# 2013 4Runner - SQL Install (Randyman)



## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

I'm finally to the point where I can post some pics of my new install! It's fairly straight-forward and I don't do any fancy Fiberglass and crap like that. Functionality and performance are where I like to focus my efforts (and limited capabilities  ). It's based around a "Loud and Clean" premise as I'm a drummer and like it LOUD AND CLEAN!  I also wanted it to be inconspicuous (at least as inconspicuous as an install capable of this much SPL/SQL can be).

My baby in the Garage:









2013 Toyota 4Runner Black-on-Black
4x4 - Convenience Package w/Sunroof - Leather Upgrade

*System Components:*

Alpine INA-W910 Navigation/DVD/HU
Alpine PXA-H800 DSP
Alpine RUX-C800 Remote
Alpine HCE-C117D Back-up Camera
PAC SWI-RC and TR7 Interfaces
ARC Audio KS2500.1 Sub Amp
JL 300/2 (150wpc on Morel 4"/1")
JL 450/4 (150wpc on Morel 9", 75wpc on rear-doors)
JBL W12GTi Subs *(Three!)*
Morel Elate 9" Midbass (Front Doors)
Morel Integra Ovation XO 4" Point Source (Dash)
Rockford Fosgate Power series 6.5" Shallow Mount Coax (Rear Doors)
Stinger 6000 Series 1/0 OFC Wire Kit
Knuconceptz OFC 1/0AWG, 4AWG, 8AWG Power, RCA and Speaker wire



During my time off, I ran all of the wiring, installed the radio, and did some deadening.


Passenger Front/Rear seats and Console GONE!









Dash Wires for Radio:
Ai-Net to H800, Alpine Digital Toslink Cable, Rear-Camera Wire + Reverse Trigger wire, Illumination Wire (to RUX), Steering Wheel Controls, iPod USB and 1/8" connections, Power/ACC/Ground, Antenna, GPS Antenna, RUX wire to H800. I also ran a set of 4-Ch RCA's, a standard Toslink cable, and an extra remote wire should I swap out the Ai-Net W910 down the road (I didn't want to run this stuff again! EVER!!!).









Some of the under-carpet wiring (signal cables only - Speaker Wires were added after this pic):










INA-W910 INSTALLED!










Stinger 1/0 & 300 Amp ANL Fuse Holder (see Diehard 31M install below)









Through the Firewall grommet (could have fit a 2/0 if I needed it!):










P-L-E-N-T-Y of room for a 1/0 run down the scuff plates!


















Diehard Platinum AGM 31M in factory location (same as Odyssey PC2150). A tight fit - but the factory hold-down fits like a champ!


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

I didn't go crazy on deadening every inch (Stinger Road Kill Expert). This truck it by far the quietest vehicle I've owned to date - I just wanted to damp the larger panels to reduce a bit of road noise and to lower the vehicle's resonance point. I also like the solid "chunk" sound of a deadened door/hood/rear-hatch closing shut 


PS - The DIYMA Interior Tool Kit package was a huge help in keeping my interior panels nice and scratch-free during removal! Had to remove the rear-seat backs to get these panels off - what a PITA! I cross-threaded one of the rear seat bolts during the 4-5 times I had the seats in and out, but luckily found a M10 tap that fixed me up. That was a close one!!!






























Rear-Hatch deadening


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

I was trying my best to avoid cutting any factory wires wherever possible. The Radio's Power Harness Adapter and Scosche Mounting kit came with the Radio from Crutchfield (the W910 was only $799 as an open box!!!). I added the PAC SWI-RC steering wheel adapter, and I needed to tap into 3 factory wires that no one made an adapter harness for.

Well lo and behold, I found that a standard ATX Computer's Male Fan Header had the same pin dimensions and pin spacing as the Toyota Plug! And what do you know - the 3 pins on the Toyota Harness just happen to be adjacent - and the ATX Fan Wire has - you guessed it - 3 conductors!

Here is the modded fan wire. I had to mod the connector with a Dremel to expose the pins, and added a resistor per PAC's wiring instructions:









Here's the plug mated to the factory harness with a pic of the PAC instructions:









No cuts!!!! The factory Steering Wheel controls work perfectly - and i can pop the factory radio back in w/o screwing with anything! (Not that I ever will  )



I decided to slap the back-up camera on the trailer hitch. After initially planning on running it to the license plate in the rear-hatch (and dealing with the fun of running the wire through the rear-hatch with a window that rolls-down), I decided that was too much work for too little benefit. I temporarily tried the trailer hitch location, and was happy with the visual results - so that's where it went. The adhesive seems permanent - it's not budging:









I tapped into the Fuse box to get a +12v trigger to signal the radio to switch to the camera when shifted into reverse. Works like a charm...


