1st Gen factory amplifier locations (JBL, non-JBL, all cabs)

If you got a few minutes, it may be worthwhile to use their web chat, link up with one of their support/sales people and say something like, "I'm ballin' on a budget, every dollar counts ... I want to make a big order, but I'd like to ask if you're expecting a sale on car audio stuff in the next few weeks?"

FYI, one more awesome thing about shopping with Crutchfield which you won't get at a lot of other places like scAmazon... They do have the Crutchfield price drop guarantee, so if you were to order today, if the price drops within 60 days of purchase, you can contact them for a no-hassle credit. That may and up being what the web chat people tell you, but ...

 

I finally got some good weather and a few minutes to pop off my door cards. The driver side door was def replaced, and they absolutely did the craigslist rebuild on it. The tweeter hasn't been hooked up since we have owned the truck evidently, and the door light was never plugged up either. The vapor barrier was just hanging half off, and there is no pigtail for the tweeter.
With that all said, and with not having the factory harness port for the tweeter, would it just be easier to run new tweeters into a crossover into the new head unit?
The passenger side door does have the tweeter bracket mounting holes. Looking up prices for just the passenger bracket, the prices ($35-40) are more than i can get a used door card ($20) (if i can find it in my color at u-pull-it). Has anyone replaced the stock tweeter cover with an aftermarket? I'm afraid the aftermarket tweeter mount would be smaller than the oem, and look less than ideal. But also, i've had the truck for 5-7 years and didn't even notice the passenger side never even had a tweeter in the door. I guess i could just drill a hole and spray paint the aftermarket cover to match as best as possible. Or do i just say, screw it and put in 3 way 6.5's in the door.
I would like to fix the vapor barrier (New or can i patch it up with some thick plastic and flashing tape).
The

$17 Metra 72-8104 Speaker Wire Adapters for Select Toyota Vehicles - 4 Total Adapters

Metra 72-8104 adapters look like the right adapters for my stock lower door speakers. But i won't need tweeter harnesses adapters since i don't have them on either side.

 

Since the OEM speakers fork at the connector into the door, I'd probably delete the Y-cable to bring it down to a single speaker pair, use the Metra adapter to fork that out w/o cutting the factory harness, then buy a good pair of components for the door that include a crossover with 1" tweeter and a 6.5 or 6.75" woofer.

• Install the metra connector in place of the Y-harness
• Run that new pair of wires to the crossover
• Wire out of the crossover to the tweeter and woofer

Regarding the passenger door...

• Drill the passenger door in the appopriate location with the same diameter hole as the driver door
• Install the tweeter in the door using the supplied basket from the speaker manufacturer you chose
• Enjoy the new sound.

 

I can only offer what I chose to do when I was installing new speakers and new leather on door cards.

I removed all the old butyl gummy tape and cleaned the left over with acetone. Napa and other auto, local hdw stores sell butyl tape. I chose NAPA's glass butyl tape for Automotive, comes in 15' roll and 5/16"....same as original. As for plastic, I chose to replace with 6 mil clear that I had and that most Hdw stores carry. Wanted to be one and done for many years to come. Given as it helps as not only a noise barrier but makes the door a contained structure so that the water can only go down and out the drains at the bottom of the door, without it there is a gaping hole the water can get into the car through.

 

Fantastic. I'm about to order my audio stuff, and the Butyl tape and clear vapor barrier. I may try to scrounge around and find the factory push plugs that go into the vapor barrier without breaking it as well. All of mine are trashed. Thanks for all the tips and tricks. Looking forward to being able to enjoy the audio!

 

So I'm new to the 1st gen and I am kinda confused about the factory amp wiring. So please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm supposed to unplug the harness from the factory amp that matches the Metra harness I bought and just plug my Metra kit into that after I wire it to my new head units harness? I I guess my confusion is once I unhook the harness from the factory head unit and the one from the amp, do I need to plug anything anywhere else or is that literally all I have to do?

