Mounting an 8" VGA LCD

aychamo · **Joined:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:18 pm **Posts:** 5

Hey guys;

This is my first post. I'm a programmer writing a "front end" for Apple's OS X to use a computer in the vehicle to control music, etc. I'm looking for suggestions on where to mount my 8" LCD in the truck. It needs to be readily accessible by the driver, as it is a touch-screen based system.

Here's a link to the specifics of the LCD: <a href="http://store.mp3car.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MON%2D005">8" LCD @ Mp3Car</a>.. It's dimensions are: Height 6 3/8" (162mm) x Width 8 1/16"(204mm) x Depth 1 1/2" (39mm)

.. what makes this more complicated is I'm on an island right now, far away from my vehicle. So I can't really go in and work things out. I was hoping someone here had already done such a thing, or perhaps had some suggestions.

I would love any input I could get,
Thank you,
Aychamo

unixxx · **Posted:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:29 pm

aychamo, I mounted my 7" Xenarc in the middle of the dash above the air vents:

The only problem with this location, or any on/in the dash, is that the screen will be washed out by the sunlight. I'm thinking about building a fiberglass enclosue for mine to shadow the LCD. I'm also writing a frontend, let me know how yours goes.

aychamo · **Joined:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:18 pm **Posts:** 5

Hey man!

That looks nice! What platform is your front-end for?

Hey.. I have a 2wd (don't laugh!), so I don't have all the 4wd stuff in the pocket to the left of the shifter. Do you think there's any room there to mount one cleverly on a gooseneck type thing?

Aychamo

aychamo · **Joined:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:18 pm **Posts:** 5

Oh, and do you think the sunvisors are too anemic to mount one there? That would be pretty stealth.

unixxx · **Posted:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:59 pm

You could probably manage to mount one where the transfer case lever would normally go and eliminate the sun problem, but you'd have to look down to read it and the passengers wouldn't be able to see it. If you're the only one that'll be using it then it could be a good idea. The sun visors are very slim, only about 1/3 as thick as my Xenarc, so you wouldn't be able to get a flush mount. The screens also weigh a little bit so the visor would fall down from wherever you adjusted it to. Running a thick VGA cable up there might be a little bit of an issue too. I ran a 10ft VGA extension cable from my screen to the trunk area and it just made it with no extra slack. You probably wouldn't want to run an extension any longer than 10ft. If you buy an extension just make sure you get a high quality one with coax signal cables and a ferrite choke at both ends. Have you bought your screen yet? Right now I'm running my frontend on Windows, but it's written to be easily portable to any OS. Let me know if you have any other questions about my setup. I look forward to seeing yours

aychamo · **Joined:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:18 pm **Posts:** 5

Hey again man!

Thanks for the good info again! Do you have any pictures of your computer mounted? Since I'm doing a Mac OS X carptuer, I'm using a Mac Mini. I was thinking in the center console, but I'm not sure. Or just under the drivers seat (they are so small.)

What do you think about mounting the screen on one of those cell-phone mounts? It's the bent little piece of metal that comes out from the side of the radio. The 7" screen isn't *that* much wider than a XM Radio unit.. Would that be in the passengers knee space?

Thanks again
Aychamo

JMLoughrey · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:01 pm

Working at Circuit City i feel i can give you some good input.

The bracket idea coming from the side of the radio is a fairly good idea, circuit city now carries brackets that are custom made for your KJ. They look excellent when installed as well. They do not take up much if any knee/leg space for the passenger.

If you can get the right mount, then go for it, i'd almost say go custom with the mount to give you a better angle on the LCD.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:36 pm

JMLoughrey wrote:

The bracket idea coming from the side of the radio is a fairly good idea, circuit city now carries brackets that are custom made for your KJ. They look excellent when installed as well. They do not take up much if any knee/leg space for the passenger.

Tell me more about the custom-made bracket for the KJ. I take it this is the 2-DIN bracket that replaces the factory headunit, right? I've been looking for place to put an EPIA motherboard somewhere in the cabin. I would hide it under the seat, but I already have power seats and the wiring is a bit messy down there. Then there's still the issue of the display placement ... so, if you guys have brackets I'd be interested in it.

Is this available at all Circuit City locations?

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:39 pm

What's the legality of mounting a display in place where the rearview mirror is mounted currently? That's how it's done in the Liberator.

