HOW TO: Tundra USB/Stereo input on Tacoma aftermarket head unit

You would need something like the grom usb/ipod (gromaudio.com), and somewhere to put the Tundra Aux Input, since that lower part of the dash is not the same as pre 09 models and those blank spaces are smaller than the ones next to the steering wheel.

 

Thanks! If I ever get some play money, I'll have to look into it more

 

Don't invert any connections. You had it right the first time. You may have damaged the flash drive when you swapped the power.

 

if you are using the toyota part for the dash mount. you need female on the inside. Most head units that i have seen have a female end coming out of the back of the head unit. So since you need female on the inside of the toyota usb dash mount you just need a normal usb cable. Female on one end and male on the other.

Or you could just plug the usb coming out of the head unit into the back of the toyota part. I didnt want to mess with chopping that up though so i bought an extension cable.

 

Has anyone found a reasonable price for the USB/AUX plug (part

$110 86190-0C020 Stereo Adapter Assembly

86190-0C020)? i had a little sticker shock when i found it for $65.

 

$65 post a link that is cheap....

 

http://www.toyotapartszone.com/oem/toyota~adapter~assy~stereo~86190-0C020.html


$65 seems quite expensive for a usb / aux plug that i have to wire. Maybe it's just me.

 

Tundra USB/Stereo port part number

$110 86190-0C020 Stereo Adapter Assembly

86190-0C020

Will this fit in the same space in an 05 Tacoma DBCB?

I thought I saw in another thread somewhere that the slots in the 09 Tundras are wider than the Tacomas. Should I be able to squeeze this on one of my slots, or is there another alternative?

Thanks!
Jeremy

 

05's don't have the lower panel under the A/C controls that the 09's and up have, so you would need that as well, but IMO is not worth the extra effort, there are aftermarket USB inputs that look OEM~ish like:
http://store.mp3car.com/Automotive_Marine_USB_Cigarette_Port_Replacement_p/com-040.htm

 

Could I use this for a 2009 stock head unit? I want the USB option

 

I think you could if you install something like the GROM ipod/aux/usb adapter
and you would simply connect it to the GROM unit which would then be connected to your factory radio

 

I just got through doing this mod and want to give a huge thanks to the OP for all the heavy lifting he did to work this out. However, there are a few clarifications I'd like to add that might help anyone else attempting this.

1) In the above quote, the OP points out that it is necessary to "slightly push up" the 4 metal contacts. Please note that the 4 contacts are on the Toyota OEM port and NOT the modified USB cable. I used a sewing needle to raise them about 1mm and that did the trick. CORRECTION: It is actually safer to raise the pins on the USB cable. If you break one, just buy another of 89 cents at Monoprice.com.

2) When you modify the male USB cable, it is probably not a good idea to remove all 4 sides of the metal shield ground. It is the metal case around the ends of the cable. Apparently, it is crimped onto a braided sleeve that runs to the other end of the cable. It serves some kind of function in preventing EMI or RFI interference. I'm not an electrical engineer, but would rather be safe than sorry. As shown in the picture I left the portion opposite the side with the connectors. It also seemed to help making a firmer connection.





3) You don't need to carve up the Toyota port. If you do so, it might be difficult to form a connection that will not work loose.

4) Before you install this in your car, make sure to plug it into your computer to test it. I uploaded these pictures from my iPhone through the port.

5) Finally, with regards to the AUX cable mod, keep in mind that the Toyoto plug has 5 pins, but the cable you make will only have 3. Basically you are only using the 3 middle pins on the Toyota plug. CORRECTION: Use the 3 pins on the right side (looking from the back). The center one is red and you have a 50/50 chance of getting the other two correct. Make sure to test these buy plugging your headphones into the port and plug the MP3 player into the 3.5mm cable you make. Try flipping the little 3 pin molex connector around and see what it sounds like. One will be much better than the other.

Again, big thanks to the OP. I stand on the shoulders of a giant.

 

Good info, when I mentioned to lift up the pins, it is actually on the cable connector and not the toyota port, although it would work (it would achieve the same thing), but the reason I preferred to mention the usb cable is that if you mess up by any chance, replacing the cable is much easier than having to buy a new toyota usb port, so if another member goes this route, make sure to do it extra carefully!