 

It would be super helpful to know: It appears you have the RC truck, Regular Cab, correct? (I assume the "SC" in your Vehicle Info is maybe for ... Single Cab?)

Beyond that...

• Have you confirmed you have the factory amp? Which should be in the dash, HERE.
• If you do have the amp in the dash, that is the location for the 2001 AC and RC trucks, it'll have two connectors coming into the bottom of it, note the two harnesses at bottom of the amp HERE.
• Referencing THIS PIC, removal of the amp is optional, but you need to (1) unplug that black bundle that goes up to the rear of the OEM radio, which likely requires you to pop the OEM radio out* for access to the connector, and (2) pull those two red-boxed white connectors at the bottom of the amp and plug them directly into the Metra 70-1761 radio harness you've purchased from a reputable source

If you're smart, before you even start the steps above, you'll graft the Metra harness onto your aftermarket radio harness, outside the truck, BEFORE you start this process, so it's plug-and-play ... and you won't do any really stupid shit like: Using wire nuts. Twisting the wires together and taping. Crimping with beans.

The proper way to terminate wires in your harness is one of three methods:

• Solder and heatshrink (see video below)
• Butt splices using proper crimpers (like this, avoid these all-in-one pieces of shit, and ALWAYS tug-test each wire pair after crimping)
• Crimp caps (like this), though they tend to take up a lot of space

If you have a soldering iron and intend to use the first bullet see this video. Don't listen to people out there who say stupid shit like, "But solder joints will break with vibration!!", it doesn't happen if you twist your wires as shown in this video, and flow the solder into the twist in as Mark @ CAF does in this video. Just remember to slide your heatshrink onto the wires BEFORE you start soldering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQTje4sXfs​

 

And since I had to knock a harness out for my parent's "new" Jeep JK, just for the record, I do practice what I preach

(and my shop bench consistently stays messy af)

​

 

Thanks for clearing that up. Yes I meant RC, I'm so used to dealing with chevys and they call them single cabs, it's a habit I'll have to break. My confusion was what exactly do I do with the harness that comes from the back of the radio. I've seen some people say to plug it back into the amp and I was like but isn't it already plugged into the amp? I was pretty sure how you described it was the correct way but I just wanted to be sure.
I always use solder, idk why you wouldn't. Yeah I love Mark at CAF, dude knows his shit. I also like Dean from 5 star car audio, he's really good at showing exactly how to build your harness for specific needs. I always like to double check anytime I see conflicting info on how to do something I've never tackled so that's why I asked, I don't want to go burning my truck down. Lol.
This will be my next project after I finish valve cover gaskets and timing belt. Again, I do appreciate your help clearing that up.

 

Former hardcore GM guy here. I get it.

They're misinformed. See below pics. Hopefully it'll give you a crystal clear idea of what's in your dash. The setup you see here is what was used on all in-dash amplifier systems for 1st gen Tundras.

Note the position of the big black wire sleeve throughout the three pictures. Also note, the OEM RADIO (1st pic) has two inputs on the rear. The right-hand input is for trucks w/o amplifier, IIRC. Toyota sets many of their earlier OEM radios up with two different rear plugs, one for amplified, one for non-amplified. It has zero impact on your install, but maybe it's interesting to know why there's an empty harness plug-in on the rear of the OEM radio.

​

 

......
hey@shifty...thanks for the comprehensive review of OEM Amps/Speakers, etc.
Wasnt sure how I'd fasten 'component in-line X-overs' on door interiors but '3m Dual-locks' [industiral velcro] is my 1st thot before even purchasing any components. Ive used them in exposed locations and their adhesive properties are exceptional, their only caveat being a smooth, clean surface [isopropyl alcohol] and moderate direct pressure for about 20 sec's before use. You'll likely find multiple uses on vehicles, boats, home, etc.
Available in different mechanical grades and sizes and can be found at most automotive/hardware outlets or online.
3M™ Dual Lock™ Reclosable Fastener SJ3561: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40068887/

 

@shifty` Hello, I'm new here. I recently acquired a 2006 DC Limited with the JBL Navigation. I have a few very specific questions and I'm really hoping you know the answers.

