Well, after reading and looking at many of the different options, I knew what I wanted to do. So I went to back to the Best Buy Install Bay and picked up a universal L-shaped mounting bracket, and was able to [without screwing into or breaking/bending the dash] slide the bracket in-between the top of the radio and the dashboard plastic, and it fits snug as a bug in a rug. No movement, doesn't budge.
Here's a picture of the final product:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491234163874098"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yVzTP2TI/AAAAAAAAABU/Q0PzmeOB5-8/s800/IMG_2210.JPG" /></a>
and another:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491238458841410"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yWDTP2UI/AAAAAAAAABc/FbS5v6e816Q/s800/IMG_2213.JPG" /></a>
and without the flash (to show how awesome my orange glow theme looks ;-)
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178499394601736594"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/nick.lindberg/R925wzTP2ZI/AAAAAAAAACI/vFnvsy_p_2g/s800/IMG_2214.JPG" /></a>
This makes it not only easy to reach, but it doesn't clutter the armrest area and you can pretty much change it without taking your eyes off of the road.
I bought a PIE TOY03-AUX unit:
http://www.logjamelectronics.com/pietoy03aux.html
which allowed me to utilize the CD Changer in the back of the radio as an auxiliary input. It's a bit quieter than the other inputs (CD/Radio) so I just ordered a line driver to match the input of the other sources. I'll let you know how that goes.
The main thing I had trouble deciding was how to mount the antenna, and this is what I decided to do. I mounted it above the driver's side door and ran the wire down the weather stripping (you can take a screwdriver and gently pry it up and push the cord back underneath it) to the very bottom by the hood, where I ran it under the rubber/plastic molding.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491247048776018"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yWjTP2VI/AAAAAAAAABk/bZxdxxxg1x4/s800/IMG_2206.JPG" /></a>
once you run it down underneath the molding, shown here (sorry, crappy pic)
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178492020142889346"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92zDjTP2YI/AAAAAAAAACA/Kg9TC4tizkw/s800/IMG_2205.JPG" /></a>
if you open your hood you can see it sitting there-- and you can also see the little space between the hood area and the part of the car that you can only see when the door is open, shown here:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491255638710642"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yXDTP2XI/AAAAAAAAAB0/uP-r7q7JhEo/s800/IMG_2208.JPG" /></a>
You can see the wire if you look closely. It comes in under the rubber piece at the top, and if I were to peel that back, you'd see that it goes through a little slit and up to right underneath the molding leading up the windshield. I had to take a screwdriver and kind of pry the metal apart (hardly at all) to get the cord connector to fit through, but I got it. Then, to get it into the car, you are going to want to cut a tiny slit in the plastic hose where the door wiring enters the vehicle, and run your antenna wire through that.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491251343743330"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yWzTP2WI/AAAAAAAAABs/nvrkFWB7QK4/s800/IMG_2212.JPG" /></a>
It comes out through plastic hole with all of the other wires right behind and to the left of the parking break. (You have to remove the bottom of the dash to see it.) Getting it through here was kind of a pain in the butt, what I eventually did was take a hangar, cut it, stick it from the outside of the hose to the inside of the dash, tie/tape a string to it, pull it back out, tie the string to the antenna plug, and then pull the antenna plug back through the hose to the inside of the car. Yes, it's a bit convoluted, but it got the job done. Then, basically I ran it down under the steering wheel column with some zip ties and up the dash.
The universal L-bracket I inserted over the radio, than pushed the radio back in, and had to shimmy the dashboard piece up and over the bracket and once it was over it, I was able to snap the piece right back into place, and it looks great in my opinion. It's symmetric, and clean looking.
Right now I have the cigarette lighter running down behind the dash and out the bottom and plugged in to the actual cigarette lighter. The add-a-fuse I got was for the wrong fuse size :-( so I'm waiting until I get the correct one ordered to install another cigarette lighter outlet under the steering wheel column to connect it to.
(There is also a 2nd cigarette lighter adapter under the armrest dash but I'm ordering the connector and wiring that around through the armrest compartment for access to a 2nd cigarette lighter for when me and the wife both want one.)
Anyways-- I decided to try and post a detailed description of how I ran my antenna because like I said, that was the most annoying part and there weren't alot of pictures of how others had done it.
