[BLtheP]

I had 2 2019s, one auto one manual. The auto I had a kenwood installed with a maestro sw. There was no application specific harness like the HRN at all. You had to splice a few wires per the instructions and all worked.

When I got the manual truck I wanted to step up to the RR (September 2021). Same deal, some custom splicing following the instructions. I never once was told it “wasn’t supported”. I did look into the install for a 20/21 and noticed in the programming web link app that 2020 and 2021 were not listed. If it were me I’d just select 2019 and try it. I do know for a fact that when I got the SW in august 2020 at that audio shop, the RR was absolutely available for 2019s and the same custom wiring configuration was recommended when you selected it to program. There was never an HRN harness until recently though.

I don’t know much about that HRN harness other than it should save you some time and wiring work. Though the work I had to do wasn’t that difficult either.

Loved the function of the maestro. Super handy to have the gauges. I now have a 2021 Tacoma that has factory CarPlay, and I ditched that piece of garbage to use my kenwood and RR again. The RR is even better in the Toyota. Great addition to any vehicle.

 

[BLtheP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I was told there is no way to see actual individual tire PSI using the RR, or is there?

I could not see that with the RR. As far as I know, it’s due to the fact that there is no “my vehicle” section on the maestro for Nissan frontiers. On my Toyota there is a my vehicle page that shows doors open, tire pressure, and battery voltage. The Nissan setup definitely did not have that, but maybe it does not that they’re releasing more vehicle specific wiring for frontiers. Gives a bit of hope that maybe they’ve enhanced the feature capability of the RR in a Frontier as well.

Not really relevant but I was definitely able to get tire data with my scangauge I had for a while. Had to enter some codes into it for it to realize tire info. It would not tell me which tire was which though, so it was kind of useless. Plus if the tires got lower than 29 or so psi, the tpms would been at you anyways so I didn’t feel like I was missing out too much by not having that info.

 

[BLtheP]

This gives me hope, a lot of hope. The HRN harness seems to be new as part of the RR2 lineup. I considered the RR2, but it doesn't seem to provide enough for me to make that jump. On their comparison, the two main differences is that you can flash via Bluetooth (which is major in the convenience department), and the 3 programmable outputs. Minor differences are more vehicles supported, and more radar detectors supported. But yea, the new line of harness and accesories make install a little easier but ultimately the same set up.

Yeah, I had the option to choose RR2 for like $20 extra or so but I skipped it. The only improvements I saw were the radar, the outputs and the Bluetooth programming. Being that I installed the RR in the manual, I stuck it in the console by the shifter. There was loads of space in there. So if I needed to program it, I could have it out in about 30 seconds. Bluetooth would definitely be more convenient though. If I was doing an install where I jammed it down in the dash behind the radio then the Bluetooth part might make it worth buying the RR2. The outputs I didn’t care about as I had a switch panel for that which I liked better, and the radar functions sparked no real interest for me. If I were buying again though I maybe would consider the RR2 for the Bluetooth part. It doesn’t cost much more. I had the RR leftover from the frontier so I threw it in the Toyota along with the kenwood.

 

[BLtheP]

They worked! I didn't even have to use the OBD2 connector which was amazing. If you look at the install guide, it shows that the OBD2 connector is not needed, and initially my gauges weren't working.

View attachment 357987

Called Crutchfield and it was a simple matter of "enabling" the gauges. By default, it was off, so I selected for it to be enabled always. I guess the unit is getting the gauges from the 20 pin connector coming from the truck. Everything was plug and play but a couple of things; the ground of course, I just self tapped a screw into the frame there, and then the speed wire. I do have a brake bypass on order because the amount of things that get disabled while driving is absurd. The normal trick of grounding out the wire doesn't work on this unit, Alpine got smart about it. It's looking for a alternating signal. Another approach is to wire the e brake to the truck's illumination wire, but that would only work part of the time. For $20 bucks, the bypass is perfect.

Here's a couple more photos of the gauges. PSI works after a certain speed, door open alert works, and there's so many gauges to chose from. I guess the other possible ones that isn't supported on the frontier is the park sensor or climate controls.

View attachment 357989
View attachment 357988


I still have a few minor things to button this up, like the mic. I might just place it on the steering wheel column as suggested on the manual since that would definitely be the easiest. I do plan on removing the OEM USB and AUX socket and install one with USB (which is the unit's CarPlay one) and an HDMI. I had a USB and AUX on my 2012 Frontier, but never used it. AUX is close to obsolete but I will still have an option on the back coming to the upper glove box. I want the HDMI for mirroring my phone, while parked of course 😉

Looks awesome! So did that maestro harness kit end up supporting your odd 40 pin backup cam harness? It would be nice to know there’s a solution to fix that now without having to buy the maxima harness and rewire it.

 

[BLtheP]

Dig around in your Maestro settings (on the radio) and see if you can find a “retained accessory power” setting. I’m going to guess similar to my Toyota RR setup, in the new frontier setup they are basically having the maestro run the radio. Meaning the radio constant and ignition power run to the maestro, then the maestro sends it all to the radio to turn it on when you flip the key. What is so great about that, is the retained accessory power setting as a result. If you flip the key to accessory and the radio cranks up, normally if you flip the key to start/run after that, the radio will restart. If the maestro runs the radio however, and you go to accessory, when you go to start the maestro will keep the radio running exactly as it is. Life changer. That’s like oem level stuff. Now that your doors, tires, etc are supported in the “my vehicle” section like on my Toyota, I would bet that retained ACC option is in there. Highly recommend turning it on if you find it.