Stereo Install (Single DIN)
09-19-2004, 11:57 PM
#1
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 239
Stereo Install (Single DIN)
EDIT: I apologize for the quality of some of these pictures. I took them with my "point and shoot" digital camera inside and some of them are a little dark.
INTRO AND DISCLAIMER
First off I just want to say that this isn't that hard and doesn't take that much time if you're somewhat mechanically inclinded. Second - please excuse all spelling errors in this - I'm writing a DIY, not an English term paper.
Third - anything you do to your car you do at your own risk. The below procedures worked beautifully for me but you may have different results with different stereos, you may break things if you don't know what you're doing, etc. As a disclaimer to myself I'm going to say that anything you do to your car is your problem - these instructions are in no way guarenteed. Just watching my own ___ - don't mean to scare anyone.
I'd like to give props to cwmtC - I took a couple of your pictures from your CarDomain site of the way the dash looks because I didn't want to haul my digicam down to the car on the frequent test fit trips that I had to travel in order make things fit.
The stock stereo is pretty good, but it's not that good. The fact that it plays MP3s and has a decent amount of power from the factory is cool, and it's more than good enough for most people, but not me. After getting a wild hair this morning and being sick of waiting for a tC mounting kit from Scosche or Metra (both of which companies have assured me that one is coming soon) I just decided to do it myself. There have been a couple of other people that have done this - I am by no means the first - but until now nobody's really showed how to do it. I took pictures of the entire fabrication process, so here we go.
Tools Required
------------------
10mm Socket w/ Extension
Phillips Screwdriver
Solder / Soldering Gun
Electrical Tape / Heat Shrink
Your Hands
Pair of dykes (wire snips)
A Cordless Drill
A 7/32" Drill Bit
A 7/64" Drill Bit
Parts Required
-----------------
Scosche 1981+ Toyota Stereo Harness (Part #TA021)
Scosche 1988+ "Select Import Vehicles" Universal Mounting Kit (Part #UI2225)
Process
---------
REMOVAL OF THE DASH CONSOLE
If you don't feel comfortable doing this I don't suggest that you continue. Wait until a mounting kit comes out and pay someone at Best Buy or Circuit City to put it in for you. Nobody will know if you don't tell them and it's better than having a broken dash. There's no shame in getting help if you need it.
1.) First you need to start by removing the dash area that surrounds your stereo. You can do this with your hands even though dealer instructions recommend a "nylon removal tool." There is a Toyota part # for this tool described in the shop manuals, but your hands work just as well. You'll start with the area around the shifter. I did this on a manual transmission so I can't guarentee it's the same for the automatics. The piece DOES NOT pull stright up - it slides back. If you try to pull this piece straight up you will break it. Slide the piece back toward the armrest and it should snap off. You can then unscrew the shift **** and lift the piece out. You'll have to disconnect the cigarette lighter as well. This is not hard.
2.) Next you need to remove the peice that goes around the stereo. Make sure your stereo door cover is CLOSED when you do this. Get your fingernails between this piece and the dash and pull it toward the center console. There are some clips at the top, some in the middle, and some at the bottom - all around the outer edges. There is ONE plug for the HVAC controls and clock on this console... there's a plstic tab on the top of the plug that you have to push down and the plug pulls straight out. Easy as that.
REMOVAL OF THE STEREO AND MOUNTING BRACKETS
3.) After that you'll see the stereo in its naked glory. You'll have to remove two phillips screws and two 10mm nuts to get the stereo out of the dash, as illustrated by the arrows here:
The screws are easily remoed with a screwdriver but the nuts are installed with lock-tite and have to be broken loose To do this I used a stocket wrench with a LARGE extension on it. To take them the rest of the way off I used a screwdriver with a 1/8" socket on it so I could hold the nut between my fingers as I took it off - believe me you don't want to drop one of these in the dash because it will ruin your day HARDCORE as you try to get it back out.
You should then be able to unplug the two harnesses from the back of the stereo, as well as the antenna cable (little black round thing). The whole until just pulls straight out. Be CAREFUL not to scratch the dash with the mounting brackets on the side of the unit as you remove it. The tCs interior scratches very easily.
SIZING UP YOUR INSTALL
4.) As you can see by the picture when I stacked my Pioneer DEH-P8600 on top of the Pioneer deck that came with the car the holes in the Pio deck lined right up. Note that you do not use a mounting basket when you do the install this way. This is good for a couple reasons - first it's a lot harder to steal your stereo when it's screwed into brackets like this than when it's just sitting in a mounting basket and all someone needs is a set of stereo keys to get it out and 2 - it's more secure this way. Anyway - check it out - holes line up:
The screws that are holding the stock stereo in don't fit in the mounting holes on my Pioneer - the thread on the screws is way too coarse. It's a good thing I saved my Pioneer's box, which still had the little packet in it with all the screws that they provide for mounting a deck like this. If you don't have these, you might be SOL at this point
I also noticed when I stacked my aftermarket deck on top of the stock deck that the ***** and faceplate on the aftermarket deck stuck out quite a bit farther than the stock deck. (about 1") as shown here:
This isn't a problem on just about any other car, but I wanted my stereo door to still be able to close when I had my faceplate on (after all, what's the point of the door if you have to take your faceplate off anyway).