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

The box:

I went back and forth on this for a long long time. I wanted to go with a Ported box tuned to 28-30Hz or so for a trio of W12GTi's, but after I received my 4Runner and "sized it up", I decided the required box would be too large and bulky for my preferences.

I compromised on a small sealed box. I previously ran a pair of W12GTi's in a small sealed box in the Extra Cab of my old '99 Tacoma off a T20001BD, and was fairly happy with it. So I was hoping adding a third W12GTi and an additional 1000 Watts would meet my needs (the lower frequency cabin gain and transfer function of the 4Runner seemed to help, too). After 1 hour of auditioning the box this morning, it seems I will be totally satisfied 

Box Built:









Box Covered ("Whisper Black" vinyl - matches the factory leather pretty well IMO, and was 1/2 price from Jo-Ann Fabrics!!!):









Installed in the 4Runner. Look at all of that remaining cargo space!!!  The back-seats can still "recline" to the second position (feels very roomy in the back seat IMO).









Amps _thrown in_. This was a quick and dirty pic before I finished wiring. I'll be building a panel to "Flush" the amps (even though you can't see them AT ALL when the rear-seats are "up" in their normal position).

Alpine H800 ; ARC KS2500.1 ; JL 300/2 ; JL 450/4









Speakerpimp (from this forum) will be deadening and sealing my front doors, and installing the Morel Elate 9"s in there. He will also be custom-mounting a pair of Morel Ovation Integra XO 4" Point-Source drivers in the dash locations. Lastly, he will build a custom fiberglass mount for the RUX where the center console meets the dash (still be within easy reach, and the RUX will still be removable if need be).

Once those are done, it will be time to tune this bad-boy and sit back and relax!!! :sunny:


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## MTopper (Nov 4, 2009)

whoa there. was not expecting to see that whatsoever. love the choice of equipment and truck. similar tastes over here


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

Always liked the 4Runners(2nd on my list - Honda Pilot),Toyota did a nice job on the exterior styling.Hell of job on the install & good luck with the rest of the build.


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## jtaudioacc (Apr 6, 2010)

the new 4runner is definitely a quiet one, surprisingly quiet.

system should be pretty damn awesome with your speaker choices.


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

Nice! Love seeing all the new 4runners here. Hope you can give me door deadening tips. I thought was pretty quiet until I put Dayton 8's in there. I had to move crossover point up to 80hz due to vibration until I can add/rethink my sound deadening. 
I was also gonna get the h800 and mount rux in same place I believe where cigg lighter plug is right?


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words, all! This is my first brand-new vehicle, so I took my dear sweet time doing the install (the stuff above was done over a 6-Day vacation plus two 2-day weekends! Can you say "S-L-O-W"?  ). This is also my first entire install where I've basically had everything I needed when I started the install. My past installs have always been hodge-podged together piece by piece.

RE: bigfastmike - I'm not the best at sealing and deadening the doors - so I commissioned Speakerpimp to knock those out for me. He'll be doing the dash pods, too. I'm contemplating having him mount the RUX either right below the USB/Power Outlet door (door would still be accessible), in the USB/Outlet door (would make the door unusable), or right in front of the shifter where there's that little rectangular recessed storage area - but the shifter would probably be in the way. I'll have to decide on that pretty soon...

Some of my Toyota History:
I had an '87 4Runner 4x4 (with the removable fiberglass top) back in my late teens/early 20's - that died around 2001 after a few 22RE motors and it's been parked in storage waiting for a restoration. Then in 2001, I bought a '99 Tacoma 4x4 Xtra Cab TRD - and I loved it to death! The heads on it cracked after 265K miles and a lead foot, and I knew I'd be getting another Toyota.

I *almost* bought a 2012 Tacoma 4-Door, but after realizing a SQL install that met my SPL desires would be near impossible behind the back seats, I decided to splurge and return to the 4Runner platform. I'm glad I did! NTM, the 4-door Tacoma's bed is literally about as large as the 4Runner's interior cargo area (4-Runner actually has MORE room with the seats down!) - so I kicked the Pickup-Truck concept to the curb...

It is a quiet truck for sure! It's still built as a "body-on-frame" (unlike most modern SUV's that are a mono-body/monocoque construction) - so it does ride like a truck. That's fine with me - it's bulletproof like a "real" truck should be  It's, of course, a 4x4 to boot! 

I'll update the thread as the front stage and RUX install comes together and as I wrap up the amp rack and cargo grille/cover (to conceal the speakers from the rear window).

