Tencast

I pulled my dash apart today to take a look at the stock stero and see if adding an amp was something I could accomplish. To my surprise it looks like there is a stock amp right underneith the stock radio. Does anyone know thw wattage of this unit? Also I want to just run a sub through my amp. Where is the easiest place to get to the wires to put the amp inline?

Thanks,
Tencast--

Andrey

To be honest with you, the stock amp sucks. Pretty much any aftermarket stereo will be more powerfull than that amp. And on top of that, the connectors used on the Toyota amplifier are proprietary, so it'll be pretty tricky to find which wire is which.

As my personal advise, it is way better to go with an aftermarket amplifier. You'll save yourself a lot of time during installation and the sound quality will be much better.

I hope this helps,

-- Andrey

Rymin929

I don't know the exact wattage but I would have to say probably 15-40max per channel. You can either grab them at the factory amp or at the rear speakers. The rear speaker wire colors should be Red & White, and Yellow & Black. White/Black should be the +'s. Depending on what amp your trying to tie into to run your sub(s) you may have to grab the factory feed wires and wire in a pair of rca's directly to the radio. I don't know those wire colors off the top of my head but can probably get them realtivly easily if you want to go that route.

tank_bmb

I just got done adding a sub amp. (it is a 2003 SR5 though)

I got these clips that you wrap around the wire you want to tap into and place the end of your new wire on the other side and squeeze shut. It lets you splice into the wire without cutting.

I spliced into the rear speaker wires.

Not sure what to call them, but I lifted up the plastic covers that are on the floor to the left of driver seat and right of passenger seat, they just pull up.

You'll have to do a little research on wire color to find out which wire is which for your model. Hopefully, the amp doesnt mess thing up also.

Anyhow...

In my case on a 2003......

On the driver side, within the smaller bundle of wires, you will splice into the black (positive) and yellow (negative) wires for the left channel. There is a black and yellow in the larger bundle of wires so be careful.

On the passenger side, you splice into the red (positive) and white (negative).

kwb

i just put a sub in my 01 xtra cab i went ahead and bought a amp for it. it had a high level input that allowed me to connect to a speaker output (rear left). i would almost bet that the factory unit would not be able to push a sub. i did not want to replace my head unit (factory) so i was looking for this feature. if you already have a amp you can buy an audiolink from any car audio shop and they can tell you hoe to install. very easy to do. i bought a
JL e2150 to run a single RF 10

Ben(Miami)

You know, I've been wondering about the same thing for some time now. I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of getting the PREAMP signal from the stock headunit to wire in an aftermarket amplifier for subs, speakers, etc.? I haven't seen this issue addressed yet. I would think that the preamp signal from the headunit would be cleaner than the amplified signal, AND, it seems idiotic to take an amplified signal, bring it back down to preamp levels only to input it into an aftermarket amp to amplify the signal again. If anyone has any insight to this I'd appreciate it. Specifically, which wires from the headunit (not the factory amp) to tap for RCA/preamp level outputs?

Regards,
Ben(Miami)
'02 Limited 4X2

Dude

I have an '03 and am considering keeping the stock headunit and bypass everything else. So to accomplish this without chopping any harnesses, I'm thinking about this:

Headunit----Metra female harness(split out the speaker leads)---Metra male harness (same harness used to add any aftermarket headunit on an '03)-----OEM factory harness.

In essence, you are creating kind of a "patch harness" between the HU and the OEM harness. This way you can split out the speaker leads and connect to a line level converter, then to aftermarket amps. I am also assuming in this setup replacing all speakers and wiring to the speakers.

Here are my questions/problems:

1) Is the signal out of the headunit really pre-amp. In other words if you run the signal into a line-level converter, does it matter what level it is going into the coverter? .....will the converter just reduce it to the appropriate signal strength? Or do you need to do some soldering and just solder on a set of RCA's to the speaker preamp leads....now that is a little getto in my book.

2) I know Metra makes a harness that connects to the OEM HU harness that allows the addition of an aftermarket HU.....but do they make a female harness that can plug into the OEM HU? In other words, do they make a harness that is the same as the OEM harness?

I can find out #2, but #1 is the bigger question. If #2 is available and #1 can be accomplished by using a LLC, this is an easy mod that will allow you to keep the stock HU and add any combo of aftermarket amps and speakers.

Dude

followup on my previous post:

Metra does not make a harness for any of the JBL systems....so I was told by tech support. They did mention that the signal strength on the pre-amp speaker leads were RCA level....maybe even a bit low. So you could solder on RCA plugs and then, if necessary, get a signal booster to get it to an aftermarket amp.

