Use an iPad mini for your Tacoma A/V System!

can you post some pics of how the stock radio mounts?? still kinda confused on how all this is setup. i think more pics and better explanation may result in more customers

thanks

 

what years your truck? I might be able to answer that since I have Shane's kit in my 11. Not using the stock radio though using an aftermarket one.

 

Where are you relocating the airbag info and the clock? Or are you just removing it? I would love to have my ham faceplate in that location instead haha

 

I'm just ditching it, I'll just get a switch for the hazards.

 

2007

 

This is how I have mine set up and this is what it looks like without and with the iPad in

 

am i able to do this with stock radio?

 

Where are you going to relocate the stock radio??

 

With 2005-2011 style radios, no. You'll need to replace the radio with a setup similar to HolyReptar or if steering wheel controls and bluetooth are not a concern for you, you can add aftermarket amplifiers and an iPod cable that gives you an audio output from the iPad and charges the iPad.

 

Email sent!! Put me in for one please!!

 

Sub'd for when that android version gets around. I've been looking for forms for a Nexus 7 or something. Unfortunately though I'm thinking that the head unit behind it might be the limiting factor at that point.

 

If you pay for the cost of the dummy plus the extra labor that it will take to make a jig for the nexus 7 opening, I'll make it for you. How would the head unit be a limiting factor? There are plenty of ways to integrate a tablet to your stereo system. An aftermarket head unit makes it easier to retain features like steering wheel controls and factory amplifiers / speakers.

 

subbed

 

but if you have an aftermarket amp like this...http://www.crutchfield.com/S-id5Ih0u2jwn/p_500KTP445A/Alpine-KTP-445A-Power-Pack.html .....could there not be a way to build/buy a pin that plugs up to the iPad that relays the music to the amp and charges the iPad? some how integrate a set of rca plugs for it, in my case the amp is jumping between the factory wiring harness and the aftermarket radio. so as long as you had your plug in play on one side you could some how build some type of harness. maybe this all makes sense.

http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/...ogleBaseFeed&gclid=CN6bz5y75sICFfPm7AoduloAjQ

^^like this

on the power pack you have rca outputs on one side so you could plug that into the isimple cable which in return plugs into the iPad and all you would have to do it put a power and ground to the isimple. that can be down by tapping into the other side of the power pack through the yellow turn on 12v and the ground?? maybe since i do have the power pack i should just buy the cable and play around with it one day to see if it works. only thing i see not working for people is the steering wheel controls but since in an 06 sr5 that really wouldn't bother me

 

Yes, that CAN be done but you will end up with a less than desirable volume. See, that alpine power pack receives it's "pre-amp" signal from the alpine radios speaker level outputs. So when you solder RCA ends onto that portion of the harness and feed it with the outputs from your iSimple cable, it will be getting a substantially lower voltage, and there's no way to adjust the gain on the alpine power pack. You'd have to meter the outputs to tell how much of a difference there is in output voltage, but I'd estimate the modified setup with the iSimple cable to be around 10% of the volume output of a regular alpine radio + power pack combo. This also makes it much more expensive to have Hands free Bluetooth, steering wheel controls, and more than just the iPad as a media source (no aux in, cd, am/fm radio).

 

Gotcha that makes sense. You can actually adjust the gains on the alpine amp though, maybe not enough to do any good to compensate for the lack of power elsewhere. You could always bluetooth your phone to the iPad and have internet, and if you like me the only think i ever listen to is pandora radio. Also the power pack puts out only 12v as much as the standard aftermarket radio. If that means anything.....But the point of all this is to know it can be done but it really isn't worth the cost because you can get a nice double din for that cost.

 

Yeah, I tether my iPhone to the iPad for data as well. And yes, the price for the mounting kit plus a single din radio to run everything behind the scenes plus an iPad is comparable to some double din radios, but the iPad as an in dash multimedia receiver has much more to offer than any double din on the market right now. For starters the touch screen interface is 10x better than any double din and it's much faster. Especially with AppRemote an iPad offers a much more fluid interface than any double din and it's capabilities as far as multimedia sources and even navigation are practically limitless. Also, the apple retina display shits all over any screen that any radio manufacturer will be putting on their double dins any time soon, and it's bigger than all of them except for maybe that big alpine radio but that thing is an overpriced POS anyways. And good luck getting firmware updates for a 3 year old double din radio from almost any manufacturer. Kenwood is the only brand I've seen give out firmware updates for units that old but you have to hunt them down online and it can be a pain in the ass. With an iPad you'll have up to date maps all the time and you can look forward to being notified when there is a software update for it which can be installed in a few clicks without having to juggle a USB drive or burn a CD.

And for any audiophile type people out there, you can use a iPure i-20 instead of a Sony radio to get a digital optical output from the iPad to your high end audio processor. No double din on the market offers this.

 

Sub'd

 

Write up coming soon!

 

Sub'd. I just might have to do this in 2015! Great job Shane!