Radio swap

[Captnfred]

I would like to swap my radio to updated tech. I've read a couple threads about the issues of wire Harness not matching up, but I can see through that. I'm asking if they are worth switching? Do they last? Will I have issues on a year? Does anyone have any opinions?
Is one better than the other? Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Captnfred]

I would like to swap my radio to updated tech. I've read a couple threads about the issues of wire Harness not matching up, but I can see through that. I'm asking if they are worth switching? Do they last? Will I have issues on a year? Does anyone have any opinions?
Is one better than the other? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Forgot to mention, I have a 2009 LX570 ultra premium package. So it has everything including rear DVD in the roof. If that makes a difference in connections.

 

[El Skywalker]

Tesla head unit install (pre2016 LC) - first impressions and a couple bugs to figure out

Yes, BUT there are RCA video and sound jacks if someone wanted to figure it out they could. I head unit can play videos from the front. I know with kids rear screens are useful. My kids are in their 30's so not a factor for me :) I know my nephew and grandkids have Ipads and they just do...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[kcjaz]

What you want, like all mods, depends on what are trying to achieve. If all you want is CapPlay, I wouldn’t mess with the Tesla style units. If you want a more usable nav screen, the Tesla units give you that. Lots of info on here on the Tesla units. The only generally agreed to conclusion is that they are not perfect. While they are an update to the very dated OEM units, they are ironically still dated themselves.

The longevity questions is a good one and I don’t think there are enough out there long enough to know yet. IMO, After installing a tesla style unit, is that they are physically nowhere as near robust as the original OEM units. I personally do not see these things lasting like the OEM units would. Time will tell. The Phoenix units are considerably cheaper than EC off-road. In the big picture if we’re talking five or 600 bucks may be disposable head units that get their tech updated more frequently isn’t a bad thing.

 

[TeCKis300]

I'm interested in this too and would be interested in feedback. I keep wavering for the same reasons as you. Last thing I want is buggy tech that leaves me hanging on a long road trip.

 

[Captnfred]

What you want, like all mods, depends on what are trying to achieve. If all you want is CapPlay, I wouldn’t mess with the Tesla style units. If you want a more usable nav screen, the Tesla units give you that. Lots of info on here on the Tesla units. The only generally agreed to conclusion is that they are not perfect. While they are an update to the very dated OEM units, they are ironically still dated themselves.

The longevity questions is a good one and I don’t think there are enough out there long enough to know yet. IMO, After installing a tesla style unit, is that they are physically nowhere as near robust as the original OEM units. I personally do not see these things lasting like the OEM units would. Time will tell. The Phoenix units are considerably cheaper than EC off-road. In the big picture if we’re talking five or 600 bucks may be disposable head units that get their tech updated more frequently isn’t a bad thing.

Thanks for that info, Good to know the differences. I like the option of having the all around camera view the Tesla gives. I updated my old ls460 with the v line module upgrade. It was ok, but I want more on this mod. I'll check out the EC unit if it's more robust. Thanks again

 

[kcjaz]

Thanks for that info, Good to know the differences. I like the option of having the all around camera view the Tesla gives. I updated my old ls460 with the v line module upgrade. It was ok, but I want more on this mod. I'll check out the EC unit if it's more robust. Thanks again

I would not say the EC unit is more robust. Its the one I bought (at a relative premium compared to the Phoenix unit) but I think the hardware is essentially the same. All of these units appear to be made in the same Chinese factory. While I am basically happy with my unit so far, it has been a "journey" and I have "let go" of expecting CarPlay to work on road trips (it crashes after 3 or 4 hours and starts getting glitchy after two hours). I paid the premium thinking EC's firmware might be more tailored to the LC and that they have an installed base in Australia that would force them to be more responsive and drive improvements in the firmware. I will say that all of the stuff works, hard buttons, HVAC controls, external temp, cameras, etc. CarPlay is the disappointment but, for me, I didn't use it before so I don't miss it. Wifi via a hot spot works well. In the end, I do not think I really got anything more or really better for the extra $1000 USD I paid. Though I will also say the kit I got was complete with the canbus controller and camera decoder. What you actually got with the Phoenix units was less clear (at least to me). If I had a do-over, I'd go Phoenix and Sergey's firmware. I would still expect some glitches and bugs though but other have got it to work, so its possible and I'd have more money in my pocket.

 

[Captnfred]

Ok thanks

I would not say the EC unit is more robust. Its the one I bought (at a relative premium compared to the Phoenix unit) but I think the hardware is essentially the same. All of these units appear to be made in the same Chinese factory. While I am basically happy with my unit so far, it has been a "journey" and I have "let go" of expecting CarPlay to work on road trips (it crashes after 3 or 4 hours and starts getting glitchy after two hours). I paid the premium thinking EC's firmware might be more tailored to the LC and that they have an installed base in Australia that would force them to be more responsive and drive improvements in the firmware. I will say that all of the stuff works, hard buttons, HVAC controls, external temp, cameras, etc. CarPlay is the disappointment but, for me, I didn't use it before so I don't miss it. Wifi via a hot spot works well. In the end, I do not think I really got anything more or really better for the extra $1000 USD I paid. Though I will also say the kit I got was complete with the canbus controller and camera decoder. What you actually got with the Phoenix units was less clear (at least to me). If I had a do-over, I'd go Phoenix and Sergey's firmware. I would still expect some glitches and bugs though but other have got it to work, so its possible and I'd have more money in my pocket.

