Head unit change.. harness available? (1 Viewer)

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Mar 8, 2005
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Is there a wiring harness avalable for the LC? I've got a 2k, but it should be the same as long as you don't have factory navigation.

Crutchfield tells me (via website) that one is not available. I've read (I think) on here that one for an lx470 will work just fine.

My toyo head will no longer play any CD I put into it, so its time for an upgrade.

Thanks guys.

alan
 
there must be, the guys that installed my new head unit used one, this was a 2000 cruiser, they had to do some fidlin around to get the antenna to work correct though
 
Yes it does exist. Unfortunately, I didn't know that when I first got my stereo installed. But it does exist. YOu can find it at crutchfield I think. Anyways, here is the part number. TA03B Amplifier Harness. I am assuming you have the stereo, not the navigation system. If you have the nav, you might need a different harness. Oh, and the harness is made by Scosche.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7503077138

there's a picture of it on that webpage.
 
Yes, they do make one. Here is the one I ordered and am using. It hooks up to your factory amp, which most car stereo shops tell you that you can't do. Mainly, because they don't have a harness to sell you and would rather charge you to rewire the whole vehicle and sell you another amp. This one works great.


http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=14104
 
AFAIK There are no complete harness available in the market today. You could get a few harness and do some custom wiring to to save a few steps but still need a custom wiring. The amplifier integration wires from the link above would work to get power to the unit and get antenna remote but the speaker need to be wired all the way to the amplifier output wire under passenger seat. There are no harness available to hook the amplifier output. Basically you would need to splice to the speaker harness. You would also need to make one jumper connection at the amplifier input to the power to the head unit.

The ebay harness above are used to hook up OEM HU with no preamp out to aftermarket Amp. The second one are for OEM HU with preamp out to aftermarket amp.
 
Actually, you are wrong Augie. The harness I have as stated above connects the factory amplifier to the pre-amp outputs on my Sony deck. Not the hi-wattage speaker line outs. Therefore not needing any rewiring to the speakers as long as you want to use the factory amp. I assure you that this setup is working great. Right now, I am using a Sony deck with all factory amp and speakers with no rewiring. However, if I did want to use an aftermarket amp, I would have to do some rewiring.

Sorry, but it sounds like you have been listening to car stereo salesman propaganda.
 
LonghornCruiser,

What Sony deck are you using? Does it sound any better than the stock head unit? I'm not a stereo person - very dumb on this topic:rolleyes:
 
calamaridog said:
LonghornCruiser,

What Sony deck are you using? Does it sound any better than the stock head unit? I'm not a stereo person - very dumb on this topic:rolleyes:


I am using a Sony CDX-M700. It is one of the ones with the flat black face with the controls on the flip down panel. I usually only control it by the remote. It is a few years old, but was high-end when I got it. Most of the features it has and many more are available on a lot of newer cheaper stereos. It has built in adjustable crossovers for all the speakers, so you can adjust how much bass and treble are going to the speakers. My door speakers are strictly hi and mids only. That is because I am also using an aftermarket amp to power 2 10" JL Audio subs. I can control the amount of bass through the crossover in the deck and/or the bass control knob connected to my amp which I mounted inside my dash ashtray. Sounds great. I disconnected the factory sub, as it is weak an useless when my JLs are connected. But, if I have to take out the JLs for more storage, I can easily reconnect the factory sub at the wire harness behind the rear ashtray.

The aftermarket deck does sound better than the factory one, but the deck is not the only difference in my setup. The sub makes a HUGE difference. I would recommend an aftermarket deck just for the options you can get. Built in MP3 players and what not. Mine has a line-in input that I have run to my glove compartment that allows me to hook up my mp3 player, laptop, tv or basically anything with rca or headphone out jacks. The only negative I could really say about an aftermarket single din deck it the cheap plastic pocket it uses as the dash install kit. That is why I am working my way up to getting a double din DVD/NAV system like the Kenwood or Eclipse.

p.s. The factory amp wire harness I am using will only work with aftermarket decks that have two sets of pre-amp outputs. For front and back, but most newer decks will have those along with a pre-amp sub out.
 