Rock on! :drummer:


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

I look forward to pics of speakerpimps work
I'm getting my audible psychic full ranges glasses in as soon as I decide on my subs so I can get all done at once. Right now they are mounted in tweeter covers reflecting off windshield. I'll probably keep same angle just deeper in the dash and cloth covered.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Subscribed! I've been thinking about a 4" point source driver paired with large midbass, and am very curious how you end up liking it.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Very nice job! One thing though, dunno if its a good idea to put the 450/4 right under the H800. Especially considering the the heat source with that amp will be concentrated right under the H800. And everything will be sandwiched between the seat in the box, making it an even more direct radiation. Not sure if you read these DSP thread lately, but they do very devastating things when something goes wrong (ie usually burn speakers). Swapping their location should make things fine.


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks for the astute observation, t3sn4f2! I had not considered this, and I was not aware the H800’s were this sensitive to heat. My main rationale for this orientation was the fact that the JL amps have all of their connections on the bottom, and the H800 and KS2500.1 have their connections on the sides. I have an extra few inches below the box in the front (there’s a little “ledge” the box sits on where the 3rd row seats would go – results in a trough under the front of the box) – and this makes wire clearance and routing very appealing for the JL Amps. I also like the look of both JL Amps mounted “in line” with each-other.

If I move the JL Amps up top (I’d move both if I moved one), I’ll be squeaking by for enough physical height on the front of the box due to the additional clearance needed for the JL's connections (19” tall on the slanted front). There is still a good 2" between the seats and the H800 - so maybe that will be sufficient? I could put a small fan back there, or even ponder moving the H800 to the side of the box (not ideal - but if it could potentially save thousands of dollars in speakers by avoiding a H800 meltdown - it's a valid option).

I’ll peek at the H800 thread and see what I can find. My H800 currently hovers around 44*C after being on for over an hour (according to the RUX), but the 300/2 amp was not being pushed at all – so it wasn’t really adding to the heat load. I’ll likely experiment with pushing the 300/2 a bit harder and see where the H800's temps end up. What’s the upper end temp range of the H800’s “Safe Zone”?

Thanks again for pointing this out, t3sn4f2!


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

Gotta love constructive input! I wouldn't have thought that either


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Agreed - This forum is awesome!!! :sunny:


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## shibbydevil (Jul 2, 2010)

Your install is keeping me motivated!!! How's the w910 look in the dash in your opinion? I hate the 4runner dash kits.... There's just so much plain flat silver. But it's the only thing I can find with the digital out for the bitone. Can you tell me if it outputs the iPod audio over the digital out? Looks good, keep it up!


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks shibbydevil!

The Scosche kit that came with the W910 from Crutchfield is not quite as "Metallic/Sparkly" as the factory silver parts are on my 2013 - but it looks OK. I think my 2013 might have a slightly different silver color from previous model years.

I was contemplating painting the rectangular recessed area around the mounting kit black to make it look better (would make the black radio appear to fill up more of the dash kit and make the silver area appear smaller). I don't think it would be that hard (the kit has a nice detail around the opening that would make masking and painting fairly easy IMO) - and I might even buy a second dash kit and start playing with this idea (and try to find some extra-sparkly metallic silver paint that matches the factory silver trim). My current dash kit had a few blemishes from rubbing against the box during shipping - so I'll likely do something with it regardless...

From what I've gathered, the iPod does transmit Digitally over USB to the W910 when playing ipod "Music" files (the W910 ALWAYS uses the analog 1/8" A/V input if playing "_Video_" files) but the W910 apparently has a DAC and converts the iPod's USB to Analog before sending it into the W910's DSP section.

Then, the W910 converts again and spits out this signal as Analog over RCA or Ai-Net to the H800 (where it is converted again  ). So there are a few extra conversions happening there - but the converters are pretty good, and in a car environment - I'm simply NOT going to hear a substantial difference IMO. I'm not one to sit in my truck for hours just listening - I have a nice home system w/o the compromised car-audio environment our mobile systems are inherently limited by - so I take these kinds of details in stride.

Of course, you can go with one of the ipod Digital Docks and their added complexity (I also believe you have to run the H800 in "non-Ai-Net mode" for the "Aux inputs" to work in this scenario) - but I simply don't see the need based off my aforementioned points (I'm a realist). The DSP benefits of the H800 in a compromised mobile environment greatly outweigh the fact that there are a few extra conversions when used with the W910 IMO...

If you need the utmost in SQ "bar none" (and you sit in your vehicle with the motor off in complete silence w/o driving) - just use a CD or DVD as your source over the special Alpine Digital Cable (I ran one to my H800 - but don't plan on playing many CD's/DVD's TBH). Use the iPod for casual listening...

