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Change of plans! I'm going to be running these JBL 3" Avalon dash speakers after all. I didn't give them a proper chance before by letting them rattle on the desk, and I certainly am glad I decided to tear off the cover. MUCH brighter sound and crisper highs with that cover off! I'm trying to decide if I'll be replacing it with something different / thinner or just not running one at all. All of the aftermarket 3.5" don't have a cover anyway so I'm not sure if I really need it - plus, the factory grille insert seems sufficient enough. These little guys have vibrant vocals and you can actually push them pretty hard - something not possible with the stock ones! Although it's not printed on the speaker, this JBL dash speaker along with the other door speakers measured around 2 ohms. The stock dash speaker are rear doors are 4 ohms and the front door speakers are 2 ohm like the new JBLs. I'll be measuring two tweeters (JBL vs stock Pioneer) once I have them side by side, but I expect them to be higher. The JBLs are a great match for the RX's stock amplifier, you may have to crank it up quite a bit if you elect to swap to the Mark Levinson stock speakers as they are all much higher at 8 ohms.
I just did a frequency sweep on them and they can go as low as 100 Hz and top out at about 17k Hz (not bad considering the JBL tweeter tops out at about 20k Hz. I'm no expert by means with this stuff, quite the opposite - but being younger will let me hear some higher frequencies
The reason I'm opting out of the aftermarket 2-way 3.5" offerings by JBL and Infinity as I keep hearing complaints from Toyota / Lexus owners who have their speakers located in the same place as our RX. Right at the windshield! The tweeters in them are supposedly a little too harsh. I figure since a lot of these RAV4s don't even have tweeters in the a-pillar or even at all, it would be even worse for me especially since I already have those JBL a-pillar tweeters on the way. For those reasons, I'm deciding to stick with my JBL dash speakers that I got for grand total of 8 dollars. Definitely a solid little 3" fullrange speaker, especially for the price I paid for them.
Removing the cover revealed a nice looking speaker - like the door panel JBLs!
Top view of the cover, you can hardly see through i!
Side view - it's super thick at .5mm!
As for now, I obviously need to replace the foam surrounds for when they're mounted in, and I'm still contemplating on adding some bass blockers to keep them capped to around ~260 Hz and above. They really shine around there and above! That's it for now, and I'll be testing the stock ones for sure once they come out!
I want to thank you again for providing our 2RX community with amazing pictures and diary of your RX project. It's given me some inspiration to tackle some maintenace and nice to have's on my 07 at some point this year. First up is my rack and pinion! Cardone reman's are pretty cheap on rockauto.
Thanks for the kind words! The Cardone racks are cheap (only 2x the price of a used one), especially 2001-2003 Highlander ones. However, I don’t think reman racks are usually done correctly especially on these cars. Lots of Highlander owners 01-03 and 04-07 alike have had problems with the Cardones and have had to send them back - sometimes multiple times.
I had a really bad experience with a Cardone brake caliper on my Highlander. The rear calipers are aluminum and they sent me a caliper with a dented piston which was never changed, just polished, plus the aluminum banjo bolt threads were completely stripped out. By the time I went to install it my return window was up and I was LIVID!!
If you do end up with a 2001-2003 Highlander rack, the easiest way to have it completely mount up is to use 2004+ Camry outer tie rod. These are the same tie rods as a 2001-2003 Highlander/Camry, with the right length for the 01-03 inner rods and the correct taper for the 2004-2009 RX’s knuckle.
I just used new 2004-2009 RX inner and outer tie rods but the above applies if you want to keep the 01-03 Highlander inner tie rods.
I have had the 2005-2012 Toyota Avalon JBL speakers in for a while but I waited for the tweeters before making an update. A lot of people hate on the JBL system and it's a very "hot" topic on the various Toyota forums. I'm not an audiophile, but I was a music student and appreciate quality sound. While I was not expecting this to sound like a high end aftermarket system with component speakers, crossovers, etc - I am SUPER happy for how little I paid vs. the improvement it brought! People expect a lot out of the JBL system, and maybe they have a right to if they paid for it new - but I didn't!
This cost about 84 CAD all-in and includes: Two 2 ohm 6x9 front door speakers (6.5" speaker in a 6x9" bracket - 6.5" or 6.75" aftermarket speaker can be substituted) 2 ohm 6.5" rear door speakers (Similar to the front speakers, although glued into the bracket so they're not removable) 2 ohm 3.15" dash speakers (2.75" measured - way better than the muddy factory ones, I can actually hear them! They can play to a higher frequency, but mostly shine with the punchier mids!) and 5 ohm 1 - 1 3/8" tweeters. Like the door and dash speakers, these are plug & play with the stock harness. These were original equipment on the 03-09 Toyota Harrier (right side was not a direct fit read more to find out).
