Thought I would share this real quick, as something I finally was able to install in the 4Runner. You can read more about it here (The new RAM Mount System! – 4X3Lander.com – Overlanding x 3), but thought I would share a quick picture of it

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Listening to your iPhone is better than listening to what’s on your iPhone through some real speakers?

Not quite, but I don’t want the hassle that comes with a new stereo, new speakers, running new wire and then barely using the stereo or the risk of it getting jacked and everything that comes with that.

From the Bay Area. Makes sense then.

I like the install, it looks clean. Seems like you sacrificed a lot by doing it this way though. Coulda had a single din radio w/ Bluetooth and removable faceplate, Ram mounts, and rocker switches if you wanted, and not have to sacrifice the double din to do it! Paranoid Fabrications mount is customizable and you could make it a solid plate and skip the rocker switches and do 3-4 ram mounts if you wanted. Granted, at that point it would need some reinforcement from behind I guess.

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Thanks for sharing the ideas and your pictures. Another really cool setup with a lot of possibilities. The issue here is - me. I know myself well enough that I would want a double DIN stereo to use the interface for Car Play. I also know that having done an average set of equipment in the sports car I previously modified was OK, but in this rig, I wouldn’t be happy with just OK. I wouldn’t need show competition quality though. So, that aspect means money. I have also realized that I just don’t listen to music as much as I used to, for many reasons. So for me, I didn’t sacrifice anything, however, this setup doesn’t necessarily mean it’s permanent either. Might find something else I like a whole lot better that utilizes the double DIN space

Nice execution, and the less I listen to the actual radio, the more I consider a mod like this, for more panel space where it matters.

How about a little BT amp like this recessed into the panel?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS739KX..._FnWtCb92M840W

Run the 2 channel output to real amp mounted somewhere in the vehicle (under driver seat is typical) and you have a simple, elegant streaming audio solution with a volume knob, on/off button and of course, bass boost

I'm not sure why you guys would ever delete a radio out of a car. The 4R would be just flat out awful on trips.

I especially like how mounting any of the example items in the link to the "RAM System" lead to only one thing;

a blocked air vent. Hope this thing isn't Expensive.

I was wondering what I could install to achieve that, got it! Enjoy that Runner.

@octanejunkie - the link and what you said is all a foreign language to me. Sounds good in theory. Yep, you said it best for me - listening less and less.

@APhelps - in the past, I would definitely agree to this. However now, my wife and I talk so much or have time for personal thought that I don’t feel this way anymore. Our true test was a coast to coast road trip (not in the 4Runner) and back. We didn’t listen to the radio once. Additionally, we don’t like the same music so we have agreed to not go that route when we are in the same car for anything anyway.

@jgue467 - will probably sound weird, but I don’t need those vents. I closed them anyway so little to nothing is going to blow through them, negating any issue of blocking them. I prefer the windows down and / or the sunroof open. Cold days I always run the floor / defroster selection anyway.

No worries, good on you! I think I'd go crazy if I couldn't listen to Pink Floyd for a few days of driving.

All road trips I took previous to her were definitely music filled and if I take a trip somewhere on my own, I will just use my headphones or my huge Bluetooth speaker I have. It’s all about mood music and setting the tone