Notes from my build

[MOJoWales]

Couple of things I learned while updating out 4runner that might save somebody else some hassle.

This 4runner was bought as a SR5, 4X4, third row, carpet, non-JBL, non-navigation, running boards, and mudguards. It's a pretty plane-Jane model. It was the only third row equipped 4runner we found without the sunroof which was critical to our purchase.

It replaces a 2002 4runner which served us well but was getting a bit long in the tooth.
This will be the daily driver of my wife so modifications have to be selected with her functionality in mind.
I imagine she'll come to realize how much she "needs" more ground clearance and off-road tidbits in time.

First thing is to get the repair manual. Either here on the forum from Nashman69g (links are in his signature) or a hard copy if that’s your thing. Just casually exploring the manual and diagrams gave me good ideas on what I could, and shouldn’t, do. It saved my butt more than once just on the seat heater install. Nashman is getting some beer for his trouble from yours truly.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

I added a BOYO VTL425HD license plate camera. Routing the wiring for this was involved, but doable.

First, a disclaimer: I had the headliner removed to gain access to the roof to remove some hail damage at the time of my install. Access by lowering the rear, or one side, of the headliner might be more difficult. Also, I struggled to keep up with my paint-less dent removal friends so there were no pictures taken during this tornado of activity. Sorry.

I ran the wire from the passenger side A-pillar,

Then through the roof supports, and through the factory grommet at the top driver side of the rear door.

I removed the inner door panel, removed the driver side gate speaker, and peeled back the vapor barrier (taking care not to cut it), to gain access.

I found a galley/reinforcement-fold/channel in the tailgate that was well suited for running wire from the driver side of the window to the hatch area. This keeps your wire out of the path of the window. I snaked my wire from the back of the cab through the grommet. Then from the grommet/top of the hatch to the bottom of the lift gate. I stuck my fish tape into the galley by the handle area, as shown here where the wire enters it.

I pushed over to the driver side to tie to my wire which was now hanging from the grommet on top. Attached to it and pulled back to the handle area. Here are some more pictures of what it looks like inside the door on the driver side.

Here you can see where I ran my wire through the grommet with the license plate light and door latch wires.

I ran my wiring through the inside bottom of the passenger license plate light cover to my backup camera.

So far, so good.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

You can disassemble the stock USB connection in the glove box and modify an aftermarket USB terminal to fit there.

I removed the glove box as part of my project but you might be able to reach through the access panel in front of and towards the driver side of the USB and release it from behind. Here is the connector with the aftermarket USB without the locking clip installed during fitment.

There are two screws to remove and several clips to release to remove the factory USB assembly from the housing. I broke two tabs doing this so I wish you better luck than I had. The receiving part of the glove box will hold the assembly together once installed so I am confident it will remain together.

I had to file/cut some of the aftermarket USB end to allow the clip part of the assembly to hold it into the housing. I installed the aftermarket USB and then marked where the clip would contact it on the sides.

I reinstalled the factory USB onto the connection for the factory Media Interface ECU and wrapped it in felt to prevent any possible code/fault/loss and to keep it from rattling.

So far, so good.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

My head unit, Sony XAV-701HD, had two USB cables so I routed the other one into the little cubby hole below the HVAC controls. I also ran an audio input through the same hole here for phone/Mp3 control. I added a rubber grommet where I cut the plastic.

To use the steering wheel controls I used a Metra Axxess ASWC.
I bought a Metra Electronics 70-8114 TURBOWire Wire Harness to plug and play. I only had to connect an ACC 12V and ground wires. It also provides RCA hookup for the factory input right next to the little cubby hole.
Just make sure your aftermarket HU has the provision for the AUX left and right audio in.
The Metra stuff auto-detected and is working flawless.

I used the Scosche TA2106B 4-Runner premium Double Din surround to install a Sony XAV-701HD radio.
Scosche should fire whoever translated “mediocre” into “premium”. I really had to work this thing to get it "satisfactory".
I ended up using the factory radio mounts after re-drilling them about 10 times to achieve clearance on the Scosche kit. Here is an early, less “I just went past the point of no return” fitment.