Rock on!


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

Awesome trick with the steering wheel controls, definitely adding that one to the tool box.

Looking forward to working on this build, can't wait to hear this setup...


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Great looking setup, but i would recommend to take these amps of the sub box. Vibrations will **** them up, and you will see that for yourself. Also H800, I love that unit and C800, i have the same thing  nice choice on a processor.

And Morel speakers  I bet you spend **** ton of money on that!

Good luck with the build.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

lookin good, since i dont see that subbox being movable much, i would suggest building a trim panel cover around it to go all the way to the edges, to make it look like an integrated piece 

good work~!


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

Like quickaudio mentioned vibration will be hard on the electronics.Maybe you can add an extra piece of MDF to the back of the enclosure to create a buffer.Are you a member on ToyotaNation?


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

I'm not one that buys into the direct vibrations thing from the box. Touch a sub box on the outside and its no where near as violent as the vibrations that the omni directional sound induces on objects. Compare what you feel on the box to what a rear window or trunk lid looks like. 

If anything you are helping things by bolting the amp to a heavy structurally rigid object instead of a flimsy body panel. 

Just look at home theater subs that pack thousands of watts and have magnet structures that can produce near a hundred pounds of magnetic force. They mount the amps to the box with no issues and I'm sure they don't build up the amp to withstand those vibration more so than an automotive specific product has to due to road vibrations.


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks again for the constructive input, all!

RE: Speakerpimp - Indeed! Can't wait for you to work your magic on the front stage! I'm so excited. I was pretty happy with myself when I discovered the ATX Fan Wire trick, too  I hate cutting factory wires on a 2-month old vehicle that already ate a huge hole in my bank account...

Yep - Those Morels weren't cheap, but I feel I will be happy with my investment. This is by far the most "serious" setup I've had to date. I know I could have cheaped out on the Elate 9"s, but I knew I wanted the Ovation Integra XO Point-Source drivers in the dash (allows me to run passive for mid/tweet, and they are fantastic drivers!). So I figured I might as well keep the Midbass drivers in the same league (and then some!). Speakerpimp and his compadre hooked me up pretty good on the price, too (THANKS!).

RE: Amp Mounting and Panels:
The Sub Box is securely mounted to where the 3rd row seats would have gone - and it is SOLID! The amps don't vibrate - and like t3sn4f2 mentioned - if I did an amp rack in the cargo area, the amps would probably end up with MORE vibrations as the panels surely vibrate more than the box (the box is descently braced, too). I've had my Amps mounted on most of my boxes, and _I can't say I've ever had an issue with amp failure due to box-mounting over the past 20+ years of doing this_...

I do indeed plan on making a "Flush Mount" amp panel that dead-ends into the trim side panels - and I'll also be making a cargo-grille-panel that extends from the top of the box to the bottom of the rear-window to completely conceal the box and subs from the rear and side windows (f'ing thieves!!!!).

I'm not on ToyotaNation, but I do post on the Toyota.4Runner.org forum and a few other Toyota forums (the Toyota.4Runner.org is a WEALTH of info on 4Runners of all generations!!! Like this place but only for 4Runners  ).

Rock on y'all!


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Few updates. I got with my installer for the few things I had to "outsource" for this install. This is the first time I've ever paid for someone to work on my audio install in the 20+ years of doing car audio! I figured since this was my first new vehicle that I wanted the bits I couldn't knock out at an acceptable level to be completed by a true "pro"...

Speakerpimp (with "Car Tunes" in Webster, TX) has been hard at work on my front door woofer install, 4" dash mounts, and RUX mount in the console. I've also updated a few things myself.

Speakerpimp already posted some pics of his work on my "need an installer" thread - I'll re-post them here for continuity with my build log...

9" Morel Elate in custom door ring (Speakerpimp):









Front Door Deadening(Speakerpimp):









Absorptive 4"x4" blocks in door (5 in each door)(Speakerpimp):









Final 9" Elate mounting(Speakerpimp):









Front Door Panel Deadening(Speakerpimp):









The output from these is absolutely INSANE - and they sound extremely good IMO. They are also 100% "Stealth" - you can't tell the factory 6x9 has been swapped with the monster Elate 9"! The doors themselves are dead as a doornail, and have a very convincing "chunk" when you shut the door...



Initial Morel 4" Point Source install (towel mounted to audition different placements)(Speakerpimp):









I decided these sounded so good (and will look "stealth") that I will forego further positioning and go with the off-axis "off the windshield" placement. If I decided I really want a speaker sticking out of my dash or on the A-Pillar, we'll try this again on my dime  ...



