Mike (Winterboy04's) Tacoma Build

Instead of jacking someone else's thread, i figured i would start my own build thread. I bought my 2007 Tacoma access cab used (39K on her) and couldn't be happier...except for the stereo. I came from an 08. I feel like Toyota build the vehicle and then says "CRAP! We forgot the stereo again! wait....lets just pop these old speakers in and sell it like that". i came from an 08 VW GTi that i had about $3K invested into the stereo, so hearing the stockers in the Toyota is killing me. i will hopefully do many things to my Toyota, but i am starting here with the stereo.

Below (should be) pictures of the subwoofer box construction. the idea is to keep the access cab usable for my dogs and storage by having a platform that sits no higher than the current jump-seats, allows access to the storage compartments, and can hold the amps, one ten inch sub, and the wiring without being huge. it does require the removal of the jump-seats, but my dogs didn't really like them anyway.

This is a work in progress, so as it goes together, i will try and post pics and any issues or things i have found. I will be adding a head unit, front speakers, possibly rear speakers (depending on fill preferences), this sub box with a 10 inch subwoofer, and two JL amps.

Also, i suck at getting the pictures in order or even to show up sometimes...so bear with me on a crappy post.

 

The first pic shows how with the jump seats removed, you can still flip up the rear section of the platform to allow access to the access cab storage bins.

the second pic is the 75% completed box (subwoofer side)

the third pic is me putting my dad to work, he used to build GTO's and hotrods...speaker boxes are all new to him, but he's a cabinet maker and a contractor...so it all fits pretty well! But you can see how much room the dogs now have to lay on.

the fourth pic is the chosen subwoofer - An Infinity Perfect 10.1 single voice coil 4 ohm sub. takes about 350 rms, but i will be pushing it with a JL 250.1 slash series. No, it's not under powered, it sounds great, had it in my last vehicle.

the fifth picture is earlier in the build process. The box consists of two separate boxes ( a sub box and a dual amp box). the share the same top which is where the pooches lay).

Internal Box volume for the sub is .964 cubic feet and the sub requires a minimum of .6...so i'm close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades. and the amps are stacked using a dual chamber box on the other side, lots of holes drilled for cooling and wire running.

 

thats a great idea. one thing you should add is some carpet to finish it off. if i didnt need the seats in the back that would be the route i take for sure. props for a well done job

 

The box is not even completely assembled yet. i still have to load the sub in, wire in all the amps, and then seal the top on. I think the plan is to go with a spray on lining material similiar to the rhino lining idea. That way its still rugged, waterproof, and the dog mats won't move around. Pricing out some stuff now.

 

Today i popped in my new Kenwood KDC-B945U.


I haven't been tuning it too much yet as i am waiting for my Hybrid Audio Imagine series to get here (Thanks Marv). This head unit is NOT the excelon...but there were only two main differences between the two. Mine has a 3 band parametric EQ and white lighting. The Excelon version has a 5 band parametric EQ and a more complex LCD and lighting options. instalation was pretty easy, i got everythin from cructhfield for 239 shipped (harness, textured silver dash kit, and radio)...not a bad deal at all! I have a PAC SWI-JACK in the mail for the steering wheel remote...that will go in when i wire all the amps. NOTE the necessary beer during the installation process...not my first choice for beer, but a beer none the less.

 

I also wanted to comment on the dash kit that came with it. Yeah, its all there, but the color is not spot on, the fit is about 80%, and the things feels like if you took a good enough bump that you could shatter it. I think its only temporary for me until i can either find a better one or fabricate something a little better fitting. Pics below: Note the corner that sticks out by the vent.

 

I have the same thing with my dash kit...frustrates me every time I get in the truck and I've tried making adjustments but nothing worked...if i figure out a solution ill let ya know

 

As noted above, i bought the kenwood receiver....today it went back in the box and back to the company! bring on the Alpine CDA 9886!


Basically, the kenwood face was the most user UNfriendly deck i have ever owned, and i have had quite a few. SO...thank you Crutchfield, my 9886 should be here in 2 days!

 

My metra kit fits the same at the top like that. The color on mines seems pretty on though.

 

Since it was gorgeous this past saturday, i figured what better outdoor activity is there than ripping your truck interior apart? I ran all my wiring for my two JL Slash amps (250.1 and a 300.4). I ran the power wire down the side of the truck under the plastic door plate, but i am not quite sure how everyone else ran their RCA's there as well. I ended up running my down through the center console.

I finished the subwoofer cabinet, loaded my Infinity Perfect 10.1 in there with some Poly-fill, and did my amp testing before i buttoned everything up. the amp rack (seen in the photos) has holes on the side of it (front and back - 6x1.25" holes) for cooling and to run the wires. The folding flap that runs the length of the box made the perfect mounting are dor my distribution block and there is PLENTY of room down the road for a Blue-tooth Unit, Crossovers, and possibly an HD radio unit. I still have to grab some cable stays so that the power and ground don't move when you do actually flip the box open.