This is where I opened up my Schosche universal din mounting kit (part # provided at the beginning of this article) and used the included basket, basket trim ring, and the basket brackets labeled "Toyota" from the kit. You follow the directions inside the manual to secure the basket trim ring to the basket (the 4 smallest screws provided in the kit) and then the "Toyota" marked plastic basket brackets just slide on to the sides of the basket by means of friction.
Here I had to do a little trimming with a pair of dykes... As you'll see, one post on each side of the basket is a little longer than the others. I didn't get a piture of this, but you'll see what I'm talking about when you look at it. Take a pair of dykes (wire snips, or whatever you call them) and cut the post down so it's level with the other ones. We don't need this post anyway, but it's a lot easier to get the poket to fit between the two metal mounting brackets if these posts aren't there.
This is what the stereo looks like after I mounted it with the scew holes I showed you above, and the mocket mounted unerneith it.
You'll notice that the stereo sticks out farther than the pocket. I later found out that this won't work in the car - you can't install the assembly with the stereo face on (since you need the door closed to do it), and the stereo door won't close with the face on - thus rendering the stereo door pointless. Time to get out the drill.
DRILLING THE STOCK STEREO BRACKETS AND MOUNTING THE UNIT
I ended up drilling holes in the stock brackets to slide the radio back a little more than 1/4 of an inch. We'll mount the stereo using these holes, which are pushed back, instead of the stock holes to move it back away from the door. There's PLENTY of room inside the dash so don't worry about room beind the stereo.
There are also four little indentations on each side that help position the stock stereo. Since these won't work with what we're trying to do, you'll have to drill two of them out using your 7/64" drill bit. In the diagram below, I've marked the holes you'll need to drill using the 7/32" bit (where the stereo mounting screws will go) using white arrows, and have marked the two indentations you'll need to drill with the 7/64" drill bit with red arrows.
This is what the brackets should look like after you finish drilling the holes.
You'll then mount the aftermarket stereo using the new holes, and mount the basket using whichever holes allow you to line it up with the face of the aftermarket stereo. Since you are fabricating this might take some tweaking. Nothing will fit right the first time (unless you're lucky) and you might have to do some pushing and pulling to get everything to fit as good as possible.
After you get a good fit you can mate your aftermarket stereo's wiring harness to the Scosche harness (part # listed above). Colors should all match up if you bought the Scosche harness, and then you just have to solder your connections and either heat shrink them or wrap them tightly with a generous amount of GOOD electrical tape. After this you should be ready to install the unit in the car.
REASSEMBLY AND THE FINAL PRODUCT
Reassembly of the dash is the same as the assembly, and installing the newly mounted DIN unit with the pocket is pretty much the reverse of installing the stock unit. Toyotas have a standard antenna plug inside the vehicle so no adapter is needed. You should be able to plug the Scosche Toyota harness into your car's harness and the other end of your harness into the back of you deck and you'll be all set.
Note that there are two "pairs" of plugs on the Scosche harness (you'll see what I mean when you open it). You'll want to look at them and use the ones that will fit the tC. Since they're not labeled with numbers I can't give you a specific pair to use in writing... although I can say that it's not the pair where one harness is MUCH longer than the other one. Just look at it, you'll know what I mean. KEEP THE PLASTIC PLUG GUARDS IN THE SIDE THAT YOU DONT USE TO AVOID SHORT CIRCUIT.
This is how mine turned out. There are little gaps on either side of the head unit. If this bothered you that much you could fab something up with some black ABS plastic. For me it's not that big a deal... I can wait until a real mounting kit is released to go any further.
I hope this has helped some of you out. I know I would have liked to had this before I made 10 or 12 tips from my apartment to my car with a stereo, mounting brackets, and a plastic pocket in my hands. I can't guarentee this will work for every head unit out there, but I'm 99% sure that it should work with all standrad DIN sized units that are from reputable companies. Good luck!
INTRO AND DISCLAIMER
First off I just want to say that this isn't that hard and doesn't take that much time if you're somewhat mechanically inclinded. Second - please excuse all spelling errors in this - I'm writing a DIY, not an English term paper.
Third - anything you do to your car you do at your own risk. The below procedures worked beautifully for me but you may have different results with different stereos, you may break things if you don't know what you're doing, etc. As a disclaimer to myself I'm going to say that anything you do to your car is your problem - these instructions are in no way guarenteed. Just watching my own ___ - don't mean to scare anyone. I'd like to give props to cwmtC - I took a couple of your pictures from your CarDomain site of the way the dash looks because I didn't want to haul my digicam down to the car on the frequent test fit trips that I had to travel in order make things fit.
