New 2011 Questions - Ipod, Filters, Exhaust

Hello all-

Recently decided to ditch my VW and get back into a truck. Just recently bought a 2011 TRD Off Road and starting to put some miles on it. Still got some leftover money to work with from the purchase and want to put it into the vehicle. Already threw a truxedo lo pro on it and want to do a few other small things to start.

- Air filter install -> Got hooked up with an aFe pro-dry for $20 and want to throw that in. Looks pretty straightforward to do, but for those of you who have done it already, is it simply a matter of loosening the latches on the air box and removing? The intake tube looks pretty stiff so I wanted to know if it will be have to disconnected and removed as well or not. Also, as the truck still has under 1k miles on it, will putting this in before the engine is broken in do any damage?

- IPod Connector -> got the non-JBL system and the aux-in port just isn't cutting it for me sound level wise. Want to get the OEM harness and connector as I haven't had good luck with the non-OEM stuff in the past and I have some Toyota Rewards points to cash in for parts. Wondering if anyone has installed the OEM harness without routing it into the glove box? Don't really want to reach across the cab to get my hands on the IPod so thinking about running it into the center console but want to find out if the wire in the kit has enough length.

- Exhaust -> got a good lead on a cheap Banks Monster setup. Wondering if anyone has installed one of these kits and had their truck dyno'd? Can't seem to get much out of Banks as far as any type of performance improvements so wondering if its worth going after this or just cutting out the existing and welding in a Flowmaster 44 or something along those lines and getting the growl for cheaper.

I know these are probably fairly common newb questions. I tried searching thru the forum to find answers on these but was unsuccessful so far. Looking forward to contributing to the forum from here on out. Cheers.