Hamilton Motor - Apple Carplay Conversion Kit (1 Viewer)

[fatbear]

I love it.

Installation was about an hour and it worked the first time. Once you remember that the screen is old school resistive, it works just fine.

I called tech support for a "How do I..." question on July 4th (I spaced on the date) and didn't leave a message. They called back this morning and had my answer immediately. Now that's customer service!!!!

 

[Jdubsalot]

I had to reboot my unit for the first time yesterday. I think that I need to move it to a different location as it is on the transmission tunnel and there is a lot of heat there.

 

[rgeorge15]

Anyone else have heat-related problems?

 

[coled91]

Just thought I'd put my two cents in on this unit, one day post-install on my 2021 LC200. I have the basic unit (no android apps) and do not have the speaker. Install was easier than the Beat-Sonic unit I replaced - it's just one box that goes behind the screen, not the two box solution, so easier to tuck the box away. Install process was completely plug and play. The instruction video was a bit outdated, and called for some connections that didn't need to be made, but there is an updated wiring diagram on their site. Basically, one of the harnesses does all the real connections, and the other is just for a USB. That might differ if you have an aftermarket camera, or rear screens.

Unit is great so far. Starts quickly, automatically picks up CarPlay and switches over to it - no need to press and hold a button to toggle in, although you can toggle out by holding home. Siri and calls work well, and sound better than the factory Bluetooth. (I completely disconnected the BT.) You do get a volume indicator on the screen as well.

So far, I'm very pleased, especially for the price (about $200 less than the Beat-Sonic I replaced). Obviously, the screen's limitations in resolution are still there - but this has been a very pleasant surprise.

Curious why you replaced Beat Sonic?

 

[ElatedRaccoon]

Curious why you replaced Beat Sonic?

One of the boxes went bad after about a year. They sent me a new one (for $350) but the steering wheel controls no longer worked as the version of the replacement box was newer.

 

[coled91]

One of the boxes went bad after about a year. They sent me a new one (for $350) but the steering wheel controls no longer worked as the version of the replacement box was newer.

Ah. That's a bummer I hope mine holds up

 

[nsvencer]

2018 LC200 Install has been pretty flawless for me. I like Sirius XM and having the external speaker is a huge advantage of this unit. I've tried many systems in the past to get full functionality and this is the only one that allows this feature. If you want this, you have to call and ask as it is a separate unit they will ship you vs. what you order online. I had to install it twice...luckily it was easy!

Overall, this has been a great install. Android Auto user with Apple Carplay family members and the system works perfectly for us all. Highly recommended.

Just popping back in to say this thing still works perfectly. It's exactly what my car needed.

 

[Artie]

Mine arrives today, I can’t wait to yank apart the interior and get it installed. We’re only 4 days into ownership of this LX and have been spoiled really bad by the Cruiser touchscreen and CarPlay upgrade in it.

 

[Boston Mangler]

@badsamaritan this so far appears to be a better option than the Grom

 

[imokwithmud]

Hamilton's unit is very good, but watch that sometimes the unit disconnects during dangerous moments (eg when relying on directions). The customer service team has always been quick to respond.

I'd recommend a charging pad so you can take advantage of the wireless connectivity. I placed mine with some sticky pads on the shallow space in front of the shifter, plugged into a USB adapter in the cigarette lighter. That option gives you faster charging speeds, and most of the cable can be tucked inside the ash tray, giving a really clean interior.

 

[Valgrind]

Can you add a front camera to this? I assume not.

 

[Artie]

Ours was delivered this morning and I just wrapped up the install. Watching their install video was clutch, it made this a straightforward process. I only needed a trim tool on the center speaker behind the screen.

My unit build date is 7/2025 and there was one difference from my wiring harness versus the one in the video. Mine didn’t have anything labeled “360° Power”, instead its labels “360 OEM.” That had me scratching my head but I went back through the harnesses with the video and figured it out. I’m glad i did this step as he plugs some stuff on the 2 different harnesses together in that step on the video and it’s easy to miss on a first watch at 2x speed, so slow down and pay attention to the harness breakdown section in the middle of the install video.

One thing I can’t figure out is how to rearrange the CarPlay apps. On my other CarPlay vehicles I believe I go settings>general>carplay> and select my vehicle and do it there. However, on this one I keep going through a pairing loop and it’s not going past that. I’ll watch the other videos on their page for this and see if it’s explained.

