Radio replacement / bypass amp (2 Viewers)

[TTO5]

I have a question. I have a 2000 l/c and would like to replace the factory head unit. It is a 6 disk in dash unit with factory subwoofer. Is there a way I can power the door speakers (already upgraded) with a new head unit and keep the factory amp for powering the sub? I know the factory amp and sub are kind of crappy but I am not ready to rewire the whole truck with an aftermarket amp. Is it possible to do this? Crutchfield says there harness will either allow you to keep the factory amp for powering the door speakers and sub or bypass the amp but then there would be no way to power the sub. Also I am told there are two antenna connections from the factory, which one is which as the aftermarket head unit would only have 1 antenna input. One more thing, is there enough room if I pull out the factory subwoofer enclosure to fit a powered sub in that space? Sorry for so many questions, maybe someone could answer some and hopefully all of them.

 

[TTO5]

I have a question. I have a 2000 l/c and would like to replace the factory head unit. It is a 6 disk in dash unit with factory subwoofer. Is there a way I can power the door speakers (already upgraded) with a new head unit and keep the factory amp for powering the sub? I know the factory amp and sub are kind of crappy but I am not ready to rewire the whole truck with an aftermarket amp. Is it possible to do this? Crutchfield says there harness will either allow you to keep the factory amp for powering the door speakers and sub or bypass the amp but then there would be no way to power the sub. Also I am told there are two antenna connections from the factory, which one is which as the aftermarket head unit would only have 1 antenna input. One more thing, is there enough room if I pull out the factory subwoofer enclosure to fit a powered sub in that space? Sorry for so many questions, maybe someone could answer some and hopefully all of them.

Ttppp

 

[marshotel]

Sure you can power the door speakers with your new head unit and keep the factory amp for powering the sub. You just wire the door speakers directly to the head unit, and leave the sub hooked up to the factory amp. I am not sure how exactly the crutchfield harness works (you might call and ask crutchfield)-- but most head units have no problem running speakers and a separate amp at the same time. Aftermarket head units are made to do exactly what you describe. It might not be a matter of "plug and play using a special adapter," but if you do the wiring correctly it will work fine. If you are not good with auto electronics, any car stereo shop could wire your new head unit for ~$100.

In my opinion, I don't think the factory subwoofer will improve the sound at all over what you would hear with 4 new high-quality door speakers running off of a new powered head unit. You might be better off just removing the factory sub and amp-- or leaving them disconnected-- they may do more harm than good in terms of sound quality.

No, there is not enough room to fit anything useful in the factory subwoofer space. My advice is to disconnect the factory sub and forget about it. If you buy good door speakers and power them properly, the system will sound great without a "subwoofer." --If you really have to have deep bass you will need to get a separate aftermarketspeakerbox to put in the cargo area.-- The factory subwoofer and the space where it is, are pretty useless, in my opinion.

Hope this helps.

 

[RobRed]

This might help you http://tlcfaq.com/main/article-index/ I have a few articles posted

 

[rvrats2]

This might help you http://tlcfaq.com/main/article-index/ I have a few articles posted

It's Sunday and I'm installing an Alpine head unit in my 2000LC. Factory bypass harness (17ft long) from crutchfield. Passenger seat removed. Factory amp out. All power connections rechecked. Everything seems correct from supplied instructions. Read through the TLC FAQ from above. Called crutchfield. Don't have a multimeter yet. Waiting for town to wake up.
The problem is no power to the hu. It seems to me that the bypass harness should do just that and no other connections should be made. Thoughts? I'm going to play some more. I hope I'm missing the simple part I always overlook...
Thanks.

 

[OregonLC]

Rather than rely on the bypass harness, I took control of the wiring and made my own splices. OEM amp is physically out of the vehicle and HU connects directly to speaks. Takes more time and attention to detail but it also results in a simplified system.

 

[RobRed]

Power to the head unit comes from the the power lead at the factory amplifier.

When you remove the amp you have to tie the "into amp" power to the out to head unit lead.

I mentioned it in the notes http://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/05/land-cruiser-lx-470-stereo-wiring/

I would have thought the bypass harness had the right connection for power in it. The power wires are blue/yellow (2000 LC) at the amp. two of that color go into the factory amp and 1 leaves to power the head unit. If you tie them together that should solve your problem. Instructions in my article.

 

[rvrats2]

Power to the head unit comes from the the power lead at the factory amplifier.

When you remove the amp you have to tie the "into amp" power to the out to head unit lead.

I mentioned it in the notes http://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/05/land-cruiser-lx-470-stereo-wiring/

I would have thought the bypass harness had the right connection for power in it. The power wires are blue/yellow (2000 LC) at the amp. two of that color go into the factory amp and 1 leaves to power the head unit. If you tie them together that should solve your problem. Instructions in my article.

Hot dog that did it!! Those little numbers are hard to see.
Although it seems that my pin 10 on the s6 is right rear speaker but all speakers are working now. I'm guessing the ground is the brown (there are two) on the s6 either pin 12 or 13?? Hope I didn't just read wrong.
Thanks a lot!! Guess crutchfield needs another piece to their puzzle to make a nice plug and play...
Thanks again !!!

 

[duncan]

Power to the head unit comes from the the power lead at the factory amplifier.