The shielding is precisely as you said its a Faraday cage to keep noise out in this case, but due to the how the toyota port is and how the usb cable is connected to it, it really isn't doing much if any. So far I've had no issue with noise.

The toyota port I got it from another member, I actually received it carved up, if it doesn't need to be carved up that is much better!!! I was going by what he told me in regards to this, good tip!!! Less modding! If you do carved it and are worried about it disconnecting because you don't think the connection feels secure enough, you could do what I did and put some heat shrink wrap around the cable and the back end of the toyota port (the usb section)

To test before installing is another good tip!, that will definitely safe you some headaches if the connection is loose or not making good contact.

The AUX stereo connector I actually did it by connecting a 3.5mm stereo cable to the port then measuring impedance from each pin on the toyota port to each section of the 3.5mm cable (sleeve, ring and tip on a 3-wire stereo cable connector) then after figuring out which pin correspond to each section, I wired it up as the original post then tested using my laptop and changing the balance left to right to see if actually faded on the correct speaker side on the truck. I see you mentioned the 3 middle pins, although in my pic look like I connected it to the 3 pins on the right side (looking at it from behind), so not sure whats going on there.

Thanks for sharing the tips and pics.

 

OK, that sounds much safer. You can buy USB cables from Monoprice for 0.89 so the penalty is trivial if you screw up. I actually bought 3 and used them all getting it "just right".

I was really puzzled why the Toyota AUX port had 5 pins, but a 3.5mm stereo cable only has 3. At first I thought I must have bought the wrong connector. I also wonder why your port used the 3 pins on the right, but I used the 3 in the center. My port came from a 2012 Tacoma. How about yours? The wire harness on the Tacoma plug had black wires going to the 1st and 5th pin and a red one going to the 3rd. I can't remember the 2nd and 4th. I'm going to try your laptop balance check idea before I put the HU back into the truck. It was really strange, but when I had the 2nd and 4th pins reversed, it sounded like I was only hearing one channel of the stereo signal, but it was playing in both my ear buds. CORRECTION: Use the 3 pins on the right (looking from the back)

 

Not sure what year mine came off, but it was from a Tundra as Tacomas did not come with it until now, I bought it from another member here and he purchased it online I think, not sure either why it has 5 pin, maybe it has some sort of pre-amp? Let us know what you find, its good info for those with 2012s who get an aftermarket unit.

 

CORRECTION: In my preceding post, I stated that I used the middle three pins for the AUX port. I just double checked and doing so created a problem. The correct 3 pins to used are the ones on the right side (looking from the back). This is what the OP originally worked out so I'm sorry if my contradition causes any confusion.

 

Just learned an interesting point about the Aux cable. If you only use a three wire connector, the Aux port will only be able to carry audio.

I have a pioneer AVH-4400BH, which when combined with a special pioneer iPhone cable (cd-iu201v) can also carry video. The Aux cable on needs to have 4 wires!!! I'm not sure how I'm gonna get this to work, but will give it a try.

 

this now comes stock with the 2012 tacoma's. Only thing you would have to figure how to make it work with you aftermarket deck. Cause there isn't a plug and play yet for harness.

 

This thread details how to utilize the stock 2012 USB/AUX port with a home built harness, but there is one limitation. The AUX portion of the port will only accomodate a TRS (3 wire) plug. It accepts a 5 pin molex connector on the back, but two of them are dedicated to monitoring the plug state. This is perfectly acceptable so long as your HU only needs a TRS plug. Some new Pioneer head units make use of a TRRS (4 wire) plug and runs video through one of the wires. In this case, the stock AUX port can only provide an audio signal.

 

OE aux port has a switch in it to let the radio know when there is something plugged in. Ever notice the AUX source on the HU isn't available unless there is something plugged into the port? The extra pins are the switch that activates this function.
So using a 3-pin TRS may make your factory HU not recognize when something is plugged in, thereby not activating the AUX source, thereby negating any AUX input function. This can be corrected by either maintaining the OE wiring (wire up all five pins), or by plugging the home-made TRS plug on the back of the new port into the OE port, and leaving the OE port sitting behind the dash. Obviously this is for those keeping the factory HU......aftermarket will be different.