My Scosche is just clipped to the dash and resting around the HU, the side covers on the dash are probably doing more to hold it mounted than the actual unit itself. The color is WAY off, but it’s so off that it actually matches the door plastic so it's livable, for now. I will probably repaint it pretty soon.

I had to fix a couple of broken clips and mounts for the factory vents and cover piece that must be transplanted to the Scosche. I also added a bunch of self adhesive felt to around the edges to mimic the factory cover.

Transferring the vents from the factory bezel to the Scosche was fiddly but straightforward. Here you can see some of the numerous tabs that must be released.

The hazard light insert must be transferred as well. I added some felt around the factory housing as the Scosche bezel didn’t have much grip here.

So far, so "okay".

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

I ran new speaker wire to both front and rear doors. The fronts have no connection, just tape and grommet to pass through.

After pulling through to this point I did another pull through the yellow tape and hard plastic pieces of the inner wire router/shield. I used some zip ties to attach to the factory wire clips to avoid obstruction with the window.

FWIW I used the factory speakers as mounts for my new speakers. In retrospect it would have been at least as efficient to make new mounts from scratch, but I do like having the factory depth and water diversion from the stockers (once you see your speakers this makes sense).

The rears are a different story.
It is Toyota connector K01.
Here is how I got the rears apart and made room for the wire.
Remove the scuff plates, seat belt anchor bolt, and B pillar cover.
Reach in with a 90 degree pick and release the upper locking tab on the cab side. Take care to prevent the upper tab from reengaging and release the lower looking tab the same way.

Pull the connector out of the cab towards the door and peel back the black grommet to expose the large tab, it faces the rear and is only on one side. Release this tab and pull the inside cab side connector back into the cab while holding the grommet/door side away from the body. The tab is held in lock position by the cab. You may have to fiddle with this but take your time and it slides out pretty easy.

You can add pins to the blanks on the connector, or do like I did and drill out room for the speaker wire.
I choose the location least likely to weaken or interfere with the connector. I had to drill four times to make two passable holes. One each top and bottom of the inner (cover) and outer (channel). It is pretty clear once you have it in front of you.

I had to split my wire and feed it through the inner connector, through the outer connector, and then fish it through the grommet and inner tape in different steps.

Take care to visualize how the wire is going to route before running it. It’s a bit bulky to work with but the only really difficult part is fishing the wire through the tape inside the door. Do make sure to have it through the inner connector (cap) before pulling it through the outer connector (channel) and then through the grommet to the door. You need to have the black grommet end cover in place on the outer connector BEFORE clipping the connector back into the cab. It's easy to undo though so no big deal if you need to remove a couple of times to get sealed up correctly.
I ended up fishing the speaker wire through into the door using machine wire instead of my fish tape. No way around it, fishing the wire through to the inner door was difficult.

The red tape you see here at the bottom of the grommet was difficult to get wire through.

So far, so good.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

IMO the AVS Aeroskin looks great on 5th generations. I'm not sure how it will hold up but I think it sets off the front of our silver SR5.

So far, so good.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

Here is a copy and paste from my contribution on the aftermarket seat heater thread found here http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/80123-seat-heater-install.html

From the seat heater installation of the Amazon kit from earlier in this thread.

If you are considering wiring this kit in the same manner I did, you NEED the manual offered in this forum by Nashman69, or another factory reference manual.
Everything I did was based on the Seat Heater (2010 4runner) .pdf from Nashman69 (He’s getting some beer money from me :cheers.

You, of course, have a multi-meter and know how to use the continuity function because you should verify that the connectors and the wiring that goes to them is what and where it is supposed to be BEFORE you cut anything, right? :director:

I used the factory 20 amp (S/HTR FS position 13) of the CJB (interior fuse box) for both passenger and driver sides. Mine had a fuse already installed and no action was required to have, verified by testing, output pins controlled by this fuse (for testing purposes the connector side of the fuse insert was towards driver side fender, battery side towards the passenger fender). I used the outputs at the front and back of the CJB.

