ou8thisSN

Just bought a 2003 touring yesterday. Ordered the PA15-NIS to make my car ipod compatible.

the issue is that, eventually i'd like to put in a gps in the cubby hole. So I'm looking for advice on where I can/should pull out the cable for the ipod.

There's an coin holder thing right behind the shifter on the center console which could work, except im wondering if it'll be a safety issue being so close to the shifter.

Im curious where most of you have it? I'll be using an Ipod 2g touch.

sdZ33

iTrader: (39)

Messing with your ipod while driving is a saftey hazard period!(Sorta like texting while driving)... But if your gonna use your ipod with your OEM stereo, I suggest removing your coin holder and running the cable through the little hole in the back of that area...

GL

xzotklr

iTrader: (2)

IIRC there is a thread on this forum that shows a custom set-up where the docking bay is installed where the coin holder is located.

If you don't wont to hardmount it you could have the cable run thru the tranny tunnel underneath the middle console. It could be passed thru the cupholder/ tray in the middle consolewith a grommet for a clean look. That's how mine was done.

ou8thisSN

I dont want to hardmount, its a touch anyway, I need to be able to look at it and the center console is kind of high compared to a sedan so it would be a bit awkward. I think I'm going to go with putting it in the cupholder area option. Did you use the USA-Spec ipod kit? If so, where/what size grommet did you use?

I think that cupholder area is father enough back to not interfere with the stick shift as docking it to the coin holder could potentially do. It's a little further back but it'll be discrete enough. Do you have any issues with it in that location? I assume you had to take apart both the center console and the dash to do the install?

arsey51

iTrader: (5)

I have my garmin Nuvi GPS in the cubby and I also have my IPOD NANO in there as well. The Nano sits face down while connected and I never touch it. I control it thru my Kenwood HU. The IPOD cable is routed thru the back lower corner of the cubby. Tight, but it works, and I never have to touch the IPOD to control it. I only use my GPS when going somewhere new, so my cubby door is only open when using the GPS for a new loaction, otherwise, cubby is always closed and you don't see the GPS or IPOD.

ou8thisSN

my ipod touch is considerably bigger and I will be using the stock bose system to control it. From what i've read, the control options are limited at best, so i'd need to have access to the ipod to directly select what i'd like to play. If that is the situation, having both the ipod touch and a gps in that compartment wouldnt be 'clean'. So i'd rather put it in the cup holder and reach for it when I need to...

I am also looking at a garmin to put in there. which model did you get? Do you have a picture of your install? I know almost nothing about GPS systems, but do the garmins have the DC power input in the back? that would be the cleanest look...

arsey51

iTrader: (5)

I have the Garmin Nuvi 760, an older one, but still a good unit. If I were to buy one today, I'd buy the 1490 which has a slightly bigger screen 5" vs 4.3" for the other models. I have mine hardwired into the wiring harness. I took the cg lighter power cord, cut off the end and hardwired it and ran the cord into the back of the cubby along with my IPOD cord. Don't have a current pic but I'll take one tonite and post it for your viewing pleasure.

ou8thisSN

thanks i'd really appreciate a picture. I want to do EXACTLY what you did but I havent done much of anything in cars before. So I have just a couple of questions:

1. are you saying you spliced from the 12v wire running down the center console to the back of the front seats where the 12v cigarette lighter box is, and ran the spliced wire [from the center console area behind the shifter] back up through the center dashboard into the cubby?

2. If so, how did you wire the garmin into the two (hot, common) 12v spliced wires? all GPS systems come with an adapter that just plugs into a 12v jack, so did you cut off that jack, or did you add another 12v cigarette lighter behind the cubby and just plug the garmin adapter straight into the 2nd lighter jack?

3. if you cut off the end of the garmin power wire and just taped bare wires together, how do you know which is the hot and which is the common or does that not matter?

4. will the 1490 fit in that cubbyhole seamlessly? I want to be able to easily open and close the door...

arsey51

iTrader: (5)

The cigarette lighter cord that powers the Garmin is the cord that was cut. This is the one thats plugs into the cig lighter outlet ot accesory outlet. My 08 base has two outlets, one on the passenger side,lower dash, the other behind the center console. My apologies, I can't take credit for the wiring, my local shop did the install. When I had my Kenwood installed, the installer asked me if I wanted my GPS power cord thru the cubby and exit towards the passenger side to connect to the accesory outlet on the passenger side. Or did I want him to hot wire it in so i don't have to plug it into the accesory outlet(cig outlet). Thats what he did, so my GPS comes on when I start the car. I'll take pics in a few hours when I get home and post them so you can see.

ou8thisSN

how does the 4.3" display compare to the 5" display?

honestly, I dont want to spend more than a hundred bucks on a gps. I know my town fairly well, i need it for obscure addresses, ocasionally, so I dont want to spend a lot of money. The only issue is that I want to be able to read it at a glance, i dont need the additional bluetooth and traffic features. is that why you regret not going with the 5" model or is it a readability issue?

arsey51

iTrader: (5)

The display on the 4.3 display is fine. I only stated that I would buy the 5 inch model if i was a first time buyer. I zoned out and didn't take the pics last nite, my apologies. i'll take pics later and post. I'll have to see if the measurements are on the Garmin website to see how much bigger the actual unit is. The .7 difference is the screen size difference diagonally, so not sure of the actual unit dimensions but I'm pretty sure it would fit in the cubby. Have you selected a particular GPS unit? If so, which one?

ou8thisSN

i want the Garmin 255W. It has a 4.3" screen. I just want any gps in that cubby hole, just *completely* and discretely inside the stock cubby and freely open and close the door as i am able to now. I'll run the wires through the back of the cubby through the inside of the car so it doesn't look conspicuous from the outside that there's a GPS inside (i have had my old maxima broken into twice already). Seems like the cabin is so compact anyway a 4.3" is fine for me and im hoping i can find it for around a hundred bucks.

I just need to figure out how to power it safely.

capo190

iTrader: (1)

i have a double din headunit put where the stock stereo used to be.

drilled a hole up into the cubby and ran the ipod cable up thru there. so now my ipod sits in my cubby, out of sight

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I've got the 255W in my '08 cubby, but you need to purchase the shorter ball mount to get it to fit really well. Sorry I can't recall the part number, but it was ~$9 from amazon.com, and I got it with the 255W for ~$110 shipped, several months back. It's a great GPS, and while I was worried about diminished signal in the cubby, that's never been an issue.

I powered mine by busting open a lighter adapter I had and stealing the USB circuit board. I soldered on a power and ground lead, and it's just spliced into the lighter harness under the dash, but you could easily find several 12v+ switched sources near the radio. I ran the USB cable up behind the radio, and through a small hole l drilled in the back of the cubby.

Another nice thing is that you can simply unclip the GPS from the cubby and use it in any other car, either on its charged internal battery or with another lighter cord and the original mount.

ou8thisSN

thanks for that. although I dont have a usb circuit board or a cigarette lighter lying around, i think i'm just going to cut off the end of the GPS power cable, and splice the hot with an in line fuse to the hot lead going into the stock stereo and run the ground wire from the gps to a ring terminal.

how do i go about figuring out which mount will work perfectly if the stock mount is too big and do you have a picture of your installation that you could share?

dcains

iTrader: (15)

VERY bad idea. USB voltage is 5V+, while the car's can be as high as 14V+, so goodbye GPS if you just splice wires together without a power supply in place. The GPS unit comes with a lighter adapter you can tear open, or they're available from countless other sources. I actually got one that had 2 USB plugs, so I could have one cord to power the GPS and another to charge my Bluetooth phone headset.

Here's the Garmin mount I used:

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Suction...1771321&sr=1-1

Just like what comes with the 255w, but it's stubbier and fits the unit into the cubby better. There's still room to store your sunglasses in there, and another benefit is that the cubby door casts a shadow on the screen in bright conditions, making it easier to see. I ripped the suction mechanism off, drilled two holes in the base of the mount, and used short bolts to screw it into the vertical back of the cubby. The unit comes with a self-adhesive disc, but it doesn't stick to the fuzzy lining, and even if the cubby was smooth plastic, I prefer the more solid mount I got with the bolts.

Sorry, but no pics for a few days. I just removed practically the entire interior of my Z, to install a new DVD receiver, door and rear speakers, amps, and a subwoofer in a box where the OEM Blose woofer went. Maybe Monday it will be back together.

Don't screw around with the wiring on your car unless you know what you're doing. and find a DIY post about removing the cubby console, as if you were installing a new receiver.

BoomerZ33

iTrader: (23)

pics of anyone doing all this?

ou8thisSN

I've done a lot of wiring work with AC (put in lights/ fan box, dimmers/etc) so i'm pretty confident working with electrical wiring, BUT you're right I haven't ever done anything inside a car. I was actually wondering if the plastic cigarette ligher piece had a transformer or something in it to reduce the voltage from 12v to 5v or 6v or whatever the GPS will end up needing.

Did you wire in an in-line fuse also?

After you soldered the hot 12v lead from the car to the usb circuit board, how did you ground the board? Did you enclose the circuit board into a junction box or anything or did you just leave it as is behind the center dash?

I'd like to do this install myself, just so I can learn all about it, and really i cant afford to pay someone 200-300 bucks to install this. Since your car is torn apart right now... is it at all possible for you to take one picture of where you wired it (ie the usb circuit board part)? It's no big deal if you cant, but that would be of tremendous help.

I've searched a lot of different forums, there arent any threads that specifically talk about powering up devices, they really only talk about placement and which gps they used, etc. Anyway thanks just the same for the info about making sure to use the usb board

ou8thisSN

if i get all this to work, i'll take pics as I go...

edit: found this on google, some guy who put up pics of how to hardwire a garmin to his car (subaru) but his model straight output a 12v so he was able to wire it directly without worrying about the usb 5v conversion. I will either need to find a garmin model that works on 12v or figure out how to use that circuit board correctly.

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/how-inst...-hardwire.html

edit 2: would it be safe to have one of these and just plug the garmin power adapter straight into this?

http://www.powerwerx.com/adapter-ext...powerpole.html

arsey51

iTrader: (5)

Here are pics of my DD Kenwood HU and my Garmin in the Cubby. IPOD Nano sits in cubby as well. IPOD connected to back of HH. I never touch it,controlled thru HU. Garmin is hardwired, comes on when car is started. I keep it unplugged until I need to use it. Connectioj is right behind it. I dismount it from the adapter, unplug or plug and reattach. IPOD Nano sits face down right in front of GPS. Regular size IPOD would be an issue.



So here are the wires behind the GPS - IPOD connection and power to GPS. You can see the GPS mount in the rear.




The 5" 1490 Garmin may be a little tight but the 4.3" models fit just fine. You do need the shorter adapter so its sits closer to the rear of the cubby.