After taking apart my old Kenwood TM-v71a and trying to resurrect it after it took a swim in the Bob Williams River I realized it was useless. The control board was completely shot. The radio was on and in transmission when is was submerged. But the control head never got wet since it was on the dash. So still good for parts I guess.
So I’ve been shopping around for a new radio to put in the Tacoma. I thought about getting another Kenwood but they haven’t released any new mobile models in over 15 years. ICOMs are nice but their screens are too sensitive to heat. So I settled for the Yaesu FTM-400XDR.
Finding a spot to mount the control head in the Tacoma ended up being the hardest part. I played around with different mount types and different locations for far too long before deciding on using a RamMount off the side of the center console. This way I have a little flexibility with it and can still fit a large Yeti style cup in the holder.
I also replaced the factory battery terminals with some fancy billet ones from SDHQ and the battery hold down as well. Additionally I also swapped out the factory flooded 24F battery for an X2 Power AGM 27F (made by Northstar.
Now I need to start planning out the dual battery system and auxiliary circuits. I know that I’ll be using the Blue Sea 7622 for the isolator and that I have plans for my fridge, compressor, radios, external GPS, some more 12v aux and USB ports, lights, and 1500w inverter. I learned a lot when wiring the accessories on the old 80 and I’m sure I can do this install even cleaner. It just won’t be cheap.