Factory Amp & Alpine Stereo Install (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Threads
32
Messages
270
Location
Kirtland, OH
I was told by a radio install shop today that the 1993 Land Cruiser came factory with an amp. If so, where the hell is this thing at? I want to install an aftermarket Alpine 9847 CD player and need to know what connectors I could get to hook to the factory wiring.

This radio shop told me you basically have to rewire the whole damn thing. That doesn't seem right to me.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

John
 
I was told by a radio install shop today that the 1993 Land Cruiser came factory with an amp. If so, where the hell is this thing at? I want to install an aftermarket Alpine 9847 CD player and need to know what connectors I could get to hook to the factory wiring.

This radio shop told me you basically have to rewire the whole damn thing. That doesn't seem right to me.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

John

That shop is full of it. Run, Forrest, RUN!!!


Anyway... The factory amp is behind the passenger tweeter, next to the glovebox. Remove the glovebox, then the panel that the speaker is attached to. The amp is the small, rectangular box. Unplug and dismount the amp.

In my case, all 8 speakers still worked. I had already removed the factory "subwoofer". But, as always, YMMV.

Install the new head unit.

Simple as that. :cheers:
 
Cool! Well, can an aftermarket alpine work with the stock amp? If so - which alpine<-->Toyota adapter plugs do I need? I have the radio area out and can see three different sets of plugs - not sure which does what.

Thanks!

John
 
245169809_w5U6N-M.jpg
245169943_5qqDS-M.jpg
245170034_Bb6g9-M.jpg


You can get Crutchfield wiring harnesses to jack the Alpine straight into the factory wiring:
Toyota/LX450 w/amp
Toyota no amp

Link to my Alpine installation

I got both harnesses with my installation, and I think I used parts from both. BUT I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY since the installation was about 10 months ago.

Rather than trying to give you any details about the installation you may or may not need, feel free to ask questions, and I'd be glad to respond.

HTH

-KK
 
Cool! Well, can an aftermarket alpine work with the stock amp? If so - which alpine<-->Toyota adapter plugs do I need? I have the radio area out and can see three different sets of plugs - not sure which does what.

Thanks!

John

I just got an adapter from Walmart. Scosche TA-02, IIRC.

You use the two plugs that were NOT plugged into the radio.
 
Last edited:
That shop is full of it. Run, Forrest, RUN!!!


Anyway... The factory amp is behind the passenger tweeter, next to the glovebox. Remove the glovebox, then the panel that the speaker is attached to. The amp is the small, rectangular box.


Yep, still trying to figure out what happened to mine as I was just putting carpets back in the truck and started it.... smoked the factory amp (literally smoke pouring out of this thing). PO put in an aftermarket stereo but don't think they used the amp (think you need a special plug or bypass it).

Anyway... good luck.

Scott
 
Well, when I bought the 80, it didn't have a radio in it - so I have been driving around for 2 weeks w/o tunes! :( The PO had a system in it, but pulled all of it out prior to my owning it. So, I got a 93, Locked w/ 147k and no radio (there's a few other things needed aside from that) but picked it up for $4600 +tax. I couldn't pass it up, especially locked!!

So, I have these three harnesses not sure of which to go with, I will have to shoot some pictures and post up how it looks currently.

John
 
So, I have these three harnesses not sure of which to go with, I will have to shoot some pictures and post up how it looks currently.

You'll use two of them. I can't remember what they looked like, it's been a while since I've dug into my dash... They are grey and the other one is white, IIRC.

Pictures will jog my memory. :)
 
Hmmmmm

So, after a little digging, found out some interesting stuff! It looks like the Factory amp has already been tapped:

Here are the three plugs:
3156686_16_full.jpg


Here is the patch on the factory amp:

3156686_17_full.jpg


3156686_18_full.jpg


Here is the wires @ the mounting area for the radio from the amp. Not sure of the wires - looks like 4 speaker wires, a red, yellow, blue and black wire too:

3156686_19_full.jpg


The pre outs to the left go no where and were cut mid wire :(

Does this help you see the connectors and such??

John
 
These are the two plugs you use. Go buy an adapter from Walmart or somewhere, tie it into the HU's harness, then plug and play!

BTW, those two plugs completely bypass the amp. Sounds MUCH better.
3156686_16_full.jpg
 
Thanks for the input!! BTW - what is the White plug for? was it for the factory deck?

Just curious!

John
 
If you follow the link to my homepage under my profile you will find a photo set with some photos and instructions which may help. Yes, the white plug is explained.
 
Ok, I see your Flickr website - lots of useful info and I greatly appreciate you taking so many pictures! I must go get some rest tonight, my head ius just swimming!

After a couple cups of coffee tomorrow, I will be diving into the instructions and looking @ my truck - then more instructions, then more truck. LOL

I have been tune-less for like 2 weeks now! IT's DRIVING ME MAD! Hopefully, all the PO's DYNAMAT XTREME will pay off for me too!

I will add some pictures as things get going!

John
 
Silly question here

Does anyone know *IF* I have to use the wiring harnesses if the amp already has wires out of it, ready to be hooked up? *OR* do you need to use the wire harnesses in CONJUNCTION with the amo wiring?

3156686_20_full.jpg


I just wanted to clarify as to what should be done. I figure I can just splice the circled wires to the head unit, that should do the trick, right?

I have just the Alpine head unit, no amp yet (or subs).

John
 
I just replaced the factory HU in my '96. The factory HU plugged into the white connector. I bought the Schoshe kit from Wal-Mart it plugs into the two grey connectors.
 
Well, I actually didn't even have to use the factory plugs. The PO apparently wired EVERYTHING to run through the Factory Amp. The wires I circled in the above picture had 4 speaker wires, a red, yellow, blue & black wire. All used except the blue wire. I figure that blue wire is for the Power Antenna - since it's got a manual operation - I didn't bother hooking that one up. Sounds GREAT with the factory amp *AND* the Alpine HU. It's a 9847, so not top of the line, and not the lowest. Bought it off Craigslist for $80! :)

John
 
Is there any more info about this topic? My thought on it is, if you do not use the Factory Amp, then you loose all but the Door speakers as any Aftermarket radio is a 4ch and only gives you wiring for such.

This is the Schoshe harness I found - 1987-Up Toyota Car Stereo Connector with Butt Connectors So if you plug that into the other two (Gray) connectors behind the factory HU, then what? What am I running all of those wires to? As the aftermarket HU does not have this large loom of wires.

Thanks for any clarification on this topic.

-Thomas J.
 
I got a whole setup from Crutchfield, and installed it on Friday night.

Take the harness that connects to the 2 "outputs" of the amp. The 3rd plug (the one on the furthest right side of the amp) is the input from the factory HU.

Take the harness you've got, and add about 18" of wire to each, then splice it into your new aftermarket harness that comes with your stereo. Colors should match up. Don't connect the power antenna cable to anything.

This bypasses the factory amp, but uses the outputs from the amp to the 4 door speakers. I lost the miniature dash speakers, which were crap anyway.

The plug-ins that are right behind the factory HU just don't get used.


FYI, Crutchfield's information showed every step and had much more detail than I expected. The only thing they should have said instead of just extending the wires was how long to extend them, or make their connecting harness have about 2ft of wire on each, and then you can shorten it to match your setup.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom