3rd Gen Tweeter/Dash Speaker Installation, reuse connector

Below you will find step-by-step photographic documentation of how I installed new tweeters designed with a built-in, inline crossover in my 2018 SR Access Cab.

This method reuses electrical connectors original to the vehicle so no third party adapters are needed.

If you know how to solder, this will take approximately 30 minutes from removal of dash panels to final installation.

OVERVIEW
After removing the speaker from the dash, it becomes evident that the proprietary connector on the back of the speaker is attached in two ways: soldered-on wires and attachment clips.

Start by simply pulling off the connector which is held in by a few small clips. After that, two solder points at the speaker terminals need to be removed.

Once this is done, the connector is free from the back of the speakers.

The capacitor that is built in to the now-free connector must be bypassed. If not, it will negatively affect the frequencies that are allowed to pass to the speaker. Simply desolder the points at the capacitor leads and solder in a jumper wire between the two contacts.

After that, splice the leads on the connector to the corresponding wires that come with the speaker. Both wires are black and polarity is not indicated, so be sure to cross reference with a wiring diagram if you are unsure.

Once mounting hardware is installed, the connector attached to the new speaker can be mated with the harness in the dash and fastened in with the original hardware.

Vehicle specs: 2018 Tacoma SR, Access cab

Speakers (6x9 component): Focal Integration ISS 690

Tools Used:
Flat head screwdriver
Plastic panel removal flat bars
10mm socket
10mm open-ended wrench
Soldering iron
Desoldering tool
Wire strippers
Diagonal wire cutters
Needle-nosed pliers

MATERIALS:
18 gauge, single conductor wire
Electrical tape/heat shrink
Solder
Perforated galvanized steel duct strapping
Small screws w/ matching bolt and washers

 

The connector is reversed polarity so you should’ve connected the positive wire on the other side

 

Can anyone else confirm this? Going to be replacing all of the speakers in 2020 this weekend and want to make sure I wire it up correctly. I know the 2nd gens had the tweeters wired in backwards but not sure about the 3rd gens.

 

This was an awesome write up! I did the exact same thing when I swapped out my front speakers to preserve my factory wiring.

If you feel so inclined, you can also de solder that cap, and solder a different one in line if you want to change the crossover point, if I remember, the caps on these xover pretty high.

 

Sounds black on the left side the Pink/Black is positive and on the right side is Pink/Red. So ill just compare the plug when I pull the old tweeters out. Sounds like you can just gut the old tweeters to use as the mount. Also going to just harvest the plugs off of the old speakers and wire them to the new speakers. Not really any value in the old factory speakers.

 

I just did this swap with the new Kicker KS 2.75.
Followed it just like it the OP. Had to solder in the capacitor that comes with the new speakers but that was no problem since I was already doing some soldering on other parts.
For $50, you can’t go wrong if your willing to do some soldering to keep factory connectors.
And they come with brackets that fit tacos!

 

Thanks for this info. I'm about to do this mod and I'm wondering how much empty space there is under the tweeter. The new tweeters I got came with about a 3' long cord with the inline crossover capacitor. I'm going to shorten this and re-solder everything together following these directions. I'm wondering how much space there is for the connector plus the inline capacitor plus some extra wire.