I don't have a picture, the speaker wires are not the same color, and they are not labeled. There are however several charts available online which tell you what color is which. (Such as the links a few posts up, just search "vehicle wiring diagram." When you take the radio out, you might have a little amplifier connected to the radio, mounted a few inches back and about 6-8 inches down behind the radio. If you see a box like this, splice into the wires AFTER this box, if not never mind. Another option is to buy a wiring harness for a new radio (BestBuy/Walmart), these have standard colors on the wires that are easy to figure out, then plug just the harness into the truck, and match the easy to figure out colors to the factory colors, label, remove the harness (can return it to store at this point), and continue on it the project.

 

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/...tail/2027.html

1998 Toyota 4-Runner Stereo Wiring
Constant 12V+ Blue/Yellow or Blue/Black
Switched 12V+ Gray
Ground Brown
Illumination Green
Dimmer n/a
Antenna Trigger Black/Red
Antenna Right Front
Front Speakers 6 1/2" Doors
Left Front (+) Pink
Left Front (-) Purple
Right Front (+) Light Green
Right Front (-) Blue
Rear Speakers 5 1/4" Rear Doors
Left Rear (+) Black
Left Rear (-) Yellow
Right Rear (+) Red
Right Rear (-) White

 

thanks man that will make this so much easier. now my friend that is going to help me install this doesn't think that slicing into the rear wire speakers is a good idea. (to the amp). he thinks if will fry something. but since there are no rca's i have no other choice. i've changed my mind again on what to get i
think this is going to be the set up now

amp: http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...MRPM450&tp=115

sub: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-oFKkITH...050W&s=0&cc=01

box:
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...T6510SS&tp=554

a few people think this will sound better than the rockford. but my only concern is that the sub wants .75 cubic feet sealed and the box is only .65. is that what the poly fill is for? and since the amp has speaker line ins I don't need the converter box. How big of speaker wire should I run from the rear speaker wires to the amp though?

 

you splice into the wires AFTER the little amp (if you have it). You are right, there is no other way, every other shop would do the same thing, or convince you to get a radio you don't want.

It may sound better... The polyfill is to make a box that is too big smaller, or to cut out crappy frequencies/noise. I think you will be fine as far as volume goes. You are right as far as the speaker line in goes. You should run 16-18 ga and be fine IMO, just run from behind radio or from wires along side of car leading to rear speakers (easier behind radio or taking apart doors and getting directly from behind speaker)

 

how do i take the radio out? does the fake wood trim around that area just pop off? where is the best place to run the power wire through to get to the battery? and i can connect the remote power wire to the 'switched 12v+' wire so the amp comes on when the radio comes on?

 

read above a few, yes, firewall (look inside engine compartment up by brake booster, should be a grommet there), yes

 

i changed my mind again just on the sub though. i went ahead and ordered everything today got the same box and amp but went with this sub

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...111&tab=review

i'll let you know how it works out. hopefully i will have it in by next friday.

 

cool, good choice, at first I thought you ended up screwing it up, but you picked a good match (Alpine amp right?)

make sure to get the amp power kit, and wire to run the signals, the amp kit will come with RCA's, power wire, speaker wire for amp to sub, might be big enough for amp to sub (I try to use at least 12 ga there), but wire in kit might be perfect for radio to amp.... if you mount radio under seat I think that is ideal (unless you flood your truck)

it is technically better to not mount amp vertically (like on the side of a sub box) and better to not mount directly to box (due to vibration) but whatever works best usually wins

oh, and Crutchfield (if you ordered from them) will offer a crap ton of support for any of the install, they are awesome in that (which is why it costs more generally)

 

i compared them with amazons prices and a few other places and they were about 30 dollars more for everything but then i got free shipping, no sales tax and talked the lady into giving me the refer a friend discount of 20 bucks even though i've never refered anyone. so not bad. yes the alpine amp.

 

another thing. I bought an amp wiring kit and it cames with the power cord to go to the battery but then on the back of the case it shows a battery terminal that is sold separately. do i need one of those?

 

you mean a fuse?

 

no it is a battery terminal. but after messing with it today i found i dont need one. so i spent about 3 hours with a friend and we got the battery cable ran and the dash taken apart and thats about it. the wood trim didn't just pop off. we spent most of our time messing with that. you have to take off the face of the climate control first mainly by sliding it to the left then right. that took a while to figure out. also had to unscrew the ashtray holder. then it was still a hassle the get the wood trim off. so after we took the cd player out and looked at the cords coming out of the little amp behind it we decided it was going to be a royal pain to slice into all those wires. there is so little room back there and the wires have no give what so ever. so i thought i would just suck it up and buy a new cd player the has rca's out for the sub to save us the hassle of all the splicing. now if i put in a new cd player do i have to mess with the little amp at all? or just relace the cd player?

 

ok it is now the next day again and everything is in and working. i went ahead and tied into the rear speaker wires behind the factory amp. it was getting dark last night and hard to see what was going on and in the light of day it made it much easier. the factory amp has a bracket the has two screws holding it into place. once those were off it made for easy access to the wires. that was the only part that was hanging me up after that it went smoothly. but it is all working and every thing sounds good. thanks for your help everyone especially wjwerdna.

 

Bump! Need some help on this. I hooked everything up really nice, but I am not getting any signal through the RCAs. The amp turns on, but something is wrong with the line out converter. I'm positive I tapped into all the correct wires. I saw the diagram posted earlier, and confirmed on another site that it's the same colors. I'm trying to run an amp off the stock HU via a line out converter.

Did you end up buying a aftermarket stereo?

What is the difference in running off the wires between the stereo and amp? vs after the amp?

 

Here's some pics. If you notice, I have the the line out converter hooked up to the black, yellow, red, & white wires of the stock harness. Why isn't it working?

 

First, let me apologize if this sounds like a bash. That is not my intent. Mine is merely to open a forum for discussion.

Second, that is quite possibly the worst way to hook up wires, short of just twisting them together.

If you want clean sound and a solid install, using those splices is not the way to get it. And using a line level converter usually introduces noise. You're best off getting a proper head unit and feeding good, clean signals to your amp(s).

My two cents.

 

No offense taken.

I've been installing my own (and friend's) stereo equipment for 15 yrs. I know what I'm doing, and the only reason, I'm trying to mess with this crap is because I really, really, really wanted to leave the stock deck. This is the only way to tap into the harness and leave it intact.

I have been messing with this crap for 2 days, but now I'm thinking of just doing what you said, and getting an aftermarket deck. It won't look stock anymore, but the sound quality will improve tons and I'll be done with all this chet in like 20 mins.

 

I know it won't match, but you and I both know it's for the best.