98 Camry LE stereo install

[kaejr]

what's going on guys? I'm new to this forum so here goes

My wife has a 98 Camry LE and she wants to enhance her sound system, I'm willing to do it but I don't have much experience with imports/Toyota's...my questions are.....

1. is there a factory amp?

2. If yes where is it?

3. what is the best way to remove the factory deck?

4. is there a security code feature with the removal that I should be concerned with?

5. where is the best place to ground the amp connections?

any advice or being pointed in the right direction is very much appreciated

thanks again,

[MrSo0h0o]

1. in your LE, there should not be a factory amp. an easy way to tell is if you have tweeters in your door panels. if you do not, then there is no factory amp.

2. if you do have the factory amp, it would be located under the passenger seat.

3. the best way to remove the factory deck is to tape up the tip of a flathead screwdriver and pry out the trim ring around the stock deck. that will reveal 4 bolts that hold the unit in place and then you should be able to just unhook the wire harness(es) from the unit

4. no i believe there is no security code

5. depends where you are going to mount the amp. most likely you will be able to find a pre-existing ground that you can share, or you can find a bolt or nut that is around the area and just scrape the paint around it and ground it there.

as to advice on a direction to go, do you just want to get her a new head unit or do you also want to replace the speakers? and do you want to give her a little bass with a small subwoofer?

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by MrSo0h0o

3. the best way to remove the factory deck is to tape up the tip of a flathead screwdriver and pry out the trim ring around the stock deck. that will reveal 4 bolts that hold the unit in place and then you should be able to just unhook the wire harness(es) from the unit

No need for a flathead. Remove the ashtray, stick your hand inside palm up. Grip the top of that opening and pull. It should releast the bottom clip and then just keep pulling that trim piece. Once you have the trim off, you have four 10mm bolts that you'll need a socket for.

[xet]

^ i do a mix of both those, and be aware u are going to have to put a good amount of force into the tug just pull straight out

[MrSo0h0o]

i would just be careful in pulling it out. if your trim is half as fragile as mine was when i did my install in my 93, you might just end up having to buy a new trim piece lol

[touringcamry]

^ Wow...you must be superman. I've removed that trim piece in my Gen 4 countless times and never did I break it. YOu have to pull quite hard and the trim will flex a little.

In a Gen 4, I could have the stereo out in about 5 minutes. Seriously.

[MrSo0h0o]

maybe because mine was a gen 3(93)? this is what it looked like(the trim piece wouldnt stay flush):

[kaejr]

yeah I am only putting in a simple head unit and I'm going to let her have my 1000w class d amp and push my CVR kicker 12's until I rebuild my system for my car and then I will replace those with the Kicker 10's i've bought for her........ is there any other things that I should know about this install??? I'm not taking out her factory speakers because those sound really good and no need to mess with those really...any suggestions on installation or mounting would be greatly appreciated and thanks for letting me know how to take out her factory unit.........I'll put up pics showing the process once complete.....