So I didnt wanna blow 2,000 on a GPS and figured I would be fine with one of the aftermarket units. I did alot of reading and saw alot of yours were mounted into the cubby were it should have been installed. I wasnt to keen on the idea since the slot looked a little to big for those smaller units. to much extra space.

So I had some time today and figured I would look for an alernative. Didnt take me to long to hardwire it by running a line to the fuse box and using the cigar lighter fuse for power and ground the othe into the chassis. I thought the ash try would be the best spot since 1. I dont smoke and 2. i never ever use it. SO.... I drilled a hole through the back of the ash tray and fed the line through there. Mounted some super duper sticky 2 sided tape for the corners and called it a day. While some of you may not like it I think it came out ok. I will never use the ash tray so this of course is something you might not want in case you do.

Anyways..........pics. comments??










btw....new to the community so hello! just picked er up 4 days ago. another plus is I always rest my hand on the shifter so this makes it very easy to just tap the screen for differant options. Just an idea for those looking at aftermarket units.

 

I really like it. I have a Garmin too; used the 2 side tape method on the left side of the dash. But after I've seen this...I might move it. Does it seem pretty secure?

Did you have to completely remove the ashtray? I dont use mine either, but i dont really want to rip stuff off the dash though.

 

Mods: Sorry if not in the right section.

 

no the ashtray is still there. It actually is perfect to leave in because when it's down it serves as a little holder for the unit. So it's sits on the edge of the ashtray making it more secure. the tape is at the bottom to sit on the tray and another strip on the top against the top part of the consol. '

secure? doesn't even budge!! get the good tape though. Or you could use some good velcro and that way you can remove it to prevent theft. One removed the ash tray is still just there like a regular car.

 

so how exactly did you do this? what other wires came with this navi? isnt it just one wire directly into the ashtray?

 

The navi just came with your standard adapter that goes plugged into your cig lighter. I didnt want to cut that one directly because the car runs on 12V and the adapter is set to 5V. Plus I wanted to be able to use it in the future on another car if I choose.

So if you go to radio shack just pick up an 'extension cord' adapter. They are like 10 bucks. Just ask and they will show them to you. It has a male and female plug just like a regular cig lighter adapter.



Take out the center consol, just the lower part by the shifter that pops right off.

There is 4 screws holding in the ashtray in back. Unscrew them and take out your ash tray.

Drill a hole straight through your ashtray with the ahtray in the open position so you can feed a line through later.

Take the adapterthat came with your navigation and plug it into the female side of your new extension cord. the other side that has a male plug, gets cut. Cut it off so you have your two wires. Ground and Power. (power is usually the one with the writting on it if you look at the actuall protective sleeve)

There is alot of room behind the lower consol that you removed. Feed the stripped lines back through there and bring them out through the side, running them along under your steering column towards your fuse box.

the other end which should plug into your navigation should have just enough slack to come through the hole you drilled in the ashtray and hang out enough to plug into your navigation. The rest can just be tucked back up in the pocket behind where your ash tray goes.

Feed the connector that plugs into your navi through the hole you drilled in your ashtray.

Screw your ashtray back on and re-attach your lower center consol.It should look like regular again with your ashtray open and the power line hanging out of it.

Go back to your other line (the split cable that you cut the male adapter off) and bring it up and around your until it feeds down through right by your fuse box. Makein sure as you run it under your steering planel that it stays tucked in there so it doesnt hang and look ugly.

So now you have two ends. One power and one ground. (Make SURE you know which is which). Strip off the plastic sleeve on the ends so there is just enough actuall wire for connection.

Now for tapping into power, there is more than one way to do this. You can use this



I would recommend using this part HOWEVER...what I did since I didnt wanna wait was just wire it directly to the fuse. So I just popped out the blue 15A fuse that powers the cigar lighter. If you remove the fuse panel door there should be a little map on it that points which one it is. So i popped out the fuse wraped the power wire around the tooth of the fuse and pluged the fuse back into the socket. Thats power.

Now all I have left is the ground wire. This has to be metal to metal contact with the chassis. There are some bolts under the steering column all over the place that bolt into the chassis. Losen one of those and wrap the ground wire around it and tighten it back up.

So now just get some double sided tape and run a strip in the bottom and top back corner of teh navi...plug the power cable into the navi and sit it down on the ash tray and your good to go.

If you wired things correctly your navi should power on and off like an accesory when you turn the key.


I can try to take some pictures of my fuse panel now so you can see what it looks like but just look at the map on the fuse panel door. It identifies each one.

 

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Looking good & sharp. I like the set-up.

But, for safety, I would suggest to just listen to it while you are driving and not looking down to look at the screen b/c this would mean taking your eyes completly off the road.

Just looking out for you ;-)

 

no more than looking at your radio and changing the station...

 

I hope you don't love in Long Beach. It will be forcibly removed soon enough if you do.

 

good write up, ill have to get to this one day, thanks a lot man

 

I think you did a good clean job. This is something to consider in the future if I dont want to do a headunit navi combo.

 

Texas...screens all over the place.

 

Looking at your radio is really brief (if at all).... looking at your nav unit trying to figure out where that upcoming turn is located is a whole different thing.

I think it looks decent but for me it is way too far from being in my field of view while driving to be of any use. When I glance at my navi I still see what is going on thru the windshield in my peripheral vision... with your setup I'd basically be looking down at the center console.

 

very nicely done!