2005 Dodge Ram 3500 Truckputer Install w/ 15" Touchscreen

So yes I am a little bit nuts :jaw: but I have multiple needs for a computer in my truck and to be honest got tired of hassling with a laptop etc. I had the factory navigation system that was outdated and did not have the desire to spend the money to buy upgrades for old equipment. I decided that installing a computer into my truck would be the best thing to do so thats what I have done. Please understand this is still in the install mode, no wires have been hidden yet, panels to be made etc.

The computer is a old shuttle pc that is an AMD 1.67ghz machine with 2gb ram. Its not the fastest thing but works fine for the proof of concept. I have added a Bluetooth dongle for my cell phone (which still does not work), a Wireless card; as this will be a WiFi Hotspot for some of my HAM work, and also an additional removable drive for music and movies etc. The monitor is a Elos 15" Touch Screen and is surprisingly bright even in daylight with some anti-reflective coating so its no where near as bad as my laptop was. I still need to change out the heat pipe for a regular CPU cooler as well as add a fan to pull air out of the compartment of the PC (Today's project actually).

Sound is driven through a Metra interface (Thanks Mp3car users for the advice) and runs over the factory on-board 7 speaker infinity sound system, I am still having some issues with driving the center channel but sounds pretty good over the stock HU.

For now everything is powered by my already on board 800 Watt inverter again I have no budget for a DC supply as of right now this will change at some point, it works fine and I have 3 batteries on the truck so short term engine off power is not a problem. I also have a on-board 40 amp battery charger for doing work in the driveway or when running for extended times out and about I can run my Honda EU1000 generator to keep everything going.

I will eventually buy the same platform and upgrade when finances become a non issue. I am currently working on the drive mount as well as the cover plate for the monitor mount as I have not decided where I want the USB hub to be integrated; so again these are work in process I know they do not look the greatest right now.

Here are a few pictures to start out with in it you can see the monitor as well as my HAM Radio etc. I am open to suggestions and criticism but please remember I built this on a $0 budget so I have just made do with what I have laying around and what I can fabricate in our CNC hobby shop.

So tonight I found out that I have a ground loop in my HAM Radio feed if the pc is off I get altenator whine with the HAM rig on and none if its off so now to find out where that is the issue :-( Arg! All the views and not one opinion on my setup hmmm is it that bad?

Is your monitor going to stay like that or are you looking into an in-dash solution?

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Originally Posted by hexxamillion

Is your monitor going to stay like that or are you looking into an in-dash solution?

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I was going to ask the same thing. Although my logic says that its going to stay that way. ELO touch screens are very very heavy and he will really have to re-enforce the dash to get it in there. In my experience, ELO touch screens are almost as heavy as a CRT screen. Im curious to know what you used to re-enforce the current arm holding it up now.

Yes the monitor is going to stay that way and yes it is very heavy as stated its 15#'s. I wanted to be able to swivel the monitor for myself or the passenger so mounting flush in dash is not an option for me.

The monitor is mounted to a RAM mount which is designed for a much heavier application and that has been attached to a well reinforced 1/2" thick plate of aluminum that is 6 point threaded and bolted to the old radio location as well as has a third point mount to the steel cross body support behind the radio location; The Ram mount is also bolted to a plate aluminum support on the back of the monitor instead of the thin VESA plate.

I get a little bit of vibration simply due to the RAM mount and its being extended but no worse than a jotto desk and by no means excessive.

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Originally Posted by IssaquahWA1979

Yes the monitor is going to stay that way and yes it is very heavy. I wanted to be able to swivel the monitor for myself or the passenger so mounting flush in dash is not an option for me.

The monitor is mounted to a RAM mount which is designed for a much heavier application and that has been attached to a well reinforced 1/2" thick plate of aluminum that is threaded and bolted to the old radio location as well as has a third point mount to the steel cross body support behind the radio location; The Ram mount is also bolted to a plate aluminum support on the back of the monitor instead of the thin VESA plate. I get a little bit of vibration simply due to the RAM mount and its being extended but no worse than a jotto desk.

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I wonder if there is some type of floor mount or if you could fabricate one. The monitor would sit lower though but it would be out of normal view unless someone actually stands an looks in your side window.

Honestly I have no desire to floor mount it as I use the center seat often and part of the idea for me is to not have to look down or away to see the Navigation information etc. This size monitor pretty much screems "hey look at me" no matter where it is so thats what insurance and a SP-101 are for.

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Originally Posted by IssaquahWA1979

Honestly I have no desire to floor mount it as I use the center seat often and part of the idea for me is to not have to look down or away to see the Navigation information etc. This size monitor pretty much screems "hey look at me" no matter where it is so thats what insurance and a SP-101 are for.

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I see. Well can't wait see the progress.

Thanks yeah I hope to get some stuff done by the weekend, I got the ground loop figured out on the HAM radio for some reason the ground on the power cord for the PC is intermittent when I replaced it with a new one all was well. I did get the fans installed and it seems to be running much cooler. I replaced the shuttles heat pipe cooler with a high quality on-chip style so less height and I think better cooling. Anyhow thanks for the replies anything as for suggestions is welcomed.

Just an update to things the monitor has been in now since the original post I have been offroading and gone several thousand highway and around town miles with no problems to report other than occasional system lockup. I am seriously considering loading Windows 7 and see how that goes at some point.