A Pillars.....Grab Handles......

So.....this is my second Gen3. I think the speaker placement is meh, at best. Working through the audio build in probably reverse order of what most people do. I design and fabricate all the desired parts, finish those, and then make decisions on gear that will go in. The subwoofer enclosure build is available here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-tacoma-subwoofer-enclosure-build.591472/

But for now let's check out how I addressed two things that drove me crazy.
1.) Speakers in the dash, firing up at the windshield. Not my favorite thing. Full range-is driver, nothing over 16k of any substance. These have to go.
2.) Where the F is the drivers side grab handle? This is an off road unit. Oh shit handles should me mandatory equipment. If you don't agree with this statement I am sure there are Prius forums and chat groups at Starbucks. Move along....
3.) Has to adhere to my style which is OEM inspired but aggressive. Factory match materials, colors and textures. Should lend itself to the vehicle.
4.) Must have proper placement for addition of new speakers, preferred on axis or as close as cosmetically viable.

Here is what I came up with:


Drivers side with the OEM pillar removed. This lower hole is the secondary mounting point for a grab handle or a grab handle mount. Well, it should be, but it really isn't. It's just a hole. I bored this out a little bit to install an M6 nut-seat so that I have two threaded mount points just like the passenger side.

So you'll see at the end that this isn't the final piece of structure that made it into the finished product but it will serve for reference on how I actually got this to work. (.250") aluminum, cut with CNC router and mounted to the location that a stock handle probably would have mounted to if it exists. The passenger side has a grab handle and two mount points already, but I'm building both because cosmetically it would drive me insane.

An exploded view of all the various pieces I made for what will be the finished pillars. This is all Type 1 PVC plastic. Hard, rigid, machines well, can hold up to heat, isn't wood, bad for the environment, stinks when you cut it....all the makings of a spectacular product. Seriously though it's strong and it really works well for stuff like this.

I positioned the parts into the driver and passenger side using a foil tape as a barrier to protect the interior of the truck. Mixed up some fiberglass paste and hand formed the shapes. I don't spend too much time on this part because it's about getting the structure, the rough shape, and connecting the various parts together so it can be removed and worked on outside the truck.

With the pillar removed from the truck I worked some body filler (Evercoat Z Grip, cheap, works well, parts get premiered before I wrap them anyway) and let that cure. I'm only showing one pillar but if you tackle this yourself I am doing both of these at the same time.

Both pillars sanded and one coat of primer applied. The primer used is Evercoat Slick Sand and on projects like this I like to brush it on instead of spraying it. Gives me a better flow of the material that makes it easier to block out any imperfections before I apply the upholstery. You can see that all the factory locator tabs have been retained. This will help keep out any squeaks, warping, etc....once they are installed.

A healthy shot of DAP Weld Wood adhesive and let that set up for about 20 minutes and then start working the OEM match vinyl (ordered from Keyston Bros in Denver). you'll need a little heat gun, a damp cloth rag to work out the wrinkles and some patience. I have been wrapping parts for a long time and I am here to help if you tackle this yourself.

Here is a test fit on the passenger side before the trim, speaker parts, speaker, speaker grill, handle, etc....are installed.

These are the caps that conceal the machine screws that actually hold the handle to the truck and make it sturdy enough to use. The small holes you see inside the larger pocket areas are for n52 magnets (kjmagnetics.com) that will snap this piece into place securely but allow me to pull it off to remove pillar without damage if I ever tank a tweeter. (Hey...shit happens right?)

So here is the finished drivers side. The GPCA(gpca-us.com) handles. I used these because they match the ones I added to my roof rack (thread here:https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/roof-rack-design-and-fabrication-weekend-1-progress.591197/ ) and because they are awesome. The paracord is laced into the holes I milled in the aluminum mounts (version 3.....I am picky) and they are tied tight enough to keep them stationary under driving conditions but allow a bit of flex when you grab them to actually use them as a handle.

Different angle.......

Finished. So I haven't installed the speakers yet. I am on the fence about what I really want to use. Behind the speakers grills....the plate for the speaker is removable and interchangeable and can accommodate up to a 28mm tweeter. Decisions to be made...........

www.relicautomotivedesign.com

 

Looks great! You going to sell sets?

 

Wouldn't mind building more of them but it's tedious and really better if the truck they are going in is here. I don't plan to set them into major production but if someone were local and wanted something like this, not a problem.

 

Is it just your tweeters that are in there?

 

I would be most interested in a set with no grab handles, just the tweeter pods

 

And these are compatible with the side curtain air bags, right?

 

Yes sir. Factory bolt holes for the new pillars, added the one extra nut-seat fastener on the drivers side (provision is there, just not threaded) and the pillars are ground and gapped just like the stock ones. The airbags in the Gen3 shoot straight down when they deploy. Plenty of space for that to happen.

 

Yes sir. I chose Morel speakers for the build and I will be making the door sail panel pieces for the mid to complete the three way. Front stage will be active and signal processor is Helix. Hopefully get to work on those this weekend and then I'll break the whole truck down for sound damping, wiring, etc....I need to pull the headliner anyway to install the water proof bulk head connector for the roof rack lighting and a small solar panel anyway.

 

If it's no grab handle I can build those without the truck. PM me if you want and we can arrange something.

 

Wow that's a lot of work for Tweeter placement. I put mine in the little sail panels behind the mirrors.

 

Hahahaha. Yeah it was a lot of work. The tweeter pods were just an addition. The whole reason was to add the grab handles but getting the better speaker placement made sense while I was at it. Where you've got your tweeter.....that's where I am putting mi 3" midrange.

 

What happens if the airbag deploys?

 

So I watched a few videos and checked out a lot of pictures before I made my decision. they are curtain airbags, and they shoot down. So the OEM pillar has one 10mm bolt at the top on the drivers side, and two through the grab handle on the passenger side. What I mean by stating the obvious is that unlike a lot of vehicles that have a mechanical tether...the Toyota pillars aren't designed to release and launch away from the structure of the truck when the airbags deploy. The gapping on the modified pillar is identical to the OEM pillar where the weather strip overlays it, which is the gap that the airbag deploys through. So......I really don't ever want to know but I did hedge my bets that it would function as intended and the bags would deploy as they are designed to do. The handles, the tweeter plate, the grill system...those are all anchored with fasteners so they don't become projectiles in an accident so I THINK (redneck engineering for "it should") it will work like the factory one.

 

This is something I think about every time I look at my Pillar panels b/c I want to put a 4" speaker and tweeters in them... Right now I have the tweeters in the Gen2 door location, but it's not ideal...


Your pillars look better than I ever believed they could look.