Toyota FJ Cruiser Complete Stereo Install and upgrade!!! 

Excellent!

How did you mount the 4" speakers?

Thanks!

Thanks! I think the aftermarket radios help the drive experience better then the stock jammer. Didn't realize how much better it would sound with rear speakers either. Don't know why they chose not to put any back there. Thanks for the comment!

Ahh... That may be true. I can't remember how much space is between the panel and the speaker... I think it was way more than an inch. Thanks for the comment. Mine is deflecting water😂

Thanks! Been a slow year so far. Will try to get some more vids as weather warms.

Thanks for the comment. I haven't made any new videos in awhile. The videos were basically to document all of the things that I did on the vehicle. I have reached a point that there isn't much more that I wanted to do. I will say that the sound proofing helped a lot to keep the road noise very low in the cab, regardless if you are listening to the radio. The system sound 1000% better than the original, but I am struggling with getting a good EQ on the sound. Its been hard to get the mids to sound good across multiple different types of music. Anyway, perhaps its time to get an external EQ and a new video 😁

@@FJCruiserChannel Wow great thanks for the response. That was my main question about the sound proofing. I've seen a few people doing it however I wanted to know if it actually made a big difference. I like my FJ however the road noise could be a bit better LOL. Thanks I appreciate it and great job!

I wish I could take credit for that. My older brother is the true genius. I got to grow up watching him build and fix things out of thin air. And that was pre-internet 😂. Thanks for the kind words.

Sure! Thanks.

LOL! Yeah, a weekend would not be enough time. I would say 2 or 3 weekends for sure. I started this back in March at the start of Covid lockdowns, so I wasn't in any hurry to finish. In fact, I'm still locked down, so I need a new project. Ideas??

@@FJCruiserChannel Fair enough, and thanks for sharing.. As for new ideas, unfortunately the timing is a bit late on your project, but whenever I do tackle something like this, I'd like to convert the headliner to black while it's out. I'm also looking to install the visor shelf & mount a Midland GMRS radio on it and then routing the antenna cable back to the rear door hinge. Thanks again for the detailed information!

Funny you say that about the headliner. I thought about changing that to black as well, but most fabric places were closed at the time. Perhaps I will shop around now for some good material and do that one of these days. Thnx!

No i have not, but I live in Austin with low humidity and hot temps. You probably have a point though.

I second this inquiry

They were approximately 1" disks and flat. Similar to a tweeter. Pretty much worthless behind the headliner.

Yep. The KFC1096PS. I had to mount them with about a 1/4" stand off, else they will bottom out. Still plenty of room to put the cover on top of it.

@@FJCruiserChannel Thanks man

Sorry didn't see this sooner. Hope your install went well. The Maestro was placed as far back as possible and zip tied to other wires. Not much room back there, so you just have to do the best you can.

Thank you very much. I assume you mean what size standoff I used to mount the rear speakers. I used plastic standoff similar to the link below. There was no specific size as I filed some of them so that the speakers would fit behind the panel at the correct angle. As for the cover, I just cut a pattern so that sound would go thru and covered it with yoga pants material my wife had. Hope this helps. Here is the link to the plastic standoff similar to what I used. www.amazon.com/Metric-Spacer-Plastic-Standoff-Assortment/dp/B06Y2FBKPZ/ref=sr_1_12_sspa?crid=1HAMVR0SVGSNV&dchild=1&keywords=nylon+standoffs&qid=1608299203&sprefix=nylon+sta%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-12-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQjZXOURBTUxTUjIxJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjAzMDUzM05LMTNBT0hVUTdSMSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzk4Mjk2U04ySzhHTFNJNVE5JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I also updated the description section and added this link as well. Thanks!

Thanks for the comment! I actually never tallied up all of the cost... was afraid to LOL. I have all of the components in the description section with links. Price of the stereo probably went down some by now. I think easily under $2K. The stereo is the most expensive thing. If you can live with a different more affordable model that will make the largest impact in savings. As for how long, I think about a month... again you can save some time if you purchase a sub box made for the FJ. I started this project soon after all of the lockdowns, so I was not pressed for time. Let me know how it goes! Did you decide on a newer or older FJ?

lol, you are not the first person to ask that question. I think I have a backup plan should I lose my day job. 🤣

Thanks! it's a 2014.

Well, I had to use plastic stand-offs because the magnet of the speaker was too deep. I believe I cut the stand-offs so that just long enough to also allow the original cover to go back into place.

I don't really recall. I think the manual states connection #5 and it points to the two inputs. Both connections from the idatalink go into these two input ports. Hope this helps.

Sorry... must have missed this message. I have used the 50mil before and it worked well. Plus I used a ton of it, so worked well.

Honestly can't remember. Measure the handbrake signal when engaged. I can't remember if it is positive or negative when handbrake is on. You want to tie to similar connection if you want to bypass the safety features of the radio. Thanks!

I don't know, you will have to get a tape measurer and estimate the length of power cable from the battery to the amps location. I would probably do something similar to what i did... run the 4 gauge to a terminal near both amps and split from there. I would think that 10' RCA cables would be long enough, and you will need speaker cables from the amp to your front speakers. I would get a roll of 16 gauge for that. Anyway, good luck!

