Upgrading the Audio - 2015 TRD Pro

Well guys, I went and did it. Still doing the wheels/tires but I won't be ordering all that until mid-late February (that's a tax return treat).

I couldn't help myself but given the shoddy sound the JBL system puts out in the TRD Pro, I simply had to begin the audio upgrade. I'm still retaining the stock head unit because I like the interface and functionality, but I'm adding an Audio Control LC8i Line Output Converter to reshape the tuned out signal origin from the stock head unit. Anyhow here's the list of goodies, which according to Crutchfield, will be here by the 29th:

T-SPEC MANL Fuses 30 Amp (2)
T-Spec Amplifier Wiring Kit
T-SPEC MANL Fuse Holder
Rockford Fosgate Prime R1525X2
Rockford Fosgate R2S-1X10
AudioControl LC8i
T-SPEC RCA Cable
Rockford Prime R250X4
Rockford Fosgate Power T1675-S
Rockford Prime R250X1
Install Bay MANL50 Fuses

I wish I could've gone with the T1675-S components in the rear door, but apparently the mounting depth is too deep. Also, it kind of makes my job easier to go with a set of speakers which already incorporate dual-drivers with the imbedded tweeter on top of the woofer cone. I was also going to go balls out and do JL Audio all the way around as I think they're the superior audiophile manufacturer, but I've no real good reason to get super insane with this audio build.

I'm figuring with life as a single father, it will take me the better part of a few weekends to get all this in, particularly if it's anything like the audio system I installed in my old 2006 Altima. Luckily a truck cabin has a bunch of working room so that may speed up the process.

I will add to this thread as things progress and do my best to take good pics of the installation process to help others...I'm so excited.

 

Man, you are a bad influence on me. You just got your truck and you will probably end up modding more than what I did in 5 years. Now every time I listen to my radio, I will be thinking of how lacking it is. Dam* you!

 

Have you even looked at your list of mods bro? I've got a long way to go. The current list is pretty short for the foreseeable future:

Audio upgrades
Wheels/tires
Bushwhacker fender flares
Line X spray-in bed liner
Weathertech digital fit floor mats (Mom is hooking these up for my birthday next month...woot woot)
NFab nerf bars/running boards

I think that will be it for awhile. Some other minor mods will include color matched "inferno" paint on some of the cabin plastic (mainly silver parts around the shift knob, steering wheel, etc.)

Needless to say, I've got my work cut out for me to catch up with you....hahahahha!

 

You had your truck for a couple of weeks now, right? I had mine for close to 5 years. Multiply your list by 125. Mine doesn't even come close. Besides, you started with that awesome Pro.

Keep us posted with what you do with the audio system. I've been meaning to do something about that for some time now.

 

Nice. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go w/ JL Audio 8's for mine. Trying to figure out which amps I'm going to get for them. I think I'm going to get the sub's, amps & audio control first & then do the rest of the speakers later. Ordering the front TRD Pro lights on Monday so hopefully have those installed as soon as they come in. Once that's done it's on to the audio upgrade. May have to get the wife new wheels for the car first so we'll see.

 

So I just finished researching a bunch of other threads/forums on guys who've done something similar to what I'm planning, mainly retaining the factory head unit and using a line out converter beyond the amp to recondition the source signal and kill the factory "detuning". Turns out I need a couple

$8 Metra 70-1761 Radio Wiring Harness Fits Select 1987-UP Toyota Vehicles Power + 4 Speaker (Packaging May Vary)

Metra 70-1761 harnesses to avoid cutting anything. I just hit up a customer service rep at Crutchfield via chat, asked, and BAM, two free harnesses. They usually include those for head unit purchases of $119+ but they included some for free in my order before it ships out tomorrow. 3-days shipping to boot? I love Crutchfield!

Those lights are going to look awesome sauce on that black truck man. I was seriously considering the JL shallow mount 10-inch'ers as well but the mounting depth for the included enclosure was just a bit too much to fit behind the back seat. I'm more of a country/rock kind of person but every now and then I'll play some old school West Coast rap (Snoop, Ice Cube, NWA, Dre, etc.) and wanted just a bit larger driver for those bass lines. I may end up regretting not going with JL Audio as I truly hold them to be the best, particularly in subwoofer design/clarity, but you'll definitely be happy when you get yours. Don't forget to hook up the wheels for the wife...when the wife ain't happy, ain't nobody happy
I will definitely photo-document the install process and provide as much info as possible to make it easier on the next guy.

