Pioneer DMH-WT8600NEX

That's dookie man. I bought my tacoma on the 4th, and by the 10th had the 7600 in it from Crutchfield. Evidently I got their last 360c radar detector at the same time though. As it wasn't working right and they had no replacement. But if you're happy with the 8600, nothing wrong with that. Was just stoked to find a very factory looking solution. Everyone has their feelings about the floating units, and they're definitely not for me haha.

 

yeah, with the inventory shortage on everything there were non available when I was looking to buy. I don’t mind the floating unit, in my last vehicle the unit was on top of the dash. It is nice to be able to move it around and find a position you like. I think most people prefer the flush mount though.

 

I get that. I debated between the two, but it bugged me that the 8600 ever so slightly overlapped with the air vent edges. Then when I saw I could actually make it flush I jumped on the 7600. I didn't even have to trim the bracket so that took me by surprise. Either way. With either unit, having wireless Android auto was the thing for me. In my 2010 subi I've had witless AA for a few years and was surprised to learn when I was tacoma shopping this month that toyota was so late to the game in just having Android auto at all. Let alone wireless. I bought used 2017 taco and already factored in the cost of changing the head unit. Along with a tailgate remote unlock, and remote start kit. Couldn't honestly believe there were still push button starts after 2010 that didn't have remote start lol. Like come on toyota, you trying to keep those things for the Lexus line? Seemed silly, but otherwise I'm loving the truck

 

Ok so its been confirmed that with the WT8600NEX, the stock settings like interior lighting, locks, etc. are still configurable as with the stock head unit. What about things like the factory bird's eye view / 360-degree view feature that some Toyotas come with?

 

So i just bought the 8600 will be installing today or tomorrow anything i should be aware of? I did buy the maestro rr and harness. Where did you mount the gps antenna?

 

Word on the block a few days ago is that the next Android Auto update (suspectd to be this summer) will have split screen regardless of screen size

 

You might have found out by now, but you don't need to use the GPS antenna that comes with it. You can get an adapter that will connect the factory GPS antenna to the head unit. I still think it's dumb the head unit needs a GPS antenna at all since it doesn't have built in nav but eh....

 

How about an adapter for the rear view cam and steering wheel audio. Thinking about grabbing this, an amp and a sub to replace my OEM Audio + sub setup. I just want google maps and Pandora lol. But I do like having the map up with the audio controls as default. Doable?

 

Yes. Both factory camera and steering wheel controls work. With the maestro you can even program the steering wheel controls to behave differently. For me, I made up and down volume, and left and right the seek/next buttons because that makes way more sense to me. No special adapter is needed for the camera as it's tied into existing harness. Just get all the stuff Crutchfield recommends. What they don't have on there is the GPS antenna adapter so you can use your taco's factory GPS antenna instead of having to place and route the one the comes with the head unit. It's odd they don't recommend it but eh. Come to think of it I might have actually bought that specifically on Amazon when I bought the tailgate remote lock and remote start kits.

Oh, and if you're aiming for a flush install, solder, don't crimp. Not a lot of room back there when you go flush.

 

Forgive my ignorance. But why would you mess with break and speed sensors for a new head unit?

 

Huh? No such thing happened in my truck.

 

Where are you getting the impression that's the case?

I'll take a guess that you're talking about a parking brake bypass that enables video to be played while the parking brake is off. If this is what you're talking about, then it's not required for this head unit. There's a built-in bypass. Aside from playing videos, sometimes this would omit the use of an added camera (like front facing for example) because it would come in as a video feed on an extra input while the parking brake is on, which defeats the purpose.

As for speed sensor, I don't have any guesses why you think that's necessary. The only thing about speed that goes to the radio is the wire from your regular speed sensor that is meant for head units to adjust volume based on speed. You don't mess with the sensor itself at all. Additionally, the head unit requires that the GPS be plugged in. I don't know what it does with this, as it has no built-in navigation, except maybe act as another safety feature to prevent the use of some features on the move. For example the dimmer duration for time-based dimming will be disabled while moving.

 

Awesome seems like that's the unit I want. I was just amazed when the earlier posts mentioned the break by pass but it makes sense now. Thank you for clarification

 

Glad I could help. I put the unit in back in October and it's still doing well. The instructions here work pretty well, but I didn't flip it upside down like they did. I honestly forget why I opted to make it work without doing that. Might have been the way I wanted to run wires. I am somewhat concerned about heat though as I'm in washington it hasn't been that hot yet ("heat wave" this weekend though). Only recently had the unit rebooted mid trip 2 or the times, but I also suspect that might have been Android auto. Either way, I think I'll rig some computer fans and possibly get brave and make a vent in the dash to let heat out. Probably overkill to be honest the unit has worked great since otherwise and I love the factory look. Only other complaint is I really wish it had a physical volume knob.

There is another radio that a YouTuber named chloekuo put in that might be worth a look. Looks pretty factory. Downsides seem to be some vehicle settings wrong be accessible so you have to set them how you want them indefinitely.

 

does the 7600 fit like OE?

I also prefer OE look, but i'm not opposed to floating deck either. It's slim enough and doesn't cover the air vents.

 

Yes it does

 

Were y’all able to retain the factory gps with the Crutchfield kit? I’m going to install this thing tomorrow when the Crutchfield kit gets here, and it seems I’m gonna be using the gps that comes with the unit. I thought I could retain the factory gps?

 

negative. gps is now from your phone. You could always buy an aftermarket Garmin.

edit: gps was part of the reason I kept my factory head unit. Cell signal isn't always the best.

 

Odd, is this not a gps antenna. This came with unit.

 

Yes it is GPS receiver. The head unit uses GPS signal to set time, as well as disable some selections in settings. For example dimmer time settings can't be accessed while in motion. It's kinda dumb I think but it is what it is. I bought an adapter that will connect the factory GPS antenna to the head unit so I didn't need to run that one anywhere.