2021 Stereo Wiring Diagram & Dudu7 11.5" Install

Hi guys,


DUDU7 pre-install experience thus far:
I've been lurking TW since I bought my 2021 TRD Sport, and I believe this is my first time posting anything. Lately I have been in the process of prepearing/installing a new stereo head-unit. The entune is pretty bad, especially compared to the current android head-unit market. I mean, no free built-in navigation? Frequent response lag? Ugly GUI? Yuck.

Anyways, I was in the market for a new head-unit. After much research, I decided on the new Mekede DUDU7 android head-unit. Unfortunately it's Chinese, but it looks better than anything else on the market. Decent support albiet through unconventional platforms like telegram.


I bought the 11.5" screen 8x 2.7ghz processing cores, 12gb memory, 256gb storage. I've researched that the unit interfaces with canbus (needs decoder), steering wheel controls, 360 camera, odb2 (bluetooth), etc) The dudu OS looks really good. Highly customizable, lagless, frequent updates, and I believe they even have an API that software developers can use.

I bought mine on Amazon. They have a version that comes with a tacoma wiring harness and a VERY ugly looking bezel piece. I didn't go for that, because the bezel is disgusting for an extra $200. So I bought 'universal' version, thinking wiring couldn't be that bad. There's gotta be some sort of ISO standard plug that everyone uses now, and this thing might be plug and play, right? If not, I could easily access this modern vehicle's wiring diagram online and make my own harness, because whatever discrete connectors toyota uses is likely a common package, right?



Modern Vehicle aftermarket wiring is easy right? WRONG WRONG WRONG!
There's about 75-100 wires going into what appears to be proprietary connectors. I'm also convinced that search engines pretty much censor everything unless it's info from an 'approved' website, so any information on this wiring has essentially been scrubbed from the web, or never has a chance to be a result in a search. Real 'Ministry of Truth' vibes...

I have a friend who turns wrenches for a living whom has access to a wiring diagram database. He entered my model (2021 TRD Sport 4WD 3.5L 4-Door) and sent me the diagrams for my Taco. It contains both 'internal amp' and 'external amp' configurations. So I share this with you (if for some Orwellian reason, this isn't allowed -- please let me know).

Advice for those who might go for the DUDU7
Don't be like me. I made a ton of assumptions, and didn't pay attention enough. It turns out, Mekede will actually contact you directly upon purchase. They will ask for your vehicle information so they can send you a compatible wiring harness!! Boy would that have been convenient. I ended up buying the correct harness (comes with canbus decoder), and now I wait for it.

In the meantime, I am figuring out how to best mount this 11.5" unit, which is obviously much larger than the stock bezel opening. Since this head unit is quite thin/light, I think I will be mounting it directly to the bezel, since mounting to the stock bolt holes in the back is not really an option. It actually looks like it won't look bad.




If this thread generates any interest, I can post updates of the install as I make progress. It's also worth noting I have already installed the OEM Audio Reference 500, a few years back. This system was designed to recieve the normal high-level speaker outputs from the headunit. So this should be able to plug into mekede's Taco harness just fine. I'm not sure if this will change how the audio sounds with OEM's DSP being calibrated to the entune, but the DUDU7's audio controls look robust enough to configure it back to sounding just as good, or maybe even better.

 

Do you have a link for the one that comes with the tacoma harness?

 

Of course! It seems like links are not allowed in TW? I'll show it within an image, just in case.


Also, Here's what it looks like.



For some reason, this one looks a lot better than the harness+bezel (no head-unit) listing.


At least it does in the product image.

I couldn't find a way to buy ONLY the harness on Amazon (AliExpress may have it). However, Mekede offered me a partial refund if I only wanted the harness.

 

Thanks.
To me , the bezel looks the same in each pic

 

Not quite. Ignoring the vents, the color and finish are off. Their silver is lighter. And the plastic finish is shiny instead of matte. It's impossible to be certain on exactly how different it is until one gets their hands on it. But for me, any difference is a deal breaker.

 

Quick update:

I spoke with Mekede service via Amazon, and they refunded me the value of the bezel they didn't send. I believe the kit was $80 and they refunded me $50. So $30 for the harness they would have sent if I had responded to them during the inital Head-Unit purchase. No biggie, except I'm impatient and spent $50 on expedited shipping. I recieved the harness about 2 days rather than 2 weeks though. They also offered to send other accessories, like a DVR, instead of the bezel, but I opted for the refund.

Anyways, I was able to install the head unit on the stock bezel without looking too terrible.




Screen looks pretty good while playing a youtube video of Devin Townsend

I will try to share more details on how I mounted, when I have more time. I may modify it slightly to move the head unit up half an inch, to clear the AC display better. I still need to figure out how I want to best mount the additional 2x USB + 1 USB-C cables that the head unit provides as well. It'd be good to somehow use the extra control panel blanks for this.

I also did end up purchasing Mekede's 360 Panaroma camera system which I still need to install. Probably this weekend.

It sounds great with my OEM Audio Plus 500 System after a few adjustments. The depth of sound tweaking is seriously SOUND ENGINEER level deep. Hell, the equalizer has 36 channels/bands! Deep DTS configuring too. I've only scratched the surface on what this head-unit can do.

The unit also talks to the Tacoma's canbus just fine. Steering wheel controls work. You can define button functions. It recognizes turn signals, lights, reverse camera still works fine, etc. There hasn't been a single issue with compatibility that I could find yet.



Absolutely thrilled with it thus far. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I'll try to do a follow-up post with more details on the install, and the DUDU OS.

 

Do you still have all the lights, door locks, vehicle settings that were on the oem HU?

 

Could you elaborate? AFAIK the functionality has been retained, but I'm not quite sure what you are referring to, since it seemed like the stock head unit was rather rudimentary. It's possible we are speaking of two different HU, or perhaps I'm ignorant with all the stock HU 'features'? I certainly don't remember any door lock integration. Just dimming and a dumb MPG graph.

 

Mainly the lights and vehicle settings. Headlight sensitivity, etc.