Passenger side is located on the back, towards the firewall, of connector 2C pin 14. It's the bottom, blue, wire in this picture taken looking up from the brake pedal towards the dash.

I used a mirror to verify I was hitting the right pin/wire when testing for continuity.

Driver side is located on the front, towards the cabin, of connector 2F pin 5. Mine was an empty hole originally. Here it is after adding the pin and white pigtail in position 5 and labeled with masking tape.

Our 2012 SR5 had the seat heater wiring from the fuse complete to the passenger seat connector Na1 pin 6, blue wire being hit with test lead from other side in this picture.

The passenger seat side of the connector had nothing attaching to this pin.

I released the pin from Na1 pin 6 and ran a wire from here back to the center console where I mounted the kit relay (actually just next to the console, under the carpet, and just aft of the inner seat mount points.

The driver side lacked wiring from the fuse onward. I considered using the passenger side to power both seat warmers but after testing the resistance I opted not to.
So, I ordered the correct pin with pigtail (Toyota part # 82998-24530)

to use at connector 2F pin 5 and ran new wire from this to under the seat. It's highway robbery at about $14 but time was critical for me so I grabbed my ankles. They can be bought without the leads for about 29 cents each here: Ballenger Motorsports ? High Performance Electronics

I tied in the kit relays to these 12V ACC power wires, and used a common ground for both under the center console (in this case a bolt holding down the transfer case shift lever lower boot after testing for a good ground).

For the kit switches I ran wire from the illumination and ACC power wire from the stereo connection (I already had this exposed doing a new headunit) but otherwise I would have used the before mentioned shift lever position light and some ACC power to tap into.

As others have mentioned I also found the green illumination to be intrusive. So, I opened up the switches and modified them.

There are two lights and the green one is disproportionately large compared to the yellow (where the yellow piece is to the right along the green plastic inside the light housing).

Without getting all technical about what this is made of, here is what I did:
Using a black sharpie I covered inside of the switch corresponding to the green LED area with ink.
I covered, reassembled, and tested several times before ending up with about 85% of the light I wanted eliminated.
I then added a small piece of gorilla tape cut to fit exactly in the area behind the sloped “green indicator” area of the switch.

The horizontal bar indicator still lights and there is just enough spill from the dial to be able to make out the position in the dark.

A warning about the pins in the CJB: The wire they connect to had some tension in my vehicle and the barbs holding the pins in are VERY tricky to release. Figure out routing before slipping these in.
You may have to separate connectors 2C or 2F (they are two separate connectors slid together) before installing new leads. If removing them you MUST separate them and release the barb tension (not easy).
Also, I would download the manual from Nashman69 and stare at the seat heater diagram until you have a conception of the factory system.
.
Overall I am very satisfied.
I could return to stock relatively quickly. I can also keep my fuse cover attached. This was a big deal to me with a messy dog and wife.


Hope this helps. I'll try to answer any questions here.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

Since they been covered here before I won't go into detail about my other mods.
They include the ubiquitous forum stubby antenna, Cooper AT3 in stock P series, and adding stock roof racks (from member HokieMike who packages items like a pro :thumb

Replacing the stock Dunlops with the Cooper AT3 tires eliminated most of the dive under braking and soft wandering on the highway. Enough so that I'll hold off on replacing the stock shock absorbers, for now.

I'll try to answer any questions as best I can. I'd like to thank the members who posted SO much technical information before me on their modifications and installs. You know who you are :hatsoff:.

MOJoWales

 

[MOJoWales]

I'm building a subwoofer enclosure for a Polk 10" to fit in the rear. I removed the lower floor panel and ran the wire in preparation.

I'll update this when I have finished the installation.

Here are some pictures of where I mounted the JL XD700/5 and crossovers for my front components. They are located under the passenger and driver seat.

The finished install is neater than they look in these pictures.

MOJoWales

 

[JayG]

Great post Mojo! Very informative. :cheers: