LC & LX470 Tesla Style Screen Radio Upgrade with Climate Control: General Discussions (2 Viewers)

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Hello Mud Community,

Over the last 9 months there has been some great headway made on the ZhiFang 12.1" Tesla style touchscreen radio with integrated climate controls. There are a few dedicated threads to specific installs and I figured it was about time to create a general discussion forum as lots of good install info if getting buried in these threads.

For those of you who have not seen this yet it seems to have started here: Tesla style head unit - has anyone seen this?

Specific installation experiences have been documented here:
Successfully installed a Tesla Style headunit into a 2005 LX470
"Tesla Style" found for older LX470/LC100
2003 LC Tesla Screen Install Write-Up

Here is what they look like: ( mistered123 I hope you're ok with me snagging your pics for reference)
BEFORE

2027404




AFTER

2027406



The quad core units were the first batch to come out late last year. Part #s are ZF-1301S. These used Android 7.1 and (once the wiring issues were worked out) they worked pretty well. Overall the hardware and OS where described as a little clunky, but a definite improvement over the original touch screen radios and cassette decks.

The six core units (PX6) are the latest batch out as a release of this post and are pretty good. Part # for the LC version is ZF-1301X. These are not showing up on the ZhiFang website yet, but they have ZhiFang's name on them. They look to have the same cables as the original quad core units but have worked through most of the wiring issues. Interfaces are crisp and fast with the only general complaint is the amount of time it takes to start up once you turn your key on. This is typically around 20 seconds. AC controls work great and utilize existing Toyota circuit boards as part of your original radio.

I'd like to send out BIG thanks to mistered123, LX470MK, Swainbuilt, Wetwillie, revoked, loeky, Ell Ex & all the others that have contributed so far with testing and Q&A.

These units are sold by a variety of online resellers, but they seem to be made by one manufacturer in China. They don't come with assembly or operations instructions...AND the technical support is lacking. Some have been buying from a US based radio shop, but it sounds like they were just buying these radios in bulk from China. Here is where you can find the PX6 chip set radios online for purchase:
The only thing I can tell different between the LX and LC versions is the additional side trim for the air vents as the LX trim tends to be in three pieces (one running the full width of the cassette deck) and the LC already has the appropriate vents.

Ell Ex has done a successful full install of the PX6 (6 core) units with Android in a 2006 LX470 with ML amp and custom apps. I'm in the middle of a full amp and speaker replacement with a 2004 LX470 and the PX6 unit. A few others have been working on 2003 and older installs. I've heard of a few people wanting to try these with non-nav (dedicated AC control version) 100 series trucks, but have not seen one yet.

The 2004 and newer seem to be plug and play for cables (once you figure out where they all go). There seem to still be a few extra plugs left over (3 in my case) that may have been part of the factory test.

The 2003 and older units are needing either another harness from the manufacturer or a few wire splices to work. There was a request for the "Top Model" wire harness for these truck to avoid splicing, but I cannot confirm its the final solution.

No confirmations I can find yet for getting the factory backup camera working. I'm looking at installing a new HD camera now to replace the 16 year old factory one. One in the back and one up front hopefully.

I am hoping to write up a first draft of an installation guide for my experiences on a full amp replacement and am willing to share with others to alter for 2003 and older versions as well as ML integrations/tips/tricks.

My hope is that this can be a source for good general information on the radio installs, applications, mods and troubleshooting and the model specific threads can serve those specific needs without getting cluttered with off topic discussions.

Hope you all find this helpful. I'll try to get my install guide uploaded soon.
PLEASE ADD YOUR EXPERIENCES AND COMMENTS.

************************************************************************************************
11/05/19 Update: Version 0.0 of the Install Guide Uploaded. Please review and private message me if you have suggestions for improvements or additions. Would really like to add sections for 2003 and older installs and any other variations seen. Also, any suggestions for App are appreciated.
************************************************************************************************
 

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This conversion looks really promising. I'm interested to see what the backup camera solution looks like. It's going to be nice to have all this information in one place.
 
