My '88 4Runner's radio works great, but the cassette player died many years ago. I'm looking for recommendations of a newer radio/CD player that will fit perfectly into the rather large slot for the existing radio. Ideally a radio/CD player from a later model Toyota which I might get off of EBay.

 

try www.crutchfield.com and then you can compare prices.

 

when i bought my 93 pickup, the PO's son had put in a Camry's stereo - it had the head unit w/cassette, then the second slot was the cd player. i dunno if it will work in a 2nd gen truck, but for the 3rd gen it was a direct plugin. i no loner have it as i've since upgraded to an Xplod head unit. if you're gonna do any swapping of your head unit you might as well put in a new aftermarket one with an aux input. no sense in going backwards technology wise.

 

I had a kenwood mp3 cd player in my 88' pickup that I liked alot. It came with the correct plug to the stock connector (but required soldering the supplier harness to the cd player) as well as the tray to mount it in. Try sonicelectronix.com, it is generally cheaper than crutchfield and also comes with free installation supplies. I have had good luck with them

 

Got my stereo and speakers from Crutchfield. Lots of options and price ranges. I installed a stereo in a friend's van and got all their stuff at Walmart. Walmart has good prices on the wire harnesses but not a great selection on the radios.

 

What he said.

Free phone support if you get stuck.
You can shop based on your budget.
They also supply adapter wiring harness (usually for free) so that you don't have to cut'n'splice.

 

i just installed my new XDMA6330BT Dual in my '86..and it's fricken AMAZING!!! i had a Jensen in there before..and it crapped out on my after about 8 months to a year.

main reason i got it was because of the USB input on the front..it allows me to QUICKLY put songs onto my USB flash drive and take off..i probably won't use the CD player much LMAO!! oh and it's got red backlighting..which will match the rest of the dash lights when i put it in my '92 4runner (after i change em out for some red LOL)

 

wow..hopefully when i go to install it into my '92 it's harness won't be all buggered up like my '86's was....

 

i'd put in a alpine or pioneer because they have the aux input that you can control from the face of the headunit... i have a pioneer unit and have my ipod hooked up and it stays in my glovebox... pretty gnarly.. then i added a box under to fill the cavity but i've seen dudes put in full size cb radios.... use your imagination!

 

My 4Runner came with an old Alpine unit with no real iPod controls, only line-level aux input through the CD changer input -- after I bought the $8 adapter.

I also bought the generic iPod harness: clicks into the dock slot on the bottom of the iPod and has power in, audio/video out. No need for the fancy usb harnesses since the stereo can't handle it anyway.

Some URLs to adapters like what I bought:
http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-ABS-A.../dp/B003108B02
http://www.amazon.com/Peripheral-PXP.../dp/B000GAYLUE
http://www.amazon.com/PIE-RCA-iPD-Ne.../dp/B001KM778U


Lastly, a remote control that uses the remote input control slot on top of the iPod. Here's a url to an image of one that'll do the trick: http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/pro...42iPRFC-fp.jpg

The controls are velcro-strapped to my steering wheel.

The audio portion of the remote control doesn't work since the audio out of the dock port is "line level" (meaning, fixed). This isn't a problem for me, I adjust the volume with the knob on the stereo face.

 

Yota4runna--did the '95 stereo fit the opening perfectly? I don't want any gaps.

 

Looks good. Thank you for posting the photo.

 

Yota4runna, do you have any tips on getting the radio out or is it pretty straight forward?

 

Use Crutchfield for reference but I wouldn't suggest buying from them. They are great people and really knowledgable but they are just too expensive. I use sonicelectronix.com and ebay. I just picked up a Clarion NX409 in dash nav unit from ebay for about $460 and it's double din so it will fit your truck. Just about any double din should fit your factory location. Me personally, I hate a hacked up dash just to put in a cd player.

 

one thing to remember when swapping a newer toy double-din size unit is to get one that doesn't have an external amp system. Some are powered from within and some have anextra amp unit stashed elsewhere. But there's a lot of cd-cassette units on ebay and a casssette adapter works as aux in just fine

 

I used www.onlinecarstere.com when I bought a new head unit and speakers. Great prices and selection, and free shipping on orders over $99. The only problem I found is their fit guide, it said I could only use double-din stereos in my truck, which is not true.

 

And the rest of the story......
Bought a like-new radio out of a 2008 FJ Cruiser for 99 cents on EBay. Has AM,FM 1&2, single CD and reads WMA/MP3 files. Toyota list is $1356.00.
It is same height as my stock double DIN, but is wider at the face plate; however, behind the faceplate the radio box is identical in size to the stock '88 radio.
The FJ radio had the same holes as mine for attaching the mounting hardware. All I had to do was flatten the screw holes on the hardware because the '88 hardware has a conical depression where each of 4 screws goes that is matched on the radio box, but the FJ radio box screw holes do not have a depression. If you don't flatten the depression on the side hardware it sits out too far when screwed onto FJ radio. Used a metal punch; took 10 minutes.
The wiring is plug and play---amazing 1988 to 2008, no change.
FJ radio fit right into the hole; however, the wider faceplate blocks easy access to the 4 screws that hold the side hardware to the frame. I pre-placed the 4 screws and used a long, very thin phillips head screwdriver. I was able to get the bottom 2 screws in completely, but had to settle on getting the top 2 in partially, and at an angle. It's not a problem because the top portion of the side hardware hangs on 2 supporting plastic knobs. At this pint the radio is rock solid.
The dash cover had to be cut to allow it to fit back on because the controls on the faceplate of the FJ radio are set wider than the opening. I used a Dremel with a plastic cutting wheel and cut each side exactly where there is a line currently. The top and bottom of the dash cover do not need alteration, so my side cuts extended exactly to the level of the top and bottom lines.
End result is the radio looks stock except for amber vs green backlighting, and it sounds terrific!!
The FJ Cruiser upgrade has a 6 CD changer, but otherwise looks to be the same dimensions as the one I got. On it you can also modulate the backlighting between green, amber, blue and red. I've seen 2 go on EBay for about $60.
DICE electronics makes an iPOD adapter for these radios that plugs into the socket for the steering wheel controls; about $150. It allows the iPOD to be hidden in your glove box and the radio to control the iPOD selections. If my CD ever breaks I'll just go to the iPOD solution.

 

I installed a 08 Scion XB CD player in my 87 4Runner.

It has a built in 160 watt amp. Works great for my Ipod.

Pictures:

 

It looks like many of the current model double DIN radios have the same width. You appear to have cut the sides of your dash cover on either side exactly where I cut mine to fit the dash over the '08 FJ Cruiser radio I installed.
Did the Scion radio, like the FJ Cruiser unit, plug right into the existing wiring, and did your 4Runner side plates screw into predrilled holes on the Scion radio box?

 

Yea i had the same problem so i just threw a CB in there! its a little long so the bottom of the box sticks out about a half inch but other than that its awesome!