Batboard

hello,

i just bought a '99 Toyota 4Runner SR5. Its a great truck and all and i love it but upon looking around, i cant really find anywhere to mount a radio..

anybody have any suggestions? i've been thinking about mounting it under the dash, and a few other places, but as far as being able to use the radio safely any of those options would be out of the question.

btw, the truck is an 4WD, automatic, and it has the built in 6 disc cd changer so it doesnt have that nifty little space underneath the radio, if that helps any.

i'll post some pics of the dash probably later today to give my situation some better detail.


thanks


____________jason. nh7cy.

Hi,
I just got an 06 4 runner and I am looking for suggestions also. Keep me updated if you get any ideas. I knew I should have bought a pickup.

Kevin

you know, i was looking at getting a gps unit for my laptop, that led me to look at buying a car mount for my laptop. i figured i could just mount my laptop and my radio to the mount, that would bring it up to a useable level. i figured it was a great idea until i found out that in california its illegal to operate a laptop from the front seat of a car..

hmm.. but if im using the laptop to run gps software, and its legal to use a gps unit from the front seat of the car..

I have a '99 4Runner and did some pretty cool radio installs on it.
Check to see if your 4runner has the remote cd/amp area in the right rear area.
I did a remote install where I put the body of the radio there and mouted the face of the radio on my transmission hump.

yeah i was thinking of doing that with a remote mount spectra, also what i was thinking of doing was replacing my stereo. currently i have a cd changer/cassette deck combo which takes up a large part of the center console, i figured if i could just get a stereo/cd changer it would leave me with enough space to mount my spectra in the console right under it leaving me with a really clean install. the only problem is i cant find any decent instructions on removing my dash so i can get to it.

technically i would like to place the radio under the stereo like this. the only problem would be actually getting into the dash.

nh7cy wrote:technically i would like to place the radio under the stereo like this. the only problem would be actually getting into the dash.

Nothing a screw driver and saw cannot fix.

ESDA20 wrote:Nothing a screw driver and saw cannot fix.

Don't forget duct-tape!

Jason, it's hard to tell in that pic you posted, but what's behind where you placed the Spectra head? If it's just plastic, or otherwise something you don't care about, see if you can borrow a Dremel type tool from someone. They work very well in precision work and I'm sure with patience it would out great. I was (still am) looking at mounting an Astro Spectra head in a very similar situation in a Honda Civic.

http://techinfo.toyota.com/ is your friend...

ages ago, I installed a remote a7 head and remote switches for lights and sirens under the arm rest of a 99 4Runner. Was a pita, however it was slick and worked.

However easy and quick access won't be part of the solution, if that's what you are looking at.

i finally got it in!

i opened up the dash awhile ago and found that i only had about 7 1/2 inches of space to insert the radio. the spectra needed atleast a good 9 inches of space. in noticing this i decided to try mounting my maxtrac in the space provided, only, the maxtrac took up about 7 3/4 inches of space. 1/4 of an inch more than i had. the good part was that the radio fit perfectly in the factory radio mount, though as i put it in i noticed it stuck out about an inch due to the fact that the heatsink kept hitting the air conditioning duct. there was also the fact the placing the actual radio here would place it a little less than a foot from the airbag computer which worried me somewhat.

i finally remedied the problem with a remote mount kit.

about 2 weeks went by and i eventually ended up installing the spectra in the place i originally had planned to install it, using a mount i made out of a cookie tin to attach the head under the factory stereo. surprisingly enough it made for a really solid mount, making my radio flush with the dash.

i then ran the remote cable through the center console to the rear passenger seat where i mounted the actual radio in the space used for the roadside toolkit.

the power wires i ran to the rear of the truck and attached to an external battery located in the compartment next to the rear door.

total install time was about half an hour.

the pics are as follows.






the space that the spectra now occupies used to be where the optional cd player was located, though once i got xm i decided that i didnt need it anymore

its too bad the spectras have a purple tinge to them, maybe its time to buy one of those xtl5000 faceplates