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Well you are the first one I heard keeping OEM amp with aftermarket deck. The OEM amp are really weak and most people get rid of it. I would not mind keeping OEM HU as long as I could put stronger amp since I only hear radio most of the time anyway.
Did you ever try to run the speaker without OEM amp? I have Alpine speaker that have 92 Db sensitifity and OEM amp could not even power that thus the reason getting Alpine HU. The cheap Alpine HU that replace it power the speaker at much better quality.
 
Don't get me wrong. I plan on upgrading the factory speakers and amp eventually. Probably going to wait until I blow a speaker though. But, right now it sounds pretty damn good. The factory amp isn't really all that weak, especially in comparison to the integrated amp in the aftermarket deck. They say 52wx4 on the box, but that is max. RMS they are only pushing out 23 watts per channel. I am not sure of the factory amp wattage or if it even has as many watts as that or more, but I do know that a lot of research goes into matching up the amps with the speakers in the development of the automobile. Essentially, that amp was made for those speakers.

The factory amp seems more than powerful enough to push hi and mids, since that is all that is going to my door speakers. They can go much louder with the new deck because I can cut off the low frequencies from going to them. Which keeps them from making a farting noise that you usually get by trying to bass out with 6 1/2" speakers. The JL sub fills in the needed bass and I have gotten many compliments.

I am not against replacing the factory amp and speakers. I was just letting yall know that it isn't mandatory when replacing a head unit. For people that have a broken factory deck or just want a new aftermarket deck, they aren't going to get an honest answer from Best Buy, Circuit City or your local car stereo place. They will all tell you that you must replace the amp and rewire the vehicle which will turn most people away because of the cost. Most people go into a car stereo place expecting to spend $300 on a new stereo. When the shop tells them that it will cost over a thousand dollars in parts and labor, then it can be very disconcerting. They are just salesmen like any other salesmen, trying to make an extra buck on the average ignorant consumer. As someone that nows a little about car stereo installation, it pissed me off when I was told that I had no choice but to replace the amp and rewire. I mean, there have to be line-out outputs on the factory deck to send a signal to the factory amp. It seemed the problem was just how the wires connected. All the harness I bought really does is convert the line-outputs from 14 gauge wire to a RCA jack that is what all aftermarket stereos use. Very simple concept. Very cheap part. I a car stereo install expert were so inclined, he could make one in less than two minutes. The average consumer isn't going to know any better. Just trying to help save some people some money.

Call me crazy, but you can't always believe the guy that make his commision off of you. :)
 
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Did you install bass blocker or your head unit have Low Frequency Filter? My Alpine does not have LFF.
That makes sense if you block all the low frequency then it would take a lot less power to drive the speaker.
I did my own install. Circuit City wanted additional $50 to rewire the harness and they actually have free install when I got mine. I beleive Bestbuy and Circuit City sales guys did not make commission but they knowledge and skills shows that too.
 
The bottom line is I am sure circuit city does not see a lot of LandCruisers for any type of installation, I doubt anybody there in sales, or install has any clue what is involved or what a LandCruiser looks like on the inside. The rewire charges, etc... are a complete guess I am sure.

Although I am bypassing my factory amp, I think the other way is fine too and very easy to change back to a factory head unit. It can't sound that bad, I assume the factory amp has built in crossovers etc... and yes the aftermarket watt ratings are definitely exaggerated since there is no governing body to test their claims....they just print whatever they want.

just my $.02 after 10 years in the car stereo biz (retired from that now)
 
My Sony deck does have high freq crossovers for the front and rear channel and a low freq crossover for the sub channel. Adjustable all the way up and down the scale so that only what sound you want goes to the speaker. Plus I can adjust the volume individually on each of the channels. For example, I have the volume for my sub channel turned almost all the way down otherwise it is too overpowering. Of course they are all controlled by the master volume. It is a nice little option that I know a lot of newer Sonys are starting to have more often on their lower priced decks.

