. This was a purchase that took us over a month to complete as we were set on purchasing a tow trailer, the iconic AIRSTREAM; however the Interstate caught our eye and we instantly loved the idea of the entire family being together while traveling on the road. I ve always had a great deal of appreciation for folks who take the time out to post How too topics; so with that said, this will be my first and I hope it s helpful for anyone looking to eliminate the Pyle Rearview Camera system, while Integrating the Rear Camera, as well as a Front Camera system into the Factory Installed Kenwood Radio GPS Navigation System. Our 2013/2014 Interstate was delivered from AIRSTREAM with a KENWOOD DNX890HD system; this system allows for two separate CMOS Cameras to be installed. This project took me approximately four hours to complete, which included a lot of exploring in finding the existing Rear Camera wiring and such; so hopefully this will help in keeping you on schedule. I should also note that I have gained a lot of experience in this type of work while in college (early nineties) installing Cellular and Two-Way Radio equipment at a local Land Mobile Radio shop. But don t let that discourage you from taking this project one; in the end, you will have relocated the Hands-Free Microphone and cleaned up the messy wiring, reclaimed your Rear-View Mirror in order to allow you to keep an eye on the rear cabin area, as well as use the rear windows while driving, redirect the rear-view camera through the in-dash Radio GPS Navigation system, as well as adding a Front Camera as an additional parking aide. Needed Tools and Supplies: I purchased a fairly inexpensive Camera made by Audiovox from my local Best Buy stereo shop; it cost me under $100. In addition, I picked up a roll of wiring loom; crimp type electrical terminals and some heat shrink tubing. Tools: Torx Screw Driver Set (T15 to T25) Wire Striper / Terminal Crimp Tool Tie Wraps Wire Cutter Phillips Screw Driver Scissors Metric Socket Set (1/4 Drive) Volt Meter or Voltage Test Light Wiring fish ( A tool for snaking wiring through the fire-wall and or Dash Board area) Electrical Tape Heat Gun or Hair Dryer Electrical Connectors (Crimp Type) Wiring Loom A Female-to-Female bullet (Used in connecting the existing Rear-View Camera to the KENWOOD Radio) 6 Video RCA to RCA cable (Might need it, I didn t as I was able to use the existing rear-view camera video cable)
Planning: I recommend doing this project when the weather is warm, avoid doing this in a cold environment as the plastic trim parts can become brittle and perhaps crack when trying to remove them. The one nice feature about the Interstate, it allows us to be very nimble and quick on our feet while we are out camping and or exploring the local area; I often find ourselves heading into town for a nice hot cooked meal, away from the campsite as a change in pace. More often than not, I find myself parallel parking our Interstate in tight little beach and fishing towns; having the rear-view, as well as front-view camera make this parking chore almost look effortless. First Step: Accessing the Video Input wiring located behind the KENWOOD radio; this is a good first step and will give you an idea of whether or not you are up for taking this project on. Again, I m going to encourage you to stick it out; I m going to try my very best to give a good description and show lots of pictures in order to guide you through it. Removing the Faux Wood Radio Face Plate: My dealer included the radio removal tools which are included with the KENWOOD radio; don t use them, put them back where you found them. The Faux Wood Face Plate is secured to the dash board via push in clips; start at the top of the face plate by peeling it away using your fingers. Open up the top center dash storage compartment, this will give your fingertips a purchase point to start the process; the face plate will start to pop out of the retaining clip holes. Working from the top down, use your fingertips to slowly pry the face plate from the retaining holes, working your fingertips down the outside edges. As you successfully get towards the bottom of the face plate removal process; you will need to detach two plug type connectors used for controlling the heated seats, hazards, etc. from the face plate: Once you remove the radio face plate, you will need a Torx screw driver (T-15) in order to remove the four Torx screws securing the radio chassis within the center dash board:
Once the four screws are removed, you and carefully slide the radio chassis out of the dashboard in order to expose the rear wiring and temporarily locate the wiring harness on the top of the radio; slide the radio back into position temporarily. Now examine the wiring, you are looking for the video RCA type connector; they should be mark Rear Camera and Front Camera. At this point, you have exposed the necessary wiring to integrate a Front-Camera, the Existing Rear-Camera and or both cameras as I have. Before tackling the existing Rear-View Camera, I m
going to cover the Front-Camera installation. My camera came with the necessary hardware to install the camera in various locations, as well as changing the view of the camera and the electrical connectors and fuse holder. I first temporarily powered, grounded and connected the RCA connector from the newly purchased camera to the KENWOOD radio RCA connector labeled Front Camera. I wanted to make sure that the camera was compatible with the KENWOOD radio head, as well change the view of my camera by clipping a jumper wire on the wiring harness of the camera; this allows the view as see on the Kenwood screen to be the same as your view as if you were looking forward out of the windshield. (I think I explained that correctly; if not, you ll know what I mean once you get this far.) I had actually thought I purchased the wrong camera when I first connected the camera and looked at the view; it was inverted and backwards. Once the Camera System is tested; now it s time to consider where you want to mount the front camera. I choose the iconic Mercedes Benz emblem located in the center of the radiator grill. I found it best to remove the grill and secure the camera and the wiring harness; removing and re-installing the grill is very easy and makes for an overall professional looking job. Access the engine compartment by popping the hood; once the hood is open, there are four screws located on the top portion of the grill assembly that need to be removed, the bottom portion of the grill is held into place by simple slot fittings in which the grill bottom rest in.