RUX mount - Truly a work of precision art! I was ecstatic with the Elate 9"s in the doors, but the craftsmanship of this little mount really blew my mind (Speakerpimp):




























Needless to say Speakerpimp with Car Tunes is one hell of an installer. I'd highly recommend him at the drop of a hat...




Now - Back to my side of the install labor 

In addition to Speakerpimps' work pictured above, I was inspired to go back and beef-up the deadening on my rear-doors. I added another layer of Roadkill on the outer skin, and sealed off the 2 humongous holes in the door with Roadkill (2 sheets, one from inside, on on the outside so they adhere together in the opening). I also stiffened up the area between the outer door skin and the internal brace so the outer door is much more solid now (practically no decay at it's resonance point!).

I also made a piss-poor looking set of door-rings, and swapped out the Punch Power series 6.5"s I initially installed for a nicer set of Morel Tempo 6C's.

Then, I added some more Roadkill deadening to the rear-hatch inner-panel (sealed the openings as well).

I also picked up a used Alpine DHA-S690 DVD Changer, and had to fabricate some mounts for it. I didn't initially plan on using a DVD-Changer, so I never ran any video cables down my console. I'll be ripping out the console again very soon to run the silly Composite cable and I'll clean up the DVD Changer install and snap some more pics... 

I forgot to upload pics of my updates mentioned above before I left for work - so I'll update the pics when I get home later...



I hard-wired my 8500 x50 Radar to the fuse box, and mounted the remote-mute button by the shifter (it's awkward to reach upto the radar to hit it's mute button):



















The hole I drilled looked AWFUL - so I cut-up the factory cable's "Mute" button label, and used it to cover my ugly hole (not the first time I've used those 2 words together  ). Not quite the quality of what "Speakerpimp" would have done - but I could only afford his expertise for the Doors, Dash and RUX Mount labor.


I also swapped on a set of stock-sized BFG All-Terrrains and a set of 1" wheel spacers to get the factory wheels a bit further into the wheel-wells. I like the stock rims and currently have no plans on swapping them out:











Getting close to done with this build! I'll probably swap the stock shocks soon (Bilstein 5100's), and I'm currently saving for the 4.0l Dual-VVTi TRD Supercharger which is due out soon. Should get me close to 350HP and 370lb/ft torque! Woot! :laugh:

Back to Work


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## aV8ter (Sep 4, 2009)

Randyman... said:


> I also swapped on a set of stock-sized BFG All-Terrrains and a set of 1" wheel spacers to get the factory wheels a bit further into the wheel-wells. I like the stock rims and currently have no plans on swapping them out:


Not even for a set of TE37x?!?!

Liking the build. Those doors look bulletproof.

Good move on the switch to the BF-Gs. I'm a tech at the local Toyota dealer and I have swapped numerous sets of the stock Bridgestone tires off before 20k miles in most cases. Those things are garbage.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

With a huge sub stage like that, i would've went the pro audio route. 

Looks good, though.


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

edzyy said:


> With a huge sub stage like that, i would've went the pro audio route.
> 
> Looks good, though.


Believe me, I pondered it as I do love my PA setup.

If I was to take my pro-audio background and experiment in my ride, I always wanted to go extreme and try some properly mounted horns, but never had enough balls to attempt it myself (lower dash mods, etc - that stuff is hard to cover up when I screw it up  ). Thus far, the broadband SPL capabilities of this system make me smile


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

aV8ter said:


> Not even for a set of TE37x?!?!
> 
> Liking the build. Those doors look bulletproof.
> 
> Good move on the switch to the BF-Gs. I'm a tech at the local Toyota dealer and I have swapped numerous sets of the stock Bridgestone tires off before 20k miles in most cases. Those things are garbage.


Thanks!

Lolz - Are you on Toyota 4Runner Forum  I think I saw those TE37x rims over there - I dig 'em!

The stock Bridgestones were a bit too "pedestrian" for my tastes  I generally get 50-60K from the All-Terrains (been through 6-8 sets over the years). And as long as you get a good balance, I even love them even as a primary on-road tire (handle very well and love the look and extra capabilities, too).


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Long as u like it

all that matters!


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Update - Morel has been dragging their feet on the replacement speaker for _2 months_ now (was supposed to be 2 weeks or less  ) - but they did agree to swap my older Integra Ovation XO 4's for the newer Hybrid Integra 402 model. Hopefully they will arrive @ Car Tunes next week, and I can get Rick to finish up the dash rings/mounts...

