200 series land cruiser head unit 2017

Good morning fellow travellers. we have just arrive home from a five month long journey around Queensland. We went for the Birdsville big red bash, and a couple of months of visiting relatives that we hadn't seen for a while. And as most already know and we have just found out, you cant escape Queensland that quickly. It took longer than we thought.
the problem arose while trying to use the Toyota navigation system around the major towns and cities, in most cases the navigation system was to old and out dated. I have a 2017, 200 series VX Landcruiser the system that comes with that vehicle is 2014 model. I think I remember David and Michelle replace their head unit in there Landcruiser some years ago, and I cant seem to find that blog to get some feed back on the type of system they have, or one that will take explore oz traveller maps. if I change out the head unit can the mapping system be put into the head unit. I hop I am making sense to those that have done what I need to get done, as the maps on the cruiser are driving us nuts.. Thank you for your input into our Dilemma.
Broodie H3
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Reply By: Member - FLNGO - Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 at 13:45

Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 at 13:45
The unit they installed ( & I have also installed after seeing there review ) is a Teyes android system from china, they appear to now have an Oz site - https://www.teyes.com.au/pages/teyes-cc3-brochure.
Put teyes in the search function to find the other discussions.
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Follow Up By: @Yackandandah - Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 at 16:45

Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 at 16:45
David & Michelle have ditched the Teyes & gone to EC Vision. I have a Teyes in my 79LC & am happy with it. I think the current batch of Teyes are the 2k version with no physical buttons
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Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 at 19:30

Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 at 19:30
Broodie,

I went with a Vhedia unit in my 79 series ute. Looks like factory & I have Memory Map, Hema 4WD Maps & ExplorOz Traveller downloaded on it. No doubt made in China, but there appears to be a very active supplier in WA.

Anyway, have a look at their website here. The only change I would make, if buying again, is to purchase the unit with a volume knob.

Bob

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Follow Up By: Member - Jack - Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 08:45

Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 08:45
Agree wiht the Vhedia unit. I have Exploroz, Google Maps, Waze and even things like National Public Toilet map and Wikicamps and a stack of other stuff for travelling. great unit.
OBJ
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Reply By: Member - bungarra (WA) - Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 09:52

Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 09:52
Have a look at this bloke's website. After a number of phone calls to the various head unit suppliers I got sick of salesman interested in sales but little knowledge of the product.

I stumbled on this website; his name is Darcy. Probably the most knowledgeable and hands on bloke I've ever dealt with for this type of gear.

I purchased one from him for my 200 series and he was a pleasure to deal with, knows his stuff and nothing was too much trouble. He also installs so any issue in that (there wasn't) he would be able to walk you through.

I am in WA and self-installed, very straight forward.

I have no affiliation with him at all but do yourself a favour and have a look.

https://d2iauto.com.au/
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Reply By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 17:02

Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 17:02
If you open the Traveller page on this website and click the FAQ tab, the first section covers headunits. Here is what we've put together with the latest info on this subject.

So option 1 - the GROM is the option that allows you to keep the existing factory headunit BUT consider that for the price you may as well replace with an aftermarket Android headunit and get new technology.

We bought our 200 series second hand. It's a 2008 model. The original owner was my (Michelle's) dad and he swapped out the factory headunit at the time for a VMS which is incompatible with apps so when we got it in 2019 we swapped that out for our first Android heaunit - which you couldn't get in Australia at the time, so we took a punt and bought the T'eyes from AliExpress online before you get them here in Australia. T'eyes didn't make it - its a Russian manufacturer - since then the same unit has been imported and distributed by a number of Australian companies who rebadged it with their own brand and to be fair, they do install their own branded firmware and UI etc. Great unit though! Lovely display. Great resolution.

Our T'eyes bought in 2019 continued to perform well for our trip last year but running Android 9 and not eligible for software updates, it was starting to get slow and wasn't compatible with DAB radio etc so we thought we'd replace it with one from an Australian distributer to see how much they have changed them.

