[OsageJJ]

Howdy, everyone!

I wanted to share some thoughts on an aftermarket stereo install I just finished on my 2019 86 TRD SE.

First off: THANKS to the folks who went before me and shared their audio experiences on this website. Without that information, I would have never attempted what I’m about to describe to all of you. Sharing is caring!

When I bought my 86 in late July of this year, I sold a 2003 Toyota Tundra that I modded the sound system on, and I took that equipment with me to outfit my new ride.

For the record: I’ve been running upgraded stereo equipment in my vehicles since I was 15 years old (which was 40 years ago, in a 1974 Dodge Dart that my grandmother gave me), so I’m “old school” for sure. What I didn’t like about my 86 was (a) the puny speaker wires, and (b) the non-standard way Toyota ran its wiring. If you look at the specs, the 3.5-inch rears and front dash speakers are running at 4 ohms, but the door speakers (which are wired to the dash tweeters) are running at 2 ohms (after the wires get a boost through the factory amp in the trunk). That drop in impedance gives the 6-5-inch component speakers a little more kick, but nothing like what I have gotten used to running over the past four decades.

Long story short: I resolved to run all new wiring – in the way I knew would work correctly – and swap out the wimpy factory amp with something that had a little more punch to it.

Here’s the equipment I repurposed from my Tundra to my 86:

• Kenwood KAC-8105D mono subwoofer amp (300W RMS x 1 @ 4 ohms).
• Kenwood KAC-8405 A/B amp (60W RMS x 4 @ 4 ohms).
• Kicker Comp 12” subwoofer in a prefabbed, ported box, with repurposed Monster Cable 12-gauge wire from the amp to the sub enclosure.

This is what I swapped out and added:
• JBL GT609C component mids (6.5 inch) and tweeters (1 inch) (100W RMS @ 3 ohms).
• 2 pairs of JBL Club 3020 mids (3.5 inch) (20W RMS @ 3 ohms).
• Audiocontrol LC7i line output converter, with ACR-1 remote bass controller.
• 100 feet of 14-gauge wire to replace the stock speaker wiring for the mids and tweeters (I didn’t use all of it, but it’s always better to have too much than not enough).
• 15 feet of 9-wire “speed wire” to pass the head unit signal to the line-output converter in the trunk. (We didn’t have anything like this when I was a teenager, so I was very happy to find it exists!)

Besides mentioning that I kept my stock headunit (I know a lot of folks on this site don’t like it, but that’s how I wanted to roll with my setup), I won’t bore y’all with the details of the disassembly of my 86. If you research this site, there are tons of threads that show how to take apart the interior of our cars. In my case, it looked like a bomb had gone off inside my 86 for the better part of a week, but all the parts I took out I was able to put back together without too much effort. If you have any doubts, take LOTS of photos during every step of the process, and you should be able to put everything back in reverse order when you’re done.

For the record, though, the absolute hardest task was running the 14-gauge wire through the rubber grommet/boot between the doors and the car body to get the door speakers hooked up. It can be done, but take your time (and don't give up!) during this process.

My biggest issue, sound-wise, was that the JBL speakers are all 3 ohms – well within the impedance for my amps – but my problem was how to wire the six-speaker setup (rears, dash, and component door and dash speakers) while also adding a 12-inch subwoofer to two amps that are set for 4 ohms. My solution was to wire the front and rear 3.5-inch JBL Club 3020 mids in series on the “B” channel of my Kenwood 4-channel amp, while using the “A” channel to drive the component door and dash speakers. By doing that on channel B, I increased the impedance to 6 ohms on that circuit, which means that (a) my amp can drive the speakers, and (b) since they’re being used for “fill” sounds, the 3.5-inch speakers aren’t being overstressed. Plus, the JBL Club 3020s ship with 270 microfarad capacitors, so they won’t be asked to handle low frequencies outside of their comfort range.

I’m still tweaking the system, but the line-output converter, the amps and the sub box are all sitting comfortably in my trunk at the moment, and I've got enough thump in my system to vibrate my rearview mirror on my favorite songs. I may not have much room for a lot of extra gear in the trunk anymore, but I would have kept my Tundra if I still needed that capability!

If anyone has any questions about what I’ve experienced during this install, I’ll do my best to answer them as honestly as I can. Rock on, y’all!