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Noob Audio Questions

Discussion in 'Audio & Video' started by c808nner, May 29, 2019.

  1. May 29, 2019 at 3:04 PM
    #1
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    So I just got my first tacoma (2006 DCSB) yesterday, and I'm disappointed in the sounds coming from my previous corolla with major sounds. It still has the factory head unit and speakers, but has a small sub installed behind one of the seats with an amp. I am looking to replace the head unit with Kenwood DDX276BT, hook up a back up camera Boyo VTL17ir, and eventually replace all the speakers and put in my amp I'm taking out of my corolla.
    My main concern is will the job be easy enough to do it by myself? I paid a ton for my corolla to be done at a shop, but want to start working on my truck myself and save money at the same time. I have 0 experience in mechanics/audio installation so no tools or anything, but have friends that could help me and let me borrow tools. Also any recommendations for any of what I listed above would be helpful, thanks!
     
  2. May 29, 2019 at 3:47 PM
    #2
    dolbytone

    dolbytone Well-Known Member

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    What sub and amplifier is currently installed in the truck?
    What wiring was installed for this amp?
    What amplifier are you transplanting from the Corolla?
     
  3. May 29, 2019 at 5:59 PM
    #3
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Tacoma has a cobalt 300W amp with a 8 inch Memphis car audio sub?
    Corolla has a Kenwood 600W amp connected to Rockfords all around and a kicker 300W amp powering a 12in JL sub.
    Not sure about the wiring and haven't even been able to test how the sub in the truck bumps because I can't connect my phone to the factory stereo.
     
  4. May 29, 2019 at 7:52 PM
    #4
    dolbytone

    dolbytone Well-Known Member

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    Resurrected... Cobalt's back... and coming after the other would-be players. Orion® Cobalt™ is designed to hit those entry level price points - and hit them a whole lot harder! With more bass in their face and more hard pounding watts for your hard-earned dollar! Get a piece of the Orion legacy without breakin' the bank - with Cobalt!

    I went to find out what this Cobalt thing is and this is what's on their website. Some reason I was like, yanno what, you go kid. The more bass in the face part gave me the feels for olden timey days. That being said, it's not enough wiring sack to use on your Kenwood amplifier. Plan to rip it out and replace it unless the previous owner went way overkill and ran at least 4AWG.

    So you're probably looking at an amp wiring kit, with a distribution block for the second amplifier. The only real way to get connected in the engine comparment is have a crimped lug that you can bolt onto the positive battery terminal, and make sure there's a lug on the negative power wire to bolt down to your grounding spot. You should be able to find a kit with a lug on at least one end of the positive and negative to use for that.

    To pull out the factory HU and wire in an aftermarket, it's preferred that you solder the adaptor harness to the stereo output harness and insulate it with some shrink wrap. I don't mind insulated crimp caps, but it makes for quite a bouquet behind your stereo. So, soldering iron and shrink wrap, or crimper and crimp caps (I really hate butt splice connectors). You may also need the crimpers and spade (fork) connectors for the amplifer speaker output terminals if they are the screw down type. Use good crimpers that make a dimple instead of just smashing the lug onto the wire so the crimp won't fail.

    You'll also need some miscellaneous wire to get that rear view camera running. How you begin the install is up to you as well. You could install the aftermarket HU and run with the factory speaker wiring until you collect all the speakers, speaker wire, and everything else for the amp install upgrade. You might want to go ahead and install RCA cables and an amp turn on wire and run them to a kick panel, coil them up and tape them off, so you can run them later without pulling the HU. I like to install stuff only once so that's what I would do.

    I know you said you have no experience with this stuff but now is the time to learn. Accomplishing at least a very basic stereo installation for the first time is a confidence boost and a good learning experience. This won't be the last stereo you ever install either probably, so you will be building a useful skill set. Working out the details of the wiring is what the internet is for. There's a lot of guys here that can help you out when you get stuck on something, all you have to do is ask.
     
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  5. May 30, 2019 at 4:58 AM
    #5
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Okay, definitely gonna be looking back at this when they come in. Another dumb question, do I need to buy a double din Scosche or Metra? I decided to go with the newer https://www.crutchfield.com/p_113DDX376B/Kenwood-DDX376BT.html instead if that matters.
    EDIT
    Spent more time looking at Crutchfield and see that the double din comes free with the radio.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
  6. Jun 5, 2019 at 12:28 PM
    #6
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    Crutchfield also gives wiring adapters to plug into factory connectors and also offer ready made connectors($29 ) were they slice most of the wiring . Install problems ? chat with them .Very helpful. Reason I been going with crutchfield for awhile .
    Might want to look into the alpine ktp445u mini amp or kicker key .They put up some good sounds and can use factory wiring so easy install.

