Thread: VIA m10000/Travla c158/Xenarc 700 in 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee

I like it! Good job! What's with the big black box (sorry I didn't have time to read).

Originally Posted by fearthepenguin

So to pull this back from the thread jacker.

Most of us saw the video Channel 9 (I think) did on your ride. Nice to see our little fetish getting some more press.
I like what you were going for with the box. It's nice to keep as much of the system removable as you can for when you decide to move on to another vehicle. You eventually find your ultimate car and fit things in more permanently, but looks good. The removable USB drive is a nice touch and has given me an idea for my storage (I live in missouri, -20 in the winter, 110 in the summer).
Have you given any thought to interfacing with your cars ignition system? Since you have the windows stuff up and running already, seems like it would be the next logical jump.

Yeah, I have thought about this, but since the Jeep has encoded keys, I would need an ignition bypass installed first. If I go this route, I would also install a better alarm system as well. I dont think I am ready to drop 600$ down for what I want though. Someday It will get there though. It would definitely be useful on cold days.

J.P.

Originally Posted by BoyNextDoor

I saw the movie too, was about to crap my pants of laughter, but than i remembered me being a noob (maybe still am) so said, he is just overenthousiastic, and maybe not as gifted as some of us (like Altimat, Frodo and such ppl) keep this forum friendly ppl

You probably don't know me or what I am like, but I had to play it up for the camera a little. Plus Robert (the interviewer) has a tendency to: 1. Pump things up on his own, 2. Insert words/concepts into the conversation, so I was somewhat at his mercy for somethings.

I had been reading mp3car.com for months before and during the work that I did. I got make solutions and ideas from posts here as well as elsewhere on the web. I don't think that I ever directly claimed that this was all my idea and multiple times in the video tried to give credit to others that came before me.

Truely you are right that as far as integration goes, I dont quite have the skills that others here have. I tried a fiberglass over foam bezel once but failed miserably and decided that was just not my forte. Plus the Jeep's dash does not exactly lend itself well to the xenarc. (some have done it, but I was not willing to give up the infinity audio and both air ducts just for a screen there.) The box on top was just out of frustration with not being able to come up with a good integration solution. It just happened to work well later on after deciding to go that route.

The whole project is still not "done" though and there are many problems still to solve. If I had my way I would not have done the video then abd would have waited till I had certain things done, but Robert suprised me and insisted that we do it that day. Oh well. It seemed to have been recieved moderately well at least.

J.P.

Plenty of pushy Roberts out there. The install looks good, my only concern is that the box obstructs your view quite a bit. Easy for a cop to justify giving you a ticket for having a Star Wars movie playing while you drive.

I'm just starting out on an incar pc for my Jeep Cherokee. Ive gone for a lilliput 7" touch screen which I'm going to mount directly on to the dash. There really isnt any other way in the Jeep. Do you have any advice for integrating the sound into the stock amp?

Originally Posted by Bobberty

I'm just starting out on an incar pc for my Jeep Cherokee. Ive gone for a lilliput 7" touch screen which I'm going to mount directly on to the dash. There really isnt any other way in the Jeep. Do you have any advice for integrating the sound into the stock amp?

Yeah, I know, its hard to find a location to mount the screen.

The audio is the easiest part though if you have a cd changer input. This is what I use:
http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=168
It works really well.

The next thing I am looking for though is a steering wheel control adapter to hook up to the computer. I know how to do it, I just have not had the time yet.

Did you have to loose the cd changer when using this interface cable?

Originally Posted by Bobberty

Did you have to loose the cd changer when using this interface cable?

I'm not sure specifically for your car but 99% of the time you have to ditch the CD changer if you do have one, if you don't want to do that about your only other option to keep your stereo is to use am FM Modulator.

Originally Posted by SWC

I'm not sure specifically for your car but 99% of the time you have to ditch the CD changer if you do have one, if you don't want to do that about your only other option to keep your stereo is to use am FM Modulator.

I did not have a cd changer in my Jeep, so it was not a big deal for me.

I would imagine that you could create a device that would switch between the two though using some relays. Should be pretty easy. Then you can just hit a button to switch between the two devices.

Of course I dont know what this would do inside the radio and you might want to search and see if someone has done this already, but its an idea at least.

I would do anything that I could to no go with an FM modulator. The soundwave compression as well as static/interference from using one is just too much for me. Then again I suppose that it depends on your car stereo's system as well, if you have a standard car stereo, its probably fine.

J.P.