Ok thanks

 

[greynolds]

Yeah, the EC unit appears to be the exact same hardware at a very premium price. I previously had the EC module that works in conjunction with the factory display and don’t feel the level of support they provide justifies the premium price they charge. I bought my Tesla unit from the manufacturer through Alibaba, added Sergey’s firmware and am pretty happy overall. Agreed though that it isn’t perfect. If you aren’t willing to tinker with it to get everything working, don’t go with any of the current options.

I‘m about $800 or so into the Tesla unit including shipping and $100 for Sergey’s firmware. If I end up swapping in a newer unit in a few years, I‘ll be fine with that. No Canbus module was needed with mine as the smarts are built into the head unit.

 

[kcjaz]

No Canbus module was needed with mine as the smarts are built into the head unit.

Isn't yours a 2016+? I wonder if that is the reason no canbus box is needed or if it is just the way EC Off-Road did it.

 

[linuxgod]

It would be interesting to set up admin access on one of these units. Enable console ssh and pull the logs and I could probably help figure out why CarPlay crashes, for instance. (I suspect it’s a driver issue on the android device and it would likely be possible to update the driver independently of the rest of the android device)

 

[greynolds]

Isn't yours a 2016+? I wonder if that is the reason no canbus box is needed or if it is just the way EC Off-Road did it.

Yes, mine is a 2020. From what I have seen, the connection for the 360 camera is very different between our 2 models. I doubt EC Offroad included an extra box if they didn't need to. The physical appearance of your head unit and mine is very similar, so I suspect they're the same basic hardware, but just need different wiring harnesses to interface with our different facelift LC200's.

It would be interesting to set up admin access on one of these units. Enable console ssh and pull the logs and I could probably help figure out why CarPlay crashes, for instance. (I suspect it’s a driver issue on the android device and it would likely be possible to update the driver independently of the rest of the android device)

In my case, the Zlink app itself rarely crashes, but the CarPlay connection drops sporadically. Sometimes it will be fine for hours, sometimes it will drop several times over the course of 10-20 minutes. When the connection drops, I can almost always get it back by going into the iPhone Settings > Bluetooth and tapping on the connection for the head unit to get the Bluetooth connected again. At that point, Zlink will pick up where it left off with CarPlay after a little handshake connecting dance. It's not clear to me if the problem is with the WiFi connection, the Bluetooth connection, or perhaps both. It could very well be something like an older Bluetooth or WiFi driver on the Android device, though the problem could also be on the iPhone side.

I have had a few cases where Zlink itself crashes (this is rare in my experience so far) and starting it back up gets CarPlay going again.

Finally, I've had a few cases where I've had to reboot the head unit or the iPhone to get CarPlay going again, but this is even more rare in my experience so far.

I asked Sergey about the CarPlay connection drops and one of the suggestions he made was to go into iPhone Settings > Personal Hotspot and turn on the Maximize Compatibility mode. That seems to have improved things, but until I go on another lengthy drive, I won't know for sure and that may not happen again until next summer as I don't have any big trips planned at the moment.

I do have a CarlinKit device that can add CarPlay / Android Auto to pretty much any Android device that I can try using instead of Zlink. This device has its own Bluetooth and WiFi connection to the iPhone rather than using the head unit's connectivity. I had used this on the first generation EC Offroad interface module to get wireless CarPlay (the first generation EC Offroad unit only supported wired CarPlay via Zlink) with pretty good success (no really long trips though), but did find that the app it uses (Autokit, which has to be installed from an apk file - it isn't available in the Play Store) and Zlink don't exactly play nicely together. So I would prefer not to go down this path.

The larger screen on these Tesla style units does make using native Android apps, rather than CarPlay, a much more viable alternative than using them with something like the EC Offroad interface module and factory display. The much larger screen makes a huge difference in usability of Android apps that aren't optimized for use while driving a car (which is obviously what CarPlay excels at and why using it is so desirable).

 

[kcjaz]

Yes, mine is a 2020. From what I have seen, the connection for the 360 camera is very different between our 2 models. I doubt EC Offroad included an extra box if they didn't need to. The physical appearance of your head unit and mine is very similar, so I suspect they're the same basic hardware, but just need different wiring harnesses to interface with our different facelift LC200's.


In my case, the Zlink app itself rarely crashes, but the CarPlay connection drops sporadically. Sometimes it will be fine for hours, sometimes it will drop several times over the course of 10-20 minutes. When the connection drops, I can almost always get it back by going into the iPhone Settings > Bluetooth and tapping on the connection for the head unit to get the Bluetooth connected again. At that point, Zlink will pick up where it left off with CarPlay after a little handshake connecting dance. It's not clear to me if the problem is with the WiFi connection, the Bluetooth connection, or perhaps both. It could very well be something like an older Bluetooth or WiFi driver on the Android device, though the problem could also be on the iPhone side.