After about 30 min with the unit it seems line a great build. Everything works as I expected and the replacement screen looks identical, my wife didn’t even noticed and was surprised that touch functionality was working.

All in all this is really a convenience modification but it fixes the lamest part of the tech situation in this vehicle. For me it’s a no brainer.

One question I do have, are Yall keeping the Bluetooth pairing with the OEM and still pairing wirelessly to the Hamilton or forgetting the OEM?

 

[TXlandcrusher]

Are y’all able to use this system to listen to YouTube videos? I’m sure it won’t let you display videos from YT on the vehicles screen for safety reasons. But can you still get *audio* from a YT video?

 

[Fisher23]

Initially I had a bad time with this unit, as I think I was one of the first users and it came with little directions.

Now I am very happy with the unit and it has been flawless "how I am now using it".

You can connect the unit to your phone hot-spot and then download the apps to the Hamilton like GIAI or On-X-Offroad, ARB Fridge Temp Control, my blue tooth engine OBDii monitor, My Radar Weather and some others.

Then these apps work directly from the Hamilton Unit without the use of the phone.

The way it works is kind of funcky how it attaches to your phone. First Hamilton asks for blue tooth connection to the phone, but then after that is established Hamilton switches over to a wifi connection to the phone. So then if you want to connect the phone to WiFi (like a Star Link system for cell service over WiFi you cannot do that as the phone is now using the WiFi to connect to the Hamilton unit).
The phone can connect to data but not WiFi as it allows only 1 WiFi connection.

But you can connect the Hamilton to the Starlink for live weather, mapping and music off grid.
That is after talking with the owner and discussing how it makes the connections I figured how to make it work for my situations.

Connection to the phone even hard wired it can glitch out after sometime. Disconnecting the phone usb and reconnection works.
I found using the usb was better when handling a glitch and it was just a disconnect and reconnect the plug to get up and running again.

 

[Artie]

Are y’all able to use this system to listen to YouTube videos? I’m sure it won’t let you display videos from YT on the vehicles screen for safety reasons. But can you still get *audio* from a YT video?

You can get audio from YouTube but depending on your browser you may need it on your phone screen. Nice had really good luck using the Brave browser for audio through CarPlay with the phone screen off while audio plays.

The Rumble app works well with CarPlay as well, you can control it through CarPlay via the “Now Pkaying” icon and the phone screen stays off.

 

[Fisher23]

Are y’all able to use this system to listen to YouTube videos? I’m sure it won’t let you display videos from YT on the vehicles screen for safety reasons. But can you still get *audio* from a YT video?

Yes you can do that. it will play videos

 

[elcie200]

Ours was delivered this morning and I just wrapped up the install. Watching their install video was clutch, it made this a straightforward process. I only needed a trim tool on the center speaker behind the screen.

My unit build date is 7/2025 and there was one difference from my wiring harness versus the one in the video. Mine didn’t have anything labeled “360° Power”, instead its labels “360 OEM.” That had me scratching my head but I went back through the harnesses with the video and figured it out. I’m glad i did this step as he plugs some stuff on the 2 different harnesses together in that step on the video and it’s easy to miss on a first watch at 2x speed, so slow down and pay attention to the harness breakdown section in the middle of the install video.

One thing I can’t figure out is how to rearrange the CarPlay apps. On my other CarPlay vehicles I believe I go settings>general>carplay> and select my vehicle and do it there. However, on this one I keep going through a pairing loop and it’s not going past that. I’ll watch the other videos on their page for this and see if it’s explained.

After about 30 min with the unit it seems line a great build. Everything works as I expected and the replacement screen looks identical, my wife didn’t even noticed and was surprised that touch functionality was working.

All in all this is really a convenience modification but it fixes the lamest part of the tech situation in this vehicle. For me it’s a no brainer.

One question I do have, are Yall keeping the Bluetooth pairing with the OEM and still pairing wirelessly to the Hamilton or forgetting the OEM?

I have my phone paired to use the oem hands free. This lets me use it in and out of Hamilton mode. I think I also configured the Hamilton to “use oem”

This has worked best for me. I’m in Hamilton mode to view maps 99% of the time. But I usually play regular FM radio. Iirc there were times I couldn’t manage phone calls when I was paired to Hamilton for hands free when using FM radio.

 

[Jdubsalot]

I only use android auto so I do not use the OEM Bluetooth. It's personal preference. I'm either listening to podcasts or Pandora.