FJ62 Stereo Install (1 Viewer)

[alpinecowboy]

I finally got around to installing my new stereo. I found it after deciding that I wanted a new unit for my FJ62 that was both modern just still blended into the interior of an FJ62.

Things that I wanted to have:
Ipod connection
AUX in connection
NOAA Weatherband
Stock/OEM Look
Relatively inexpensive for the quality

Here is what I found:
Panasonic CQ-5800U

I ended up doing the bundled kit that has the iPod adapter thrown in. To make it all work, I also purchased:

Scosche PassPort iPod charging adapter: this allows the unit to charge your ipod/iphone
Scosche Toyota wiring harness: this gives you an easy plug and play install to the existing FJ62 wiring harness for the new head unit.

 

[lolo62]

can you post pics?? i am about to replace mine as well. thanks for posting!

 

[alpinecowboy]

Doing the install is a total piece of cake. I can't stress this enough. I've never, ever installed a stereo in a car before... or in anything else for that matter so I was truly flying blind. My only references were whatever meek and feeble instructions came with the stereo and the wiring harness. This proved to be more than ample.

As you can see from the pics below, this stereo in particular is a PERFECT match for the OEM unit. It is the exact same size, shares all mounting points and even matches the green interior lighting for the rest of the dash. I didn't have to trim anything even a little bit - literally slid right in...

My hope in this thread is that it will encourage other novices like myself to give simple projects like this a try without getting discouraged.

So, here is my install tips, with pics:
0) Put your wiring harness together - this is just connecting the little Scosche wiring kit with the harness that comes with the radio. It is so simple as to be ridiculous... you are just matching wire colors up according to the little chart provided on the bag. If you can crimp and can tell wire colors apart then this is a cake-walk. If you are color-blind, have a friend help
1) Remove the upper and lower dash faces/guage cluster from under the dash. This is a piece of cake: Just unscrew 7-12 screws (depending on who your vehicle's previous owners were ), slide the pinch-knobs off of the climate control sliders and pull the two pieces. They should come relatively easily, so if they don't = look for a hidden screw.
2) disconnect the guages: these are all fusable links that only work with a specific match so I found this impossible so screw up.
2a) If you're conisdering an LED dash light upgrade, now is an excellent time to knock that little side project out!
3) Remove your old stereo. This should be a matter of just unscewing the four mounting screws, unplugging the main power and unplugging the antenna.
4) Grab your premade wiring harness from Step 0 and plug it into the harness you just unplugged from your stock radio.

On the pics below, the first two pics show the OEM unit and the Panasonic side-by-side for comparison of size. OEM is on the left, new unit is on the right. As you can see they are a dead-ringer for each other in terms of dimensions. Pic three shows the new harness all hooked up.

 

[lolo62]

my only concern with mine is that i am not going to be replacing the factory stereo. it's an aftermarket cd player and i'm pretty sure it's "rigged" in fact i know it is. i started to take it out the other day, and wires everywhere. i quickly put it back together and moved on to another project..lol

 

[LandBruiser69]

Hey man, nice looking unit!!! Very nice choice.

 

[alpinecowboy]

5) Remove the mounting plates off of both sides of the OEM stereo. Do this one side at a time so that you can have something to compare what holes they mount to and their orientation. Basically, the mounting plates should screw right into the sides of the new stereo.
On mine, I had to bend one tab on each side (noted below) to make it fit, but that was a piece of cake (just did it needle nose pliers). They just screw right in.

 

[alpinecowboy]

6) Decide where your iPod/iPhone will live and run the cable accordingly (dash, windshield mount, glove box, etc... the world is your oyster)
7) Plug the ipod cable into the new stereo, plug the stereo cable in and plug the antenna cable in.
8) Slide the new stereo in where the old one was and screw back down the mounting plates.
9) Reinstall your dash face and guages the same way you got them off... except tightening screws this time.
10) Enjoy the option to listen to music from any media source and with nice, clear power running through your speakers! All with an OEM look!

 

[alpinecowboy]

Final impressions of the stereo:

It is a great unit that does everything I want plus more. Having the weather radio is killer as is having the ability to plug everything from an ipod to a usb drive to a cd into this unit gives me tons of versatility.

I also like that it doesn't look out of place in my rig, nor is it something that I think would tempt someone to break in for it.

The sound quality is rock-solid, I also put in new speakers all the way around as well which helps. Getting the front to fit was a hassle as the windows couldn't roll down but I fixed that by buying a set of rear cargo mounts like the 62's all have and mounting those in my front door panels instead of the stock speaker grills. This was killer. It gave me way to get modern speakers in the front but pull their mounting surface out the 3/4" needed to give the windows clearance, that also looks stock.

100% happy with the results on this one.

 

[alpinecowboy]

Lolo, on that unit you have try to get a copy of the manual and more importantly the wiring harness for the stereo itself. If you have that and the Scosche kit you'll be able to pair the wires up easily enough. It is a ton of wires but they are pretty simple to sort out if you have the right instructions to work from. Orange goes to Orange, Grey goes to Grey, etc...

If the CD player you have ends up being a pain, go find a nice solid DoubleDin Head unit (DoubleDin refers to the tall/thick stereos like FJ62's have vs the SingleDin skinny stereos that FJ60's have) new/refurbed and buy it. They are so cheap that you shouldn't punish yourself over the install... Like I said I was in for $150 total and it was a 45 minute job total...

 

[lolo62]

it looks so good, like it was made for the 62! thank you so much for posting in such detail. much appreciated!

 

[alpinecowboy]

No worries - how did your OME stabilizer install go?

 

[lolo62]

No worries - how did your OME stabilizer install go?

it's pretty solid.. definitely can tell a difference from the factory one. i'll be trying it out for the first time on the trail this weekend at the Jamboree, so i'll let you know. have you gotten one yet?

 

[alpinecowboy]

No, not yet. I was turned onto Hydo-assist steering setups and I'm looking into them. I've spoken with a few folks that have them and so far it's been pretty heavy praise:

Redneck Ram HydroAssist

 

[alkarich]

New stereo looks great!

 

[alpinecowboy]

Thanks for the props. Definitely pleased with it.

 

[lolo62]

are you just using your factory speakers or have you replaced those as well? if so, with what?

 

[NYC FJ62]

Great work on your first time installing! This coming from someone who did automotive stereo/alarm work for way too long.

How does it look at night ? Got pics ?

 

[NYC FJ62]

Hmmm....

Great looking radio/functionality. No RCA outputs though..I'd like to add a sub/amp later on when changing out the speakers.

 

[alpinecowboy]

Thanks, I'll try to grab a picture of it at night for you. It looks just right to me.

Lolo, I am running new speakers as well:
Polk Audio 6.5 in the rear cargo area
Polk Audio 5.25 in the front doors

These were a good value in terms of overall sound quality for the money (given the fact that I'm driving a 22 year old rattlecan around so I can't be too stereophonically picky...)

The rear set install no problem at all. The OEM speaker housings make installing any speaker pretty simple. I had to tamp down the housing on the speakers a little bit to get the fit but it wasn't too big of a deal.

The front set are too big for my doors in terms of depth. The OEM speakers are really shallow to allow the window to roll down... Luckily, I found an easy fix: I just bought a set of OEM cargo area speaker enclosures from folks that were parting out an FJ62 and mounted them in my door panels. Looks killer, looks OEM and allowed me to mount the speakers in 10min allowing plenty of clearance for the windows to roll down.

Speaker installs is a piece of cake and again, I've never even tried this before.

As to the amp hookup, I can't help you there... Like I said, I've never done any stereo work before so I'm not sure how amps even hookup. But you are correct - this is no RCA on the back of the unit.

 

[MANUCHAO]

That stero looks pretty OEM.. gotta love the look.... !!!

Good job !!