I have an 05 cubby (35th ann - close lid style not sliding) and it closes perfectly fine.

Pix, click to enlarge.

 

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I would really like to hide that wire but like I said I'm not confident in taking apart the dash. I looked it over pretty closely and it doesn't look "self-explanatory". I don't know what "other" site you're referring to above, but if someone could help me get this wire hidden I'd be very grateful and I promise I'll post some pics!

 

congrats man, but i do agree that the wires dont look so great. But if youre happy with that than good for u!

 

20 min huh? I don't know bugs, i'm looking through the tutorial here and after seeing that step THIRTEEN looks like THIS:



... my wire just looks better and better

 

^Ahah.. don't be intimidated. That's just one big piece that comes out, plus you don't have to remove the whole thing to insert 1 wire. It's really up to you, I think it looks better without the wire plus you close your cubby door and no one knows anything's there. You have a wire sticking out like that and someone thinks there's a navi/phone/mp3 player etc and break in. I did it for both aesthetic reasons and security reasons.

 

ive got the same setup as you wit the garmin. but i didnt mount it in the cubby i just mounted it on the outside door, so i can set it up when needed. i used the round sticky thing that came with it to mount on the lid of the cubby. not very attractive i kinda regret it...

 

Mental picture..

that sucks...

 

I agree, I am buying a NUVI 350 in the next few weeks. I am going to mount it in the cubby and hardwire it. Put it on the window and you look like everybody else out there. I also have an 03, which the cubby door retracts.

 

Yeah, doesn't sound like the best choice there. I would try and pry the sticky thing off. I actually pried mine off the back of the cubby because I originally mounted it dead center. It took a big flat head screwdriver, a thick cloth so I didn't damage the plastic, and a lot of elbow grease but I got the thing off. But the sticky part was then covered in felt, so I got some 3M stick pads and they worked fine. The point is, you could probably get thing off without leaving much of a mark, and rubbing the door down with lighter fluid afterwards would get rid of any stickiness. Good luck if you give it a shot.

 

thanks^^ but the only thing is that i dont want the residue from the double stick tape to stay there... i had a air freshener that i double stick taped onto where my car lighter is next to the hand rest and when i took it off theres still pieces of the tape that i cant seem to take off. i dont want that happening to the cubby so i pretty much left it there for now

 

Get the 03 Center Console piece and finisher. It's less than a hundred for both.

The lid slides in so you can view better.

 

Your mount inside the upper/forward cubby looks nice (albeit it has been done before). I like the cubby mount since you can close the cubby and hide your expensive and removable (i.e., “steal-able”) GPS device when the car is parked and exposed to thieves.

You certainly should hide the power wire for a finished look. It’s really not that difficult to remove the center dash console. Give yourself plenty of time (a lazy Sunday), and go slowly. The only additional part you need is a female power receptacle which is an inexpensive piece. Using this power receptacle allows you to keep the voltage step-down plug and inline fuse of your Garmin car charger intact, providing additional protection for your expensive device. Drill a hole in the lower right (passenger side) corner of the cubby pocket to run the power line behind the center dash console. Connect the power line (your Garmin car charger plugged into the female receptacle you purchased for this job) to an ignition switched power line in the car and ground the female receptacle. Done!

--Spike

 

Here's mine with TomTom One XL-S. It's sitting tight in the cubby with no bracket required.

<a href="http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/BrandonTruong/350Z/?action=view&current=IMG_1981_edited.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/BrandonTruong/350Z/IMG_1981_edited.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/BrandonTruong/350Z/?action=view&current=IMG_1982_edited.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/BrandonTruong/350Z/IMG_1982_edited.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/BrandonTruong/350Z/?action=view&current=IMG_1985_edited.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a174/BrandonTruong/350Z/IMG_1985_edited.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

^^ Well done… and your installation wisely utilizes TomTom’s stock car charger (that probably does a voltage step-down and has an inline fuse).

You could take this another step by adding a female power receptacle that you use to plug into for your TomTom car charger (powered off an ignition source and grounded), and keep the Z’s power receptacle available for casual devices.

BTW: Great pics... thanks for that (makes the post much better).

--Spike

 

not bad install

 

It was my pic.

Here's a great write-up on how to remove the center dash/console:
http://tinyurl.com/34kkv5

And here's my original write-up on the garmin cubbyhole mounting:
http://tinyurl.com/2k5wgt

 

Thanks for posting this in the first place m, I wouldn't have known there was a smaller mount out there that would make the install so easy.

 

It sounds like a good idea. Would you tell me where I can purchase one of those.

Thanks.

 

You can get this at any auto parts store or a store selling electrical parts for marine use. Ask for a 12 volt cigar lighter/power receptacle. I believe you want Size A, but take your power plug along so you can be sure it fits into the power receptacle. The receptacle is inexpensive ($4 to $10).

Ichigo (a knowledgeable member on my350z.com) has posted a source for this part, but I cannot find the thread where he directs you to the seller. He was the one who suggested that my method of simply hard-wiring to a 12 volt power source could possibly result in damage to the GPS device since some of these devices use less voltage (4-7 volts). Using the supplied power plug does the “voltage step-down,” and that’s why Ichigo wisely recommends adding the female power receptacle (into which you plug the device’s charger).

Additional Point: Some of the car chargers that come with transportable GPS devices have an active LCD that shows when the unit is connected to a power source. That means you could possibly drain your battery (albeit it would take a great deal of time) if the device is connected to a power receptacle that is always “hot.” That is why (when hardwiring your GPS device) you should connect to an ignition switched power source.

--Spike

 

anyone have recs on where to tap in for hardwired power?

I'm finishing up my nuvi install (going for a hard mount into the cubby rather then just the suction cup) and I need to check out which wires to tap or the easiest place to tap into.

03's don't have the lighter plug under the passenger dash