I also swapped the JL Slash 450/4 and 300/2 with a pair of JL HD600/4's. That gives me 300 Watts per 9" in the doors, 150 Watts per 4" Integra in the Dash (900Watts total on front stage), 150 Watts per 6.5" Rear Surrounds (mainly for 5.1 or when I have rear-seat passengers - these generally stay off), and still running the KS2500.1 on subs for 2848 Watts on the birth sheet @ 1 Ohm. Brings me to 4048 Watts total  Never thought I'd have that much power in my mobile system!

Hope to have some final install pics and some long-awaited feedback after I can actually tune this 2-month old system! I STILL haven't messed with TA or EQ since I have the different front Mid/Tweets on each side, and with the temporary red shop towels in the dash (can't wait to get rid of those stinking shop towels - such an eye sore in my spanking new ride!!!)...

Slow and steady wins the race  (but misses the Houston/Spring Meet Up on Saturday  )...


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

Wow. I feel for ya man. And mine only took 6 weeks


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

bigfastmike said:


> Wow. I feel for ya man. And mine only took 6 weeks


Lolz! Thanks for your sentiments - I need them about now 

Your 4Runner install is seriously sharp looking! Love the fiberglass and lighting. I'd love to A/B our installs! I can imagine your imaging is also sharper than mine is (off the windshield, but looks stock)...


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Good idea swapping out amps. Headroom is a good thing

My girlfriend got to demo the elate 9 3 way set and loved them

Chose those over a dyn combo that would've cost almost twice as much. 

If all goes well, i'll be using 2 zed dreadnoughts for power. Should be around 800 x 2 for the midbass and 250 x 4 for midrange and tweets

Sorry for hijacking tlol


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

edzyy said:


> Good idea swapping out amps. Headroom is a good thing
> 
> My girlfriend got to demo the elate 9 3 way set and loved them
> 
> ...


Damn - Talk about headroom! 

I tend to get a teeny-bit overzealous with the volume knob at times (with some social lubricant I call Absolut or Wild Turkey  ) - and I just know I'd let the smoke out of my front stage with 2600 watts on them! I know they can handle the peaks, but not the sustained levels in any way shape or form. I'm right at the edge with my current setup - just enough headroom to keep me happy, yet not too much to smoke $1500 in front stage drivers "by accident"!

Do I even want to know what your sub stage looks like?


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

I had mine firing up before. Time alignment in pods was was critical. Unless you heard them side by side you'd never know a difference. It's a tossup... stealth vs a slight bit of sq and bling. You'll be happy I'm sure


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Randyman... said:


> Damn - Talk about headroom!
> 
> I tend to get a teeny-bit overzealous with the volume knob at times (with some social lubricant I call Absolut or Wild Turkey  ) - and I just know I'd let the smoke out of my front stage with 2600 watts on them! I know they can handle the peaks, but not the sustained levels in any way shape or form. I'm right at the edge with my current setup - just enough headroom to keep me happy, yet not too much to smoke $1500 in front stage drivers "by accident"!
> 
> Do I even want to know what your sub stage looks like?





I've let her beat my front stage apart, so she's pretty much trained to hear when a speaker starts stressing..or know when to back off way before the coils get smelly. 

I will be worried tho LOL

Subs are gonna be 3 dayton ultimax's Dayton Audio UM10-22 10" Ultimax DVC Subwoofer 2 ohm Per Coi 295-510

Original plan was actually 3 gti 10's ported, but i had an itch to try out some dayton stuff. 

You think you'll ever go with some sort of vented alignment ? Night and day difference vs sealed.


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

bigfastmike said:


> I had mine firing up before. Time alignment in pods was was critical. Unless you heard them side by side you'd never know a difference. It's a tossup... stealth vs a slight bit of sq and bling. You'll be happy I'm sure


Wow - I would not have expected that impression! Makes me glad I nixed the bulbous pods I was initially pondering. I can say for the 2 short days I had the matching pair of Mids/Tweets in the shop-towel mounts that the imaging/soundstage was acceptable w/o any TA! I hope I don't get the itch to do some pods down the road 





edzyy said:


> I've let her beat my front stage apart, so she's pretty much trained to hear when a speaker starts stressing..or know when to back off way before the coils get smelly.
> 
> I will be worried tho LOL


Ha! I'm hoping to avoid "that smell", too! It is a very expensive odor - probably costs more than expensive perfume 




edzyy said:


> You think you'll ever go with some sort of vented alignment ? Night and day difference vs sealed.


I know I know - I went back and forth on this for weeks before the 4Runner was delivered. Once I got the truck and measured it up, I couldn't justify the MUCH larger enclosure (tuned very low) I would have needed for Ported. I pondered going with 2x W12GTi's ported, but wanted the third sub to help spread the power around - so sealed I went.