The stock stereo is pretty good, but it's not that good. The fact that it plays MP3s and has a decent amount of power from the factory is cool, and it's more than good enough for most people, but not me.
After getting a wild hair this morning and being sick of waiting for a tC mounting kit from Scosche or Metra (both of which companies have assured me that one is coming soon) I just decided to do it myself. There have been a couple of other people that have done this - I am by no means the first - but until now nobody's really showed how to do it. I took pictures of the entire fabrication process, so here we go.Tools Required
------------------
10mm Socket w/ Extension
Phillips Screwdriver
Solder / Soldering Gun
Electrical Tape / Heat Shrink
Your Hands
Pair of dykes (wire snips)
A Cordless Drill
A 7/32" Drill Bit
A 7/64" Drill Bit
Parts Required
-----------------
Scosche 1981+ Toyota Stereo Harness (Part #TA021)
Scosche 1988+ "Select Import Vehicles" Universal Mounting Kit (Part #UI2225)
Process
---------
REMOVAL OF THE DASH CONSOLE
If you don't feel comfortable doing this I don't suggest that you continue. Wait until a mounting kit comes out and pay someone at Best Buy or Circuit City to put it in for you. Nobody will know if you don't tell them and it's better than having a broken dash. There's no shame in getting help if you need it.
1.) First you need to start by removing the dash area that surrounds your stereo. You can do this with your hands even though dealer instructions recommend a "nylon removal tool." There is a Toyota part # for this tool described in the shop manuals, but your hands work just as well. You'll start with the area around the shifter. I did this on a manual transmission so I can't guarentee it's the same for the automatics. The piece DOES NOT pull stright up - it slides back. If you try to pull this piece straight up you will break it. Slide the piece back toward the armrest and it should snap off. You can then unscrew the shift **** and lift the piece out. You'll have to disconnect the cigarette lighter as well. This is not hard.
2.) Next you need to remove the peice that goes around the stereo. Make sure your stereo door cover is CLOSED when you do this. Get your fingernails between this piece and the dash and pull it toward the center console. There are some clips at the top, some in the middle, and some at the bottom - all around the outer edges. There is ONE plug for the HVAC controls and clock on this console... there's a plstic tab on the top of the plug that you have to push down and the plug pulls straight out. Easy as that.
REMOVAL OF THE STEREO AND MOUNTING BRACKETS
3.) After that you'll see the stereo in its naked glory. You'll have to remove two phillips screws and two 10mm nuts to get the stereo out of the dash, as illustrated by the arrows here:
The screws are easily remoed with a screwdriver but the nuts are installed with lock-tite and have to be broken loose To do this I used a stocket wrench with a LARGE extension on it. To take them the rest of the way off I used a screwdriver with a 1/8" socket on it so I could hold the nut between my fingers as I took it off - believe me you don't want to drop one of these in the dash because it will ruin your day HARDCORE as you try to get it back out.
You should then be able to unplug the two harnesses from the back of the stereo, as well as the antenna cable (little black round thing). The whole until just pulls straight out. Be CAREFUL not to scratch the dash with the mounting brackets on the side of the unit as you remove it. The tCs interior scratches very easily.
SIZING UP YOUR INSTALL
4.) As you can see by the picture when I stacked my Pioneer DEH-P8600 on top of the Pioneer deck that came with the car the holes in the Pio deck lined right up. Note that you do not use a mounting basket when you do the install this way. This is good for a couple reasons - first it's a lot harder to steal your stereo when it's screwed into brackets like this than when it's just sitting in a mounting basket and all someone needs is a set of stereo keys to get it out and 2 - it's more secure this way.
Anyway - check it out - holes line up:The screws that are holding the stock stereo in don't fit in the mounting holes on my Pioneer - the thread on the screws is way too coarse. It's a good thing I saved my Pioneer's box, which still had the little packet in it with all the screws that they provide for mounting a deck like this. If you don't have these, you might be SOL at this point
I also noticed when I stacked my aftermarket deck on top of the stock deck that the ***** and faceplate on the aftermarket deck stuck out quite a bit farther than the stock deck. (about 1") as shown here:
This isn't a problem on just about any other car, but I wanted my stereo door to still be able to close when I had my faceplate on (after all, what's the point of the door if you have to take your faceplate off anyway).
This is where I opened up my Schosche universal din mounting kit (part # provided at the beginning of this article) and used the included basket, basket trim ring, and the basket brackets labeled "Toyota" from the kit. You follow the directions inside the manual to secure the basket trim ring to the basket (the 4 smallest screws provided in the kit) and then the "Toyota" marked plastic basket brackets just slide on to the sides of the basket by means of friction.
