2007 Highlander / Sony XAV - AX100 install - steering wheel control help

[JWD]

I ordered the head unit, wiring harness from crutchfield as well as a little controller module thing and another harness so the steering wheel controls will work. However, looking at the instructions provided by crutchfield, it says that both of the wiring harnesses need to connect to the factory 20-pin connector. I'm pretty sure you can't stack them/connect more than one in this way. 

The whole reason i ordered through crutchfield was so i wouldnt have to splice into my factory wiring, which makes me uncomfortable (i dont want to create a problem). 

I thought maybe i could splice the two harnesses together, but they dont have leads in the correct pin positions. Is there a way to splice a wire into one of these multi-connectors without cutting into my factory wiring? 

Basically i have this:

[steering wheel] --> [factory 20pin connector] <-- [crutchfield steering adapter harness] <--[control module] --> [head unit]

but at the same time i have [factory 20pin connector] <--[crutch. receiver harness] <--[head unit]

Either of these are easy enough by themselves, but i'm trying to do both at once, and as far as i can tell i can't snap both harnesses onto the factory connector at the same time. 

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

It might be there's an adapter with the steering wheel integration and one without and you ordered both?   I have that same Sony head unit and I really like it.   Have you tried to call Crutchfield?  They used to be really good on the phone.

 

[JWD]

It might be there's an adapter with the steering wheel integration and one without and you ordered both?   I have that same Sony head unit and I really like it.   Have you tried to call Crutchfield?  They used to be really good on the phone.

No, doesnt seem that way. The two things i ordered said they have to go together. 

I called them but the wait was really long so i gave up. I know i can solve this by splicing into the factory harness....it's just i built this entire order and went through crutchfield to avoid doing that at all, so it bothers me. I might also be able to pull the wires from the one white multi-pin plug that came with one harness and stick them into the multiplug that came with the other- but i'm not sure if that's even possible (havent worked with these plugs before). 

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

No, doesnt seem that way. The two things i ordered said they have to go together. 

I called them but the wait was really long so i gave up. I know i can solve this by splicing into the factory harness....it's just i built this entire order and went through crutchfield to avoid doing that at all, so it bothers me. I might also be able to pull the wires from the one white multi-pin plug that came with one harness and stick them into the multiplug that came with the other- but i'm not sure if that's even possible (havent worked with these plugs before). 

With crimp connects and/or T-taps it should be easy enough to get in both if you need them, but I've never used steering wheel interface myself so IDK what order they're supposed to be inserted in the chain.  Good luck, hopefully someone else here has some experience.