I might experiment with two W12GTi's in a ported box down the road - but that is still a good deal larger than the three W12GTi's sealed (I still have lots of usable cargo area as-is). Two 13W7's ported might be an option - but again need a larger volume envelope. 3-6dB's of extra SPL from 30-40Hz would be nice though  My old 1987 4Runner install had two Punch Pro-Series 18"s in 6.5 cubes each tuned to around 28Hz - it was pretty nice  The fact that my current sealed setup is fairly compact by comparison makes it a worthwhile tradeoff IMO.


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Randyman...nice build! Are those Elates in a sealed door IB or sealed enclosure? Really like how they turned out with the stock look.


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## Tsmith (Dec 17, 2008)

Yes I was wondering about the sound of the Elates in the front doors as well. I have an 04 Sequoia and was contemplating the Morel 9 3 way setup as a future upgrade. Just looking for your thoughts on them.


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi all,

The doors are not 100% sealed, but I had Speakerpimp from Car Tunes tighten up the gaping holes in the door, and deaden the inner + outer door skins. Not sure what this falls into WRT "enclosure category" - but they sound pretty darn good to me! I'm sure a completely sealed and completely rigid sub-enclosure in the doors would benefit them (I do get some slight door panel resonance and the outer doors have a little bit of flex - not much) - but that's just not gonna happen in my nice new expensive (to me) truck 

I'd love to hear a car with a dead-as-nails front midbass install someday - I'm sure their response is close to my studio monitoring setup (Dynaudio AIR-15's). But my sub stage is shaking the bejeezus out of the seats/doors/everything anyways - so shooting for a 100% dead midbass install is somewhat like chasing my tail in this install (I'm a realist  )...


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## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

Randyman... said:


> I'd love to hear a car with a dead-as-nails front midbass install someday - I'm sure their response is close to my studio monitoring setup (Dynaudio AIR-15's).


Shouldve came to the g2g you couldve!  hehe

But we gonna do another one soon in June, keep an eye out!


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

SouthSyde said:


> Shouldve came to the g2g you couldve!  hehe
> 
> But we gonna do another one soon in June, keep an eye out!


I bet! I would love to hear your car and some of the other "Over the Top SQ" cars. I will NOT be missing the next local GTG for sure! Even if mine isn't done by June, I just want something to compare mine to as an end-goal.

I'm hoping to get my install wrapped up over the next week or so - and I can finally move on to tuning and tweaking the setup. If it's not done by June - I'll just give up and put my stock radio back in


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Randyman... said:


> Hi all,
> 
> The doors are not 100% sealed, but I had Speakerpimp from Car Tunes tighten up the gaping holes in the door, and deaden the inner + outer door skins. Not sure what this falls into WRT "enclosure category" - but they sound pretty darn good to me! I'm sure a completely sealed and completely rigid sub-enclosure in the doors would benefit them (I do get some slight door panel resonance and the outer doors have a little bit of flex - not much) - but that's just not gonna happen in my nice new expensive (to me) truck
> 
> I'd love to hear a car with a dead-as-nails front midbass install someday - I'm sure their response is close to my studio monitoring setup (Dynaudio AIR-15's). But my sub stage is shaking the bejeezus out of the seats/doors/everything anyways - so shooting for a 100% dead midbass install is somewhat like chasing my tail in this install (I'm a realist  )...


Thanks for the feedback. That Elate 9 has really had my attention lately and your install is good to see for future possibilities. I've got the Supremo 6 IB in the door right now seeing 300 watts bridged from a HD600 and I think a sealed enclosure would really enhance my...sounds really good but I am targeting the optimum next go-round.


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## Golden Ear (Oct 14, 2012)

Nice ride, Randy! Is the install wrapped up? How's it sounding?


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks for checking in - Good timing! Speakerpimp finished up the dash mounts over the weekend. Looks pretty good. Not 100% stealth - the speaker rings sit approx 1/4"-1/2" on top of the factory grille and were smoothed in and covered with suede - speakers are covered with black grille cloth (keeps some of the UV off the drivers' cones). The 5th Gen 4Runner's L/R dash grilles aren't exactly symmetric (different angles off the windshield), but I think it will be fine once I tune it.

Morel swapped my discontinued Integra Ovation XO4's with the new/current Hybrid Integra 402's. They seem a little brighter to me (a good thing), but it might just be the tweaked positioning off the windshield and a proper baffle.

I plan on tuning the system this weekend. I'll snap a few pics and report back later on.

Now I need to pinch some pennies for some more recording gear! Been putting all of my recording stuff on hold as I wrapped up this costly install! RME MADIface-XT will be in my near future (upgrading my recording rig from the RME HDSPe MADI card)...

