Guide: How to Install an Aftermarket Radio in a RAM Promaster City

Information on this topic was pretty sparse when I searched, so I had to piece things together to figure them out. I hope this helps anyone else who might want to attempt an install like this. It’s for the Ram Promaster City 2016, but parts may work with other models, check the Metra site for any parts in this guide for compatibility.

First, the benefits of an aftermarket radio:

1. Apple CarPlay / Android Auto, so you get navigation, calls, better music, etc.
2. You can connect more accessories like subwoofers and backup cameras.

And why install it yourself?

1. Save $$$: I was quoted $650 to have it done by a local shop, I paid around $350 for parts.
2. Learn more about how your car is put together. Who’s going to fix it when things break?

Parts List

What you’ll need to buy:

1. The Dash Kit: Metra 95-6531HG Ebay Amazon
2. The Wiring Harness: Metra XSVI-6523-NAV XSVI Ebay Amazon
3. Factory Radio Removal Keys: Metra 86-3528 Ebay Amazon
4. The Radio itself. I evaluated the Sony model vs Pioneer, Pioneer has a much better touch screen and responsive UI: Pioneer AVH-1300NEX Ebay Amazon
5. USB mini (f) to USB A (m) adapter Ebay Amazon
6. If you want AM/FM radio: Metra 40-EU10 Ebay Amazon

Note some people online say you can use a coat hanger to remove the factory radio. I wasn’t able to get that working, you’d need pretty thick wire. Also, the wiring harness is technically optional but it will make your life much easier.

Other tools you’ll need:

1. Plastic cutting tools, like Dremel or drill. (When the installation manual says “sub-dash cutting” you know it’s going to be fun).
2. Soldering, crimping, or other wire joining tools.
3. Set of Torx screwdrivers, T-10 and T-25.
4. Philips Screwdriver and pliers.

Step 1: Joining the Wiring Harness

Once you have your radio and the wiring harness, you need to connect the wires together.

In total, I soldered 13 wires together:

1. Black to Black for ground
2. Yellow to Yellow for always-on power
3. Red to Red for accessory power (when the key is in the ACC position)
4. Left harness’s Blue/White wire disconnected (use wire wrap to insulate off the tip)
5. Connect harness Orange wire to radio Orange/White wire for illumination signal (whether or not cabin lights are on)
6. There are 4 pairs of speaker wires to connect, Gray to Gray, Gray/Black to Gray/Black; White to White, White/Black to White/Black; Dark Green to Dark Green, Green/Black to Green/Black; Dark Purple to Dark Purple, Purple/Black to Purple/Black.
7. I did not use the harness Blue/Pink wire.
8. I did not connect the harness Green/Purple wire to the radio Purple wire. I found that when connected, the backup camera will turn on randomly while you’re driving. My understanding is that the Metra module watches messages on the vehicle’s CAN bus to determine if the vehicle is backing up, and it messes up in this case.
9. Light Green to Light Green (parking brake wire)

It should look like this:

The completed harness. If I had to do it again, I would have cut wires to length first. I ended up buying Tesa Tape to wrap the wires afterwards (don’t use vinyl electrical tape, it’ll become a sticky mess in your car).

Step 2: Preparing The Dashboard for Custom Radios

First, pop the hood and disconnect the ground battery lead. No tools necessary, there’s a mechanism you push, and then you pull the lead off of the pole.

Push the gray tab, pull right off.

Insert the radio removal keys into the 4 holes, push outwards (towards each door), and pull:

There are 3 wire connections to the factory radio you’ll remove. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to remove these cables.

Push the tabs and pull.

The cables are (left to right): wiring, USB, AM/FM antenna.

Remove the pivoting plastic retainer from the red/black main cable harness (the wiring harness won’t fit over it). Stow away those cables into the dash for now.

Remove this guy.

At this point, you can plug everything into your new radio to make sure it all works as you expect. Connect your battery lead, power on the vehicle and wait a couple seconds for the unit to start. Test volume, CarPlay, and input aux. If it all checks out, disconnect your radio and the battery terminal and proceed with the install.

You should follow the instructions that come with Metra’s dash kit on what to unscrew. Here are images so you can follow along:

Once you undo the T-25 torx screws, pull down on the interior part and pull out.

The entire panel should come out. You can now undo the 4 T-10 screws holding those two silver brackets in place too. Remove the cable.

You’ll notice that there’s yet another electrical connection for this panel, with its own unique connector. Push the tab and swivel, then pull. The engineers must have had fun with these.

Sub-Dash Cutting

This is probably the most difficult part. Metra’s instruction manual is pretty sparse on this front, but it’s accurate. You’ll need to remove the raised parts of the sub-dash. Luckily I didn’t have to cut the back part for this radio, but you may have to.

Line the underside with a garbage bag / rags to catch plastic debris. I also covered the AC ducts. Forcibly remove the 2 aluminum screws with your pliers. Just get in there and pull the tabs off from your side, then pull through. It’s tough, thick plastic so you have some work ahead of you.

They come right out once there are no tabs blocking.

Now, start removing that raised edge. I ended up using a drill since it was awkward to create horizontal cuts with the dremel, I drilled holes next to each other and pulled the pieces off.

Progress so far. I stopped here but I ended up having to make these additional cuts, which I marked in red. The sides should sit flush, and those AC duct tabs should be cut too.

Installing the Microphone

Now is a good time to install the microphone that comes with the radio. I ended up mounting mine to the side of my instrument panel. The panel it’s mounted on can be pulled out slightly so that the wire can be fed to the other side, which leads right back into the radio compartment on the right, next to the AC ducts.

Adhere with adhesive, feed wires through to the right and zip-tie the extra wiring together.

Cleaning Up

When you’re done, re-connect the front panel you removed from earlier (remember to re-attach the electrical wiring) and install the side tabs. It should look like this:

Attach the 4 T-25 torx screws from earlier and your dash is back in place! Now take a break and set up the mounting for the radio.

Radio Installation

The instructions are pretty ambiguous as to how it mounts, but based on fitting I mounted it like this:

Here are the final wirings I put into the radio (not pictured: USB since the cable couldn’t reach).

From left to right: Microphone input, wiring harness, L/R AUX input from the harness, backup camera. Don’t forget to connect the USB cable too.

While this setup makes it possible to access the AUX input by dialing into AV on the radio, my ideal setup converts the two red and white RCA cables into AUX input. I tried a converter but it was pretty noisy, I’ll have to search for a solution.

Also, note that I connected my backup camera at this point. I’ll have a guide for how to install that shortly.

Once you’re tested that everything works, slide the radio in, taking care to ensure that the cables all slide back properly. This took me awhile, I ended up using the USB A extension cable that came with the radio so I could jam the USB bundle further back into the dash, as well as taping more things down with tesa tape so they didn’t slide.

Next, follow Metra’s directions to pop the face plate on.

Connected to Apple CarPlay

All done! Be sure to keep your radio removal keys, once the radio locks in place you’ll need them to remove it.

I hope you found this helpful if you’re looking to install a radio yourself. Drop a comment below if you have any questions, thanks for reading!