OE radio in my wife's RHD JKU has been going out for a while and she finally OKed me to replace it and add a backup camera, I've been wanting to replace it for 6 years. Well, I've had a nightmare of an order experience with that. Ordered the i407-WRA-JK kit and was told it would work with the KAC-001 (want that to control the safety lights). After getting the 407 kit and reading the manuals I found no mention of the KAC-001 in it. I first reached out to the seller who said it does support the accessory control module, just need to enable the setting in the radio, and if my problem persists to call back. I didn't like the answer as if I get the radio out of my wife's work Jeep (RHD) and things go sideways, I'll never hear the end of it. Last night I hooked the radio up on my bench to try and find this setting. Could not find it. Today I called Alpine, they confirm that those two are not compatible. I found a store listing the older i207-WRA kit, over all it looks to be a nicer, though older, radio than the 407 so I ordered it from the one vender I see that shows they have 4. They called as part of credit fraud protection and when I mentioned why I'm even ordered that older kit they state, they don't ship the 207, they instead ship the i407-WRA-JK. I explained to them why that is a really bad business plan to not update the listing to the product they are actually shipping as I would have been rather upset to get the same radio I just returned elsewhere because it doesn't meet my requirements. That order is now cancelled before it was shipped. Looking around, I found the iLX-507 supports all I need and is less expensive than the 407 restyle kit. I get on Facebook with Alpine rep to explain my frustration this 407 Restyle kit without support for the KAC-001 has caused. I mentioned that the 507 looks to be about the same design as the older 207. In talking with the rep found that the mounts in the restyle kit for the 207 can be ordered "a-la cart" and should work with the 507. The only one he would not commit to working was the rear support bracket. So now I have ordered the brackets for the i207-WRA kit, the iLX-507 head unit, Maestro RR interface so once I'm done putting it all together, I'll basically have a custom i507-WRA kit that is way better than the i407-WRA-JK. I didn't include the JK/JL indicator in the naming of what I would call the 507 kit like they included on the 407-WRA kits because according to Crutchfield the iLX-507 is not supported on the JL due to too shallow a depth in the dash where needed.

Back up camera is the HCE-TCAM1-WRA. Future update may include the supported dash cam.

Ways 507 > 407

• A little more power at the RMS rating (I think it's 19 vs 16)
• 13 band parametric EQ vs fixed frequency 5 band.
• 2 USB ports (2.4A+1.5A charging) instead of 1 (1.5A)
• Wireless/wired Android Auto/CarPlay vs wired only.
• KAC-001 support!! (I think every Restyle kit should support this)
• GPS RECEIVER (if the head unit passes that GPS data to the connected phone properly it should result it less power used by the phone to put its GPS in high accuracy mode)
• Dash cam support
• Higher quality audio playback

As of right now my wiring plan as laid out for the i407-WRA-JK kit were as follows, really the only change is that I'm building that main harness myself now and I do plan on additional inline fuses from what is seen below.


Radio, rear cam, relay controller and maestro wiring.

Under hood wiring for light controls

 

I have the i207 kit and it’s a great unit. My only beef is that when I put it into reverse, the camera shows up immediately but stays in a camera view for about 5-10 seconds after I take it out of reverse.

I haven’t dug into a fix for it though. I’m curious if you have the same issue.

 

I'll find out once we get it installed. Plan was this long weekend since she is off work Monday for the holiday, but the mounting brackets from the i207-WRA kit (the front brackets were superseded by the front brackets found in the i407-WRA-JK kit) are not going to be here in time. I may go ahead and install it with the mounting kit Crutchfield is sending over for now, and then later replace them next time I'm working on it. Or I may just use the 407s front brackets and hope the ordered brackets arrive in time to put in the box and return to Crutchfield before my return window expires.

 

After some test fitting of the harness and finishing where the modules (Maestro RR & KAC-001) were all going to reside in the Jeep Saturday night, I finished up the main harness, it's basically the i509-WRA-JK harness, but with added features to support the KAC-001 External Accessory Control added in as well as relays to short the BATT to ACC wires in the harness and add an indicator output connection for when that mode is active (not something you want to leave on while the vehicle if parked over night or for extended periods, while at PO or such. Reason for the BATT to ACC jump is that while out delivering any time she dismounts to deliver the package, policy requires the Jeep turned off, and when the radio turns off the KAC-001 stops holding those outputs to ground, so the safety lights would turn off, and that is not the operation we wanted. Not waiting on the radio to reboot after getting back in is another plus.

Unfortunately, didn't finish the wiring for the safety lights this weekend. I've got the front and rear high lights mounted, was about to mount the rear lower lights, but time was out. And she was happy to have the backup camera working.

