awhile back , i posted some questions on rear safety mods, gps, and some other things..since then ive made a bit progress with these mods. it goes slow, since i dont have allot of time, but im getting there little by little...
My biggest concern was/is the rear blind spot, so thats where im concentrating "phase 1" of of my modifications.
For about $35 i picked up a "back up radar" system off ebay. this system has two sensors which are actually modified tranducers, making it a simple sonar system in actuality from what i see. they mount in the rear of the vehicle. i cut them into the rear cladding just inside the rear reflectors by drilling a 3/4 inch hole on each side. it worked out well as i had large scuff in that area, which is now mostly gone as i was able to install a sensor dead center of the worst part of it. i used tape to creat a grid on the rear clading to properly align and ensure equal spacing, time consuming but well worth the effort.. then i just ran the wires from behind the clading and up into the rear cargo area and mounted the brain box inside the kick panel above the jack, along with the piezzo type speaker (gawd its loud, i had to wrap it in foam, and its still loud..)Power comes from a tap into the reverse light harness, right there above the jack housing. It also has a led bar graph display, which im still working on integrating into the fuzzy hole with a custom housing including the lcd 1.8 inch display for the camera. but the system works without the led display via the annunciator. In testing, the sensor pick up within about 5 feet behind the truck, and sense a few feet to each side as well, they also pick on "walk bys" from left to right..pretty cool stuff and no more wories about backing over the neighbors kids..or bikes for that matter..
the rear view camera (lipstick type b&w for better night visibility, about $70 last year) and door poper(tone, $85) are also in, but need wiring from the rear cargo area to the front.. im working "back to front" taking care of multiple items in each area as i go..
the biggest challenge is creating the "control center" for these items..not only the custom mounting housing, but also including over ride switches (necessitaing switching diodes so nothing fries) to enable the camera not only to come on automaticly when reversing, but also to be available on demand. the housing iteself is also quite a challenge since im using bits and pieces , a piece of abs plastic i litterly found on the ground in a parking lot, and other such scavenged materiels (switches from an old radar detector, etc..) and trying to cram all these bits into a very small space..ill get it, itll take time though..
i also saw a pretty cool non related item in the new Bently's, theyre using super bright LED's in the overhead to softly illuminate the shift console area. you only see the light where it "hits" things, and it doesnt illuminate the "air" very cool item i plan to experiment with,... But the most difficult thing so far is adding these items without adding much weight. being performance oriented, i want toys but not wieght (lighter = faster) the combined wirght of all these items including wiring is under 6lbs..wire is heavy and so is the door popper solinoid......but not too bad...
As for the carputer, video recorder, and gps, im experimenting with a touch screen kiosk i picked up for $200 to learn how they work and what i need to do there, the experimental unit will end up as a home video/mp3 server when im done playing and ill build an itx pc, but thats a ways off for the moment..
there are some pics in my gallery and ill add more as i have time if this stuff interests anyone...
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A new series staring the VX!?!
) Anyhow, i pulled a factory fuse panel at the bone yard from a nissan, trimmed the excess and bridged it into two sections, one for constant and one for ignition with six fuses each available for my add ons. And ive run a 14 gauge wire directly to the battery (ill probably add a voltage regulated capacitor later for "pure" power., havent gotten that far yet though. the new box is only about 2x5" but i havent found a suitable place to mount it yet that i could get too easily if needed, but thats still under the dash area someplace..the alternative is in the rear kick panel, but i really dont want to cut in an access hatch if its not absolutely necessary, and itll make for longer wire runs (less efficient and more weight, not to mention more of a pita).. And i still need to ad an ignition power source, havent figured that out yet either, but ill probably use a relay tripped by a key on circiut and bridge the 14 gauge as the "real" power source..