Fuse holder for a manual trans 2023 Tacoma

Although I purchased an aftermarket 4 AWG grommet, it required enlarging the the existing firewall sheetmetal. So I decided to try opening up the OEM rubber firewall grommet before using the aftermarket one. It worked! But it requires having a leather hole punch set (slide 2). They're not expensive and I've used it to punch holes in Dynamat for bolt locations among other things. Well worth the $40 investment...you will use it for other things.

I used the 10mm or 3/8" punch adapter because it leaves a tight fit on my 4 AWG power cable and you'll need to use some soapy water or silicon grease to get the cable through. Before I used the punch, I inverted the grommet and used my pocket knife to cut down the extra rubber (nib) on the grommet to get it as thin as possible for the punch (slide 1). While inverted (slide 3), it forms a cavity to help align the punch. One smack with a mallet and the hole was made. I didn't get a perfect center hit as slide 5 shows. But it is a nice tight fit otherwise.

I hope these pictures illustrate the process. It takes all of 5 minutes to do.

 

I'm very excited to have resolved the grommet issue. This is my first auto sound rodeo so it will give me confidence for the install this weekend. All the parts have arrived and it's just a matter of being patient and thinking things through. There are a few other things that seem daunting to me but I got TacomaWorld to help me!

 

Hardest part for me was fishing new wire through the door grommets.

 

Yeah, I see that one coming too. The door grommet and crossover locations are the 2 things I'm worried about. I bought some Audio Control separates and they come with 2 passive crossovers for each side...that sould be fun.

 

@Stevie17 Did you remove the old speaker wire or leave it in place? Is the OEM speaker wire integrated to the door controls or can you remove it to create more room in the rubber
boot?

 

I left it in place and the wire is in a bundle that goes to the door locks , window switches.

 

i would keep the crossover within the cab, and just run new wire from that up to the tweeter in the dash, and through the door boot for the woofer.

all the door wiring goes through a connector just inside the body. while the woofer could be de-pinned from that plug, it really wouldn't be worth the trouble.

some background info-- when vehicles are built in the factory, they do the sheet metal and paint work with the doors bolted up to the body, then they unbolt them, and send them down a separate assembly line. the body is built out with all the 'stuff'-- windows, seats, wiring, etc.. at the same time, the doors are going through the same processes at a separate assembly line. to ease re-marrying the doors to the body near the end of the line, they put plugs just inside the door so it's only a couple steps to bolt the doors up, and get everything in the doors to work.


the rubber door boot on these isn't the worst i've had to get through. just unplug that factory connector to give yourself more leeway with the boot, and then remove it from both sides-- you'll need to do this, as there's electrical tape and an inner sort of liner that the electrical tape is wound around and seals the wiring off on both sides, which would normally prevent you from adding more wiring into the harness.

then, using a 14-12ga solid core wire, or a steel coat hanger as a fish wire, at least 2' long, electrical tape the new speaker wire to the side of the fishing wire, then carefully and slowly push it through the boot. once it pokes out the other side, carefully feed the new wire while pulling the rest of the fish wire through.

be sure to tape it like the right-hand-side sample in this image-- at least 6" overlap, and be sure to tape over the tip of the wire as they show, so you can run your palm down the fish wire, and it won't snag at the beginning point of the speaker wire--this is critical to keeping the wire from pulling off the pull wire partway through.

 

Thanks Soundman98! I will do that! The pictures and your careful instructions are very helpful! I’m also wondering where exactly I should put the crossovers: one option is the kick panels but I’d prefer to mount them to a plate and secure the plate to part of the cab. Another option is to mount them along the center console or up in the dash somewhere.

Where did you put your crossovers?

 

my installs anymore are all full active, so technically, my answer is 'in the dsp/amp', lol.

in the 3rd gen section, one of the guys built a plate for a redarc brake controller to bolt up under the driver side dash on some extra mounting bolts. you might be able to repurpose that same bracket/space for your crossovers.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-redarc-tow-pro-liberty-install.773860/

 

if you ever want a custom made panel we can always help But great looking setup so far.

 

Yes now I’m lamenting not getting an amp with built in DSP or even a separate DSP. It would have made the install much easier. And I couldn’t finish today despite spending the whole day. I’ve decided to place the crossovers under the seats.

I’ve decided to block off the rear speakers and do a 5 channel set up with component speakers up front using 4 of channels and a sub with the 5th. This way I can blend the midwoofer with the tweeter.

 

Thanks, neat stuff on your site! I will keep that in mind.