When you remove the amp you have to tie the "into amp" power to the out to head unit lead.

I mentioned it in the notes http://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/05/land-cruiser-lx-470-stereo-wiring/

I would have thought the bypass harness had the right connection for power in it. The power wires are blue/yellow (2000 LC) at the amp. two of that color go into the factory amp and 1 leaves to power the head unit. If you tie them together that should solve your problem. Instructions in my article.

RobRed, I'm an LC noob. Also rock a 3rd gen 4runner as my DD.

Want to just eliminate the factory amp and the crappy double 4" subwoofers in the 3rd row area - paper junk anyway.

Installed new speakers into the doors (Sound Ordance 6.5" coaxials, 50 watts RMS). On Monday, I'll have an Alpine 445-U PowerPak (45 watts x 4 channels - one of their compact amps that hides behid your dash.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-yNRhAYWBG3Y/p_500KTP445U/Alpine-KTP-445U-Power-Pack.html
Door speakers and that PowerPak matched.

Next, going to get rid of the factory head unit and add in a Kenwood DDX470 double din head unit with all of the goodies.



What is the easiest way to make that all work and get rid of the factory amp and subwoofers? Can I just remove the factory amp and make those connections you discuss here:
http://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/05/land-cruiser-lx-470-stereo-wiring/

It seems easier just to save the $30 and NOT buy the Metra Bypass Harness Metra 70-8116, and just pull the wires off of the S6 and S7 connectors and just solder them.

Read your notes but don't understand. In the past I have destroyed connector housing trying to crimp line connectors out, How do you pop those out of the connector to tie them together? What do you mean?

Seems a waste to just leave that old amp sitting there when it's been bypassed.

Your wise thoughts?

 

[duncan]

RobRed:

Also read on your website notes, I when could make those connections on the head unit side when installing a new head unit.

Is there a DIY from that end since many users will pull the head unit out and those connections are easily available?

 

[RobRed]

First, for that amp I would park it where the factory Under seat amp is. This keeps it close to where the factory speaker leads are.

If you are dumping the the factory amp (which you are) then you can cut the connectors at the factory amp (S6/S7) and connect what you need to. Since your new amp will be next to these connections under the seat the speaker wires are right there. The only thing you'll need to route from the dash area are the RCA connections from the new head unit to the new amplifier. Per my web site instructions you will need to tie certain wires at the old amp location so power gets to the upper dash for the head unit.

In the dash for the new Kenwood you'll only need Pins 1, 2, 3, 11, 13 and 20 from the dash connector. Cut and wire to the head unit. [EDIT] Verify color codes of the wires dont just look at the pins in the connector.

Since your new amp is only 4 channel the sub woofer will be bypassed as a result.

 

[fireball]

Duncan what is your OEM head unit? My 99 had a single disc with some slightly different wiring.

 

[Mxndrnks]

My 2000lc had slightly different wiring then Robs blog. But it was helpful. Even my wiring diagram in my fsm was slightly different.... Just take your time and double check everything....

 

[duncan]

Duncan what is your OEM head unit? My 99 had a single disc with some slightly different wiring.

My 2000 LC should have a 6-disc changer IIRC

 

[duncan]

First, for that amp I would park it where the factory Under seat amp is. This keeps it close to where the factory speaker leads are.

If you are dumping the the factory amp (which you are) then you can cut the connectors at the factory amp (S6/S7) and connect what you need to. Since your new amp will be next to these connections under the seat the speak wires are right there. The only thing you'll need to route from the dash area are the RCA connections from the new head unit to the new amplifier. Per my web site instructions you will need to tie certain wires at the old amp location so power gets to the upper dash for the head unit.

In the dash for the new Kenwood you'll only need Pins 1, 2, 3, 11, 13 and 20 from the dash connector. Cut and wire to the head unit.

Since your new amp is only 4 channel the sub woofer will be bypassed as a result.

Okay, so I just pull out the old amp, swap in this new Alphine PowerPak in same under seat location.

Transfer the speaker outs to the output side of the new amp, connect the head unit speaker outs to the input side of the new amp with RCAs.

Kenwood HU should come with its own wiring harness - will I be making those Pins 1, 2, 3, 11, 13 and 20 connections to the Toyota connector R36?

Wire/solder into the new wiring harness to the Kenwood head unit?

Bottom line, if I make the right above connections, I can literally pull the old amp! Yes?

Sorry about the questions. On my 4runner, I just pulled the amp, tossing in recylcling and didn't look back.

 

[RobRed]

Duncan - exactly right. The RCA's at the head unit are low level outs no speaker outs (to clarify) Be mindful of wire colors at Head unit end. As MXN said a few cruisers have been different connectors, but wire colors are consistent.

Make sure at the amp end you tie the power wires etc together as I describe in my blog.

 

[offroadminivan]

Is it possible to bypass the amp with the factory wiring available under the seat? From what I understand, I see in Rob Red's posts that there are (+) speaker wires coming from the hu to the amp, but no (-) wires? Would I have to run new wires from the hu to the speaker output wires of the factory amp? I would prefer to not pull the dash apart...lazy. I replaced the hu years ago, but feel the sound would improve by ditching the amp and crappy sub.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer...

 

[Mxndrnks]

You can get a harness to by pass the amp under the seat to an after market radio. Crutchfeild carries it.