I have had a few cases where Zlink itself crashes (this is rare in my experience so far) and starting it back up gets CarPlay going again.

Finally, I've had a few cases where I've had to reboot the head unit or the iPhone to get CarPlay going again, but this is even more rare in my experience so far.

I asked Sergey about the CarPlay connection drops and one of the suggestions he made was to go into iPhone Settings > Personal Hotspot and turn on the Maximize Compatibility mode. That seems to have improved things, but until I go on another lengthy drive, I won't know for sure and that may not happen again until next summer as I don't have any big trips planned at the moment.

I do have a CarlinKit device that can add CarPlay / Android Auto to pretty much any Android device that I can try using instead of Zlink. This device has its own Bluetooth and WiFi connection to the iPhone rather than using the head unit's connectivity. I had used this on the first generation EC Offroad interface module to get wireless CarPlay (the first generation EC Offroad unit only supported wired CarPlay via Zlink) with pretty good success (no really long trips though), but did find that the app it uses (Autokit, which has to be installed from an apk file - it isn't available in the Play Store) and Zlink don't exactly play nicely together. So I would prefer not to go down this path.

The larger screen on these Tesla style units does make using native Android apps, rather than CarPlay, a much more viable alternative than using them with something like the EC Offroad interface module and factory display. The much larger screen makes a huge difference in usability of Android apps that aren't optimized for use while driving a car (which is obviously what CarPlay excels at and why using it is so desirable).

The first thing I notice when CarPlay is on the path to crashing is that the controls of the head unit start to lag. For example hitting the steering wheel button for next track will go from <1s response to like 20 seconds about the time it just quits. The soft buttons on the head unit get laggy too.

 

[greynolds]

The first thing I notice when CarPlay is on the path to crashing is that the controls of the head unit start to lag. For example hitting the steering wheel button for next track will go from <1s response to like 20 seconds about the time it just quits. The soft buttons on the head unit get laggy too.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that at times as well, though not every time.

 

[CharlieS]

Sounds like a memory leak.

 

[lx200inAR]

Keep in mind with every one of these stereo replacement threads. There are about 12 different stereo configurations not even including rear entertainment options between LX570s and Land Cruisers and the varying years. So what some people say about theirs may not apply to your situation at all. I believe almost everyone replying in this thread has Land Cruisers.

There was a thread of a guy who was doing a deep dive into a Tesla unit for a LX, but i think it went cold. And I'm pretty sure @baktasht did one in his early LX.

 

[NKP Garage]

Keep in mind with every one of these stereo replacement threads. There are about 12 different stereo configurations not even including rear entertainment options between LX570s and Land Cruisers and the varying years. So what some people say about theirs may not apply to your situation at all. I believe almost everyone replying in this thread has Land Cruisers.

There was a thread of a guy who was doing a deep dive into a Tesla unit for a LX, but i think it went cold. And I'm pretty sure @baktasht did one in his early LX.

Yup, Glad I did the upgrade, it's been great.


Start around post 57 in my thread here: Builds - LX570 - Maintain Restore and Mod - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lx570-maintain-restore-and-mod.1112630/page-3#post-12558046

And here's a video of my setup:

-

 

[greynolds]

Keep in mind with every one of these stereo replacement threads. There are about 12 different stereo configurations not even including rear entertainment options between LX570s and Land Cruisers and the varying years. So what some people say about theirs may not apply to your situation at all. I believe almost everyone replying in this thread has Land Cruisers.

The differences between the different stereo configurations are going to be primarily on the wiring harness side of things and that may, of course, also force some hardware differences in the head units as well. But the Android portion of these head units, especially if we're talking about the same CPU in the head units, is going to be more similar than different. I suspect most of us are dealing with PX6 based head units. @kcjaz and I have head units that are very close to identical even though we have very different model year LCs - same physical appearance, same PX6 CPU, same version of Android OS, same ability to run Sergey's custom firmware, most likely the same Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities, quite likely the same version of the Zlink app, and so on. The point being that things like CarPlay related issues are going to have a lot in common as they really have nothing to do with the hardware interface with the LC.

Installation of the head units, especially the wiring harness portion, definitely warrants separate discussions. But if we wanted to be super organized about it, there's a good chance we could organize separate threads into 1 for each LC variation that results in significant wiring harness differences and then 1 combined thread for discussion of the Android side of things.

 

[TeCKis300]

Yup, Glad I did the upgrade, it's been great.


Start around post 57 in my thread here: Builds - LX570 - Maintain Restore and Mod - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lx570-maintain-restore-and-mod.1112630/page-3#post-12558046

And here's a video of my setup:

-

Sounds like 3 yrs on, you're still enjoying the HU?

 

[NKP Garage]

Sounds like 3 yrs on, you're still enjoying the HU?

Absolutely. It's been great. Updated the entire look of the interior, and the usability/functionality has been great. I like it better than even what comes on the 2016+ LX/LC.