Hey all,

First time posting in this section, usually I'm working on my 1st Gen Durango but I need to help my dad out with his '06 3500.

Couple of years ago, we upgraded the head unit to a Pioneer AVH-X2800BS (https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/P...rs/AVH-X2800BS). All in all its been a great deck, however, we are having issues with radio reception and the backup camera. We didn't upgrade the antenna but we did use the connector and a metra wiring harness (something similar to this: https://smile.amazon.com/Metra-Elect...Dodge+Ram+3500).

Now that the background info is out of the way, does anyone have a suggestion as to either a troubleshooting step for the reception or a replacement radio antenna that would pull in both AM and FM radio signals way better than the factory one? It's almost un-listenable as it is. Any help would be appreciated.

As to the backup camera issue, I think we have a shorted wire from the reverse light, camera works great if manually turned on.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

 

No one has any suggestions about the antenna issue? Hasn't ANYONE done any upgrades on their antennas for better reception?

 

I've read up that you can screw the old antenna off and replace it with another one, like the one I linked from Amazon... I don't know if it'll help.

LINK TO REPLACEMENT ANTENNA:

 

They make fm boosters for most radios that would be a cheap add on

 

Thought about that...funny thing is that the AM sucks as well...was hoping someone had installed a powered antenna with some success...

 

For the antenna, you could test for continuity between the antenna and the antenna plug.
For the backup camera, you'll probably need to pull out the head unit and check for voltage at the reverse sensing wire when you put the car in reverse.
Are you able to trace the backup camera wire from the head unit to the camera itself? If so, you could follow it and look for shorts.
I ran my backup camera through the truck frame and put a wire loom over the wire. 3 years later has worked OK.

 

If the antenna is the grounded type, make sure the ground is good and rust hasn't gotten between the tabs and the antenna. Some new antennas are grounded and others aren't.