I don't know much about the stock amps for the FJ sub boxes. You may be limited in amp size to fit in the same spot, but you may be able to find something. If you look at the comments, I listed the amp that I ended up going with for the sub. It is a very good amp with plenty of power for a single sub speaker. Also has line level inputs which I'm guessing is what the stock amp has. My old amp that I showed in the video finally started crapping out after many years of service. I'm curious to know what you find out about your amp upgrade. As for my amp placement, I put my amps under the driver and passenger seats. I had to remove the plastic air ducts that shoot air toward the back seats, but other than that there was plenty of room for them. Just drilled a few small holes to secure them. By the way, I like the name. I have a few Glocks and many Fenders myself. Thanks!

@@FJCruiserChannel Thanks for the info. This would be a great winter project for me to try. I should change name to Toyota lol. Can’t beat reliability of Glocks and like my Fender Strat. Just purchased a Schecter PT fastback, feels good, sounds great.....awesome price👍 Again thanks for response.

Nope! They fit without any mods. well, other than routing my own speaker wires. If you look closely, the speaker grill on the front door have several of the tiny holes plugged up. I did knock out several of those for more sound to come thru, but I don't think that is necessary. I started to drill them out, but that didn't look good. I just used the but end of the same drill bit and pushed them thru front to back side. They pop out fairly easy... most anyway. sorry I didn't get a good video of that.

If you are referring to the 4 connectors on step 3, the 4th bottom connector on the diagram does not exist, because the FJ does not route the camera to a plug behind the factory stereo. you can connect an after market camera to RR side of the plug. Hope that makes sense. Thanks!

You can certainly cover every surface, but surfaces like hard corners are very stiff and will not resonate. I guess my point is just that you can save some $ and be strategic about placement and still achieve good results.

It was just easier to run my own wires to the amp. There isn't a way to run the factory speakers when I was running from the power amp.

I don't know... Are they all tied to the dashboard dim switch? I don't remember having this problem with the stock radio in my FJ.

@@FJCruiserChannel I was hoping to interrupt the wire that feeds from the dimmer to the dash with a switch. In the instuctions you show, it looks like the wire controlling the backlighting is the orange one. Will take a voltmeter and pulling a cover to confirm. Thanks for the response.

I think it makes a big difference since you have sound coming from all around you. Adding a small subwoofer probably makes the most difference.

@@FJCruiserChannel I already have Kicker CS components in the front, matching speakers in the rear, and a full Kicker Q 12” in the trunk. I wanted even louder, so this was the answer I was looking for. Thank you for the insight!

I have the entire system crossed over at about 80-100Hz on the head unit. The sub fills in the lows. The doors and dash speaker cannot produce lows below 80Hz that well. There is no lack of lows with the sub. I can listen to Pink Floyd and the cab is full of high, mids, and lows.

Dremel tool with cutting blade

Yes!! Not shown in the video, I also made sure to put Kilmat inside the front doors, and replaced the plastic material with deadening material as well... similar to the video showing the rear door. Also not shown, I put rock wool between the headliner and roof, in addition to the Kilmat material. It is super quiet down the highway. Thanks!

I covered it on the video. You have to tap into the wires on the review mirror. Used an RCA cable, spliced one end to the camera feed in the mirror, other end plugs into the stereo rear camera input. If you leave both the mirror display and the radio feed connected, it will work but there is a faint interference on the mirror display. Otherwise, don't connect your mirror and only the radio display will come on. Good luck!

@@FJCruiserChannel I had to re watch the video because I guess I missed that part. But it makes sense thank you

I put links on the description section for most of the things used. For around $2K you can have a really nice system, but I think you can do it for $1K if you spend less on the stereo.

I have them in parallel with the new rear speakers. The door speakers are in parallel with the dash speakers. I believe all speakers were 8 Ohms, so all the inputs into the amp are 4 ohms. Hope this helps.

@@FJCruiserChannel thanks for the response. If using the stock cables is it already in parallel?

@@SamGameG I'm not sure how stock wires are configured. I didn't have rear column speakers. I ran all new speaker wires. If you watch the video you will see that I added speakers in the rear seats and the most rear back door column. Those are the speakers that are wired in parallel. If you are not familiar with series/parallel speaker wiring, there are tons of explanations here on youtube. thnx!

@@FJCruiserChannel thank you for your help

Haha I wish I had the time! anyway, the fun is doing it yourself. Good luck!👍

I would just you had more knowledge than i do when it come s with them cables

Can you recommend me any espeakers to replace my factory one's my fj came with the sound system but i need more i have a 2010 trd model

@@johnabreu3729 Just about any speaker would be better than the stock speakers. I would recommend the ones that I used on this build. The doors and dash speakers sound much better than the stock.

@@FJCruiserChannel would you be so kind to send them to me will appreciate thanks i gonna start getting them but i have to look for an installer here in NY with your talent your stuff looks fantastic factory-installed

Yeah, I know... I really just wanted less road noise and better system than was in there. I can always upgrade my speakers now that the rest is done. thanx!