Once the front grill is removed, this allow for you to work on the mounting of the camera and try different mounting options and or mounting brackets most likely included with your camera. For example, I had to use the optional bracket that was included with my camera; the bracket which was pre-installed as the default wasn t a good fit. Once I secured the camera and camera bracket, I made sure that there was some flexibility in being able to adjust the angle of the camera once complete; in addition, I placed the wiring harness into the wiring loom and secured it out of sight behind the grill towards the direction of the driver s side of the engine compartment using tie-warps. RE-Install the grill back into place, first by placing the tabs located on the bottom of the grill into the slots located on the bumper; then align the top part of the grill screw holes with the engine compartment s mounting holes, replace and tighten the removed screws. Now prepare to route the Front View camera s wiring towards the driver s side fire wall.
Our Interstate has the battery located under the hood, on the Driver s Side of the engine compartment; this might be different on earlier year Sprinters, where the battery might be located under the driver s foot well within the cabin area. The battery location isn t important, you are looking for a nice easy way to route your camera s wiring harness to the inside of the cabin via the engine compartment s fire wall. Our Sprinter had a grommet up high and in plain sight as depicted below:
Remove the grommet from the fire and using a pair of scissors, cut the nipple end of the grommet so that the camera s wiring can be passed through it. Temporarily run your wiring along the front fender and away from any moving belts, pulleys and anything else that you think may be a problem; you will later tie wrap the loom containing the wiring harness into the engine compartment area, keeping it clear from any hazards and items such as the battery from a servicing standpoint. I shrink wrapped the fuse holder as I wasn t sure if I was going to locate it under the hood, or within the cabin of the vehicle. NOTE: On top of being an Electrical Engineer, I m also a volunteer fire fighter; please use the included fuse holder and fuse, it there as a protective device in the event you experience a short and reduce the chance of a fire. I grounded the camera s electrical ground connection to the grounding lug or grounding post located within the engine compartment; as well as routed the wiring loom in such a way that would not impede the servicing and or replacement of my battery a chore.
Next is connecting the power for your camera; you want to connect your camera to a power source which turns On and OFF with your ignition. Meaning, you want your camera ON when your AIRSTREAM is On and running. Locate the fuse panel located under the driver s side foot well; at this point you will need either a Volt meter and or a 12V Test Light in order to identify a fuse location which switches On/OFF with the turn of your ignition. Once you locate that fuse, you will then pull that fuse and identify the Hot side of the fuse socket using your Volt meter or Test Lamp; this will be the side that you will insert your fuse coupled with the fuse spade. You will want to purchase this type of electrical terminal as seen in the below pictures:
Once the electrical connections are complete and secure as seen in the above picture; next is to run the Video cable up towards the KENWOOD radio. Again, you want to run the video cable in order to avoid entanglement with any of the controls (Steering, Brake and Throttle pedals) [Can t say Gas Pedal, the Sprinter is a Diesel and Diesel Pedal sounds funny]. I found it best to gently slide out the radio from the dash compartment, then peak down through the wire area and send a wiring fish through the dash to the foot well area. Using electrical tape, I then taped the RCA connector to the fish and then pulled the wire up towards the radio location. Before mating Video RCA connectors, I slide a piece of heat-shrink tubing over the connection as I found the connector junction to be loosely fitted (Remember, you only want to do this once might as well do it right the first time.). The below photo shows the completed front camera connection with the heat shrink tubing properly securing the connection; as well as the preparation of the Rear-View Camera Connection (BROWN RCA Jack) which I will cover next.
