If wife wins, I win new mods for my runner

UARandy3

UARandy3

New member
Cliff notes: need help figuring out next mod and what some of your best bang for the buck mods are.

So my wife is in this contest to win a photoshoot w/ a local boutique to possibly become their new clothing model. She used to do fashion modeling for a couple years, but stopped for college, us getting married, and life in general. If she wins this contest, bc I've been soliciting votes here, I get to do something for my truck. Here is the link to the thread in case yall haven't seen it yet: Voting Info Here w/ Pics!

With that out of the way, I need your thoughts on what I should do IF she wins (really need yall's help for votes bc it's still close). The following are things I'm wanting to do over the next few months, but still trying to decide which to do first.

Roof rack: I really like the BajaRack, but for almost $600 shipped, the Rola rack looks better and better every time I see it on one of your rigs. It really won't get much use until the fall, so I think I'm moving it down on the list. Regardless, do you feel the BajaRack is worth $400+ over the Rola?

New audio system: I think this is what I will likely go with bc I'm tired of the tired stock system. What kind of door speakers are yall running or recommend? I already have a Pioneer 4100DVD unit, so I think I want to run the speakers un-amped, and get a sub to complement some decent door speakers. I thought I would like some Alpine Type R speakers w/ an amp, but I don't think I'll get enough bass from them (based on reviews). Leaning towards an Infinity BassLink-II for the sub for cargo reasons.

Driving lights for brush guard: What's your take on the Hella Black Magic's? I think they would look good since most everything on my truck is silver and black. Either these Hella's or PIAAs, can't decide.

Projector retrofit: Not really a high priority at the moment since I'm pretty content w/ my PIAA Intense White bulbs for now. BUT I do want to do this sometime before this fall, when I'll be spending quite a bit of time driving in the dark in deer-dense areas.

SO, with these mods in mind, which one, if you have done them, have you been most happy with or has made the biggest difference in your truck's use. It is mainly my night/weekend driver now.

Thanks for your suggestions, and please go vote if you haven't, so I can get the go ahead to buy something for the runner.
 
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I think I would go with the retrofit. Not terribly expensive and provides much better lighting.

For driving lights I would look into Lightforce or possibly the Hella 700 HID upgrade.
 
Clemsonfan15 said:
I think I would go with the retrofit. Not terribly expensive and provides much better lighting.

For driving lights I would look into Lightforce or possibly the Hella 700 HID upgrade.
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I really want to do projectors sometime in the next few months, but I think I'm going to hold out for right now. I'm thinking I will prob do the black corners and housings w/ projectors, very lightly tint my turns and fogs and get some smoked LED tail lights. Also, since you mentioned HIDs in the Hellas, I looked into retrofitting HIDs into the Black Magic lights. It doesn't get done often bc it can be a pain, but I think it would be slick and different and match the rest of my exterior lighting "plans".

I think I'm down to deciding what I want to do about audio. I can't really see a use for a roof rack in the immediate future, so it can wait. And I figure I will just do all the exterior lighting at a later date.

Any suggestions or thoughts on a system? Still leaning towards upgrading all door speakers and running off the head unit. Then adding a 10 to fill in the lows. I don't need anything earth shaking....been there, done that lol.
 
Most people would recommend replacing the headunit first. You should be able to tell a difference from just doing that.

After that you could then decide if you wanted to add new door speakers and/or a sub.

With door speakers you also have the option of having them run off the headunit power or amping them.
 
Clemsonfan15 said:
Most people would recommend replacing the headunit first. You should be able to tell a difference from just doing that.

After that you could then decide if you wanted to add new door speakers and/or a sub.

With door speakers you also have the option of having them run off the headunit power or amping them.
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Yeah I upgraded the head unit last year sometime. I have the Pioneer 4100dvd double din screen. It made a big difference but my speakers still sound like crap lol. I was content for a while, but every time I drive my wife's 09 camry w/ upgraded sound, I remember how bad my 4runner sounds. Since the head unit is rated at 22w RMS, I think I will just run good, efficient door speakers off of it. Then add a 10 to fill in the bass that will certainly be lacking in the size door speakers we can run.
Now which ones to go w/ is the problem haha
 
If she wins? Dude, it is hardly close!! WHEN** she wins I would upgrade my audio. Head unit ( a nice used Eclipse with nav?) or front speakers!!