Enjoy!


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

Hey! Any updates on your ride? Inspired by you I switched to Morel 9in in the doors. Had to add much more sound deadening but, wow! Good call. :thumbup:

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

Nice upgrade. We should get together and go bowling sometime  (Breakfast Club quote).

I'm taking it slow and I've been busy with a multitude of other projects - so I still haven't done an in-depth tune. I might give Imprint another shot this coming weekend for grins. But the RTA (MiniDSP UMIK-1 + REW) will be coming out soon regardless...

I have noticed (quickly measured) the PLD's from the door to the dash are almost identical per side. The Left door and Left dash drivers are practically equidistant at the listening position once you account for the reflection off the windshield - same for right side door and dash. So hopefully final TA won't be terribly difficult - basically just an equal offset for the left channel Woofer and Mid/Tweet and trying to get the sub aligned for the illusive "up-front-bass" I know this install is capable of.

It seems like Toyota might have designed the stock locations like this on purpose? Sometimes it pays to use stock locations


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

Just trust your ears for time alignment after base measurements. I found that the up front bass is as much, if not more in the crossover settings. Just my experience. I was going to use the Alpine processor but our store got audison and I have tuned several bits so I am pretty comfortable with those. They are installing the Alpine in a customers truck so I may play with it a bit. 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2


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## cmytaco (Jul 20, 2008)

How much trimming did it take to get the 4s to fit in the dash?


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## bigfastmike (Jul 16, 2012)

Not much really


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## cmytaco (Jul 20, 2008)

Really? What do u think if I ran a 3 way up front with dayton 8s in the doors and a DAT 4" component in dash and tweet in pillar? I Have all of this equipment already and was gonna run my 5.25 JL xrs in the rear doors or hatch? all off of a kicker sx900.4 
sub setup still TBD


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## lowcel (Dec 28, 2014)

Any pictures of the dash finished up?


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

What's up fellow T4R forum member 

I've been so lazy on updating this thread! I'll attempt to snap a few shots of the dash pods and the new amps (two HD600/4's replaced the Slash 450/4 and 300/2).

Still loving the system and the ride! They compliment each other nicely (both make me smile quite often  ).

PS - For anyone interested: I hear Speakerpimp (did the dash pods and RUX-C800 mount for me) is now employed at the Clear Lake (Baybrook Mall) Car Toys (not CarTunes, but Car Toys)

Back to work...


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

OK - I finally snapped some pics of the dash pods that Speakerpimp fabricated back in 2013. We agreed on suede as it looked good, and furthermore was just a bit absorptive in the extreme highs unlike something that matched the dash might have been (granted, probably only talking about 5K-6K and up with this very thin material).

You can see how Speakerpimp added raised rings to shield the direct sound dispersion from reaching my ears (when viewed at ear level in the last pic). This avoids as much comb-filtering as possible since the majority (basically all) of the sound is reflecting off the glass.














































I still haven't taken any pics of the pair of HD600/4 amps I swapped in (no longer running the JL "Slash" amps from my first pics in this thread). One day 

Happy 2015, and Rock ON!


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## soundqdoug (Jul 1, 2008)

That looks awesome! I think I'm gonna do the same in my FJ, except wrapped in perforated vinyl. How do the Morels sound?


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## Randyman... (Oct 7, 2012)

soundqdoug said:


> That looks awesome! I think I'm gonna do the same in my FJ, except wrapped in perforated vinyl. How do the Morels sound?


Grazie!  Rock that sweet FJ!

The Morels are smooth and capable - handle power for days. I EQ in a bit of brilliance above 5K with the H800 as I have some hearing loss in that range, but I prefer a smooth tweeter EQ'd over a more aggressive metal dome tweet that might not need much EQ to hit my desired response.

I had MB Quarts (metal dome tweets) in my past 3 installs - but run Dynaudio AIR series monitor speakers at home (soft dome) - so the Morels are a closer match to my actual reference audio system


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## vietjdmboi (Jan 3, 2015)

love the build man. how are you liking the H800? would love to check out the system sometime.


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## lowcel (Dec 28, 2014)

Did you do the big three upgrade? I'm not having much luck finding tips on installing it.


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## madmaxz (Feb 11, 2009)

Thinking about attempting this setup. But wits admw-9s in the doors. If the op gets email updates from diyma please id love to see the hybrid integra mounted.


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## SQscott (Sep 17, 2018)

I love this build. Do you know if the stock grills could have been used? I am very curious how much difference the rings made. I would love to do the same setup but maybe a little more stealth if I didn't loose to much.
Thanks!


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