I am waiting on the mail to deliver my Hybrid Audio Imagine Series Coax/component convertible speakers, so didn't even run the speaker wire to the 300.4 yet. I figure i am going to have to install my sound deadener and Mr. Marv speaker baffles anyway, so i can just run the wire then.

 

I replaced the Kenwood with an Alpine CDA-9886. While the out-of-the-box sound shaping is significantly more limited than the Kenwood, the usability make sup for it 100 fold. Everything is very intuitive, the subwoofer adjustments are easy and you are able to do them on the fly. I plan on getting the Imprint system in July (PXA-H100 and the microphone add on) but i want some ample time to get the speakers to breathe before i start processing the crap out of everything. That, and wifey said she's but it for my Bday in July, so i said "sounds like a plan!"

As a side note: Crutchfield is friggen awesome. they paid for the shipping back to them (of the Kenwood) and shipped my new alpine same day. As soon as they got the old Kenwood, my CC was credited back. I even had to use the service department (on the Kenwood) and they were amazing. I hear a lot of people talk about how the extra cost is worth the service you get, and i completely believe that now.

 

So, Memorial Day, i decided the stock speakers had their fun, and it was time to pop in the Hybrid Audio Tech. speakers (Imagine series Component / coax convertibles). Everyone always makes fun of the stock 6x9 speakers in the front doors, and i didn't really know why until i actually pulled them out to see them. See the picture attached. That magnet is LITERALLY the size of 4 quarters stacked together. The next coupe of pics are the HAT Imagine speakers. They are VERY cool because they can be switched from coaxial to component separates simply by removing the tweeter from the cone area. It has a built in crossover (so no need to mount it somewhere else) and they are pretty heavy duty (as seen in the pics). Thank you goes to Mr. Marv for the component speaker baffles and the HAT speakers.

I used FatMat for the doors, but didn't really get any pictures because i completely forgot. I tried the knock test method (knocking on the door and laying mat until all you hear is a dull thud, and it was surprisingly easy. I found that using 6 inch wide strips (about 18-24 inches long) was VERY easy and i was able to get at all pieces of the door (front and back).

I have the Imagine Series HAT speakers powered by a JL Slash 300/4 (75 watts rms to each one. My initial out of the box impression was that they were nothing spectacular, but this was with the door panels off, and me just giving a quick test before i buttoned everything up. After doing a quick amp setup (NO WHERE NEAR FINISHED THERE), i noticed the tweeters are unbelievable clean and clear. They don't hiss, they aren't brash or over bearing, and they really sound great. The mid bass has a lot of breaking in to do before i can make a judgment on them. They initially sound clean, but very under stated. As i played them in my car on the commute and last afternoon, they seemed to come a live more. I figure a good week of beating on them (not literally) and they will sound pretty damn nice! I have had a set of Boston Acoustics Rally components (old school) and a set of MB Quart Q's (pre-selling out) and i would put these (so far) just below the Q's.

To make a long post short, the fat mat was TOTALLY worth the 45 bucks i paid for 25 square feet, the speaker baffles were perfect, and totally worth the 40 bucks i paid, and the HAT speakers sound like they will really be amazing (200 bucks).

 

One thing that has driven me nuts since i started tearing apart my radio is that i lost control of my steering wheel buttons. I bought PAC SWI-JACK to integrate my Alpine CDA-9886, but after seeing how you need a friggen' engineering degree to read the instructions and set it up, i quietly put the SWI back in its package and gave up.

Metra has a sub-company called AXXESS which also makes Steering wheel interfaces. After reading on here about everyone else having success with this plug and play miracle, i picked on up online for 45 bucks. Well, today ( 3 months later), i decided to put it in.

The ONLY problem that i ran into was that the wires the instructions told me to use on the interface unit were completely wrong. Maybe i read the instructions wrong, maybe i'm color blind, who know...but i figured it out.

It was a four wire connect, and because we have Tacomas, 3 of those wires were just sitting there, taped together on the back of a white pin connector. i cut the connector off, twisted and taped up my connections, and connected the fourth wire. it powered up, taught itself, and i was immediately able to use all functions of the steering wheel. the wires i used are below:

Tacoma Color or Radio Harness Color - (connects to SWI wire color)

White/ red stripe from Tacoma- (BLACK ground wire from the SWI AND your radio's black ground wire) - yes, you will have your white and red Tacoma wire, connected to the SWI BLACK ground wire that is also connected to your RADIO's black ground wire - a three way connection.