First though, THANK YOU!!! The amount of info you have posted is impressive AF, but more than that it's the quality of your posts that really stands out to me. You're very knowledgeable, you explain things very well and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Anyway, here we go. As I said, DC limited with the JBL Navigation. I really love the truck but not having an aux in or bluetooth is just not going to work. Short version is I don't want to replace the HU unless I absolutely have to, in large part because my hearing is fairly well nuked. Whether it was the years of dove hunting without ear protection, or my suburban in high school with 4 15's in the back, my hearing is not what it used to be. Replacing the JBL system for improved audio quality is likely to be a waste of time and money for me because in the end all I'm looking for is a way to listen to my music without having to burn CDs like it's 2003.

So from my reading and research it seems that the JBL navigation HU sends only one pair of left and right audio to the amp. The HU then uses two wires for data to the amp to change the sound output, such as fade and balance. So finally here's my two questions:

1 - Is the audio pair that the HU sends to the amp analog or digital?

2 - Does the HU itself actually vary the gain of the audio to the amp to control the output volume, or is that information also sent to the amp over the data lines? Or put another way, does turning up the volume knob on the HU increase the audio output TO the amp, or does the HU send a signal over the data lines and tell the amp to increase the output volume?

Thanks in advance for any info you can share, and not just from Shifty!

 

I think I found my answers, which is really frustrating. I put in quite a few hours searching for info and answers only to find them BOTH less than 30min after I had caved and made the above post.

To anyone who finds this thread, I'm pretty sure the answers are as follows:

1 - Is the audio pair that the HU sends to the amp analog or digital? Analog, probably. In another post Shifty observed that the HU audio output to the amp is shielded, which likely denotes low-level outputs. And though he doesn't specifically state this, I assume also analog.

2 - Does the HU itself actually vary the gain of the audio to the amp to control the output volume, or is that information also sent to the amp over the data lines? Or put another way, does turning up the volume knob on the HU increase the audio output TO the amp, or does the HU send a signal over the data lines and tell the amp to increase the output volume? Yes, very likely. In helping someone trouble shoot an install with an aftermarket HU using a PAC TATO, Shifty notes that the JBL amp "has internal stepping that happens in relationship with the JBL radio". I read this to mean that the HU output stays constant and instead the HU sends data signals to the amp and the amp varies the output volume.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/poor-audio-quality-kenwood-head-unit.152372/page-2

And so to the reason I was asking these questions in the first place. I am fine with the factory JBL HU, the amplifier and even the speakers. I'm not fine with no way to input my own audio, that's just not going to work for me. A few months ago I had been playing with some some bluetooth receivers, they actually will work a transmitter or receiver, and they have a few specific behaviors that I really like. They are tiny, low power, have good range that can be extended significantly with a small external antennae, can give specific devices connection priority AND it doesn't have any annoying beeps or computer voices to announce that your device has connected. These aren't plug and play though. The pads on the board are spaced 1.27mm apart, which is half what I consider "normal" size and makes soldering a PITA for 47 year old eyes and shaky hands. You also have to use a USB to UART cable and send it AT commands, THAT was fun figuring out. I have no background in electronics and I can grasp just barely enough to fumble my way through by trial and error. I got mine from eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266838482907

All that to say that I believe because of the way the JBL audio system works, that I should be able to intercept the audio output from the HU and switch to the output from one of these bluetooth receivers instead. The HU should still be able to change the volume, fade and balance. So everything looks factory and original, I can still switch back to the radio and the steering wheel volume controls still work as normal. It might even be possible to use the "next" and "back" buttons on the steering wheel, though not sure how I would do that just yet.

I will post the results, good or bad.