Doing the stereo in this car sucks!!!!

[Imola Red]

Oh boy this is driving me crazy. I picked up a new stereo and new speakers figuring I could do this on my own having done every car that i've had this same way.

But this whole seperate amp thing is crazy. I put the new speakers in but how do you put in a new stereo unit and use the amp's in the stereo without re-wiring the whole car? I figured the best way would probably be to buy the wire harness that let's you use the factory amp but then take the amp out and patch the wires back together without the amp being there. That should use the existing speaker wires thru the car but then not power the sub which is no big deal.

Has anybody done this? How tough is it to remove the seat?

Any other ideas? I bought Infinity component speakers up front and the factory amp just doesn't cut it.

 

[F0RSAKEN]

It would probably be worth your time to rewire the whole system. You could use a better insulated higher gauge wire for better quality sound. It might also be easier than trying to bypass the stock amp/sub, but Im not 100% positive on that.

 

[aedgington]

taking the seat out is easy, it's just 4 bolts.

 

[jahmaka]

Well i was going to start my own thread until i saw this one.You are right,this truck is the worst i have ever seen to put a stereo in,i can't tell the cursing i did especially removing the drivers seat,ialmost lost two middle figures.One actually needed stetches,but refuse to go to the hospital,so watch putting your hand under their,VERY SHARP METAL UNDER THERE.

IT took me 4 days to put it in,had to rewire the whole truck.The hardest thing was fining somewhere to put the Amp.I wanted to put it where the factory sub was,but no luck,so i relocated it to the right quarter panel,where i wanted to put the sub.Now i have to put it behind the back seat..I like to hide things,keep it looking stock.

So off to homedepot to get aluminum for the amp to be installed.
Enjoy the pictures,i will add the picture of the pioneer avic-d2 nav unit later.

Amp mounted to the bracket

the other side

the amp in place and wired

Panels are back in place and yes i lost the big storage compartment.

it's hidden panel in place.

I keep the small one but had to modify it.



Here are the other pictures.

The tweeters i put in the doors,didn't want to do it because of the cost of the door panels.My other option was the A pillar,but not enough depth,plus cheaper to replace.I will be painting them to match the doors soon.

Here is head unit

other one

By the way i am using Dynaudio speakers.

 

[aedgington]

...you have no rear a/c... sigh, looks like a lot of good space there...

 

[Imola Red]

Well i'm not the only one then I guess.

I think i'll try taking the passenger seat out and going that route. I hate taking panels and stuff off because it seems like it never goes back right for me.

jahmaka did you take all the interior apart! Or did you splice into something back there for power to the amp?

 

[jahmaka]

...you have no rear a/c... sigh, looks like a lot of good space there...

So that's what that space is for.I was wondering what that hose was there for and the plugs.Well if i had it,i would have to go to plan C,putting it in the back of the second row seat

 

[jahmaka]

Well i'm not the only one then I guess.

I think i'll try taking the passenger seat out and going that route. I hate taking panels and stuff off because it seems like it never goes back right for me.

jahmaka did you take all the interior apart! Or did you splice into something back there for power to the amp?

I had to take all the door panel off,i used 4 conductor wires and the crossovers are attach to the panels.Also all the panels from the B pillar back and door sills,the kick panel to route the wires to the doors,had to use soap or KY jell make it easy
I run new wire from the battery,i had to use 2 gage wire,I took a grd from the rear seat bracket.

 

[hoser]

So that's what that space is for.I was wondering what that hose was there for and the plugs.Well it i had it,i would have to go to plan C,putting it in the back of the second row seat

Also a nice place to put an ARB flexi water tank-- holds 25 liters of water... or liquor.

 

[aedgington]

jahmaka, did you dynamat your entire cargo area, or just the wheel wells?

 

[jahmaka]

jahmaka, did you dynamat your entire cargo area, or just the wheel wells?

Just the wheel wells and it helped.I was going to do the door panels but i got and didn't bother,because i spend my vac doing this when it was to take just 2 days.

 

[aedgington]

Did you do that for imaging, rattles, noise reduction...?

 

[jahmaka]

Did you do that for imaging, rattles, noise reduction...?

Noise reduction mostly,which would help with the imaging.I think i found where the rattling is coming from on the pax door.Right above the inside door open handle,their is a clip that holds the door panel to the edge of the door,it's metal to metal,so i put some dynamat there and a long the door edge.I crank the stereo up and none so far,later i will take a drive to see if it help.

 

[jahmaka]

Well after couple of days of driving around i have on noise at all.

 

[Imola Red]

Anybody know of where to get the wiring diagram or color codes for the factory amp?

It's not this one. http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota1.htm that's the one in the FAQ area saying it is the amp diagram but it's not the right one. My amp has two plug in's fairly large ones and LOT's OF WIRES.

 

[jahmaka]

what are you looking for what year is your LC

 

[Imola Red]

It's a 2000

Just looking for the color codes of the harness that plugs into the factory amp.

Instead of re-wiring everything I was going to take the amp out and then patch the wire's to bypass the amp.

 

[bamachem]

It's a 2000

Just looking for the color codes of the harness that plugs into the factory amp.

Instead of re-wiring everything I was going to take the amp out and then patch the wire's to bypass the amp.

so that's not the correct one? i'm going to be pulling out the amp from my '00 tomorrow afternoon and installing an alpine V12 in it's place. i'll let you know what i find.

 

[Imola Red]

I'll check into it some more but the amp has an input and an output harness so this might just be only the input harness and then you have to match up the colored wires with what's at the speakers to figure out what is in the other harness.

Anybody know why the harness in this diagram http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota5.htmdoesn't have any left front speakers or rear R - and rear L + wires in it? The harness on the right is the plugin that goes into the back of my 00 LC. It doesn't have a left plugin.

 

[jahmaka]

hope this help.

http://www.directechs.com/directwire/default.asp