Washing Machine - A rolling terrabyte

**dgroth** · 02-12-2006, 10:34 PM

We have two loves....building street rods & custom cars and Computers. About 2 years ago we had the thought to build the best of both. The washing machine (inside joke) was the result. This car is a blast to drive. The basic platform is a 1994 Chevy Suburban. Some of the specs.....

-The car was built with everday use in mind...some sacrifices were made for style, but usability was kept in mind always
-7 LCD total (5 Xenarc 10" plus 1 xenarc 12" touchscreen moulded to the dash, plus 1 micro for backup screen)
-Backup camera moulded into surfboard skeg mouted on roof above rear doors
-Dakota digital dash
-Door handles are shaved and doors open on remote control
-Katskin leather seat covers on the 2003 Tahoe front seats and 2000 Chrysler front buckets for the rear seats. Also the rear seats have the upgraded car seat latch system.
-Over $2000 (at wholesale yet) in Dynamat - EVERY surface is covered. The car is QUIET that is until we unleash the sound system
-The sound system was designed for QUALITY, not MAX SPL. So, while we have lots of power on tap, it sounds good at all levels (we do like to turn it up...on occasion).
-The center console (we call it the canoe) houses the computer and all of the A/V equipment) and has a REAL surfboard as a cover
-We store everything interallly on hard driver...3000+ songs, 150+ movies and more.
-Rear doors are on linear actuators wired to switches on the master control panel
-We can "sniff" wi-fi as we drive around - true wardriving. Plans are in the works to upgrade the antenna for even longer distances
-The sound system is a true, AC3, DTS surround sound system (Alpine pre-processor unit fed into Rockford Fosgate and Alpine components).
-Over 5 miles of wire, 5 Farad capacitor, 3 batteries, 200 amp police alternator, and hundreds of hours of work.
-Onboard TV, TiVo, FM Radio, GPS, OBD I diagnostics, WiFi sniffing, etc.
-1GB DDR2 memory, 1TB of SATA RAID hard drive storage (that's a 1000 Gigabytes to you and me) shock mounted in an internal cage. 1.8 GHz Athlon processor...400 watt power supply. This baby is overbuilt in every way possible
-Rear view camera is the only rear view device (no mirror)
-The rear seats are the best seats in the house...and that's where the kids sit.
-With all this technology we have an internal motion sensor security system/auto start. You can't get near this car without the alarm going off (if we so choose).
-Would love any comments at david.groth@yahoo.com

Front View:
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Side View - note "fin" that houses backup camera:
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From Drivers seat (note 12" Touch screen next to steering wheel)
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From Rear Door (note 4 screens across back)
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From Pass Door - Note ear protection on floor - kids use them when we show off the car
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David and Crystal

**Freelander** · 02-12-2006, 10:39 PM

thats awesome. you gotta post more pictures

but, what's up with the steering wheel?

**scott_fx** · 02-12-2006, 10:46 PM

looks oem

nice craftmanship, really like the exterior paint job too. what's up with the 5 miles of wire?? did you use it as sound deadener too

welcome to the boards and thanks for sharing your system with us too!

**dgroth** · 02-12-2006, 10:50 PM

The 5 miles of wire is actually a guestimation..but based on the length and the number of times up and back I made runs.....but consider this...this is a 94 suburban with the dash from a 97, the interior panels from a 97-99, the seats from a 2003, and all the electrical/electronic pieces work....Not to mention the gauge cluster is for a 94 and has been sectioned into the 97 dash....There's lots of rewiring done.

This project took a year and we drove it on a 3000+ round trip from Minnesota to California and back immediately after it was done. It was fun driving it around the streets of Long Beach...not to mention this vehicle has some "performance enhancements"

It's just mean.....

David and Crystal

**reiner15** · 02-12-2006, 10:58 PM

wow thats a crazy install... not the typical family car. It almost seems too much to me, but thats because if I had a suburban I'd want to keep most of the space for hauling stuff.. not just two large boxes. I like the blue theme, but it almost seems too much when it starts getting into the interior. I think paint should be kept mostly outside and then nice fabrics, leathers, and moldings on the inside. That's my personal opinion though.

Have you won any awards at shows?

**reiner15** · 02-12-2006, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by dgroth

The 5 miles of wire is actually a guestimation..but based on the length and the number of times up and back I made runs.....but consider this...this is a 94 suburban with the dash from a 97, the interior panels from a 97-99, the seats from a 2003, and all the electrical/electronic pieces work....Not to mention the gauge cluster is for a 94 and has been sectioned into the 97 dash....There's lots of rewiring done.

This project took a year and we drove it on a 3000+ round trip from Minnesota to California and back immediately after it was done. It was fun driving it around the streets of Long Beach...not to mention this vehicle has some "performance enhancements"

It's just mean.....

David and Crystal

where at in MN?

**dgroth** · 02-12-2006, 11:11 PM

We rhino lined the top and use it for carrying some stuff, plus the interior is roomier than it looks. For our trek to California...we carried all our luggage, tools, and clothes inside the car with only a car top carrier strapped to the top. We had so much stuff inside the car, the suspension bogged down another 2" (the car is lowered 3" from stock). We covered the speaker boxes completely in carpet as opposed to filling and painting them.

We had a different design at first. This is version 2.0 (so to speak). In the original version, we had a boat-style wraparound rear seat with a large cargo area behind...but we didn't like the usability of it. So out it came and we redisigned it to its current form. Plus we had a moulded fiberglass dash, but we didn't like it. We went with a cleaner look with this dash.

We also have a solid billet aluminum hitch for hauling trailers..this sub can tow a herd of buffalos. More low end torque than your mother-in-law!!!

Anyway...thanks for the positive comments!