I guess I missed that. I own an Alpine HU with their high-speed iPod connection cable. I just knew that Mopar had a solution, I didn't know the specifics.

Thanks for educating me, so I won't make this mistake again.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to come across as mean as that sounded....they changed the kits for 07. Earlier year's kits WERE direct connect kits AND allowed radio control of the iPod.

For whatever reason, they went to a FM bound unit for 07-08 Wranglers (as well as some other model Dodge/Chrysler/Jeeps), with no radio control integration....all it did was charge the iPod and have a "wire free" look in the front with sub par FM frequency response.

I originally had one on order with my Jeep, we cancelled the order when I discovered they had moved to FM bound. The dealer later sold one to someone....they were back in a week demanding a refund and the FM unit yanked they said it sucked so bad.

 

There's a much better way to hook up an ipod.

Items needed:
1 Cirkit Boss fuse block setup
1 male to mal 3.5mm plug
1 Belkin ipod adapter with charger / 3.5mm plug
1 Radio Shack 12 Volt socket

I attached the 12 volt socket to my Painless Cirkit Boss so that it is only powered when the ignition is on. I then plugged in the Belkin 12 V socket in and the 3.5mm cord into that and in to the stereo. Thus, the ipod is charged and the sound is sent out digitally to the 3.5mm cord to the aux port. Turn the ignition off and the ipod stops charging. It's mounted on the Bracketron bracket you can buy from Quadratec.

You can see photos of my setup about half way down here:

http://www.pbase.com/jamooche/cirkit_boss

I had this setup in my old Land Rover Discovery and currently in my wife's VW Passat. It works very well.

For the JK, the only slight problem is that the aux in amplifier is very low wattage compared to the rest of the system. Luckily, the Belkin unit has a levels knob on the 12 V plug...I adjusted it just below where the music pops and cracks.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Thanks Area 51. No hard feelings. I know that things get lost in translation on these things.

Again, thanks for the additional info.

 

I was not saying that a dock with line out is "necessary", its just that the line level out definitely gives an improvement in the sound quality of even compressed Mp3's compared to the headphone out jack. That and being able to keep the ipod car charger and line out, plugged into the dock all the time, so that when you move your ipod in and out you only need to make the one connection to the bottom of the ipod.
After all the money I've spent on my Jeep and mods I'm not going to start being a cheapskate on my sound quaility in it.

 

Yup, headphone cable from BestBuy for about $15 (fancy gold-plated terminals) with the cable tucked in the gap on the right side of the dash next to the radio and a/c controls. Volume on my Nano is at about 90% and sounds just like CD's. The aux input jack is there for that very reason...why not use it, right?

 

I have tried several headhead phone to head phone cables to conect my 1yr old nano to the Aux input and have not goten good resulting sound quality. I thought it may have been the cable but the replacement faired no better. I have turned the sound up on the ipod but it still sounds like crap. Its kind of muted and distorted. any sugestions ...other than beat it with a hammer

 

I use the Harmon Kardon Drive+Play device.
The brain piece is hidden, the screen is on my dash, the controller is near the cupholders where everything is convenient. Don't have to take my eyes off the road to view the ipod screen, etc. I've got mine plugged into the aux jack on my factory HU. (I'm in the process if moving the aux jack to the rear, so I don't have the cable sticking out (pics later).

Here's a generic picture, but I'll post some of my install later today (if camera works).

 

I vote for the Griffin Tuneflex, or if you've got Uconnect hooked up, the $40 iPod cable allows for iPod control directly through the headunit (haven't tested it out as my iPod died and won't be back to me til Monday).

 

I did the easier Belkin route (none of that rewiring stuff )

Plugs into the cigarette lighter. Has a stereo headphone jack and onboard amplifier, where you connect the headphone to headphone jack... Then just plug the ipod into the dock connector... and presto chango.... An ipod charger... where you don't even have to mess around with the volume.

I've seen a few new FM modulators out there that are RDS compatible too.... so if you pick up one of those, you'll see the track information on the radio... nifty!



Right now I have a kenwood DVD headunit. Touchscreen ipod control, With video!!! So I can basically have my own 160gb my gig. beat that!