On the topic of the HCE-TCAM1-WRA, they improved the kit, but the documentation was not updated. They now include 3 c-clips in the package. They are not mentioned anywhere in the install manual, their use is obvious though, put on the spare tire studs after putting the mounting base on. My deviations from the install manual were on the "lug nut camera base" they clocked the wire opening to 3 o-clock and I put it to 6 o-clock so that if any water gets into the mounting post, it can easily drain out the back. And I didn't route the wire all the way to the kick panel, I followed the OE harness path under the driver's (right front) seat to the center console and then to the dash from the bottom there.

I didn't remember to time it, but in the testing I did do, I didn't really notice a delay, at least nothing close to 10 seconds.

 

Working on the under-hood mount for the connectors, breaker, bus bars. Going to print a part they will screw/bolt to that will snap right onto the battery. Not quite done, but close. Currently estimated print time to ABS is over 20 hours.

EDIT: as of Sunday 23:00 it has been printing for 51 hours and it at 76%. I did have several updates I had to make to the model before it would print, and once all the adjustments where made the updated projection was 56 hours. Longest ABS print I've attempted, hope the print closet temp didn't fluctuate too much, ABS doesn't like it changing much during job.

 

Looks like things are coming along well. When you hooked up the main wiring harness from the 407hu, did you do anything special with a reverse wire or just plug it right to the vehicle wiring harness?

With the delay in the camera view that I have going from reverse to drive, I’ve thought about connecting a scope to the reverse wire going to the head unit to see what the signal transition looks like to determine if my delay is wiring or software.

Nice work on the radio though!

 

I returned the i407-WRA-JK because it didn't support the KAC-001, I ordered the iLX-507 to replace it. Since the 507 is not a restyle kit I had to make the main harness from the harnesses included with 507, Maestro RR, TCAM1 and I added KAC to it that the WRA harness didn't have. I could have ordered the i509-WRA-JK harness on the same site I ordered the front and rear mounting plates for the i207-WRA, but that 509 harness was over $400 and I had all the parts here needed to make my own. As far as connections to the JK on that custom "i507-WRA" harness, they are only the OE radio plug [power (+ & -), speakers (4 channels), and I think the LIN to support the steering wheel buttons], antenna, CAN though OBD2 port. If the Jeep was a standard transmission, I would have had to use a separate wire to the +12V going to the reverse lights, but her JK is an automatic, so all of that data goes to the Maestro RR from the CAN and is then passed to the Radio and TCAM1 from the output triggers from the Maestro RR.

 

@Sv_dude yesterday she asked me to change the mute on reverse setting, so I was playing with reversing a few times. But I forgot your issue was the camera off time, so I was looking at the camera on times. I should be working on it again Thursday to finish the light connections.



Rear lights mounted, wire between them routed inside the bumper, I love powerful magnets. Just need to do the connections at the left light where they connect the wiring that goes up into the rear quarter panel area.



Under hood done, minus adding the plug to the chassis harness to plug into the power distribution connection. You may also notice the painted nuts on the sides. The ABS print ended up with some thermal expansion issues so it could break with the not too much force on the layers of the z-axis as printed. So, I ran threaded rod through that axis to add pressure that will keep it from separating under loads. Due to the power distribution mount area, easy removal was important, so 4 connectors (1 for the main 50A inputs from the battery, 2 to the relay box [1 pin for 12V batt & 12 pins for relay input/return], and 1 to chassis harness [8pin]). The Relay box has 3 connections (2 mentioned on the power distribution notes and a 6 pin to the relay controller, Alpine KAC-001, in the cabin).


The only wire routing I still need to do is for the top lights on the glass hinges and the cargo light LED strip through the freedom top, I'm going to try using that trick I use for routing the wire through the inside of the bumper. Only think I'm really hesitant about is drilling that top, only get one real shot at not really messing that up. I want to get some more looks at that area where the rear OE connections enter the top and see if I can fit 2 more wires in there and route to OE holes for the strip lights and to a couple holes I plan to drill through the outside at the top behind the glass in that recess where the seal is for the glass is and little inward of the turn downward on the sides.

 

Hello. I was just curious if you would be able to help with the installation of my KAC-001 as you seem extremely detailed and knowledgeable. I tried to message you, but can' assuming because I'm a new member. I'd appreciate it and give you my contact info if needed. -Jason

 

I didn't see any message, but if you wanted to start a KAC-001 focused thread if you can't already find one I'd be glad to provide any assistance I can, and do it in a way that it may benefit others as well in the future.