Hope this helps! Sounds great besides it being a tad quiet... I'll update once I have the line driver/amplifier installed. Let me know if you have any questions or want more pics! Probably took me 3 hours start to finish.
Lumberg
Here's a picture of the final product:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491234163874098"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yVzTP2TI/AAAAAAAAABU/Q0PzmeOB5-8/s800/IMG_2210.JPG" /></a>
and another:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491238458841410"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yWDTP2UI/AAAAAAAAABc/FbS5v6e816Q/s800/IMG_2213.JPG" /></a>
and without the flash (to show how awesome my orange glow theme looks ;-)
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178499394601736594"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/nick.lindberg/R925wzTP2ZI/AAAAAAAAACI/vFnvsy_p_2g/s800/IMG_2214.JPG" /></a>
This makes it not only easy to reach, but it doesn't clutter the armrest area and you can pretty much change it without taking your eyes off of the road.
I bought a PIE TOY03-AUX unit:
http://www.logjamelectronics.com/pietoy03aux.html
which allowed me to utilize the CD Changer in the back of the radio as an auxiliary input. It's a bit quieter than the other inputs (CD/Radio) so I just ordered a line driver to match the input of the other sources. I'll let you know how that goes.
The main thing I had trouble deciding was how to mount the antenna, and this is what I decided to do. I mounted it above the driver's side door and ran the wire down the weather stripping (you can take a screwdriver and gently pry it up and push the cord back underneath it) to the very bottom by the hood, where I ran it under the rubber/plastic molding.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491247048776018"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yWjTP2VI/AAAAAAAAABk/bZxdxxxg1x4/s800/IMG_2206.JPG" /></a>
once you run it down underneath the molding, shown here (sorry, crappy pic)
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178492020142889346"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92zDjTP2YI/AAAAAAAAACA/Kg9TC4tizkw/s800/IMG_2205.JPG" /></a>
if you open your hood you can see it sitting there-- and you can also see the little space between the hood area and the part of the car that you can only see when the door is open, shown here:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491255638710642"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yXDTP2XI/AAAAAAAAAB0/uP-r7q7JhEo/s800/IMG_2208.JPG" /></a>
You can see the wire if you look closely. It comes in under the rubber piece at the top, and if I were to peel that back, you'd see that it goes through a little slit and up to right underneath the molding leading up the windshield. I had to take a screwdriver and kind of pry the metal apart (hardly at all) to get the cord connector to fit through, but I got it. Then, to get it into the car, you are going to want to cut a tiny slit in the plastic hose where the door wiring enters the vehicle, and run your antenna wire through that.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.lindberg/4RunnerSiriusInstall/photo#5178491251343743330"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/nick.lindberg/R92yWzTP2WI/AAAAAAAAABs/nvrkFWB7QK4/s800/IMG_2212.JPG" /></a>
It comes out through plastic hole with all of the other wires right behind and to the left of the parking break. (You have to remove the bottom of the dash to see it.) Getting it through here was kind of a pain in the butt, what I eventually did was take a hangar, cut it, stick it from the outside of the hose to the inside of the dash, tie/tape a string to it, pull it back out, tie the string to the antenna plug, and then pull the antenna plug back through the hose to the inside of the car. Yes, it's a bit convoluted, but it got the job done. Then, basically I ran it down under the steering wheel column with some zip ties and up the dash.
The universal L-bracket I inserted over the radio, than pushed the radio back in, and had to shimmy the dashboard piece up and over the bracket and once it was over it, I was able to snap the piece right back into place, and it looks great in my opinion. It's symmetric, and clean looking.
Right now I have the cigarette lighter running down behind the dash and out the bottom and plugged in to the actual cigarette lighter. The add-a-fuse I got was for the wrong fuse size :-( so I'm waiting until I get the correct one ordered to install another cigarette lighter outlet under the steering wheel column to connect it to.
(There is also a 2nd cigarette lighter adapter under the armrest dash but I'm ordering the connector and wiring that around through the armrest compartment for access to a 2nd cigarette lighter for when me and the wife both want one.)
Anyways-- I decided to try and post a detailed description of how I ran my antenna because like I said, that was the most annoying part and there weren't alot of pictures of how others had done it.
Hope this helps! Sounds great besides it being a tad quiet... I'll update once I have the line driver/amplifier installed. Let me know if you have any questions or want more pics! Probably took me 3 hours start to finish.
Lumberg
