CoastieRon's Progression of Idiocy journal & BS

Well, I did a thing today, and the only thing it has to do with my truck is, the truck gets to tow it.


Bought a leftover 2018 Yamaha Waverunner EX Sport today. This was a planned purchase to replace the pair of oldbass, no one would service any more 2000 Sea Doo GTXs.

So I'm on a self imposed, no more mods for a " self determined" time frame....

More to follow.

Of course that excludes what I haven't received yet lol

 

Cleaned up my left side panel with a @mesojdm custom panel.

Before:



Unboxed


Switches in



Installed



There was a little bit of trimming involved back there, but it all worked out.

 

much better!!

 

Indeed. Worth it.

Just one more thing coming in, and this thread is going to be, for the most part, silent on mods for a while, but still actively updated. The next major will be a complete re-do of the suspension, and I'm not expecting to do that for quite a while.

 

Coming up.....

 

Had my 25k service today and they (Toyota of Nashua) offered to do my annual inspection as well. Zero issues with scoop light or fog pods.

 

Last one for a while:

 

Whats your current feeling on the Kicker vs Morels in the rear? Im going to replace my kickers next week, Morels are the prime candidate.

 

Way more full. I still need to reset my gains back there though. The Morels sound rich compared to the kickers. The need power though....

 

Thanks, ordered the rears for now, they'll be powered.

 

What did you do in the front?

 

Currently running JL C2-690TX coax. I replaced the head unit recently and am now starting to hear some things I dont particularly like. Eventually I plan to replace the 690s with a component set, people seem to give great reviews on the Morel tempo ultras like your 6x9s. Right now my tweeter is way to prominent and harsh, adding tweets with a crossover is comparable to what it'd cost me to buy a comp. set and then sell the 690 coax, so its on the list. FWIW the 690s are wonderful, wish I had gone with the comp set.

 

Nice.

My next "big thing" listed item is the head unit. It seams like I have to reboot mine every day. Loses iPod, loses Bluetooth, loses USB. Kind of a pain in the ass.

What did you get? My last truck had Pioneer AVX5800 with 7" touch screen, and it sounded good. I'd like to do something similar....

 

I went for the moderate price point, Kenwood DDX6905s. It's an excelon line model, so it had 5v preamps which is nice. Apps like waze and wired carplay let me keep nav options open. I've had Pioneers only in the past, this is my first Kenwood. So far the Kenwood seems to have a more responsive processor so the screen moves quicker, something Ive noticed with pioneers, unless you spend more than 500 they all seem to have some lag. Other than that, so far it seems like just go with what you like because there seems to be nothing about the Kenwood that makes it better than a comparable Pioneer. I will note though that comparable Pioneers have HD radio whereas my Kenwood doesnt.

Other than that, I noticed an improvement in sound quality, which uncovered the issue with the parts I cheaped out on, tweets and rears. There is a noticeable frequency to volume attenuation on the stock unit. You wont notice it until you replace it. Bass remains consistent as volume increases on the KW, stock seemed to cap at 20ish. The truck now vibrates, kick bass now can be felt in my chest and face, its nice, and thats with 50w a channel. Oddly though I noticed the highs/tweets still seem to have gain curve where they seem underwhelming until 30% volume and the way to much at 60%. On the stock unit they had the same curve but didnt get so high/harsh.

Also passed on the maestro unit. Personally I can see tire pressure and mpg on the tach display, the remaining features of the maestro werent worth the extra $70. I used my left over

$73 Crux SWRTY 61n Radio Replacement with SWC & OE RVC Retention (for Toyota Vehicles 2012-Up)

Crux SWRTY 61n from the 4runner, works as it should. Only steering control that doesnt function is the push to talk, that may just be due to the head unit software being incompatible. Its not hard to press the phone icon on the stereo though,lol.

TLDR; I recommend replacing the head unit.

 

5v (or higher) preamps are going to be a requirement on the head unit. Pioneer was nice, but it's going to be Kenwood or Alpine this time.

Good points about maestro.....

 

Yep, 5v is nice. I have LOC/EQ on with a 9v output that I used for the stock HU. Pretty much made it so I could run amp gains at almost nothing. I didnt research anything other than KW and Pioneer but I dont recall seeing any higher than 5v on those brands.

 

The next items (big ticket) will be:


1. Replacing 5100s and 884 springs. I've done a good amount of research on this and have decided I am going to support local business and pick up a set of Main Line Overland's GTS 2" lift set. These are made by Dobinsons.


https://www.mainlineoverland.com/products/gts-suspension-kit-3rd-gen-2016-toyota-tacoma


Light/medium kit will be perfect for my needs and provide a 2" lift. This is not a "must do", but rather a "want to do" item. The 5100s are working just fine, and I may just keep them and switch from the 884 to the 885 springs and call it a day, who knows.


2. Replace Entune head unit. It seems like I need to reboot that fucker every morning for it to see my phone, USB and iPod. That shit is getting old. I'm going to be looking for something mid-range, with at LEAST 5v outputs, the ability to have my "iPod" (iPhone 6 with the SIM card removed) plugged into it, USB drive plugged into it, but be able to bluetooth my Pixel 2 for my books/etc. I could really care less about NAV, but if I can continue to have that hooked up on the head unit, that would be cool. Also, I don't feel like fishing a new hands free mic...... Recommendations welcome.

 

Do you remember the cutout size for your tweeter?

 

For which tweeter? The Morels?

 

Yes the Morel 692 tweet.