Hello Mud Community,

Over the last 9 months there has been some great headway made on the ZhiFang 12.1" Tesla style touchscreen radio with integrated climate controls. There are a few dedicated threads to specific installs and I figured it was about time to create a general discussion forum as lots of good install info if getting buried in these threads.

For those of you who have not seen this yet it seems to have started here: Tesla style head unit - has anyone seen this?

Specific installation experiences have been documented here:
Successfully installed a Tesla Style headunit into a 2005 LX470
"Tesla Style" found for older LX470/LC100
2003 LC Tesla Screen Install Write-Up

Here is what they look like: ( mistered123 I hope you're ok with me snagging your pics for reference)
BEFORE

2027404




AFTER

2027406



The quad core units were the first batch to come out late last year. Part #s are ZF-1301S. These used Android 7.1 and (once the wiring issues were worked out) they worked pretty well. Overall the hardware and OS where described as a little clunky, but a definite improvement over the original touch screen radios and cassette decks.

The six core units (PX6) are the latest batch out as a release of this post and are pretty good. Part # for the LC version is ZF-1301X. These are not showing up on the ZhiFang website yet, but they have ZhiFang's name on them. They look to have the same cables as the original quad core units but have worked through most of the wiring issues. Interfaces are crisp and fast with the only general complaint is the amount of time it takes to start up once you turn your key on. This is typically around 20 seconds. AC controls work great and utilize existing Toyota circuit boards as part of your original radio.

I'd like to send out BIG thanks to mistered123, LX470MK, Swainbuilt, Wetwillie, revoked, loeky, Ell Ex & all the others that have contributed so far with testing and Q&A.

These units are sold by a variety of online resellers, but they seem to be made by one manufacturer in China. They don't come with assembly or operations instructions...AND the technical support is lacking. Some have been buying from a US based radio shop, but it sounds like they were just buying these radios in bulk from China. Here is where you can find the PX6 chip set radios online for purchase:
The only thing I can tell different between the LX and LC versions is the additional side trim for the air vents as the LX trim tends to be in three pieces (one running the full width of the cassette deck) and the LC already has the appropriate vents.

Ell Ex has done a successful full install of the PX6 (6 core) units with Android in a 2006 LX470 with ML amp and custom apps. I'm in the middle of a full amp and speaker replacement with a 2004 LX470 and the PX6 unit. A few others have been working on 2003 and older installs. I've heard of a few people wanting to try these with non-nav (dedicated AC control version) 100 series trucks, but have not seen one yet.

The 2004 and newer seem to be plug and play for cables (once you figure out where they all go). There seem to still be a few extra plugs left over (3 in my case) that may have been part of the factory test.

The 2003 and older units are needing either another harness from the manufacturer or a few wire splices to work. There was a request for the "Top Model" wire harness for these truck to avoid splicing, but I cannot confirm its the final solution.

No confirmations I can find yet for getting the factory backup camera working. I'm looking at installing a new HD camera now to replace the 16 year old factory one. One in the back and one up front hopefully.

I am hoping to write up a first draft of an installation guide for my experiences on a full amp replacement and am willing to share with others to alter for 2003 and older versions as well as ML integrations/tips/tricks.

My hope is that this can be a source for good general information on the radio installs, applications, mods and troubleshooting and the model specific threads can serve those specific needs without getting cluttered with off topic discussions.

Hope you all find this helpful. I'll try to get my install guide uploaded soon.
PLEASE ADD YOUR EXPERIENCES AND COMMENTS.
Thank you. Much appreciated
 
Subbed. I’m gonna watch y’all work out the kinks and then swoop in with an easy install in a few years...:cool:
 
Thanks you for consolidating all of this info. I had a dual camera setup in a previous vehicle and would love to have something like that in the cruiser. Looks like it has inputs for Camera In, S.Cam In, and Aux Video In!
 
Thanks for starting this thread, @BigLittle. The other was definitely starting to meander away from the central purpose (and I had plenty to do with that).

For those who have questions about my install and experience to this point with the PX6 unit in an '06 LX, feel free to leave them here and I'll do my best to answer them or capture photos/video. I've also had plenty of time to assemble what I consider to be a "core" set of apps that improve the unit significantly from the factory setup.
 
