Head unit swap

I currently have a 2012 non touchscreen radio in my Tacoma. It has XM and steering wheel controls. I would like to upgrade to a touchscreen, but I am a little confused of what I should do. This is because: 1) I want to keep my steering wheel controls. And 2) Should I look for an aftermarket head unit, or go with a 2012-2014 Tacoma touchscreen unit. I would rather go with one that would be easier installing. Any suggestions?

 

I replaced mine with a Ken wood head unit at a shop months ago. all I did is buy some sort of wiring kit that comes separate from the actual radio and you can keep your steering wheel controls

 

OEM is fairly easy lots of info- i swapped a '13 JBL unit into mine, with some straightforward wiring- although i found a great deal on an 08-11 oem jbl amp/sub that made it possible... basically to do the jbl thing i had to run wires back to the sub then return from the sub back to the factory speakers... on the plus side i love it!

Be brave!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/radio-swap-2013-to-2012.285211/#post-7663032
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...av-into-2012-o-r-non-jbl.285725/#post-7398043

 

Look for you a touchscreen that you like and go with that. I replaced mine factory radio within a couple thousand miles with a Pioneer that I liked because the factory radio was just annoying to me in how it operated.

I tied in the factory XM antenna through the interface that came as a free add on with my radio through Crutchfield (yours may or may not). I don't subscribe but it was free and the free weeks XM provides was worth the little bit of labor. You can keep your USB and aux port as well.

I also used an Axxess ASWC-1 steering wheel control adapter and kept my controls. I've used this adapter on around 5-6 radios that I've put in or helped put in. It says it will auto recognize some radios, and some radios I added this to were on the list for auto recognization, however I never had this happen. There is a procedure you can do to program everything, its tedious but you can get it, just keep at it!

If you have a backup camera there are adapters you can get to keep it or if you don't there are cameras you can get that will tie in to the radio and the reverse light to trigger it.

The radio I got has a DVD player as well. Mine has logic in it that requires the parking brake to be applied when starting, removed then applied again before it'll let you watch DVD's. It assumes you get in, drive then stop to watch something. There are modules you can buy on ebay or Amazon to bypass this and allow DVD's to be watched by passengers while driving.

My girlfriend hates change and complains when I change things like radios or do something to change my truck, however she shutup quick when I showed her the DVD player and she could watch on trips!

Another neat feature I really like about the unit I have is that it has a screen shutoff button right on the face. The screen will dim when park or headlights are on (can control how much), however the button will black it out. I use it every morning going to work and at night. The factory radio would do this but it required a few steps, this is right on the face. I'll never have another touchscreen without this.

The sky is the limit with this! Head over to the audio forum on this site, you can get a lot of good info there. If you have any questions about how I did mine, just PM or ask here, I'll try my best to help out.