Here I had to do a little trimming with a pair of dykes... As you'll see, one post on each side of the basket is a little longer than the others. I didn't get a piture of this, but you'll see what I'm talking about when you look at it. Take a pair of dykes (wire snips, or whatever you call them) and cut the post down so it's level with the other ones. We don't need this post anyway, but it's a lot easier to get the poket to fit between the two metal mounting brackets if these posts aren't there.
This is what the stereo looks like after I mounted it with the scew holes I showed you above, and the mocket mounted unerneith it.
You'll notice that the stereo sticks out farther than the pocket. I later found out that this won't work in the car - you can't install the assembly with the stereo face on (since you need the door closed to do it), and the stereo door won't close with the face on - thus rendering the stereo door pointless. Time to get out the drill.
DRILLING THE STOCK STEREO BRACKETS AND MOUNTING THE UNIT
I ended up drilling holes in the stock brackets to slide the radio back a little more than 1/4 of an inch. We'll mount the stereo using these holes, which are pushed back, instead of the stock holes to move it back away from the door. There's PLENTY of room inside the dash so don't worry about room beind the stereo.
There are also four little indentations on each side that help position the stock stereo. Since these won't work with what we're trying to do, you'll have to drill two of them out using your 7/64" drill bit. In the diagram below, I've marked the holes you'll need to drill using the 7/32" bit (where the stereo mounting screws will go) using white arrows, and have marked the two indentations you'll need to drill with the 7/64" drill bit with red arrows.
This is what the brackets should look like after you finish drilling the holes.
You'll then mount the aftermarket stereo using the new holes, and mount the basket using whichever holes allow you to line it up with the face of the aftermarket stereo. Since you are fabricating this might take some tweaking. Nothing will fit right the first time (unless you're lucky) and you might have to do some pushing and pulling to get everything to fit as good as possible.
After you get a good fit you can mate your aftermarket stereo's wiring harness to the Scosche harness (part # listed above). Colors should all match up if you bought the Scosche harness, and then you just have to solder your connections and either heat shrink them or wrap them tightly with a generous amount of GOOD electrical tape. After this you should be ready to install the unit in the car.
REASSEMBLY AND THE FINAL PRODUCT
Reassembly of the dash is the same as the assembly, and installing the newly mounted DIN unit with the pocket is pretty much the reverse of installing the stock unit. Toyotas have a standard antenna plug inside the vehicle so no adapter is needed. You should be able to plug the Scosche Toyota harness into your car's harness and the other end of your harness into the back of you deck and you'll be all set.
Note that there are two "pairs" of plugs on the Scosche harness (you'll see what I mean when you open it). You'll want to look at them and use the ones that will fit the tC. Since they're not labeled with numbers I can't give you a specific pair to use in writing... although I can say that it's not the pair where one harness is MUCH longer than the other one. Just look at it, you'll know what I mean. KEEP THE PLASTIC PLUG GUARDS IN THE SIDE THAT YOU DONT USE TO AVOID SHORT CIRCUIT.
This is how mine turned out. There are little gaps on either side of the head unit. If this bothered you that much you could fab something up with some black ABS plastic. For me it's not that big a deal... I can wait until a real mounting kit is released to go any further.
I hope this has helped some of you out. I know I would have liked to had this before I made 10 or 12 tips from my apartment to my car with a stereo, mounting brackets, and a plastic pocket in my hands.
I can't guarentee this will work for every head unit out there, but I'm 99% sure that it should work with all standrad DIN sized units that are from reputable companies. Good luck!
I might have to get one of those thinner non digital EQ's
03-05-2005, 07:13 PM
#7
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 239
I had the 9200 EQ... other than eye candy it's not worth it. The EQs built into the DEH-P8600 and DEH-P860 Premier are much more powerful than the 9200 EQ. In addition, the 9200 EQ only has 0.5V preouts, so you will have nosie problems.
03-11-2005, 08:23 PM
#11
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 239
There's a TON of space in the dash. The Pioneer XM unit might be kinda big (I don't have one anymore but I got one when they first came out a few years ago) - the little TERK kits that Best Buy has for Pioneer units would definetly fit in the dash behind the head unit though.
The plastic pocket came in the universal Toyota kit. Crutchfield has a real kit now... this DIY was pretty much for "back in the day" when they didn't make a mounting kit for the tC.
The plastic pocket came in the universal Toyota kit. Crutchfield has a real kit now... this DIY was pretty much for "back in the day" when they didn't make a mounting kit for the tC.
02-27-2007, 03:40 AM
#19
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SL Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Rain City
Posts: 453
You can get the bottom plastic pocket by itself for $15 MSRP. Currently CarDomain sells it for 11.95 (http://www.cardomain.com/item/SCOTA2154B)