2x 86160-AC430 - Front speaker
2x 86160-AC280 - Rear speaker
2x 86160-AC271 - Dash speaker 1x 86160-0W740 - Left tweeter
1x 86160-0W730 - Right tweeter
These resemble the tweeters in my 2002 Highlander w/ JBL and are aluminum. Like the Avalon JBL dash speakers, these tweeters use a neo magnet, have fantastic crisp highs and sound great with vocals and instruments like saxophones, etc. Perfect for what I listen to! I prefer them over the larger voice coil Avalon/Prius tweeters which are punchier but not as crisp. You can get a decent sound out of this cheap junkyard setup if you play with the EQ, use .FLAC files on a CD and if you add sound deadening to the doors, and where the speakers mount. For EQ I used -1 bass, -2 mid and 2 treble. I can't wait to get an aftermarket head unit like on the 'Lander and get higher sound quality and more control over this stuff! Obviously I wasn't expecting miracles but I was pretty surprised with how well this all turned out. The setup's a little bit mid-range focused and (obviously) lacks some bass, but I will be adding a 8" or 10" subwoofer running off an Alpine amp to solve the bass response. For now, all of the speakers are running on the original Pioneer amp with no issue.
Part 1 - What this car lacked the most after the dash speakers - Highs / Tweeters!
Stock tweeter - complete and utter garbage! It won't be very hard to improve upon this junk that sounds like a "phone speaker"!
JBL new old stock tweeter - what a great upgrade for 8 dollars! MUCH better in every way! Sounds like an actual tweeter!
JBL - left, Pioneer - right
Great time to sound deaden your A pillars!
The driver's side tweeter was a perfect fit. For the passenger side, I had to take the original tweeter off its bracket and transfer it over to the JBL tweeter. Philips screw to remove it, be prepared as it takes a lot of force to take it off! Pry it off and remove as much of the old goop / adhesive that you can. The JBL tweeter then needs to come off, this one is also super tight and is a 7mm nut on a stud instead of a screw into the back of a magnet. Make sure to spread the wires away from the nut so they don't get damaged. Transfer the JBL tweeter onto the stock bracket, clock it correctly so the connector lines up properly and viola! I learned that the tweeters in this car are actually directional and have different part numbers. The other side is not as common and sells for almost 3x as much on eBay. After seeing how easy it was to swap it over, I'm not sure it's worth it to pay extra...
Like the factory tweeters, the dash speakers are very weak, muddy and are horrible. They're listed as being 2.5" in size, but measure out to be about 2.25" instead. Mine were disintegrating and showing their age. Most of the info for these is posted above, but I'll post some pictures to show how I mounted them. They're 2 ohm and are listed as being 3.15" but are actually the common 2.75" size but with more plastic surrounding it which is what will be getting in the way of these being a direct fit. To get these beefy fullrange speakers in, you will have to slot the bracket and slightly modify the speaker grilles. Since the speaker is larger and taller than stock, foam must go onto the grille instead of the speaker itself for a good fit. More info here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...er-system.html
This guy was falling apart, probably from being out in the sun for 15 years! Flimsy paper cone and surround - super crusty!
Nice! Unlike the stock one, this speaker spent its life near the back seat of an Avalon where no sun could reach it!
Next up is replacing the bulbs down by where the shifter is. My heated seat switch and ECT snow light were burned out. The windshield washer and shifter light were dim and probably not too far behind, I also decided to change my cigarette lighter light from a green LED I installed prior to a white one. I decided to "make" my own bulbs for the neo wedges by wrapping 3mm bulbs and a 5mm 12v "hat" into the factory neo wedge bases. The pre-made ones were complete crap and didn't even come close to fitting at all! The leads for the bulbs were way too thick, and the base's tabs were not even close to fitting the factory Toyota switches. The cig light had some weird proprietary bulb, I ended up soldering a 74 LED bulb to the factory leads. I'll be dealing with the bulbs up top when I change my factory head unit. I have done the whole interior on my Highlander already in yellow, so this shouldn't be too far off from that. For my heated steering wheel switch, I switched to a 3mm 3v LED bulb to change it from amber to white to suit the interior. I also plan to add a TRAC OFF switch from a FWD 2004-2010 Sienna at the junkyard. I'll be hooking this up to disable traction control, as I was getting tired of reaching under the dash to disable it.