I guess at this point, I am considering an aftermarket HU. After talking to Metra, they said there is not a harness for the JBL system...so I would need to hack into my factory harness for all needed wires....

I'm thinking for an Alpine 9815:

ground to the chassis
power direct the battery
swithced 12v power to the fuse box
Then all I need is a tap into the power antenna lead in the OEM harness. Otherwise, RCAs to an aftermarket amp then to speakers/sub.

Here is the big question....I know Metra told me there is no harness....has anyone else found a harness to add an aftermarket HU? Please include brand and model # if possible.

Tencast

So let me get this straight.

All I have to do is tap into the wires going to the rear speakers. Attach them to an output converter with RCA jacks. Then also attach them back to the rear speaker. Attach the RCA to my amp and my amp to the sub. Since it is only a sub I don't need to run stereo so I only have to tap into one side. Correct?

This seems pretty simple if in fact it is the case.

Tencast--

kwb

thats right if you are gonna bridge your apm you only need to do left side which should be a yellow/black twisted pair check just to be sure. do you know if your amp already has hi level output or not, if so you could do away with converter and connect right to amp no RCA cables to mess with

Joec500

when I first got my Runner, I actaully just found out what wires coming out of the Ampiflier went to what speakers and installed a hi level to RCA converter. This allowed me to use the teeny wires from the output of the factory amp to this coverter that had RCA inputs which I used to plug in an aftermarket amp.

But I will be honest, after I got an aftermarket deck with Pre Outs built in, the sound quality went up tremendously.



My 02 cents.



Joe

Tencast

I installed the sub-woofer yesterday and WOW! What an amazing difference it made to the sound. It was pretty easy also.

Anybody want me to write this up and put it in the tech section?

Tencast--

Dude

I would like to hear some details..much appreciated

tank_bmb

I know this post is after the fact now but...

I had gotten an amp from Crutchfield and I asked their tech support if I should splice into one side or both for a sub. They told me to splice into both and let the amp do the bridging. Not sure what difference it makes though?


As far as the sub goes - I was amazed by the difference it made as well. Definitely worth the time. I went one step further and added a small 2 channel amp (35 RMS) to the front speakers - nice improvement as well. I did have problems with noise in the front when I used an RCA converter, but switched to speaker level input and there were no issues at all.

richardyc

tank_bmb,

how did you do the remote turn-on for the amp? I want to upgrade the factory stereo too, but I haven't found a headunit within my price range that I like that would go well with the amber interior color. I also don't want to give up the control on the steering wheel too, so I might just keep the factory unit, and just add a 4ch amp to the system. I've already replaced all the speakers, and it's night and day diff. oh where did you install the amp? I want to keep it stock looking, so I will install the amp underneat the driver's seat, so I am having hard to to come up with a good sound amp yet small enough to fit under the seat. the JL audio 300/4 might do it thou.

rich

tank_bmb

For my remote turn on.....

I mounted my amp to the back of the driver side back seat. I spliced the remote turn on into the 12V plug in the back cargo area as it was convenient. (I had already taken the tray out of the back compartment in search putting a sub in that location).

I've got my radar detector hot wire into one side of a fuse in the fuse box (radio fuse - I think), but that is probably not the best practice.

Anybody have any better ideas for a hot 12V which does not require the dash to be taken apart?

I'll try and check out the 12 volt plug up front. There are some wires that run in the well beneath the driver side door that break off under the driver seat toward the center console. Hopefully one of those is for the 12 volt.

I also put a small amp for the fronts in the glove box. (Its small, so there is still room in the glove box).

Didnt look long, but this is pretty small, it is only 50 x 4 though. (9-7/8" x 9" x 1-7/8")

Audiobahn 4004T

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...=0&cc=01&avf=N

Somebody else will have to tell you wether or not it is good though.

Tencast

Rich,

I know you asked Tank Bmb but I just ran the remote wire from the amp to the aux fuse box on the left side of the steerign wheel. (99 SR5 4x4). It works fine. I wish I could have found the radio fuse but I couldn't. Anybody know where the radio fuse is located?

Tencast--

tank_bmb

Tencast - Where in the fuse box did you tap into? That was the same location I went (for my radar detector).


As far as the front 12 volt. Looks like the wire for it runs toward the front. Still looks easy to tap into and then run line to under the drivers seat. There is a black and white wire for it, I would guess the white was hot but thats a guess. I'd either use a multimeter on it or guess.

Tencast

I plugged directly into the fuse box where it read AUX.

Tencast--

tank_bmb

Is the power on all the time? or only when the ignition is on?