Like most of us that have the OEM sub, mine blew and really ruined the music environment of the runner. My goal for replacement was simple. I wanted to keep the OEM look and also add a little power to the system.

I first started with replacing the OEM head unit with the Kenwood DMX906S. It's been a good addition. Has wireless android auto/carplay which was one of the more important features I was interested in.

I then replaced the front speakers with some Infinity components (REF-6530cx). I also sound deadened the front doors. I did have to make some brackets for the new tweeters since there wasn't an aftermarket bracket for them. I was able to use the factory bracket as a base and just added a piece of aluminum for the backing.



The rear speakers (REF-6532ex) were super easy and just drop in with after market brackets. I also went with Infinity. I did not sound deaden the rear doors.

Now, the amp and sub were quite the endeavor. I wish I had done this when the weather was cooler. Getting the flooring up and the panel open in the back really wasn't as much work as I had thought it would be. The videos and explanations people gave made it sound like it would take a couple hours. I got everything opened up in about 45 minutes. My goal was to replace the sub and find an amp that would fit in the same location. While I had everything up, I figured I would add some sound deadening and run extra power to the back for a future fuse block in the back. I went ahead and got the Blue Sea double MRBF fuse block at the battery. One fuse is for the block up front and the other for the amp + fuse block to be added later. I do have a fused distro block at the back as well that will ease hooking this up when i have time for that project.



The factory amp was 9"W x 6"D x 2"H in case you are looking to do the same. I couldn't find that information anywhere. The Kenwood X802-5 I installed is 9-13/16"W x 2"H x 6-3/4"D. It was the closest in size, 5channel amp i could find that wasn't too expensive. I reused the factory bracket on the right side and attached some ABS to it to attach the amp to it directly. I did have to bend down the metal above the fender well so that the wires coming out of the amp weren't at too harsh an angle. I connected directly to the speakers using the diagram and wires that went into the factory amp. I initially planned on installing speaker wire, but after looking at the factory wire it seemed like it was already 16ga so i didn't feel there was a need.



I also did have to trim back the plastic some on the inside of the panel that goes against the amp. The amp sticks out a little bit further than the OEM since its not perfect bracket. This does make a tight fit but after a bit of trimming it fit really well. The RCA cables i ordered (6M in length) were too long, so keep that in mind. I had to run a loop in the middle of the floor and cut back some of the padding so that it fit more flush.

Blew my stock Sub recently too. I actually have an pioneer nex radio, old school alpine 4 channel amp and front Kicker door speakers. The fronts and rear stock sub are hooked to my amp. How is that pioneer sub? Honestly with the front running full range it has decent amount of bass. Looking to snag some Father’s Day deal on kicker sub.

The Pioneer is great. It's a good compliment to the rest of the system. I didn't want anything overpowering, but it hits. I think if you stick with the stock enclosure, you would be fine with any reputable 8" sub there.

Them pioneer used to be around $60 last year. All I see now is just over a hundred. What’s up with that? LoL Yea I’m going for sound quality with enough bass all around.

I have the 8” Pioneer shallow sub in the factory sub location, and I have been very happy with it. It reproduces music very accurately, without too much booming.

Yea the stock system is tune to be very boomy. Wasn’t accurate or tight.

I am looking to do this to my 2003 SR5. It it did not come with the sub and amp. I found a 4runner with the amp and woofer on CL that I plan to look at Thursday. Do you think the wiring to the amp and sub will be already back there? I also want to maintain the stock look. Thanks

I have started looking for an amp. I notice most are rather large. Is there any room for extra length or width from the one you bought? I guess having taken it apart is there any room for a slightly larger amp then the one you bought. Thanks

I highly doubt you will have any wiring going to the back if you did not have an amp or sub already back there. You will need to wire power and RCAs to the AMP back there. The speaker wiring is where it will get tricky. Depending on how much power you are looking, you may need to run speaker wire as well.

You have some wiggle room. I would recommend not going any more than 2"H. You will likely have to trim the panel that goes over and if you go with a bigger amp, that panel may not close back up. You may have to bend the metal panel as well if you go bigger.

Waiting on the lovely brown van to hand me my Kicker shallow sub....Interior and old sub is out and some sound deadened on the panel . Thought about putting the alpine amp in the stock amp location but that means buying new wires and re-routing. So far it is doing fine under the driver seat although I cringe whenever my kids are back there. LOL

Update. Sub is in and sounding nicely. Definitely more volume without the sub running out of breath. I find that if I run the front speakers on full and sub on phase I achieve much better bass response. Is anyone doing the same? Is my crossover wrong? Time alignment? In my old 3rd gen I ran something similar with upgraded 2 way speakers in the front and a single 10in sealed sub and hit pretty good. This one not as near. That set up I crossover the front thru the amp and same with the sub. No time alignment or anything. Straight up old school set up.

Nice work! So you just tapped into the OEM wiring of the JBL system for the amp and speakers? I have JBL too and have read others ran new wiring to bypass the JBL wires completely (im trying to avoid this).

I powered the sub with a aftermarket amp. I pulled the stock sub wire out which is located behind the stock amp. The stock wire is fed thru a grommet which you can pull it out by way of pushing it into the sub box. I ran new wires into the rubber grommet and stuck it back in(reverse order). If you plan to use the stock amp to power the new sub, you'll need to cut the connectors off. The positive and negative leads are printed on the sub itself where the connectors plug in. As you can imagine the stock sub wires are tiny.

Do you happen to have your rear pillar tweeters and your dash center channel speakers hooked up to the 5 channel amp in your setup?

I am looking to replace a recently dead JL Audio HD900/5 5 channel amp that the previous owner of my vehicle had installed. I don't think they have the center channel or the rear pillar tweeters hooked up to it, and was curious whether or not I would be able to do it myself. If you happened to for your setup, please let me know how you did it. Thanks.