3rd Gen HU update - Recommended Dash Kit?

So my father in law has been driving my old 2008 Accord around with my Kenwood DMX1037S for a while now. Having had my 2023 Tacoma for a while now, it's time I moved that over. I have most of my parts already, so that's not a big issue.

My real question is about the dash kit for the 3rd gen - are there any preferred kits? I'm looking at the Metra, Scosche and American International. Does anyone have a preference? Is there anyone I should stay away from? Is there any chance of being able to reuse the stock mount kit for the stock HU?

Thanks!

 

I think they're all about the same, and they're all manufactured slightly incorrectly where you need to stack a few small washers on the right side feet. That has been my experience with the American International anyways, and I believe the other two had the same reported in their reviews. For sure Metra, I'm not sure about Scosche but I think it did.

 

Might be easier to call Crutchfield and get your dash kit, they’ll sell parts like that even if you don’t get an actual unit. Or go to metro online and they’ll have kits that’ll work and give you names of retailers.

 

^do you get commission to send people to crutchfield? i mean, their prices are high enough, you're missing out if you're not getting some sort of cut...

+1

they're all the same, just slightly different design and finish qualities.

i had started with the scosche kit, but the gloss finish, and the fact that it pushed the head unit to the top of the opening(i want my head units to mount towards the bottom, or center, where they're more easy to reach) all irritated me to no end.

$20 Scosche TA2121B Compatible with 2016-Up Toyota Tacoma Premium Model ISO Double DIN w/ Pocket Dash Kit Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYBT88X?ie=UTF8

i ended up with the american international kit. biggest disadvantage was that it took longer to get, but the centered styling and texture feels better to me. though i'm still disappointed that the pocket design is a bottom-mount, snap-in style only, so i can't mount a single din to the bottom and mount the pocket in the top.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYBT88X?ie=UTF8

yes, i still run single-dins. i tried a $200 touchscreen, it cost me someone breaking into the vehicle and stealing the radio and my $900 custom sub box...

 

@soundman98 , been using Crutchfield over 30 years and I’ve swapped head units from 1 vehicle to another . Called them told them what I was doing and they would send a new dash kit and harness at no charge. Also had equipment that something was wrong out of the box called and got a free replacement and shipped the old back, no questions asked.

 

Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind as I get my install going.

Finding the parts isn’t to bad their website was fantastic for getting info. If not for everything being impossible to get, I would have gotten my Kenwood from them a few years back.

interesting. I already ordered the Scosche, I’ll give it a look and if I don’t like the finish it might go back. This is a good piece of info. Thanks!!

 

I have the AI since my shop normally uses them. I recently bought a metra kit for an experiment (actually to cut up and sink in a unit similar to the 1037). The metra kit is rubberized. I don’t like it.

I will stick with the AI/Best kits/PAC kit

 

So a quick followup to this. This was all great information. Thanks to everyone that gave feedback.

I decided to take this whole thing a step further and I ordered all three kits and I will give a review of them. I’ll probably take pictures and give my thoughts on them and let everyone else see. This is a reminder of what I’m looking at:

• $24 Metra 99-8251B Mounting Kit for Toyota Tacoma 2016 & Up,Black
  Metra 99-8251B
• American International TOY9714
• Scosche TA2121B

I’m still waiting on the Metra kit, but one thing that stood out so far - the Scosche is the first kit I’ve seen in a while to use metal brackets for the stereo holder. That’s a big plus for me.

I’ll keep everyone posted on this.

 

Didn’t know the scosche uses metal. I may switch to that if your review of it is nice. The plastic brackets are flimsy and tightening the bolts warps the forks that the bolts go through.

if it’s a similar design, it may be possible to even use the metal scosche brackets with the plastic AI trim piece.

Edit: I just looked up the scosche and it appears to use plastic for everything, but the holes are fully enclosed and are not forks like the other kits. That part might be nice.

 

The kit that Crutchfield sent me, had 2 different plates that go behind the kit. My radio from the factory ended up being the 6” . And I bet the jbl has the 7” opening.

 

Interesting find.
What I am seeing now is that there are 3 Scosche kits that will fit a 3G Tacoma:

• $20 TA2121B Compatible with 2016-Up Toyota Tacoma Premium Model ISO Double DIN w/ Pocket Dash Kit Black
  TA2121B - this is what I ordered and they call it their premium model kit
• TA2122B - they call this the base model kit
• TA2160B - this is a generic Toyota kit that you break off the pieces you don't need

But my list above are the units I am reviewing - I am going to make sure stuff fits probably over the weekend

And I already opened up the 2121 - I can guarantee you that the kit I got from Amazon had metal brackets.

 

The kit I have , I had to break off pieces too. If I remember right, it was the international.

 

Interesting. The only thing I don’t like about the scosche in that case then is how it pushes the head unit to the top. Looks weird. I want the metal brackets but not the uncentered opening. Curious if the scosche brackets would work with my AI plate, but don’t really want to pay to experiment. It looks like it wouldn’t work. Probably wouldn’t work because the brackets have to make up for the radio offset.

 

Looking at Crutchfield it appears that they currently offer the AI TOY9714. I used Amazon for the 3x dash kit order because their return policies are really loose (plus they had all of the dash kits). Though I did order the Sony that is going to replace the Kenwood in the Accord from Crutchfield.

 

I’ll post more later, but I opened up the Scosche and the Ai. I see what was meant about the Scosche pushing the opening up. And yes the Scosche is metal brackets while the AI is all plastic.

I also now realized the Scosche 2121 vs 2122 difference it’s the opening size 7” vs 8”. The AI kit comes with both faceplates in a single kit.

I have some pictures but I’m waiting on the Metra.

 

I’ll spend some time taking picture comparing, but the TL;DR - no.

The problem is that the brackets set the height of the stereo and the Scosche brackets set the stereo higher than the AI brackets. You might be able to attach the faceplate, but it would never align with the dash opening.

 

related/unrelated:

the scosche kit pushing the radio up would offer more space for a compact amp installation within the dash

 

Kinda what I figured. Oh well. Just don’t really like the plastic kit, but I don’t think I’m willing to compromise looks for metal.

 

I'm using whatever ABS/plastic one that came with the Trail Grid Pro units and its been perfectly fine. Would it have been nice if it was metal? Absolutely! It's bolted on tight, great fitment, and does not wobble or anything so in my book it works fine.

 

Fund your new unit by selling me your OEM entune 3.0!