Terk Commander / USA Spec / Extra Power Adapter / Antenna Routing Install

[AngryJohnny]

Just got an

 

[AngryJohnny]

2) Wiring. I plugged the supplied cable into the back of the radio, plugged the steering wheel controls into the Y-cable, and routed as you can see below (red line). BTW, the Y-cable still allows you to use the steering wheel controls and is plenty long enough to reach the armrest, but barely.

3) Placement. I placed the USA SPEC inside the armrest console for access to the RCA inputs, and also because there is absolutely no free space elsewhere to put the damn thing out of site. About the only other hidden place is where the circle is on the below pic. I did have to drill a hole for the wiring to feed through, use caution when drilling and check behind the plastic.

 

[AngryJohnny]

Here is the additional 12V power adapter (the black round cap) and USA SPEC as viewed from the back seat. The purple RCAs go to the XM Radio.

 

[AngryJohnny]

Next, the extra power adapter:

1) The Hole. I drew a circle on some tape. Ran a half-inch drill bit inside the console to make a general hole and used a Dremel to get the hold just right. Use caution when doing this because it has to be placed just right for clearance behind the plastic.

2) The Wiring. I basically just spliced the extra power receptacle that a coworker gave to me (thanks Bob!) into the adapter next to the shifter, used 3M splices. I think it was red or brown for 12V and white/black for ground. It is nice to have the adapter *inside* the cubby for my iPod so that I can always leave it powered and not have to disconnect it to hide it away.

 

[AngryJohnny]

The XM Radio brain.

1) Placement. As I said earlier, there is no free room in the 4Runner anywhere! The only out-of-site places I could see would be in the glove box, in/under the armrest, or under the seat. I placed mine under the armrest cargo area. I don

 

[AngryJohnny]

The XM Radio control unit.

1) Placement. I Dremeled out the otherwise useless cubby and the plastic behind it. Do this when everything is out so that you don

 

[AngryJohnny]

2) Wiring. Ran it down and along the shifter channel to the brain. Run the wire just before you re-install everything, so that you can get it through the holes (duh). It is kind of awkward to have everything all tangled up. Be careful no to pinch anything when reassembling. Here is the finished product:

 

[AngryJohnny]

The XM Antenna:

I ran it along the roof rack channel. Used some black silicone to hold it in place/seal it.

 

[AngryJohnny]

Then down under the weatherstripping where I slit a 1/2

 

[AngryJohnny]

And another...

 

[AngryJohnny]

Then I ran it right in the seam between the roof and side. This is super easy to tuck into. Then, once I got to the rear door, I ran it down the door weatherstripping. Once again, super easy to get to.

Lastly, along the door sill (pops right off) and under the carpet (coat hanger, be careful!) to the rear seat heater floor vents. At that point I ran above the carpet under the plastic of the shifter area. I wrapped the wire in electrical tape at that point to help protect the wire. Be sure to secure this so that the wire doesn

 

[AngryJohnny]

In closing, I love choices that XM offers, but disappointed in the sound quality, the highs (treble) in particular. The iPod sounds *so* much better than the XM. I think that good FM reception may just sound better too

I used painter

 

[97RUNNERltd]

They have stopped making that XM unit. I was going to go with that one and heard that it had poor sound. I ended up replacing my factory radio with a new alpine CDA 9820-XM unit it sounds great and is better sounding than Fm.

 

[sharp4runr]

Awesome install thread bro!

I can't see using XM for myself as I hate paying monthly fees on things.

 

[AngryJohnny]

They have stopped making that XM unit. I was going to go with that one and heard that it had poor sound. I ended up replacing my factory radio with a new alpine CDA 9820-XM unit it sounds great and is better sounding than Fm.

I trolled the XMFan site a lot and didn't find any threads specific to bad sound out of that unit, I remember the integrated Acura XM sounding about the same.

From what I can tell others are experiencing the same sound quality as I am with XM. I suspect that your alpine is able to 'fix' some of the issues, as my stock JBL is lacking in highs to begin with.

Supposedly, XM is re-encoding the music and that may explain why some stuff sounds bad, so who knows?

Sharp4runr,
Thanx, I felt the same way about paying the fees, but when I got a loaner car with XM, I was hooked. I like the comedy, Foxnews (sometimes I am a news junkie), and Alt-rock (stupid radio stations don't play much of that around the ACDC and Ozzy). Plus, it fills up mountain drives to go snowboarding when Denver stations drop out. I did a 2-year subscription for 9$ a month. I guess I'll skip 2 $tarbucks coffees a month.