Thanks for starting this thread, @BigLittle. The other was definitely starting to meander away from the central purpose (and I had plenty to do with that).

For those who have questions about my install and experience to this point with the PX6 unit in an '06 LX, feel free to leave them here and I'll do my best to answer them or capture photos/video. I've also had plenty of time to assemble what I consider to be a "core" set of apps that improve the unit significantly from the factory setup.


I'm most concerned about the long boot up time. Almost the one caveat holding me back. Does the sleep mode do instant boot up? Is that something you have to manually set before turning off the car each time? Or if you can set the sleep mode so that it always automatically sleeps on engine off for the set amount of time?

I wouldn't mind waiting for a cold boot up once day in the morning if it will instant boot the rest of the day.
 
Thanks you for consolidating all of this info. I had a dual camera setup in a previous vehicle and would love to have something like that in the cruiser. Looks like it has inputs for Camera In, S.Cam In, and Aux Video In!
The unit will take a composite output (yellow plug) rear camera, a front-facing DVR camera (USB output only, not composite) and a single composite side-view camera, which can be set to right or left side, but not both. If you install an aftermarket rear camera, I recommend giving it a constant hot power source so you can switch to it on the monitor even when you're not in reverse. Was very useful for keeping an eye on the trailer when I drove from Atlanta to Boulder last month.

I ordered the front DVR camera from ZhiFang and will try to get it installed some time over the next couple of weeks (it's currently in transit from China). Once it's in place, I'll post a video showing how it turns out.
 
I'm most concerned about the long boot up time. Almost the one caveat holding me back. Does the sleep mode do instant boot up? Is that something you have to manually set before turning off the car each time? Or if you can set the sleep mode so that it always automatically sleeps on engine off for the set amount of time?
Unfortunately, there's no sleep mode for a warm boot and no way to avoid having the unit boot up every time you start the ignition. That said, the inconvenience is far outweighed by pretty much everything else the unit brings to the table. It's a minor annoyance, but certainly not a deal-breaker for me.
 
Unfortunately, there's no sleep mode for a warm boot and no way to avoid having the unit boot up every time you start the ignition. That said, the inconvenience is far outweighed by pretty much everything else the unit brings to the table. It's a minor annoyance, but certainly not a deal-breaker for me.

I was able to set my unit to a 16 hour standby time. If I restart the vehicle in that time frame, the boot is almost instantaneous. I drive my vehicle pretty much every 12 hours at the most - so I see the LC boot up screen maybe once every 2-3 weeks since I installed the unit. I think there's options for 8 hours, 12 hours, 16 hours, and 24 hours. I can find it in the menu if needed.
 
I was able to set my unit to a 16 hour standby time. If I restart the vehicle in that time frame, the boot is almost instantaneous. I drive my vehicle pretty much every 12 hours at the most - so I see the LC boot up screen maybe once every 2-3 weeks since I installed the unit. I think there's options for 8 hours, 12 hours, 16 hours, and 24 hours. I can find it in the menu if needed.
If you can show me where that is, you'll be my hero. I've been looking all over the menus for those options but haven't found anything.
 
On the PX6, going into Install Set and entering 8861 allows you to change additional options. The standby setting isn't in there though.
 
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Thought others might want to see what I did this week. Replaced the display and all ac controls with a Tesla Tablet style Android radio from Phoenix automotive radio. I like it a lot. I plug in my iPhone and use CarPlay to control music, make calls, navigate, etc. Controls all ventilation, integrated with backup camera and steering wheel controls. Cost about $1300 total, but is pretty sweet having 2019 electronics capabilities in an 06 Cruiser.
3D48BD88-6B52-4D05-84FB-FD2BCA6C9957.jpeg
 
Well, I’m a bit sheepish after just now discovering this thread and seeing you guys have already done this.. you guys know much more than I, as I just copped out and had Cartoys install it for me.
Congrats guys!
I’ll watch this thread to see if I can contribute to folk’s questions on setup and troubleshooting, as there is no manual and I’m learning the hard way.
 

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