Just read previous post. Front speakers it is.
 
UARandy3 said:
Yeah I upgraded the head unit last year sometime. I have the Pioneer 4100dvd double din screen. It made a big difference but my speakers still sound like crap lol. I was content for a while, but every time I drive my wife's 09 camry w/ upgraded sound, I remember how bad my 4runner sounds. Since the head unit is rated at 22w RMS, I think I will just run good, efficient door speakers off of it. Then add a 10 to fill in the bass that will certainly be lacking in the size door speakers we can run.
Now which ones to go w/ is the problem haha
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Oh ok. You have a good start then. I know what you mean about the bad speakers. I've been wanting to change mine out for a while, but just haven't got around to it.

There are a lot of different options out there. It really just depends how what your budget is.
 
UARandy3 said:
Yeah I upgraded the head unit last year sometime. I have the Pioneer 4100dvd double din screen. It made a big difference but my speakers still sound like crap lol. I was content for a while, but every time I drive my wife's 09 camry w/ upgraded sound, I remember how bad my 4runner sounds. Since the head unit is rated at 22w RMS, I think I will just run good, efficient door speakers off of it. Then add a 10 to fill in the bass that will certainly be lacking in the size door speakers we can run.
Now which ones to go w/ is the problem haha
Click to expand...

I dabbled in car audio for years so thought I'd add a few suggestions.

First off, does your head unit have crossover capabilities? If so, I'd highly recommend using it since most mid range woofers aren't designed to play low frequencies. That will allow you to play music louder and with much less distortion. You may already be doing this, but thought I’d float it out there in case not.

I'd say ditch the back speakers. Most car audio purist (not proclaiming to be one) believe rear speakers add nothing to the listening experience, and actually are a deterrent since it causes audio reflections. Instead, invest your money on the best front stage possible. As for folks sitting in the back, I just play my music loud enough to so they can hear, which isn’t ear piercing levels either. Not sure what your budget is, but in the $300 range you’d have access to a very capable array of separates. You’ll definitely want a woofer/tweeter combo since they are designed to work in unison and probably won’t pair well with your stock tweeter. Check out the Image Dynamics Chameleon series. I haven’t listened to them extensively in personally, but have read a lot of good things about them. Iheard them once in a demo room but it was too long ago recall any specifics.

Depending on the sensitivity of the speakers, you might also consider an amplifier. In the $250 - $300 range you should be able to get a quality 2 channel amp that provides other tuning capabilities (cross over, EQ, etc.). Music will play louder and with less distortion.

As for the sub, I’m a big fan of Image Dynamics. I have their flag ship IDMAX 12” in my runner and love it. The one down side is that it requires a rather large box (1.8 cu ft in my case) to reach full potential. That said, I too am considering a smaller sub, maybe a 10” to fill in the lows. Their IDQ series is highly regarded as a SQ master, and gets plenty loud. Best of all they work in small enclosures.

Just some thoughts, happy to expand on any of the topic if there is interest.
 
jd31 said:
I dabbled in car audio for years so thought I'd add a few suggestions.

Just some thoughts, happy to expand on any of the topic if there is interest.
Click to expand...

Wow man, thanks for the info. Honestly, for this truck, I'm not really looking to spend a whole lot....just something better than the tired, muffled, raspy, stock speakers. Hopefully, in the next couple years I will make my way into a Tundra when I will need a bed more than I do now....and when I do get into my next vehicle, I plan to get into the SQ and $$$$ upgrades.
With that in mind, do you, or anyone else, have any suggestions for some decent replacements? I just want some efficient 6.5 components for the fronts and 5 1/4's for the rear that I can run off the head unit (22x4 W RMS) w/o an amp. I also want to toss in a 10" sub.....was leaning towards the BassLink-II, but am open to other options like what ndcent posted in the pic gallery (Pioneer TS-SWX251)....something small but helps fill in the lows a bit.
Also, I want to Dynamat the doors to eliminate the rattles mine make a lot of the time and eliminate some road noise. Is Dynamat the way to go, or is there another product yall can recommend?