Bulbs needed:
Cigarette light - 74 type LED / 12v 5mm LED bulb
Shift light - 74 type LED
Windshield washer - T3 neo wedge / 12v 3mm LED bulb
ECT snow - T3 neo wedge / 12v 3mm LED bulb
Seat heater - T4.2 neo wedge / 12v 5mm LED bulb
TRAC switch - T3 neo wedge / 12v 3mm LED bulb
Heated steering switch - 3v 3mm LED bulb
TRAC OFF from 2004-2010 FWD Sienna
New colour for heated steering. White instead of amber
Cigarette light
Shifter light
ECT snow & Windshield washer & TRAC switch
Seat heater
Nice and crisp white! Much easier to see than the dim green lights from before.
Part 3 - Something I have been missing since I got the car!
2008 RX350 complete owner's manual!
WOW!
Part 4 - What's next?
Now onto some mechanical stuff! My previous experiment of running a Chrysler 300C 5.7 flow valve for the power steering was an EPIC fail. It didn't firm up the steering, it actually did the opposite! My guess was due to the 300's larger PS pulley and possible rack differences. My next attempt will be a 2005-2010 Scion TC power steering pump. The TC has the same pulley size as the RX and physically fits. As a "sportier" car, I'm hoping this is the key to firmer and heavier steering in 07-09 RX350s! Staying on the topic of steering, I also decided to pick up a power steering cooler. You can use any power steering cooler that comes on the 2001-2007 4-cyl tow package Highlander or one of the super rare ones that came on our generation of RX if you can find one! (They weren't put on cars in North America). The one I bought was the Sunsong 3404295 one from Rockauto. Now this is all fine and dandy, but it doesn't come with the brackets. You need to source those from a 4-cyl TP Highlander or unicorn 2nd gen RX that was built with the cooler installed. I retrofitted the cooler on my Highlander and after hard Auto X runs, the fluid hardly rose at all! I'll need to find those brackets for my RX before I can install the cooler and I plan to do it along with the P/S pump, oil cooler o-ring / gasket and possibly the front and rear exhaust headers. In the meantime, I have painted the cooler in black enamel engine paint.
Power steering cooler! Looks almost identical to the one on my 2002 Highlander.
Next goodies to play with are illuminated mirror switches from a Lexus CT200h! Unlike the stock ones, these will require some different wiring to light up, it's just way cooler! I'll be tackling that soon on both my Highlander and 08 RX. Once I have these items rigged up (power steering + switches + other maintenance), I'll update this post! At this point, my RX is nearly respected as much as my trusty 2002 Highlander that hasn't let me down to this day. This thing has been a pleasure to own and I hope to own it for many more years to come!
Matt, I know you've said you're switching all the bulbs to LED, but are you doing the Fog Lights, too?
Our fog lights are useless in the fog, in my opinion. The bulbs (and perhaps the location/aim) are so dim and pathetic, they make no difference whatsoever. I can't even tell the lights are on.
I'm wondering if LED bulbs would make a significant difference.
Did the fog lights a while ago w/ amber 9006 LEDs. The result was barely more noticeable than OEM. I feel like the design of our fog lights is strictly focused on looks instead of good light projection. The light is so unfocused and just glares everywhere so I hardly use them.
I bet the RX400h guys have better luck than us, but I have never been impressed with OEM fog light housings
Alright, so nothing major has happened on the RX which is why this post has been a little dead. HOWEVER I need to document some stuff here so I have an organized/easy place to go and check my checklist, etc. so, I hope this is interesting enough! With that, I also have some more updates and future plans which I will also get more in-depth with at the end of the post. A lot of this stuff has been documented in other posts, but I feel like it would be nice to tie it all together in here.
2004-2009 Mark Levinson models have really nice metal mesh dash speaker grilles vs the flimsy plastic ones Pioneer models come with. Pair these less-restrictive grilles with the 3.15" Avalon dash speakers and the better mounting surface to add foam and you have yourself a no-brainer free junkyard upgrade! PNP fit!
Lookin' good! It also really shows off your dash speaker
TC grille installed finally! I much prefer the horizontal design vs. vertical, and it reminding me of my Highlander is another awesome bonus. I had to replace most of the hardware as I wasn't in the most ideal situation, but it worked great in the end! More about it in the post above!
Buick 3-note horns installed (Notes A, F and C). Yet another mod that I miss from the Highlander. Some LOUD horns! Unlike the Highlander, our larger RXs have the room to fit the big ol' Delco Remy metal horns from Buicks, Cadillacs and other GM cars from the 70s / 80s / 90s. They don't make them like they used to! Wired to a 30 amp waterproof 2008-2019 Grand Caravan relay, and 20-amp inline fuse. Mounted that relay in the same spot as the Highlander too (driver side near fuse box).
