Yaesu FTM-6000R Install (Clean)

I purchased my new (and first) Tacoma in November 2023, a 2023 TRD Off-Road Double Cab. I've been a licensed ham radio operator for 16 years or so but haven't had a mobile radio unit installed in my vehicle for over 10. I decided that was time to change with the new truck, but I also wanted to be very careful to not start punching a bunch of holes in it or have wires dangling everywhere.

For the radio selection, I settled on a Yaesu FTM-6000r as I am familiar with Yaesu radios and, having previously owned a unit with a remote mountable head I knew this would be the best start to a clean install. One of the first things I bought to mount in the truck was an Expedition Essentials Dash Track Mount. This was at first mostly for a cell phone holder but it also would serve well as a platform for mounting the remote head.



After a lot of internet browsing and window shopping to look for ways to mount my antenna and the remote head I eventually realized I didn't really like any of the options available. As I am a CAD designer by trade with a lot of resources in metal fab shops I decided I would just design a custom bracket for the remote head, which would also allow me to integrate the mic clip without having to screw it into the dash, rely on double sided sticky tape, or let it just reside in a cup holder.



I wanted to mount the antenna for the radio at the hood of the truck rather than along the bed or on the roof and I was rather interested in this antenna mount by Rugged Radios, but one of the reviews I read on that mount somewhere said that due to some design change at the hood hinges in the 2023 model, this mount wouldn't work. I don't know if that's true but the combination of uncertainty and the $35 + shipping price swayed me to just design my own hood mount bracket as well. I had this laser cut from 1/4" aluminum and after a little bit of tweaking the bends to get the antenna straight vertical, the result was a very inexpensive and effective hood mount.





The antenna cable was run through the firewall using an existing grommet and then run under the passenger side edge trims to the radio location behind the back seat. I screwed the radio main body bracket to a piece of plywood cut to fit in half the plastic tray back there and then set that on a cut piece of that anti-slip foam used for toolbox drawers.


The power cables were run in the same way except those were run though the firewall and under the floor edge trims on the driver's side, then brought across to the radio unit under the carpet behind the back seats.

The next bits were the most challenging. In my opinion, one of the most brain dead design flaws of this particular radio unit is the fact that, despite it having a remote mountable head so that you can mount the main radio body in the trunk or similarly out of the way, the remote head doesn't have a place to plug the microphone handset into, it has to be plugged into the main radio body. What sense does that make? I would have to use a mic extension cable, as well as an extension cable for the data cable to connect the remote head to the main body. I wanted to avoid having visible wires, especially near/around the dash and avoid putting holes in my dash. The mic cable plug is a RJ-12 connector and I found this network panel pass-through that looked like I might be able to somehow fit it into one of the switch slots on the dash.


I had previously removed one of the switch blanks to install my trailer brake controller so I had one of those available to try and figure out how I could marry the two pieces up to create a functional pass-through insert. Unfortunately that wasn't going to work. The pass through and the switch slot in the dash were sized just enough off from each other that no matter what I did it would just be rigged and not look good.
At this point I realized that this panel pass through was actually two pieces that would separate from each other.



I turned to designing custom parts again and drew this model up to have a friend 3D print for me out of ABS. It was a true mesh between the switch insert blank and the face clip that holds the pass through. The result was this beauty that would securely hold the pass through in the Tacoma switch panel.



Then the data cable was run along with the RJ-12 cable up through the floor edge trims and up the dash. The RJ-12 went up to the switch panel and the Cat5e cable went up to the radio bezel. I had to cut a small slot through the track mount to pass the Cat5e cable through, and then affix a RJ-45 connector to plug into the back of the remote head.


This slot isn't really visible once everything is put back together because it is recessed down into the T-slot. Now all of the cables were run and things were ready to start getting put back together.





I'm very happy with the way this project turned out.

 

nice work!

 

If I may ask what antenna did you install? And how do you like the antenna? I'm looking at buying the yaesu ftm 6000r and I'm looking to see what antenna people like best. Thank you 73s

 

I like your install, particularly the clean wires. Any chance You (or your friend) would be willing to make/sell the 3D printed switch insert blank for the RJ-12 pass through?