Insane Audio's DD2001 is now out in the wild! Unlike Insane Audio's perfect-fit plug-and-play head units, the DD2001 has standard double DIN dimensions, supporting a wider range of vehicles. For that reason, installing the head unit might require additional work than simply plugging one into your car. If you feel uneasy about disassembling your dash, then we recommend getting advice from a professional installer. If you're up to the challenge, you can read on to understand what the basic setup is like. In this post, we'll get the DD2001 working inside a 2017 Subaru Crosstrek. While we can't guarantee it, this post might even apply to Impreza and other Subaru models.
Part 1: Wiring the harness
Before we start disassembling the dash, we need to hack together a new harness for the Crosstrek. The DD2001 comes with the following harnesses that plug into the main port and the A/V port at the back of the head unit.
On top of the head unit, you'll find the pinout description for both of these harnesses.
We purchased the following parts to interface with the Crosstrek:
- Metra 70-1761 power supply and speaker harness
- Metra 40-LX11 antenna adaptor
- Axxess AX-SUB28SWC-6V camera and steering wheel control harness
- Axxess AX-SUBUSB USB harness
- Axxess ASWC-1 steering wheel control interface
Metra 40-LX11 and Metra 70-1761
The Metra 70-1761 portion is really the main piece of the whole wiring, and it makes the battery, accessory/ignition and speaker terminals available to the DD2001 main harness. Soldering these pieces together is fairly straightforward if you match the available signals. Here's the color coding for the Metra harness:
The 20-pin AX-SUB28SWC-6V connector will mainly be used for the steering wheel controls (SWC). For that, you'll also need the ASWC-1 steering wheel control module.
Axxess ASWC-1
Here, you'll connect the brown wire to the brown "KEY1" wire on the main harness, and connect the brown-white wire to the brown-black "KEY2" wire. The module will need to be programmed when everything is hooked up.
It turns out that the AX-SUB28SWC-6V part isn't quite designed for our particular Crosstrek, as it incorrectly contains the camera pins required for a separate 5-pin plug. It isn't really a big deal. We'll just pluck those pins out and relocate them to a separate 5-pin camera connector, which we'll make ourselves. Here is a pinout description of the connector:
- camera power supply ground
- camera power supply 6V
- camera video (+)
- camera video (-)
- unused
AX-SUB28SWC-6V with misplaced camera pins
Everything else with the Axxess part looks okay, and it even includes a voltage converter needed to power the OEM camera. This converter will convert the RockCam 12V power supply (accessible through the head unit's A/V port) to the camera's operating voltage of 6V. Also accessible through the A/V port is the backup camera RCA input labeled as "CAM IN". We'll connect all these camera wires to our 5-pin connector.
When that's done, you'll end up with something like this:
Be sure to insulate any exposed metal contacts and terminals to prevent electrical shorts and surges.
Part 2: Replacing the OEM radio
Next, we're going to remove the OEM radio from the Crosstrek. Before we do that, we should decide on a dash kit to replace the OEM radio panel. We'll go with this one from Metra. Here's how the kit looks like with the Subaru climate controls already mounted.
Dash kits usually include instructions for disassembling your dash, and fortunately Metra has a good set of instructions for us. Let's go ahead and follow that. For reference, here's how our dash will look like when everything's out.
Note the four arrows, where the radio bolts are located. We're going to focus on the red arrows which are difficult to reach. In order to access them, we need to remove the lower driver-side dash, as well as the passenger-side glove box.
We're going to start by disconnecting the battery to protect the electrical system. Then go to the driver side, and pry open the left-most panel next to the door.
Next, unscrew the panel enclosing the fusebox and remove it while detaching the connectors for the proximity sensor control.
Then remove the panel to the right of the airbag assembly as follows.
When that's done, you can remove the 10mm bolts for the airbag assembly as shown below.
We'll just let the airbag assembly hang on its side. Just be sure that it's out of the way and the connections are intact when reassembling it.
With the panels out of the way, we can access the left 10mm bolt through a rectangular hole.
After that, we need to disassemble the glovebox, and we'll simply refer you to page 3 of the Metra instructions. The passenger-side 10mm bolt will be accessible in the same way as the driver side. With those two lower bolts removed, let's find the two upper bolts by prying open the vent panel.
After removing the two upper bolts, you can pull out the OEM radio. Hanging beneath the OEM radio is a black LTE module used for security and invasion of privacy. We do need to retain this module, but due to the larger DIN size, we'll have to shove it down the bottom of the dash, upside down as follows.
We'll re-use the OEM brackets and screws. Next, plug in the harness to the back of the head unit, and connect the other end to the various OEM plugs. While sliding the head unit into the dash, tuck the cables nicely, and try not to obstruct the vents on top of the head unit.
Before reassembling the front panel with the dash kit, let's reconnect the battery and turn on the head unit with your key. Test all the features, and make sure everything else in the vehicle works as before. For example, the first time through the installation, we didn't realize that the LTE module was a necessary component for climate control, and we had to go back and re-install the module.
At this point, you'll also want to check that the OEM camera works when the vehicle is in reverse, and also when the you launch the RockCam app. If nothing happens or if you get a blank screen, you'll have to disconnect the battery and inspect your wiring.
Next, we need to set up the steering wheel control module. Follow the steps in the ASWC-1 manual, and observe the LED on the module to see if it successfully detects the vehicle and the head unit. Then you can associate the buttons with the appropriate function by using the Wheel Key Study app. For our Subaru, this module seems to only support the volume, mute, track and audio source keys on the steering wheel.
Finally, snap the dash kit on, and make sure everything is aligned. We won't need to seal the gaps introduced by the dash kit, since we won't be exposing the head unit to excessive moisture. If you'll be operating the DD2001 in a marine environment, then we highly recommend adding gaskets and sealants.
Now prepare to spend the next hour or two downloading and installing all kinds of apps for your new DD2001. Be sure to check out our other forum posts to make the most out of your Insane Audio head unit. For example, as a mountain vehicle, the Subaru could very well enjoy a navigation upgrade.
We can imagine your installation will be very similar. If you have any questions, post them below. Good luck!