Thursday, November 6, 2014

"It's okay Lola, my wife isn't here."

"It's okay Lola, my wife isn't here." One of my favorite Robin William's lines from the movie RV.

I enjoy having my lovely GPS "Lola" plugged in at all times.   The live readouts for speed, speed limits, and elevation are great additions to the numerous gauges I already have in my car.  But I cannot stand having wires dangling throughout the cabin.

For a clean install, I remove the backseat 12v socket and plugged in a 3-way splitter.  No hard wiring required, and everything is hidden behind the interior paneling.

12v splitter mounted behind the steering column cover panel
From there, I was able to run power under the dash to my GPS.


I also ran power to the headliner for my radar detector (legal in Georgia).


I am very pleased to sit in my cockpit, turn on the ignition, and see all of my gadgets begin to glow.  No suction cup mounts, all hidden cords, and I still have a vacant socket for charging other devices.








2 comments:

  1. Good luck. I tried this many years ago and end up with erratic power loss of my devices. The aftermarket power sockets tend to oxidize over time and vibration does the rest. Since they're hidden, its rare that you ever give them a wiggle or a push back into the socket. Perhaps yours will fare better than mine.

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    1. Hopefully won't be a problem with this car. Had the exact same setup on my S40 for 4 years with no problems.

      Did your power splitter have an independent fuse?

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