    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/alpine-power-pack.259690/page-2
    Damn .Crutchfield $189 now . Was $139 when I picked it up a few years ago
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2019
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  7. Jun 6, 2019 at 6:03 PM
    #7
    Dimestore55

    Dimestore55 Well-Known Member

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    Before you start ripping the truck apart please watch You Tube videos on the proper disassembly procedures. There's nothing worse than destroying your interior panels because you missed a hidden bolt somewhere.
     
    xxTacocaTxx and c808nner[OP] like this.
  8. Jun 7, 2019 at 2:41 AM
    #8
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Update: Installed the stereo no problem and it worked perfectly. When we tried to install the backup camera things got ugly. At first we crimped the wires and got it working when I pressed the camera button on the stereo, however when we put the truck into reverse the camera did not turn on automatically so we tried to redo it. Now, we seem to have broken the entire stereo as it will not turn on at all, even if we take the reverse camera out of the picture and wire it the way it was when it was working fine. Getting it checked out by a friends dad who happens to be an electrician and if he can't fix it, I will be exchanging it for a new one under the Crutchfield warranty and get it professionally done.
     
  9. Jun 7, 2019 at 2:46 AM
    #9
    dolbytone

    dolbytone Well-Known Member

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    I’m going to guess you were wiring stuff with the battery connected and you popped a fuse.

    Sounds like you just needed to figure out the reverse detection wiring but you had the cam wired fine.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2019
  10. Jun 7, 2019 at 11:19 AM
    #10
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    I picked up similar combo Kenwood DDX376 and boyo BTR17IRTJ. Hope to install next week . :fingerscrossed: Where you guys hook up rev detection wire to ?
    Yea like dolbytone said check your fuses first .
     
  11. Jun 7, 2019 at 11:24 PM
    #11
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    yeah i decided to get the 376 as well. couldn’t pass up the $50 sale.
     
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  12. Jun 7, 2019 at 11:41 PM
    #12
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    Actually I got the DDX396 . Quoted wrong # . Guess I missed the sale . Hope you get yours up and running soon :thumbsup:
     
  13. Jun 8, 2019 at 12:20 AM
    #13
    Snaeper

    Snaeper Drinks like an 8, Drives like a 3

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    SnugTop Rebel, Infinity Kappa's, ToughDog 40mm
    This.

    The moron that installed my alarm ruined the steering column surround. Likely didn't realize there were two screws holding it in.

    Anyone have to replace that on a third gen? How much does that part cost?
     
  14. Jun 8, 2019 at 1:02 AM
    #14
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    1st one I would check is the one on the stereo . Located were you plug in the main connector . Then Radio fuse and the rest if not the one on the stereo . Hopefully the one on the stereo is the one that blew . The camera pos. should be hooked up to rev lite pos. Also stereo rev detect wire should also be hooked up to rev lite pos.
     
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  15. Jun 8, 2019 at 1:08 AM
    #15
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    Pic of fuse if you dont see it .Yours should be same

    20190607_220559.jpg
     
  16. Jun 8, 2019 at 4:14 AM
    #16
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Just got done checking it out today. So we checked all the fuse on the stereo and it was still good and checked all the fuses in both fuse boxes in the truck. We also double checked all wiring for the stereo and everything is still good. The only thing we can think of is we must have shorted something inside the stereo when we messed up.
    We couldn't figure out how to get the camera to turn on automatically when the truck was put into reverse and we thought the purple reverse wire on the stereo had to be spliced to something. We spliced that purple wire onto the red wire coming out of the reverse cam in hopes that would solve the problem (previously we had doubled the blacks and reds onto the stereo) but instead it glitched out and stopped working.
    I hope to get a new one from Crutchfield but I'm not sure if they'll honor the warranty since it was my fault. In the case that I do get a replacement, how would I go about wiring it so that the reverse cam works properly?

    IMG_8740.jpg
    IMG_8739.jpg
    IMG_8741.jpg
     
  17. Jun 8, 2019 at 5:12 AM
    #17
    dolbytone

    dolbytone Well-Known Member

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    Did you verify this stuff using a multimeter, or eyeball method? Do you still have +12VDC on the yellow wire? When ACC is on, do you have +12VDC on the red wire? I'm referring to the power going into the stereo. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions unless you have these voltages.
     
  18. Jun 8, 2019 at 11:17 AM
    #18
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    Yea check to make sure you have battery voltage at yellow and red wire first. Also make sure you have a good ground .Put neg probe on stereo ground wire terminal. The purple wire is for rev detection so hooking it up to camera rev pos wire shouldn't have shorted it out . Talk with crutchfield .They will help you out .I plan on putting camera in front since I already have rear view camera in my mirror . Plan on just hooking it up to a switch
    Good luck .
    Notice you using heat shrink connectors .Heat it up so shrinks on wire . Will make it less likely wires can pull out .
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2019
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  19. Jun 8, 2019 at 10:38 PM
    #19
    c808nner

    c808nner [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Used a multimeter. I'll double check to see if I have +12VDC on both wires.
    Thanks, didn't even know that I could shrink them.
     
  20. Jun 8, 2019 at 11:35 PM
    #20
    hemitruk

    hemitruk Old man , young boi truk

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    Yea make sure you got good ground also . I looked at my camera today ( boyo vtl17irt ) and the back were you plug into camera got a red and a black wire .Red is positive reverse light lead and black ground . Up front with yellow rca plug I only got a red .That red gets bat voltage from the red rear wire thats hooked up to reverse light .Mine doesn't have that other black red stripe wire . I assume it is a ground? Better to call crutchfield to make sure .Also my unit is the ddx396 . The camera is programable .Can have it working when shifting into reverse or off .I thing yours should be programable too.
     
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