Thor Forums

[VJRocky]

Hello to all, yea! Spring just around the corner here in the Northeast. I thought I would post this upgrade for those who are considering upgrading from their 212T, which in my case was an on and off again failure after failure. I purchased the 9000 and harness from Amazon. So, in the box of the 9000 were the head unit, the double DIN chassis, two face plates, the GPS antenna, microphone and misc. wiring, as well as some very limited documentation. If you are used to working with simple tools and you enjoy small projects you should be able to manage this project. My unit is a 2014 Hurricane 34E class A. In order to remove the 212T you will need the removal tools which are 2 C-shaped hard wires that fit into the two holes on each side of the 212T. I could not find them online, but did find a service kit on the Jensen site that contained them. You may already have them. I had to pay $29 for the kit just to get the tools. I did not need the rest of the kit which was for another radio. Once inserted, you may have to tilt them outward to release the clips holding the unit in place. Slide it out and disconnect the wires. Make a note of the wiring configuration for later on. On my unit, to remove the old chassis (double DIN) I had to bend the tabs (which hold it in place) back up in-line with the chassis. The tabs are on all sides. I used a sharpened nail to bend them back. The new chassis installs the same way, just reverse the procedure. However I had to trim the opening slightly with a box cuter. Note, the 9000 comes with a microphone for the phone features and a GPS antenna for navigation. Some planning is needed before hand for the locations of these attachments.

The GPS Antenna:

After some research here and elsewhere, I mounted mine just under the dash above the instrument panel in front of the access hatch. I used industrial Velcro which worked very well. I then routed the wires to the unit’s location, tying up any extra wire. The antenna captured 8+ satellites with strong signals.

The Microphone:

I mounted the mic on the front of the dash near the heater controls, with the wire coming up under the dash to the unit area. I tied up any extra wire here too. The mic comes with two different holders to suit your application. One will clip on the visor and the other, with sticky tape, will go on the dash somewhere. There is plenty of wire to place it just about anywhere.

The wiring harness:

The 9000 comes with several wiring harnesses with connectors on one side and open wires at the other end. You would have to splice into your existing wiring which I was not willing to do. Instead I purchased a conversion harness from Amazon (Jensen 31100216 Harness to Upgrade JRV212T to JRV9000) $45. The 9000 itself was $502 on Amazon. The harness plugs into the existing connectors attached to your vehicle, including the cameras if you have them. The GPS antenna and mic plug into the back of the 9000. These are dedicated connections.
The JRV9000 Features
The unit, so far, works well and fits nicely in the dash. I was able to easily pair my cell phone with the Bluetooth feature. Making test calls worked fine with clear connections and audio. I was able to play music from my phone through the radio. It worked with my Pandora and Spotify apps. MY three cameras on the RV (turn signal and backup) worked just fine with the 9000. The trigger point connector on the back of the unit is identical to the 212T, as is the camera connectors. Make sure you mark which camera connection hooks to the proper connection on the unit. One complaint I have read is that the screen is very dim; however there are several settings for the screen brightness, contrast and saturation. On my unit, there is no brightness issue.

Navigation

The 9000 comes with maps built into the unit that are loaded onto the included mini 8GB SD card. Note, to remove the SD card, push it in and it will pop out. Don’t pull on it. The directions are very limited in this respect. If you want a free update to the maps, you must register with “Naviextras.com”. You then have 30 days to download the updated maps. You do this by inserting the mini SD card into your computer and using their update tool (available on their site) to update the SD. You will need an adapter (mini SD to USB) to connect to your computer. Then you just place it back in your 9000. Note: when you update, be sure to use the backup feature of your existing maps first. My updated maps did not work with the navigation. As of this writing, I have a support ticket with Naviextras.com. In the mean time I had to restore my old maps while waiting for a reply from Naviextras.com. The restore feature is part of their update tool.
Well, that’s about all I have for now. I wish you well if you are considering this upgrade. I may have left out a few steps, but the major steps are included here. Now the endurance test comes next, to see how well it performs in the long run.