hi i'm in the market at looking into one of the garmin gps systems. i was wondering where everyone hides the power cord/cig lighter cord in their g's or if there's a way to tap into something so it's completely hidden.

thanks.

 

i was actually tackling that problem the other day. the cord is so thick that I can't shove it behind any panels. what does work if you dont have anything plugged into the driver side lighter plug is to run the cord down into the steering column. I have my radar detector there so that didnt work for me.

if you find another way, let me know b/c i ran out of ideas.

 

haha alright thanks. yeah i want something to be hidden.. just dont know how to hide it. best buy says there's a way to hard wire it

 

Well, if you're keeping the unit itself in the nav cubby, you could take apart the garmin power plug, run the cord down through a small hole in the cubby.and solder the power/ground to the connectors on your ash tray cig lighter.

If you do that, remember to keep the fuse inline (and preferably accessible, possibly placed behind the ash tray that pulls out. Probably have to buy a fuse holder from the 'shack). Also if you want to keep the sat lights on the plug, you'll have to locate them somewhere too.

 

I know someone who installed a cigarette lighter plug into the navi cubby so the Garmin cord just plugged into it there.

 

anyone have any pics?

 

Where are you going to mount the GPS receiver and which model are you getting?

 

thinking about mounting it to the windshield to the left side of the steering wheel. try to hide the wiring to the pillars and try to tap into the power and ground.

 

That's how I have my Garmin installed. When I had my iPod adapter installed at Circuit City [not Best Buy like I originally posted] they installed a cigarette lighter plug behind my radio, hard wired it to my radio, and simply plugged the Garmin cord in. The guy hooked me up too because he didn't charge me anything (parts or labor) to do it. He had an extra female cigarette plug lying around so he just gave it to me. All of my cords are thus hidden, very clean install. Sorry I don't have pics, I'm out of town for Thanksgiving.

 

when you do get back can you post a pic? thanks.

 

Will do...no prob.

 

Here you go:



Power cord installed in cubby


Power cord - empty cubby


GPS in cubby and plugged in


Another view

 

thanks for the pics. nice install

 

Looks tight, man. That's exactly what I want for my GPS (power cord is always getting in the way when I shift gears). Which Circuit City did you go to?

 

i just got a nuvi 660 and want to do this as well. How much did CC charge you? I want to get the AUX-in adapter plus power so I can get the mp3 and bluetooth over the car stereo.