The remainder of this procedure will focus on locating and rerouting the existing Rear-View RCA connector and wiring to the KENWOOD radio. Read the Mercedes Benz owner s manual on replacing the reading light bulb within the central lighting apparatus located in the forward head liner up above and between the driver and passenger area. Also, access the vacant spare radio / scanner / CB radio slot location in the above mentioned headliner.
The central lighting fixture drops out of the headliner, by first lowering the passenger side (See below photo) and sliding out the driver s side which is held in with long supporting fingers which rest on the headliner. Once removed, you can then trace the wiring from the Pyle screen assembly which is currently mounted on the factory installed Rear-View Mirror. This also provides an opportunity to reroute and clean up the hands-free microphone location and wiring. I routed my hands-free microphone closer to the lighting fixture, as well as hide the wiring behind the microphone to give the cabin a cleaner more professional and or factory look.
Use the existing wiring from the Pyle screen to trace back the wiring from the Rear-Camera video RCA cable plugs into the video interface module. I found the wiring and video modulator unit closer to the driver s side next to the accessory expansion slot mentioned and photograph above. I found that I was able to reroute the video cable (RCA jack) from the existing location, across the driver s side headliner and down the A-front pillar. I did this by retrieving the RCA connector to the front edge of the headliner, where it meets with the windshield; I then routed it across towards the front windshield A-pillar. NOTE: Our Mercedes Benz AIRSTREAM came factory equipped with A-Pillar AIR BAGS, so routing this cable down towards the foot well needs to be done carefully, so as not to interfere with the air bag deployment in the event of an accident. Remove the A-Pillar plastic trim; I was able to do this similar to how I removed the radio face plate using my fingers; same type of clip and fastening system. The below picture shows the routing of the existing Rear-View RCA video cable alongside and tie-wrapped to the vehicles existing wiring harness; note that the RCA cable was routed behind the red nylon trim restraining strap and away from the AIRBAG curtain.
One the RCA has been secured alongside the A-Pillar wiring harness; I found that I was able to drop it down approximately above and alongside the fuse panel. I then routed the cable in the similar direction as I did the Front View Camera; again, using the wire fish and retrieving the RCA connector at the location of the KENWOOD radio located in the center console. I added a piece of heat shrink tubing, made my connections and then applied heat so that the tubing would act in keeping my RCA connections tight. The below image show both the Front and Rear View Camera RCA connections neatly heat shrunk.
Once connected, turn on the Sprinter s ignition, power on the KENWOOD radio; simply put your foot on the brake pedal and move the gear shifter to REVERSE. You should see the image of the Rear-View camera on the screen of the KENWOOD radio. I didn t have to configure the Rear- View camera, it worked by default; however I did need to follow the KENWOOD Owner s Manual in order to configure the Front Camera. Configuring the Front-Camera was very simple; I have my camera system setup that it automatically shows the Rear View image once the vehicle is placed into REVERSE. Since the Kenwood Radio is touch screen, you can select to have both cameras image showing in a split-screen fashion, or by manually turning on the Front Camera View by pressing the AUX button only when needed; which is what I do. THE HOME STRETCH: Once you configured the camera(s) and verified the functionality of the system; now you just need to re-install everything and start putting everything back together. START with tie-wrapping the RCA cables underneath the driver s foot well area; again making sure that all of your wiring is up and out of harm s way in regards to steering, brake and throttle controls. Secondly, tie-wrap any lose or extra cabling and such that was cut free up above the headliner next to the expansion slot; you don t any noise and such while driving because of a lose interface module flopping around up there. Once you start to reassemble the center overhead light fixture; this is a good time to clean up the Cell Phone Hands Free Microphone as I did and noted in the below picture:
Hopefully all went well, and you are sitting back and admiring your craftsmanship. I hope this was helpful and provided some close and intimate time with your family in helping out, as well as providing some time in getting to know your AIRSTREAM better. Please excuse and ignore any spelling and grammatical errors.