iPd Cameron Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Awhile ago i decided I wanted to do some kind of semi permanent iPod touch mount in my car. I was sick of it floating around on the seat or stuck in that little cubby hole under the ash tray. Then one day I realized that a touch is almost identical in size to the vents. In fact, just a touch smaller which is perfect. Before I went ahead with it I photoshopped it in to see how it would look, not bad! Next i hit up my friend in Seattle who used to post here before he was banned..... He said no problem and worked his magic and made my idea a reality. Here is the setup. Stock vent on the right, custom holder on the left to go where that vent came out of: IPod touch inside the custom cradle: Detail of it mounted in the holder: Still need to modify the dash opening a bit before I can mount this in the car and route the cable from the dock connector on the ipod to the usb input on the head unit. Gonna run it all behind the dash to keep the whole install as stock looking as possible. All wiring will be totally invisible except where the cable pops out from under the ash tray to connect to the usb hub on the front of the head unit. Next I need to find a different double din HU that has the usb hub on the back to make this install 100% invisible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aequitas_Veritas Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Not gonna lie, thats pretty sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DScottM Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 That is awesome. but wont the fan blow hot or cold air on the back of the touch now?? Or did you block the vet? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy_J Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Cold air won't be an issue...it will actually be good for the Ipod. Hot air will not be good. I'm curious how you plan to run the cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEJinFBK Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Appears that the duct is completely blocked. No airflow means neither should be an issue. The only thing I'd sweat is keeping the side window clear in colder weather. I don't know how bad it gets in Portland, but I couldn't do that here in Fairbanks. Center vent maybe? I'm not usually a fan of blocking vents, but that's dropped in nice and clean. A lot of the boost gauges in vents out there look pretty crappy, at least IMHO. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesoam Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 nice job for sure but i will never understand giving up vents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilled man Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Nice ! I would of done it in the center one though. Kick ass regardless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iPd Cameron Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Not gonna lie, thats pretty sweet. Thanks! That is awesome. but wont the fan blow hot or cold air on the back of the touch now?? Or did you block the vet? The vent is blocked behind it with the stock vent door piece. This'll stay clear in front of that and the vent behind it will stay sealed. A small amount of air will still get by it if the fan is on high or something, but won't be an issue. I'm curious how you plan to run the cables. Basically just run the cable down from the vent area and tuck it up inder the steering column/knee bolster, then into the back of the side panel to the center console. I'll likely then end up drilling a small pass through slot at the back of the center console "dish" under the ashtray. that way when it's not plugged in the cord can just sit in the dish area. The headunit I put in the car charges/plays the iPod with just the standard dock connector so it's just one cable I have to run and don't have to splice into power or anything. Nice and easy. The only thing I'd sweat is keeping the side window clear in colder weather. I don't know how bad it gets in Portland, but I couldn't do that here in Fairbanks. Center vent maybe? The car actually has separate little side vents on the side of the dash that are kinda hidden with the doors are closed, but they angle right at the windows for that specific purpose. nice job for sure but i will never understand giving up vents I wasn't super keen on the idea at first either but I just couldn't figure out anywhere else to do the install as clean and integrated as I wanted it. Then I held the touch up to the vent and realized it's almost a perfect match in size and it just looked right and the spot was good so it's easy to reach and stuff too. Nice ! I would of done it in the center one though. Kick ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD regardless Thanks man. I thought about doing the center too but just thought is would look too "added on" if I did it in half of the center vent. Another sweet funtion of having the iPod here is using it for car data too. Apps like Dash Command work on the touch and setting it up is super easy. Especially with the fact that dash command will communicate with wireless OBDII senders. The wireless OBDII transmitter dongles aren't even that expensive either. So for not that much more than a regular stand alone OBDII scanner I can get the wireless sender that just plugs into the port and can stay hidden + get the dash command app that reads all the engine data wirelessly from the dongle. Screen shots from Dash Command: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpin Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 What wireless OBDII sender are you using in these pics? Amazing idea btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilled man Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 ideas ideas ideas ideas ! I like this more and more ! Might be able to just add this to a stock radio and have it built in and no need for aftermarket head unit again ... hmmm How does it come apart , i am curious since it seems that you have to pull the whole thing out to remove the touch ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyXXL Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 What wireless OBDII sender are you using in these pics? This one works fairly well http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-diagnostics-compatible/dp/B006MPZ9VC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339440580&sr=8-1&keywords=wireless+odb2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iPd Cameron Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 What wireless OBDII sender are you using in these pics? I dont' have one yet, but there's lots out there. The PLX kiwi one gets good reviews, but it's like $149.00 so I don't have my heart set on it yet. Still have to do some more reading before I decide which one to get. ideas ideas ideas ideas ! I like this more and more ! Might be able to just add this to a stock radio and have it built in and no need for aftermarket head unit again ... hmmm How does it come apart , i am curious since it seems that you have to pull the whole thing out to remove the touch ? Oh, I think you could absolutely do it with the stock radio. Specifically, couldn't you use the GROM unit with the stock radio? Then just broadcast the music wirelessly via Bluetooth to the Grom/stock HU? iPod touches are bluetooth capable so I don't see why not. Then you'd just need a power source for the touch but something like THIS should work for that. I mean, that one in the link is also RCA line out which of course would work for anything with a RCA input, but the key part of that harness is the +12v and ground wires to power the iPod when the car is on. Lots of ways to skin that cat depending on what head unit you have with what capabilities. Don't have to pull the dash or anything crazy to remove the touch the way it sits in the cradle, but do have to pull the cradle/touch assembly to remove the touch. I don't have a picture handy, but the holder/cradle has access on the sides. The touch slides in from the right side and has a slot on the left side to plug the dock connector cable in. So just pop the cradle with the touch in it into and out of the vent spot same way you'd do it with the regular vent. Since I have all music and stuff that I'd be loading onto the iPod on my laptop I will just use the laptop to load/update the music on the touch. Since the way I set it all up it just uses the standard iPod cable to connect with the car all I have to do is plug the cable into my laptop instead and it connects up like normal to the iPod. Easy peasy If I were doing it totally hidden with a USB hub in the back of the head unit I'd just put a USB disconnect/coupler somewhere inline that was reasonably easy to access to connect the laptop up to when it was time to change music on it. To make the whole "assembly" fit in there right I will have to modify the dash pad a touch and the vent control as I alluded to earlier. I'll have to just remove the wheel piece that opens and closes the vent and cut off the 2 small brackets that hold that. On the left side of the hole I'll just have to cut a small slot/hole for the dock connector connector piece off the iPod to poke through the dash pad there to route the cable back there too. Bonus of that is with the new piece installed there (or with the stock vent plugged back in if I so desire) that hole will be invisible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilled man Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 I will have to email atom .... hmmm ideas ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iPd Cameron Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 hmmm ideas ! I know right?? Speaking of your thought above about wanting to put the touch in the center.... if you used the center vent that is double wide you could ditch both of those vents and make an insert there that holds 2 touches. That way you could get say a 64g touch for one side to store a stuff load of music on and do a matching one next to it of a smaller hard drive size to save a few bucks and use that just for car apps. Wire the music one into the stereo and wire the other one just for power. Then run any/all the ODBII apps you want on the touch for just apps and run any other app stuff you might want that is car related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sconeman Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Nice Cameron! I have a new KIWI for sale at a discount if you decide you want one. Don't need it. pm is interested I want to get rid of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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