Thor's Build - 2018 CrewMax w/TSS Package

FRAC Harness and Front Facing Camera

Completed the install - deciding not to wait until I decide/purchase a new head unit (although, my frustration/disappointment with the factory one continues to be wha-whah moment. So I got busy and mounted the camera, like so many others, under the front honeycomb emblem. Snaked and secured the camera wire along the bottom of the grill and through frame on the left side of the radiator (keeping it out of sight), along the passenger side and up to the firewall.

From the inside, snaked the connector cable through (from the inside - to the engine chamber, like all the instruction videos/instructions under the FRAC thread tell you to). I ran my inside wire up and behind the passenger dashboard, to make the distance a bit less. It was easy popping off that piece and my hands aren't that big - but if you DO have big hands I suggest phoning a friend to assist with that snake part.

Popping out the center console (the dual 12V charger piece) doesn't require taking off the shifter, nor the center console piece itself. If you want to feel like there's more room to work...I guess it could help your psyche... Then the climate control came off the same, easy peasy pop out.

The four 10MM screws had me worried - all the concern over dropping them and never recovering them, made me stick a piece of tape on my 10MM socket and extender and still - gently, carefully, removed them. Then came the head unit itself, which popped out without issue.

Be sure to have a thick towel or something to place on the dash, as you pull the HU and flip it over for safe keeping.

Attaching the standard connectors and such - very simple. Toughest decisions were whether to use the VIM switch or just tie it off (decided to use it) and where to place the camera and VIM switches.

As you see here, I put the camera switch in the closest available slot, while I cut a hole in a blank (provided) to hold the VIM switch down in the 12V console area.


The day I decided to do the install (run the wires and hook it all up - I installed the camera in the grille on an earlier day), I was pressed for time and weather was a factor, so I rushed to cram everything behind the HU and when I tested everything (yeah, yeah yeah... I didn't TEST before putting it back together)... it failed. The reason (documented in my posts in the FRAC thread here and here) is that one of the AV connectors (the H - head) came loose. Pretty simple fix and then took my time to carefully secure everything, and carefully guide the bundle of wires back and up in the dashboard. I took a very thin, but supportive piece of metal to guide and hold the wires up, as I pushed the head unit back into place.

I still think there's a better way to STUFF those wires back behind there but... it works like a charm! Love being able to see the open road in front and back, and pull face first into a parking spot and nestle right up on someone bumper without blinking.

Next tweak to this is to run a combo/hybrid powered DVR to the front camera...

 

Where’d you wire for your turn signal and DRL? I tapped into my turn signal headlight harness. I have an issue where I need to have my DRL always on, otherwise my turn signal would only flash once. When my DRL are on, the turn signal flash normally

 

@mav7021234 - I'll need to go back and peek, to be honest. For each turn signal, I found the wire(s) by testing the white blocks/plugs behind the kick panels up along each side. For the DRLs I'm pretty sure I found the wire in the floor panels. I'll snap a pic and update the install post above to capture the wire/color. As you found out though, this is on my '18 - your colors may vary.

 

$123 CARLINK ASCL6 Remote Start Cellular Interface Module Allows You to Start Your car from Your Phone 1 Year Included

CarLink ASCL6 Remote Start Cellular Interface Module ($156)

https://www.carlinkusa.com/ASCL6/
(go here and download all the related documentation/instructions)

If you get stuck, or just have a question: Help@remotestartx.com - they were VERY responsive and helpful.

Wanted to provide a couple of quick notes regarding the installation of this module. The comments out on the interwebz aren't wrong, the documentation appeared to be scarce, incomplete. But I honestly found it all to be sufficient to get the job done. With one minor clarification (specific to the interaction/connection between the StartX module and the appropriate harness that comes with the ASCL6).

Before you start to connect anything... download the app per the instructions. Create your online account. Log in. Enter the SN of the module and ensure it registers. It will "expire" in a few hours unless you activate it on the vehicle, but that's OK. At least the backend (cloud computing, online) stuff is set up and ready. Set up your PIN. Set/establish the Protocol (for the StartX module, the protocol is FORTIN). Set your other preferences within the app, as much as you can, before you begin.

I don't think I need to document or detail how to remove the dash and such around the driver/steering. Nor how to run the battery power line through the firewall. The install is simple - you are provided 2 different "connector harness" configurations, along with the primary harness that has the power/ground/horn wires (the horn wire, in my experience, didn't need to be installed/connected to have the functions of the 'beeps' work as expected). You connect the module to the main harness, and then connect the appropriate harness to the StartX module. Here's where I found it different than the documentation.


The appropriate harness has 3 male plugs, but only ONE of them will plug into ANY open slot on the StartX module. In the picture, the MIDDLE plug is the one to use (per the documentation). And that male plug, fits perfectly in the BLUE female connector that sits RIGHT NEXT to the WHITE connector, on the StartX module.


The documentation from the ASCL6 site, in it's pictures, shows that it plugs into the SECOND BLUE female plug. Well, that middle male connector doesn't fit in there. It has to be plugged into the one next to the white, it's the only place it fits.

The other comment is to place/mount the ASCL6 module higher up in the dash. When you have the dash dismantled, and you're on the floor looking up towards the windshield, to the upper left you'll see a metal cylinder/bar. I mounted the module on TOP of that.

Once everything is connected, I had to turn on (to ACC, not actually start the vehicle) and off the vehicle a few times before the following steps (provided by StartX help/email above) worked to initialize the module:

Program it like this:

(there's a LED indicator on the ASCL6 module, and once it's started up correctly, it should have a solid green AND solid red light showing)

1. Turn the key ON-OFF-ON (red led will turn on, on the StartX module)
2. Press and release brake 4 times
3. The RED LED on the side near the stubs of cut yellow wire should be blinking (on the StartX module).
4. If the MyCar sent the learn command, the RED LED (on the StartX module) would briefly stopped blinking.
5. If not, send the lock command from the app.

 

• AJT Design - Climate Knob Rings ($33)
• AJT Design – Vent Rings (Black) ($36)

Nothing too extraordinary about installing these. The videos and tutorials from AJT are spot on. But I did notice one thing... everyone was VERY cautious about the placement of the new knob, and the alignment of the smaller white wheel.

Well, no where did I notice anyone documenting the fact that Toyota actually has a guide-mark on those white wheels:


So in the pic above, look closely at the small white wheel. See the curved "etching" in the wheel? That is your guide...so if (like me), it was difficult to get the old factory knobs off without disengaging the pinwheels, or somehow they got separated or whatever... don't panic.


Pull the whole knob (gear and all) off. Replace the factory knob with the AJT upgrade (tiny screwdriver is best, and don't forcefully pop each of the four connection clips). Then align the white gear's etch mark, with the curvature of the wheel/area it supports. Hold it steady, while you put the old gear with the new knob - with the pointer/indicator facing up 100% vertical, and press it into place.

Easy Peasy!!

 

• MESO CUSTOMS Dome and Map Lights
  • Ultimate Dome Light Dual Color ($65)
  • Ultimate Map Lights ($60)

Love the functionality of these. But BOY ARE THEY BRIGHT. You wanna light up your cabin, even in the daylight - these are here for ya, in spades. The night-mode (red light) is plenty bright to see everything. And subtle enough that the young grandbabies don't wake up from the brightness.