And so it begins.....

Tomorrow morning I'm starting the install of my ********* SQ1 system along with a Kenwood DDX9905. Planning to upload copious pics and video to share my experience (as a car stereo almost-noob) and to document any screw-ups so that someone more talented can help me fix it. But mostly just to share it in the hopes it helps the next guy (or gal).
So far, I've had good luck with *********. I've been sitting on the gear for over a year due to time constraints, and I've slowly added to the list of goodies to go along with it. My initial order was scattered over three or four deliveries but everything showed up in good condition and my initial opinion was that the gear (especially the speakers) was of excellent quality. The sub box is a sweet unit and obviously showed up in a HUGE and heavy box. As I prepped for the install I've had quite a few questions and TT has been available at most hours of the day & evening to answer questions within a few minutes.
Here's what's going in:
********* SQ1 complete system - this includes front & rear door component speakers; a sub box that sits behind the rear seat and holds two 10" subs; an EQ; two amps, wiring harnesses galore, misc hardware, etc., etc.
Kenwood DDX9905S
Idatalink Maestro Rr - steering wheel control adapter
Kenwood DRV-N520 Dash Cam
Sirius SXV300 tuner
Sound dampening material for the doors and back wall
Miscellaneous adapters and wiring that I'll update as it gets used.

It's all going into a 2019 TRD Pro that I pick up a couple weeks ago. Wish me luck...

 

Good luck!

 

Good luck. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

Welcome from NC! Beautiful truck!!

 

Welcome from NC.
I have a friend that lives in Newnan

 

Welcome to the party!!

I have the same system, i drove to them and had them install. I personally think the system is great and have loved it since i got it.

 

Wished.

 

Welcome from CO.

 

Welcome from Cypress TX... and looking forward to seeing the build.

 

Larmand, if I was in Texas I'd have had them install it too! Can't wait to get it finished.

Grey Wolf, LOVE the avatar! Is that a pet??

First step of course is the teardown and sound deadener install...not very exciting but from what I've heard (pun intended) it lowers the cabin noise significantly. I'll try to spice it up somehow...

 

The sound deadening goes a long way.

 

***** RAIN DELAY *****

 

Okay all...after a full-day rain delay Saturday, we ran into Easter Sunday. Family time, church, etc, but I was able to get things rolling Sunday afternoon. I matted the right rear door and then got everything reassembled. It took over four hours to do that door because I kept stopping to photograph and to see if something could be done easier / faster. Today (Monday) I did all three remaining doors together in the same amount of time. I also had to make a run to the Toyota dealer to pick up a few parts (unrelated) then got roped into Dad errands so the work had to stop for the day. But I did make good progress and I found a few shortcuts for the next guy. I decided not to detail every step of the install; other readers already contributed EXCELLENT resources for this. As I didn't ask permission to share any of it, a simple search will turn up those posts.

First...Matting (installing sound deadener) sucks. Time consuming and tedious. But the results are obvious when I close the doors. On the 2019 (I don't know what other years) the wiring is held in place with these annoying little clips that have about a one inch 'ear' on them that the wiring bundle is taped to. Out of four doors, I was not able to reuse ONE of these clips. I called the local dealer...no dice...and then realized that simply using a small strip of excess sound deadener (that stuff is stupid sticky) to tape them in their previous position worked wonders. Done. Here's one of those useless little clips:


And here's the door after matting. It didn't look quite like the videos on the ********* website, but it was close enough for Marty-world...


If you noticed the different colored (silver) matting, I had ordered extra Noico brand deadener in order to more fully cover the doors and possibly do some of the truck floor. I decided to use the Noico to finish the front in order to compare using it to the Ballistic stuff from TT. Same same.

Looking at the wiring...it appeared as if the front tweeters were wired in parallel with the front door speakers. i.e., if I just 'disconnect' the factory dash tweeters, I wouldn't have power to the front speakers. Apparently not so; I hopped on the ********* chat window and had an answer instantly. Turns out the third gen Tundra's are NOT wired that way. Four years of engineering school out the window. No worries, the dash tweeters are unplug-and-play, done.

One of the more innovative things on the TT site videos, shown during the matting, was how to make room for the extruded foam on the back side of the door panel after installing the sound deadener. They make a slit where the opening was, re-install the panel, pull it off again, then patch the hole in it's current shape. (If I'm not explaining it properly, here's the link to the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv6giV9UMog I was dreading taking the panel on & off several times, and then while thinking about it, I looked over and saw this:

It's the factory plastic vapor barrier. And it had taken the shape of the foam! I laid it on it's side, measured the depth, then installed the deadener with enough 'give' to make room for the foam piece. Worked great for me...YMMV.

So far I'm pleased with the gear and with the progress. I'd say that even though it's called 'plug & play', it takes a modicum of common sense and / or some background in electronics or car audio to work without stopping constantly in order to look something up. I've put stereos in three previous vehicles and I was able to move along without stopping to reference something. Maybe tag it for 'kids 18 and up'. Dunno.

Tomorrow....sub box (already assembled), Recurve (EQ), and amps install. If I have time, on to the head unit. Thanks for reading!