Purple/white stripe From Tacoma- (aqua light blue wire with pink stripe)

yellow/ black stripe From Tacoma- (dark green wire with orange stripe)

Red / solid red wire From Radio Harness- Red / solid red on your radio harness (power wire)

3.5mm hole in the back of your radio (depending on radio type) - 3.5mm male end from your SWI. (ah-duh)

After that, it was simply turning on the ignition, letting the SWI do its checks and lights, and then a radio test. I was able to determine that the instructions were telling me something differently than the SWI because of the blinking LED.

It will flash very fast in the beginning just after you turn on power in the car. then, it will pause, then it goes into two series of 7 blinks. PAY ATTENTION HERE, because this little beauty tells you what you F'd up! the first 7 blinks (short or long) are telling you what wires are hooked up that should be. For instance, mine had 4 short blinks, a long blink, and then two short blinks. It told me that somehow i had hooked up the fifth pin wire instead of the necessary 4th. the SECOND (quicker) set of blinks is to tell you what kind of radio your SWI thinks it is connected to. In my case, it was connected to an Alpine and that is exactly what the seven blinks told me. Then, the SWI will stay on solidly and you can test your buttons. If you get a slow blinking light, you F'd up and need to start trouble shooting.

All in all, with my screw ups, and my trouble shooting, it took about an hour. VERY LITTLE button lag, I'd say it's as fast as it was stock Pictures below

 

In this step you use aqua/blue wire from controller.
Purple/white stripe From Tacoma- (aqua light blue wire with pink stripe)
But the website states to use the Black/Green wire instead.

I have a 2011 Taco and about to install this kit.
Do you first try the Black/Green wire before moving to the aqua/blue one?

Any insight from members who have done this is appreciated.

Thx

 

I"m not quite sure i understand the question. If you mean test the unit one wire at a time, no, it won't work like that. If you mean did i first hook it up according to the literature and test it that way, then move to the modified way, yes...that's the way i did it. The SWI will blink and tell you where you f'd up, it just won't tell you the correct wire to use. I'm assuming that a 2011 Taco will work the same, but i could be wrong.

 

THX

 

I followed your instructions here.....but one thing I ran into...my Axxess harness didn't have a wire that seemed to be the aqua(light blue-ish) color......I have one that is kind of grayish with a pink stripe and one that is more royal blue....I tried both and I can't get it to work. it comes on and flashes liek it is trying to work but the controls won't work.

I see the other poster said about the manual shows to use black/green wire from the Axxess harness, maybe I need to try that?

Also....I tried to find more info on the Axxess website it directs you to in the manual.....all I can seem to find is basic info on what they sell!! WTF??? It staes in the manual "follow the steps required for your specific vehicle'...uhhh where the F is that info????

I know it will work....too many good reviews and plus with your good write up here I know it will. I just need to figure out wha I am doign wrong.

I need to get this figured out, then fine tune the Metra Trash kit I got and my install is done. I spent 3 days doing it(deadening and MLV'ing doors, amp, BT, Hu and Axxess)...I needed a break from working ont he truck. But I want to get back at it and get this issue solved. Then I'll be happy.

 

I am in the same boat. I am trying to put one of these things in for my brother in law on a 2010 Tundra. To say the least the instructions are crazy. There is absolutely no help on the website. I am still struggling to figure out which wires to connect. I emailed their customer service so we will see if they provide any assistance.

I know they work others have used them.

 

Your question about the Aqua/blue-ish wire is well founded, considering i re-read my own instructions and couldn't figure out what the hell i was even saying. So, let me try once more. The Aqua wire is actually from the Taco and not from the SWI. So the only Aqua wire you should be connecting is FROM the SWI and that connects TO the Taco’s White/red stripe Wire. See the modified (with colored text) instructions below.

Let me know if this still doesn’t work and I will tear up the dash on mine and get some better pictures / double check what I have done).

So below, anything in red color coded text is the wire that comes from the Taco and it should connect to the BLUE color coded text(wires from the SWI unless otherwise noted).


Tacoma Color or Radio Harness Color - (connects to SWI wire color)

White/ red stripe from Tacoma- (BLACK ground wire from the SWI AND your radio's black ground wire) - yes, you will have your white and red Tacoma wire, connected to the SWI BLACK ground wire that is also connected to your RADIO's black ground wire - a three way connection.

Purple/white stripe From Tacoma- (aqua light blue wire with pink stripe)

yellow/ black stripe From Tacoma- (dark green wire with orange stripe)

Red / solid red wire From Aftermarket Radio’s Harness- Red / solid red on your radio harness (power wire) - this is just explaining what you would normally see when you connect an aftermarket radio to the Taco harness. If memory serves me correctly, there is no SWI red wire.

3.5mm hole in the back of your Aftermarket Radio (depending on radio type) - (3.5mm male end from your SWI). (ah-duh!)




Hope this helps, if not, let me know and, like i said, i like tearing the taco apart so i can probably get in there for some better pictures and details.

 

so with the Axxess SWI control you DO NOT need a resister like the PAC system?Correct??