 

Quick update. After doing some research on taco tunes (they're here in San antonio...how cool is that?) about actual mounting depths for the rear doors. I also learned through my research that I don't have the JBL system. So, I had to go back to my crutchfield order and re verify figment of the door speakers.

As a result, I had them change out the 5.25" Rockfords for a different set of Rockford 6.5" components. That should help balance out the midrange in the back of the cab as well as bolster the response of the tweeter in the door as they'll be replaced. It added another $40 to my order but I figure it's worth it.

I'm also seeing a lot mention in other threads about the RAAM audio deadening material. Based on the reviews I'm reading, I can save some dough with that brand versus Dynamat (too expensive for what you get and I think they're taking advantage of consumers because most people won't research the viability of alternative products).

Anyhow, things should be in on the 29th so I may start the install on Friday, definitely Saturday. I will do the best I can with some high quality photos, step-by-step processes, and maybe even a video or two. It's been quite some time since I've done an audio install but I have full confidence this will be my best one yet.

Let's do this!!!

 

Viper, it was your incessant rants about that stuff that made me go with it. I ordered enough to pretty much do the entire cab, save for the firewall, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg. I spoke with a friend who used to do car audio installations for friends and he swears by it. Says the RAAM product has every bit of the quality of Dynamat but is lighter, easier to install, and costs less. Certainly three qualities I can deal with...hahaha!

 

I don't think you can go wrong with RAAM or Dynamat. I believe a lot of car audio shops use Dynamat. I talked to a friend who also worked at a high end car audio shop & he said that's all they used. I suppose if you're doing all of the installation yourself then having something that is easier to install would definitely be a benefit, along w/ the cost savings. I'm not quite at that point yet and will more than likely have the shop I'll be purchasing my subs & amps from do the install, so I will consult with them in regards to what they use (Dynamat or RAAM).

Also just curious if you add a couple of small subs to the truck if you really would need it?

 

I used raam in mine and would do it all over again. You can't go wrong.

 

Update * Update * Update *

Crutchfield made good on their promise and everything arrived today. It was all packed and shipped on Monday, where it left origin (Ontario, CA), and arrived here today. 3-days shipping for free isn't half bad. The RAAM sound deadening material arrived too, very impressed given how small that company seems given their somewhat "non-rich" content web presence.

I did notice something that I didn't catch before and it may very well bite me in the ass. I realized that when I discovered I had Crutchfield do fitment for speakers based on a JBL fitted stock system, I made some changes save for one. I forgot to change out my selection for the front door components from the 6 3/4" to the 6 1/2" set up. The measurements appear to be the same, other than the top mounting depth. Here's to hoping the mounting holes line up. If not, I may need to make a trip to Best Buy to see if they have something in stock. Wishful thinking...here we go.

Install begins tomorrow, but I don't think I'll get much further than getting the LC8i LOC wired up. Time to charge my digital camera for the photo-documentation...stoked!

 

GoPro cam it & do a time lapse video of the install. Just saying.

 

Watching this thread. I want to do similar to my 2015 TRD. Can't believe the factory radio is so week. Cant hear it at all when windows are down. Love the look and functionality of the stock head unit, but just too weak in volume.

 

Alright everyone, I've finally found the time to do a write-up on my install (business has been crazy lately). I've been trying to plan how I was going to do this and while I wanted to compose something that provided step-by-step instructions, I fear I may fail in making that happen. Hence, the format of this write up will merely be my thoughts, experiences, advice, suggestions, and tips as I spent about 40-50 hours over a week period making this happen. This post will essentially be made of pictures and the appropriate information that accompanies each. Enjoy! With my chatty propensities, this is bound to be a long read.

First, here are the primary resources I used to research making this happen. All of these informational pieces made this entire project that much easier to tackle.

1. Probably the most useful resource, was this Thread in Tundratalk's forums.

2. This Thread also had great wiring diagrams in color of the leads coming off the factory sound system (I didn't use these much, but I did crop the images across four Powerpoint slides and printed them up for reference as I started the install)

3. The attachments...
- (1) is the Master Sheet provided by Crutchfield. It has great information on everything from the headunit removal, speaker panel removal, door panel removal, etc. Crutchfield includes this on any speaker or headunit order for the 2014 Tundra (FYI, the 2014 is exactly the same as the 2015 in all aspects of this installation).
- (2) 2013_Tundra - these attachments provide the wiring layout much like the Thread in bullet #2 above but not quite as comprehensive
- (3) 2014 Radio - this attachment is a file providing information on what each wire corresponds with on the J144 and J145 connectors (these are the connectors that plug into the factory amp and on the factory head unit...helpful depending on whether or not you're changing out your head unit)

That's about it on the resources. Let's get started on the actual installation process.

First, be prepared to take your vehicle apart. I am talking running board panels, F-Panels (these are where your seat belts attach in between front/rear seats), seats, driver side kick panel, front seats (I didn't remove the driver seat, but there were times it would have been helpful...not absolutely necessary though), and rear seats. Don't forget to disconnect the negative/ground on your battery...getting **zapped* is never fun. The terminal at the battery uses a 10mm wrench.

Front seats:
1. Unplug the three wiring harnesses under the seat. Two of them (the gray and yellow ones) are held by plastic slots that slide onto metal tabs on the seat frame. Sliding these off first makes it easier to detach the harnesses. Have a small screwdriver or needle-nose pliers present for this. I used a panel popper tool to detach the harness/cables from their attachment point on the bottom of the seat frame.

2. Use a 14mm socket to remove the passenger seat bolts holding the seat to the floor.

3. Pull the seat out. I found it easiest to put my hand between the gap of the butt of the seat and the seat back as a grip point, pull the seat forward a bit, and rotate to get it out of the cab. You will want your passenger door open as wide as it can go to avoid scratching your door panel with the seat frame mounts.

Amplifier:
1. Once you've removed the seats, you will see the amplifier cover (black plastic doohicky). Just pull up on the three plastic grommets holding the amp cover to the amp mount.

2. Use an 8mm socket or phillips head screwdriver for the screws holding the amp to the aluminum amp mount (pics)




3. Once the screws have been removed, unplug the J144 and J145 harnesses from the amplifier. I used a pair of channel locks but it could be done by hand easy enough (pic).



4. Next, remove the aluminum amp mounts, held on by three 10mm socket screws (pic).



Alternatively, you could keep one or both of these in place as a mounting point for whatever audio components you've purchased for your install...I removed them entirely.

Wiring the Adapters for the J144/J145 Harnesses
1. For this, I used two Metra 70-1761 kits. Both came free from Crutchfield as part of my order but you can buy them just about anywhere.

Here is how all the pin outs worked between the J144/145 and the Metra harnesses:

J144 (this is the smaller harness coming off the amplifier) pin out from Metra 70-1761 (these are the colors off the Metra harness and their corresponding signal)

1. FR output to speaker (+) – Gray
2. FL output to speaker (+) – White
3. Acc. Switch 12v (Remote In) – Red
4. 12v Constant (Power) – Yellow
5. FR output to speaker (-) – Gray w/Black Stripe
6. FL output to speaker (-) – White w/Black Stripe
7. Ground (-) – Black

NOTE: Blue, Blue loop from pin 8 to pin 9, and Orange w/White stripe are NOT used to interface with the J144 harness at the stock amp. I pulled them out and used them for pins #11 and #12 in the following steps.

J145 (this the larger, 12-pin harness coming off the amplifier) pin out to Metra 70-1761 (these are the colors off the Metra harness and their corresponding signal)

NOTE: You will NEED to wire up two separate pins and cut the side of the Metra harness to accommodate the larger J145 plug. I used two unused pins off the smaller 6-pin Metra harness included in the kit (Purple and Purple w/Black Stripe) to make Pins #1 and #6 for interfacing with the J145 harness at the amp

1. FL signal (+) – Purple
2. FR signal (+) – Gray
3. RL signal (+) – White
4. RR output to speaker (+) – Red
5. RL output to speaker (+) – Yellow

NOTE: You will NEED to wire up two separate pins and cut the side of the Metra harness to accommodate the larger J145 plug. I used two unused pins off the smaller 6-pin Metra harness included in the kit (Purple and Purple w/Black Stripe) to make Pins #1 and #6 for interfacing with the J145 harness at the amp

6. FL signal (-) – Purple w/Black Stripe
7. FR signal (-) – Gray w/Black Stripe
8. RL signal (-) – White w/Black Stripe
9. RR signal (+) – Black

NOTE: You will need to pull out the other side of the blue wire that is looped into Pin #9 on the harness so that you can fill this pin with another color. I used the Green w/Black Stripe pulled off the smaller 6-pin harness included in the Metra 70-1761 kit (these two smaller harnesses were essentially nothing more than extra wires for what I needed to interface with the J145 as they won’t be utilized in this application…they are included if you’re wiring up a replacement head unit, which I was not)

10. RR signal (-) – Blue

NOTE: I used a Green w/Black Stripe for pin #11 that was yanked out of the smaller 6-pin metra harness included in the 70-1761 kit

11. RR output to speaker (-) – Green w/Black Stripe
12. RL output to speaker (-) – Orange w/White Stripe


Running the wires
1. Here's what the connected harnesses look like fully assembled (pic)



2. I'm a wire loom fan so I used wire loom on EVERYTHING that would have any contact with metal. I ran all the connections off the Metra harnesses down the passenger side of the vehicle. I used about 40 feet of IWSP-162 (16ga.) double shielded speaker cable from Altex (it's a local store here in San Antonio...kind of like Fry's but smaller) for the entire installation, but most of it was used for each of the leads coming off the Metra harnesses. These leads all terminated at the Audio Control LC8i LOC I used (don't ask why I used one with so many channels...bad planning as the Lc6i would've served the purpose well). Here are pics of the wire-loomed cable runs (pics)

Under the carpet where the stock amplifier was mounted


Wire loom run into the cable trough under the passenger door sill panel


Not enough room in the cable trough above, so I routed the connections off the J145 harness under the carpet across the cross member in the floor, into the next trough in the rear door


Power and Ground for the Amplifiers
1. I ran the 4ga. power lead directly off the battery (pics)





I mounted the in-line fuse holder to the side wall of the engine bay with industrial velcro (you can see the velcro strip up on the wall and the fuse block sitting on the fuse housing


2. Next I used a razor and screwdriver to poke a hole through the rubber grommet in the firewall just to the left of the brake pedal (behind the emergency brake pedal). I pushed a hanger through the grommet into the engine bay and duct taped about six inches of the power cable to the hanger and pulled it back into the truck cab. You can see the wire loom over the power cable sitting just to the right of the cable bundle coming into the cab via the same aforementioned grommet (pic).



You can see the loomed power cable just behind this cluster/gaggle of other cables behind the driver side kick panel


Here's the wire loomed power cable run down the cable trough on the driver side


3. I found an already threaded hole in the cable trough near the rear seats, just forward of the door weather trim, as a mounting point for the ground cables to the amplifiers. I used sand paper to get a clean connection to bare metal around the threaded hole (pics).



4. Then I mounted the included ground cable distribution block behind the side panels for the rear seat belts just behind the seat belt (pic).



5. I didn't take any more pics of the power/ground cable runs. I ran two 8ga. cables off the small distribution block you see above.

Finishing the cable runs under the rear seat

Here's what all the cables looked like coming out of the carpet under where the rear seat is located (pics)

Near the tire jack


Cables for the LC8i (power, ground, remote, signal input) maintaining access to the jack...


All the cable runs for each of the components under the rear seat (LC8i, both amplifiers)



LC8i and the Amplifiers all hooked up (at this point I turned everything on to ensure everything was working...very surprising how good the stock speakers sounded with some clean signal and good amplification. 4-channel amp is only 40w per channel)



I mounted the remote LC8i and amplifier output level controllers under the dash below the steering wheel (no problems yet hitting either of these with my legs or anything)






At this point in the installation everything was essentially done, other than using the RAAM Audio sound deadening material in the doors and mounting my speakers via the speaker mounting brackets Crutchfield sent. However, there is one portion that I feel is pertinent to this post and that was mounting tweeters in the sail panels. Here's some info on that which will prove helpful.

Sail Panels
1. If you pop off the sail panel, you will want to measure from the rear edge (the edge that is closest to the rear of the vehicle). If you're doing tweeters as part of a component set in your front door, measure from the back edge 3 1/4", mark the bottom of the sail panel with a white wax pencil or crayon (either will do). Then measure up 1 1/2" from that mark and use the same wax pencil/crayon to make a mark. This is the point where your hole saw drill mandrel will make the hole in the sail panel. I would include measurements for hole saw size, but each tweeter may be different and I don't want anyone making a bigger or smaller hole than they need (either one would be a catastrophic mistake). Here's the pics of the sail panel after my 2" hole was made:





A couple of final notes on this whole process.

1. First, take your time with the wiring harnesses. You need solid connections at the J144/145 harnesses and make sure you're labeling the connection ends of every cable you run. This will save a butt ton of headache later...trust me!

2. If you're using sound deadening material in your doors, make sure to leave slack in the material over the plastic sheeting that is covering the holes in the door, or else you'll have a heck of a time getting your panels back on.

3. Give yourself plenty of slack in your wire runs until you're certain all of the door sill panels and other panels will snap back into place. I probably had to run my loom three different ways to get it all to go back together. You can always cut the ultimate connection end to clean things up, or even use a working loop under the carpet. What's the carpet for, if not to hide the extra wiring, hahahahah!

So if anyone has any questions or needs details on other areas that I may not have provided, feel free to PM me.

I hope this post is helpful to everyone.

 

Guys,

My deepest apologies, I fudged one of my "notes". Please disregard the line that says this:

NOTE: Blue, Blue loop from pin 8 to pin 9, and Orange w/White stripe are NOT used to interface with the J144 harness at the stock amp. I pulled them out and used them for pins #11 and #12 in the following steps.

The instructions in later steps for the J145 harness will tell you what I actually did.

Sorry!

 

Bump....nobody likes me :-(

 

I do. Nice setup!

 

Thanks man...I'm really just hoping this was useful to everyone. I know that without some of those resources this project would've taken forever. It took me nearly a week when all was said and done (mainly due to awaiting front door speaker brackets to arrive). Also, in case anyone is interested, everything I purchased for this project, other than speaker cable, butt connectors, shrink tubing, and wire loom, were picked up through Crutchfield. All the parts that fit a 2014 Tundra (JBL or non-JBL) will work in the 2015.

This was a fun project and dang did it make a world of difference in the sound. However, I fear I may need to relocate the amps. Under the rear seats simply does not provide good enough airflow to keep them cool. If I really rock it out, the amplifier for the sub will go into its protection circuit after about an hour. I'm thinking maybe the rear wall but I will need to assess how that affects operation of the rear window. Perhaps some locking washers and good ol' self-tapping screws will do the trick.

 

I hear you man... I went thru the same process. I rewired the entire truck, 2 amps, sub, new head unit and sound decadence the truck. I started out with the lc7i but had a low end white noise that was from the dirty signal at the stock head unit. So I replaced it with a new head unit. Its not easy work but made a night and day difference.

Anyway, dont be discouraged by no one posting or liking your thread. There will be hundreds of guys come thru here and get your advice, links and process, and never leave a post or anything. You did a good job and probably will help a gang of owners!

 

Nice. Any pic's of the speakers?

 

Keep up the good work..

Did you solve your over heating problem?

 

Wow, great post brother!! Lots of great info! I'm haven't started planning my audio project yet due to an empty truck fund, but when I am ready I know this will be very useful. Thanks!

 

Didn't take pics of the speakers...got overexcited with getting the job done. Next time I take off the door panels to complete the rest of the RAAM audio deadening install, I will take some.

Unfortunately, not yet. I purchased a GPU cooling fan for a computer and mounted that directly in front of the mono amp, then mounted the amp on risers to provide some space under it. It helped, but it certainly didn't solve the problem entirely. Next step, is to ensure that I'm providing the proper load to the amp from the subs. The subs are dual voice coil and present a 2ohm load themselves. I have them wired in parallel and was under the impression this would maintain the 2ohm load at the amp, but I think they may actually be presenting a 1-ohm load and causing the overheating issue. I researched this before but may have overlooked something. The amp is stable at 2-ohm so hopefully if this is the issue, rewiring the subs will solve the issue. It sucks losing the bass in the middle of a good song!

Thanks Moto. I'm happy to be of assistance if you have any questions when you get into your project.


Sorry for my absences guys, work has been super-INSANE!

Take care gents!

 

you would be at 1 ohm on the amp... Its not stable at 1 ohm as by the spec... ( always check ohms before connecting to a amp).

Only other thing you might look into is running different power not running though a power transfer block...Two power leads for two amps.. Power block might not be giving the proper amps to run the amp causing the amp to strain and over heat also..

One of my amps is class A it needs 60 amps just to turn on... fused at 80 amps per spec..

 

Nice list of goodies. I want to do the same thing to my 2015 SR5. I have the Enture head unit with the amp under the passenger seat. Did you leave that factory amp in or did you remove it. I took all the upgraded amps and speakers I had just put in my 2012 Tacoma last year. I have the same LCi8 unit. It really makes a difference.

 

Hey Trucky, your "White Noise" caught my attention, however I am hard pressed to find anyone on the net that kept the factory head unit with the same problem......are you alone in this dilemma or do you know of others with that same problem. I am contemplating spending big bucks for my upgrade but will cancel my plans if changing the FHU is the only solution, I am looking for a clean install where everything looks the same as factory after upgrade.....what say you?? Thx