We've already been talking to tons of app customers and have heard/researched all the various options and opted to go with the Android 12 headunit from EC Offroad. But we could have gone with VHEIDA or others.

At the end of the day they are all Android tablets with dashkits to suit the range of vehicles - so find the one that offers what fits your vehicle.

Here's a screen shot from the ExplorOz Traveller webpage - FAQ on headunits. Hope this helps.


A few months ago, David did a few videos of the installs of the EC Offroad headunit:-

This is the link to Instagram where we published a hyperlapse video of the headunit install,

And we also did a YouTube video with David explaining the install.



David (DM) & Michelle (MM)
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Follow Up By: Member - Broodie H3 - Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 13:51

Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 13:51
thank yo very much for the information and the video, very informative and the install impressed me that I may have a go at doing the install myself. I am not tech savvy so I do have a question for David how do you install the explore oz traveller onto the unit?? as I said I am not tech savvy only mechanical.thank you very much
Broodie H3
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 14:19

Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 14:19
Hi Brodie Michelle here, the app install onto a headunit is not technical - just same process as putting any app on a phone or tablet. Open the Playstore on the headunit - find ExplorOz Traveller and download. You’ll need a sim or mobile data or wifi Bluetooth connection to be online to do the connection but that’s as far as the “technical” challenge goes.

Michelle
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Follow Up By: Member - Broodie H3 - Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 13:50

Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 13:50
Thanks Michelle I have been talking to my grand son and he siad he can do it for me when I get the unit, he's a good tech savvy grandson. so he can do it .
thank you for the information
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Reply By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 17:23

Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 17:23
If you change the head unit from the OEM, what happens to all the functions that the vehicle manufacturer had installed on the original head unit? In particular, vehicle/engine/traction controls etc.
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 21:30

Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 at 21:30
All the OEM headunits cater for that. All of them.
David (DM) & Michelle (MM)
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Reply By: Andrew L - Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 10:08

Friday, Nov 24, 2023 at 10:08
There are quite a few systems that will fit, a company is selling 300 series look alike systems 12 inch horizontal that fit your 200...
Have a surf on alibaba or similar sites for fj200 gps
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Reply By: AlbyNSW - Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 05:54

Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 05:54
Not sure if I am missing something here but doesn’t everyone just use live maps like Google maps these days for navigation via carplay or Android ?
If the town is big enough you need a map to navigate through it there is reception
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Follow Up By: Member - Broodie H3 - Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 13:45

Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 13:45
Hi Alby, I cant speak for anyone else but I always carry paper maps as you never know when your going to need them, just to confirm where you are at times, as some electronic devices can lead you astray even in towns and cities. That is why I still carry maps.
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Follow Up By: AlbyNSW - Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 15:48

Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 15:48
Likewise for out of town/ range use as well but aren’t we talking about mapping for navigation in towns and cities here not offroad/ remote travel out in the bush

apple, Google maps etc are superior as are live real time navigation not operating off a data base
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Follow Up By: Member - Broodie H3 - Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 21:08

Saturday, Nov 25, 2023 at 21:08
Hi Alby
I suppose your confusion is me not being efficient in the start of this blog to what my problem is. To explain, I have a 2017 VX Landcruiser built in march 2017, the head unit is from a production line in 2014, I brought the vehicle in 2021, the mapping system has never been updated and the Toyota update that is available is 2019. which is way out of date for practicable purposes, as we just found out trying to navigate the eastern seaboard, and the outback of NSW and Vic. QLD wasn't as bad as we knew most of where we were going. If it hadn't been for Explore oz maps on the tablet and in some cases our paper maps, we could have been lost. but happy to say we are now back in W>A. and looking at replacing the tablet as some time on rough track it can be a bit of a nuisance, leading to heated debates about its usefulness.
I think I won this round but I have to get it passed the minister of finance. that is a harder battle. that is the short version of my delemma.
Broodie H3
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