I can see that it would be neat to have the display there, and route input from several webcams, say one backup/rearview camera, one to passenger side mirror (pointing down, just like the Liberator, again), and maybe on in front hood for general trail recording.

So many hacks to do, so little time ...

OBD-II ... :-7

unixxx · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:27 pm

aychamo, I know another guy trimmed the inside of the center console and got a Mac Mini to fit in there perfectly. You might want to search for "jeep liberty" at the mp3car.com forums. A Mac Mini would fit under either of the front seats perfectly as well. From my own personal experience I'd say don't mount a screen by your knees, they almost always get in the way, I think your idea of putting it where the transfer case lever would go would work better. I'll post some pics of where a mounted my case in a little while, I'll warn you now though that it's not done and needs a bit of cleanup. :oops:

dirtykj, you should be able to get an EPIA to fit nicely under the seats. I have power seats also and in the first version of my system managed to get a Micro-ATX mobo to fit under the front seats. It was about 50% larger than the ITX EPIAs. Granted, this was with a custom case. For a case under the front seat you might want to check out the VoomPC and Opus Mini-ITX case. The standard Opus ITX case is too large to fit under the seats. To mount my screen I used the swivel bracket that came with the Xenarc. I just drilled and tapped the bottom of the bracket and bolted it to the dash from underneath. I believe mounting a display where the rearview mirror is mounted in illegal. I've heard of a few people getting tickets for it. I think someone here even said they got a ticket for having their CB mounted near the rearview mirror. Ah, yes, OBD-II, I'll have more on that later. :twisted:

unixxx · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:30 pm

Distribution block, amp, DSP, and computer:

Back of PC:

Screen mount:

I'm eventually going to shorten up all of the power wires, makes custom length signal cables, and get an onscreen keyboard configured so I can get rid of the mini keyboard.

auggy · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:20 pm

How long do you plan on owning the kj/do you plan on removing it (the computer) at any point? If you don't plan on removing it, why not make a custom bezel for the screen and mount it in the dash where the radio is right now?

dirtykj · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:15 pm

Yeah, I need all the space I can get back there for all the camping gears (two kids, you know). I've been looking at this one:

Protocase

The Honda owner has it mounted in his car, here (can't believe he has an HD in there, what with all the slamming):

That looks sweet, too. Costs about $75, then throw in a fanless EPIA SP and M-1 ATX power supply, and you're all set.

I hear the space between the reargate and the lining is available, so that might actually be a good place for a diskless computer (vibration might be the deal killer there).

unixxx · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:28 pm

dirtykj, I know what you mean, I've been struggling a little more than usual hauling gear lately. I'm going to build a shelf the sits 1/4" above all of the electronics that will essentially act as the new floor of the trunk. I'll seal it up and install a couple of fans and get back most of my cargo space.

Guest · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:21 pm

How about something in one of the sides... have not looked but seems there would be some room to cut some of it out and mount that small case....

Wish I had the money.......

Mike

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:55 pm

n3vqh wrote:

How about something in one of the sides... have not looked but seems there would be some room to cut some of it out and mount that small case....

Wish I had the money.......

Mike

There's lots of space behind the passenger side trim panel in the cargo area.

unixxx · **Posted:** Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:31 pm

That case looks to be about the same size as the Sirius receiver which is mounted behind the right plastic panel in the trunk. It's a little larger but if you trim a little plastic you could probably get it to fit. You'd want to install a fan in the plastic panel though, maybe where the existing breathing vent is located.

aychamo · **Joined:** Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:18 pm **Posts:** 5

So.. I'm home on break. I've been measuring the vehicle, and I think I'm going to go with mounting the screen on the little radio-tab thing, just like those cell-phone/XM radio mounts. I'm 5'11" and it didn't seem to interfere at all with passenger foot room.

One thing worries me... What if the passenger airbag goes off? [/i]

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:40 am

aychamo wrote:

So.. I'm home on break. I've been measuring the vehicle, and I think I'm going to go with mounting the screen on the little radio-tab thing, just like those cell-phone/XM radio mounts. I'm 5'11" and it didn't seem to interfere at all with passenger foot room.

One thing worries me... What if the passenger airbag goes off? [/i]

It'll probably snap that screen off and send it flying into your passenger.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:11 pm

aychamo wrote:

One thing worries me... What if the passenger airbag goes off? [/i]

Yeah, that's kind of why I don't want to mount anything near the airbag. I don't want anything else slamming into my upper body at the speed the airbag deploys

Mounting an 8" VGA LCD

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