Sirius/XM in 3rd Gen
- Thread starter the4Rdan
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gptoy96
New member
I wish I had pics on me but I'm at work at the moment. I had one for 6 years on my 3rd gen before I sold it. This is what I did.
For the sirius unit itself I bought a universal cell phone braket. It was a Panavise (think that's how you spell it) made of sturdy metal. It bolted to the dash using the factory screws that held the stereo in. A couple of dash trim pieces had to come off to put it on but required no modifications to the dash so you could take it off in the future and leave no marks. It was super convenient as it put the radio right beside the factory deck, great for access and less interruption of the FM modulator. It looked nice/clean and professional.
For the antenna, first time I put it in the center of the roof at the back part of the runner, above the back hatch. I popped the interior panels and hid the wire all the way to the front where I connected it back to the radio. It worked great except for our climate (guessing it's warmer in your area), when we hit -30c the antenna crapped out on me a few times. This turned into a huge pain in the ass to pull everything out and replace so eventually I just put the antenna above the passenger door on the roof and tucked the wire down the weather stripping, behind the dash/carpet on the passenger side to the radio. This worked well also and was easier to change the antenna if I needed to.
For the sirius unit itself I bought a universal cell phone braket. It was a Panavise (think that's how you spell it) made of sturdy metal. It bolted to the dash using the factory screws that held the stereo in. A couple of dash trim pieces had to come off to put it on but required no modifications to the dash so you could take it off in the future and leave no marks. It was super convenient as it put the radio right beside the factory deck, great for access and less interruption of the FM modulator. It looked nice/clean and professional.
For the antenna, first time I put it in the center of the roof at the back part of the runner, above the back hatch. I popped the interior panels and hid the wire all the way to the front where I connected it back to the radio. It worked great except for our climate (guessing it's warmer in your area), when we hit -30c the antenna crapped out on me a few times. This turned into a huge pain in the ass to pull everything out and replace so eventually I just put the antenna above the passenger door on the roof and tucked the wire down the weather stripping, behind the dash/carpet on the passenger side to the radio. This worked well also and was easier to change the antenna if I needed to.
I am pretty sure the 3rd Gen roof setup won't allow this, but it may give you some ideas. This is how I installed and completely hid my XM & GPS antennas on my 4th gen.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/audio-electronics/42317-unique-hidden-xm-gps-antenna-install.html
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/audio-electronics/42317-unique-hidden-xm-gps-antenna-install.html
gptoy96
New member
Sorry, I tried but I seemed to have lost a bunch of my pics of my 3rd gen including the radio.
I've included a couple of pics that I have in my 4th gen now. Same idea just different dash. On the 3rd gen the sat. radio is directly to the right of the factory radio rather than offset like it is with the 4th.
As for install, if you get the Panavise (and probably others) they have very good detailed install instructions. I followed the directions and they worked like a charm. They're specifically built for each vehicle so they'll describe every piece of trim etc you have to take out to make it work.
For my Tacoma I went with a built-in deal as part of my JVC deck so no need for external radio.
Edit: Don't mind the old radio either! It's one of the original ones! I had newer ones with more features but they all seem to crap out on me, this one keeps on ticking.
Hope this helps.
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gptoy96
New member
Hey thanks! Great idea. I like the idea of making it hidden, I'm paranoid about someone breaking into the truck and then having access to my garage. I think I'll do the double sided tape idea and stick it on the opposite side of the cubby door of where it is now. Seeing as that cubby is useless to me anyways it'll give it some use finally. I just hope I didn't warp the door already, it's been on there like that a while. Then again, maybe one day I'll put more effort into getting the Homelink to work and wont' need it at all.
Thanks for the tip.