Thanks for any input!
 
Honestly, I think you're gonna want to add some power. Otherwise any speaker you add isn't going to sound much better than the stock speakers. The difference in the sound from the stock speakers when I added an aftermarket deck that provided more power was quite noticeable.
 
Hepar said:
Honestly, I think you're gonna want to add some power. Otherwise any speaker you add isn't going to sound much better than the stock speakers. The difference in the sound from the stock speakers when I added an aftermarket deck that provided more power was quite noticeable.
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You're talking about adding a new aftermarket head unit to replace the stock head unit right? If so, i did that last year and it made a huge difference from what I remember. However, over the past couple of months the sound quality has significantly deteriorated. Sounds really distorted and raspy a lot of the time, even at medium levels. Sounds like they vibrate a lot, when they didn't do it until recently. That's why I figured replacing them w/ just decent, efficient speakers would satisfy me since my head unit has plenty of power for some decent speakers (i think?)....that and adding a small sub, since I've been craving a little more bass than the door speakers can provide. Does that make sense, or am I way off base?
 
UARandy3 said:
You're talking about adding a new aftermarket head unit to replace the stock head unit right? If so, i did that last year and it made a huge difference from what I remember. However, over the past couple of months the sound quality has significantly deteriorated. Sounds really distorted and raspy a lot of the time, even at medium levels. Sounds like they vibrate a lot, when they didn't do it until recently. That's why I figured replacing them w/ just decent, efficient speakers would satisfy me since my head unit has plenty of power for some decent speakers (i think?)....that and adding a small sub, since I've been craving a little more bass than the door speakers can provide. Does that make sense, or am I way off base?
Click to expand...

That makes total sense. I didn't read your post thoroughly and thought you were planning to upgrade your stock speakers on a stock head unit. You should be fine there.

If you want to add a sub, even a small one, then you should power. Low-end takes a lot more power to run than the high-end.
 
You're welcome. This forum has paid me many dividends with the scores of information on my 4runner, the least I could do is pay it forward by sharing some info on a topic I know a little about.

I looked up the specs of your head unit and it does have a crossover, settings as follows: 50/63/80/100/125hz. If you haven't done so already, try it at the different settings to see what sounds best. Start at 50hz then go up. For your stock speakers I would guess 80hz is the lowest setting you could get away with. Anything below that frequency should be handled by the sub. This should clean up your sound quite a bit. You'll be able to play it louder and with less distortion. It may sound a bit thin since you're cutting off the low end, but I wouldn't run it any other way. And when you get a sub you'll be complete. (sorry if you already knew all that).

As for speakers check out Image Dynamic's CTX65CS 6.5" components. I've read some good reviews on forums (check for yourself) and at $130...it's an absolute steal. Here's a link to an authorized online retailer who I've ordered from in the past. WoofersEtc.com - CTX65CS - Image Dynamics 6.5" Component Speaker System

As for the sub, I don't have any experience with the subs you've listed, but for a low cost solution look at Image Dynamics entry level subs which start at $75 /sub. If you need/want more thump than a single entry level sub, you could get two ID10's for a little over $200 and a Pheonix Gold amp for under $200. :guitar2:

I don't have a lot of experience with this product, but apparently "Peel @ Seal" is a cheap alternative to Dyanmat. Check out this forum (I plan on checking it out) posthttp://www.ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3226
 
Randy -

In a PM you asked me to reply to in your thread you wrote:

"What made you decide on the setup you chose? And how is the sub working out? Is it what you hoped for? And what kind of sound/music were you trying to cater to mostly?"

I picked the Pioneer TS-SWX251 subwoofer due to it's overall design. Small in size, low profile and down firing so I don't have to worry about throwing stuff in the back and hitting the woofer. I also liked the box and am considering painting it a matching tan to the back of my truck for stealth. Also I liked it's price, something like $130 or so shipped.

So far it's working out great, although I haven't really pushed it. I'm anxious to install the door speakers because as I knew I was getting a system soon I passive aggressively pushed the crappy stock door speakers and they definitely need replaced (maybe later today I will do it.)

The bass is ample, crisp and tight in the sealed enclosure, not at all the "cabin flushing" bass of systems I built when I was younger. I think with ported boxes you get a lot of that "flushing" bass (if that word makes sense as a descriptor.) I had systems in the past, always ported that were crazy. Once a couple Audiobahn 12's in a ported box that was deafening, another time a single Pioneer Premier 12 in a ported box that was a beast, etc.

I listen to a little bit of everything, from alternative rock to certain good hip hop (90's and or other underground stuff), funk, soul, downtempo, etc. On my way to work this morning I was bumping some Murs 3:16.

For me it's the perfect match of everything I wanted, small in size, tasteful bass, etc.

Also you said you had a Pioneer deck, the steering wheel remote is a must have!
 
jd31 said:
You're welcome. This forum has paid me many dividends with the scores of information on my 4runner, the least I could do is pay it forward by sharing some info on a topic I know a little about.

As for speakers check out Image Dynamic's CTX65CS 6.5" components. I've read some good reviews on forums (check for yourself) and at $130...it's an absolute steal.
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I played with the crossover points a bit and it helped take out a lot of the distortion caused by trying to reproduce the lower freqs. I was still getting a lot of vibration, so I pulled the door panels off to see if that was the main cause, and it was a lot of it. I think my first step needs to be deadening the doors for sure (prob order something this week).

Not sure if I want to go w/ an entire audio overhaul yet, but here's my initial thoughts after some research:

I did a whole lot of reading about the Image Dynamics CTX65CS components, and I'm all but sold on them...for the price and lack of any negative reviews, it seems like a really good fit. I will prob just throw the ID CTX5 coax in the rear doors bc I think I will miss the rear fill. Now which amp to go with to power these guys, I'm not sure yet....will get to my amp questions in a minute lol. As far as a sub is concerned, your recommendation on the ID IDQ also seems like a good fit, as it has great SQ and also gets low and can get loud w/ good power. Now, just trying to decide on if I want a pure SQ sub like that, or more like something along the lines of an SSA DCON or Sundown Audio SA.

On to amps....the CTX65CS are rated at 100 RMS and the CTX5 are 60 RMS. My headunit puts out 22 RMS. Obviously, a lot of people like to run a 4-channel to the doors, but will it really be necessary to amp up those rear CTX5's. Also, I've seen some people running a 4-channel....2 for the fronts, and then bridging for the sub. So I guess, my question is....what would be the best way to amp all this up (assuming I pull the trigger on all of it)?

Also, would it be more worth my while (and $$$$) to just deaden the doors and stick w/ stock speakers and then add a decent quality sub and amp.....or to start with replacing the door speakers and decide if I want/need a sub (feel pretty sure I will want/need one) and add it later.

Lengthy post, but I really appreciate your knowledgeable input!
 
Let me check out some 4 channel amps that could power your components and sub...I’ve had my Phoenix Gold amps for years so it’s been a while since I've shopped around.

As for the IDQ, although it's touted as a SQ sub, it's no slouch in the SPL department. My buddy had two IDQ 12’s in a sealed box and it slammed. I mean it could get obnoxiously loud if you wanted it to, but sounded great at all volumes. My buddies two IDQ’s were way louder than my singe IDMAX. Based on where I’m at in life, I personally would feel content getting a single IDQ 12 in a smaller box.

In terms of what to get and when, here’s what I’d suggest if you plan to do this in serial order:
- First start with deadening your doors. Easy DIY project that will
eliminate vibrations and possible clean up the sound.
- Next upgrade your speakers. You can run it off your head unit at first
to see how it sounds. If the ID speakers are efficient, which I believe
they are, you might be good.
- If the speakers don’t get loud enough (without distorting) or don’t
sound dynamic, then consider an amp. Look up “clipping” or “amp
headroom” for more context on the symptoms of an under powered
speaker.
- Your next step would be an amp and then sub

One down side of doing it in piecemeal is that it could cost more on the install. But if you’re inclined to do it yourself, then it’s a moot point. I’ll check out some amps.
 
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