I always do my own install. In my first car, when I was sixteen, I had a car stereo shop install a deck for me. They basically destroyed my dash and screwed up all the wiring. So, I learned how to do it myself from then on. Now I install all mine and my friends stereos in over a dozen cars. They basically get into my car and listen to my stereo and ask me to do that for them. I do it for fun.

They offer free installations due to the fact you are buying a $300 deck or a $500 amp or whatever. And the free installations usually only applies if it isn't a custom job. In other words, if they have a prepackaged wiring harness that all you have to do is plug it in for it to work. They actually make a lot of wiring harnessed that plug directly into your Sony or Kenwood deck and then into the factory harness. There is no wire splicing at all needed. You need no electrical knowledge at all. But, I would say that $50 for the rewire does seem like a reasonable price.

I agree that Circuit City probably doesn't see a lot of Land Cruisers, but Toyota uses the same wire harness on many of their cars. For example, the wire harness I am using is for "Toyota 1992-03". The same stereo was available in Camrys and Solaras and many more. I am pretty sure, they have seen their share of the other more popular Toyotas. It is the same wiring kit. But, for some reason the two main wire harness makers, Metra and Scosche, don't make the harness with the amp connections. So the Circuit Citys and Best Buys don't have it in stock.

Here is a helpful link for people thinking about doing their own rewiring though. It names all the wires involved with the stereo so you know what is what.

http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Toyota3.htm
 
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LonghornCruiser,

Thanks for the links! I ordered the harness from www.onlinecarstereo.com and they shipped the same day and I had it the next day.

Now I'm looking for a deck that is Sirius capable cause I'm having problems with my separate Sirius tuner. Plus the cd on the stock unit doesn't work and I ebayed another Toyota head unit and it doesn't work either:flipoff2:

Like I said, I'm real stupid about this stuff LOL but I hate to pay anyone to work on my stuff:rolleyes:

If you're ever in San Diego I owe you a beer;)
 
No prob CalDog...

I've heard good things about the Kenwood Sirius recievers. Also, once you find the one you want, check out www.etronics.com. Good prices and selection. That is where I ordered my stereo from when I got it. For about $200 less than Crutchfield or local audio store was selling it for.

Just make sure you get one with front and rear preouts so it will work with the harness. Most new decks will have them.
 
Calamari,
Yes both have the proper pre-outs, just need front and rear. I am about 95% sure Sirius ready means you still need that external reciever. Just look at the size of that thing, I don't think they have improved the technology enough to shove it inside the head unit, well at least not for under $200.

I just did the install on my head unit this weekend using the pre-out method as a temporary thing until I buy all the rest of my stereo then I will rewire. I have to say it does not sound bad.

Two negatives I noticed right away though. I ended up with a little engine noise, and also some background hiss. I have some ideas to try for the engine noise, not sure I can fix the background hiss.

I also took step by step pictures and plan to submit them here somewhere with descriptions soon.
 
"I don't think they have improved the technology enough to shove it inside the head unit, well at least not for under $200"

LOL, I can dream can't I:D
 
ogsuv is right. Both have 2 sets of preamp outs and will work with the harness. Both are pretty decent decks, but I have never been a huge fan of the JVC name. Maybe some others that have had them can give you better input. I did notice that the Kenwood has built in electronic crossovers which I highly recommend. As long as you don't plan on adding a subwoofer amplifier at any time, then either one will work. Neither one has a preamp sub out and both of the other preamp outs will already be used.

You will need a your Sirius tuner and antenna, but you should be able to do the controls through the new deck.


p.s. I haven't had any trouble whatsoever with engine noise or background hiss. Sounds like a grounded wire problem.
 

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