WOW! This is one of the best things I have done to the car! It's finally as fun as the Highlander now (maybe!). Some nice responsive and stiffened power steering by swapping the guts of a 2005-2010 Scion TC PS pump into my original RX pump. The Scion pump is almost 100% identical internally except for the pressure and flow valves, but externally the bottom hole isn't threaded so you have to swap those over. I also rebuilt my pump with a seal kit and it is super smooth, quiet and leak-free now! Nice, weighted steering and great feedback but still not overly firm. It's a little heavier than my Highlander which is a good thing for me! This was the final piece of the puzzle in making this thing feel more fun and sporty. It's a GREAT match to the 2001-2003 Highlander steering rack and polyurethane rack bushings.
Eventually, I'll install my power steering cooler to complete the package (if I can find those darned brackets).
Now that the RX is becoming more and more fun to drive, two things are clear as day. One: This thing needs an exhaust. Two: Wallet emptying is inevitable (refer to reason one)
✅ Headers (Weapon R - #953-204-121)
❌ Catalytic converters (2x 8" Magnaflow cat 2.25" in/out - #53955)
✅ 02 bungs (M18 x 1.5)
❌ Front pipe bank 2 (Needs to be custom made and enlarged to 2.25")
❌ Rear pipe bank 1 (Needs to be custom made to fit rear header)
❌ X-pipe (Needs to be custom made or bought)
✅ Middle resonator (22" oval resonator 2.25" in / 2.5" out from 2015-2022 Mustang GT)
✅ Rear mufflers (2x 14" Magnaflow muffler 2.25" in/out - #14325)
✅ Exhaust tips (9" angled tips w/ chrome finish from 2011-2014 Mustang GT)
Headers? - Check
Resonator (Replacing middle muffler)
Mufflers (replacing rear resonator)
2023 checklist:
- Replace leaking engine oil cooler o-ring.
- Install power steering cooler
- Install front header w/ new OEM studs, nuts and gasket after cleaning mating surface (Bumper has to come off for all this crap anyway so do it all at once)
- Figure out illuminated window switch wiring (fully-lit switch was a fail, so trying top-lit one)
- Get two 8" Magnaflow high-flow cats and a 2.25" x-pipe and front pipe made
- DIY install rear header and get exhaust made
- Install aftermarket headunit (reverse cam wiring is already wired)
- Install LEDs into upper info screen
- Reinforce oil cach can mounting
- Get front windows tinted to 25%
- Get coilovers (eventually)
That's the checklist and progress update so far! The RX is chugging along nicely. I just passed 365,000 km and did another oil change. The sludge inside the oil canister is becoming less and less, but it is still there. My magnet drain plug always has more metal shavings on it than my babied Highlander, but it's nothing horrible. Hopefully, one day I can get rid of most of the sludge, but at least it seems I have put a stop to it. As I have said before, if I need an engine, I WILL get another 2GR for this car! I already that spare U151F tranny too from a 2012 Highlander should I ever need one.
Needs a wash, but still lookin' sexy in 2023 nontheless!
Matt, did you ever consider running some BG flush to clean it out? I've seen some vids on YT (from real world channels, not sponsored junk), and it really looks to do amazing work, bringing back some seriously bad engines...
It's harder to find up here in Canada, but I'm sure you can get some thru amazon, or a trip down to the US border!
I might have to try that! I have a US address I can ship it to so that’s going on the list! Thanks for the suggestion! Kleen-Flo engine flush didn’t do much so I kind of gave up but I should try again with the BG stuff.
MASSIVE news for the RX today! I finally have some functional prototype brackets made for my V2 rear sway bar mounts for 99-09 AWDs! My drawings / mock up were a close match and the brackets had great fitment! They fit both my RX350 and Highlander, but I'm going to need to get another set made for the RX! Going to clean these up, paint them and put them to the test on the Highlander! The Highlander's getting them first because I already have a large sway bar to use them on (22.2mm), my RX350 just has the 16mm 04-07 Highlander one, as there is no size equivalent to the Addco 2109 for it. Now that I have the brackets and know they work, I can focus on getting an aftermarket sway bar made for my RX!
Success!!! Finally have my big 22mm rear sway bar back on my 2002 Highlander after years of it sitting in the basement after the factory brackets broke! Version two of the brackets are all painted up and on the car. Have had them on for three days and there is no flexing and creaking like the factory junk brackets that snapped within a month! So far it has been amazing and I absolutely miss this setup whenever I have to go back to the RX. These brackets fit my RX, but they're on the Highlander as it has a sway bar that's a big enough caliber to warrant them. Plan #1 so far is to revise the passenger side a little bit to make installation onto the car itself easier, but fitment on the car and bar itself is absolutely perfect, even more so than the original brackets which hold the bar a little crooked on the passenger side and don't tie into as many points on the frame as my new design does. Plan #2 is to get a custom sway bar made for the RX so it is as planted and as neutral-handling as the Highlander
