Thread: 2008 Sequoia Platinum

Congrats..... Thats the SUV that got the Green People to scream at Toyota for making such a monster of a SUV. The Tundra (which yours is based on) also has Green People screaming. I actually like the Sequoia, well not the name, but the SUV itself. Its what the Dodge Durango should have been. If I wasnt such a die hard Dodge fan, I would consider the Sequoia.

Why not have the screen fold out the top of the dash were that clock is? i guess you would have to figure it out, but I cheated and decided to add enclousures and motorized screens that open up ontop of the dash. In your case though, you have a huge dash and you may be able to have the screen stationary on the top of the dash, you have the room so use it!

Thanks!

Yes, the green types hate SUVs (I know that very well, most of my friends live in Berkeley anyway and they thought I was joking when I bought this one). I always point them out that their heroes (Al Gore, Hollywood types) are always flying around in private jets. Last climate conference on Copenhagen, they had to import limos because there's no more than 1200 limos in the country: "it's too cold to walk from the hotel to the conference, so let's take a limo".

Who likes to be lectured on global warming by folks who don’t fly commercial themselves?

But I digress!


Yes, I thought about that spot over the dash but it's illegal in CA to have any screen blocking the windshield (I think there's an exception for GPSs not sure if they specify screen size). Furthermore I don't know about reliable mechanisms to lift screens (links? I'd love to know more about them) and finally it's too far from the driving position anyway. But perhaps in another spot, a hidden screen could work better...

But thanks for your input, really appreciated!

Originally Posted by RipplingHurst

Thanks!

Yes, the green types hate SUVs (I know that very well, most of my friends live in Berkeley anyway and they thought I was joking when I bought this one). I always point them out that their heroes (Al Gore, Hollywood types) are always flying around in private jets. Last climate conference on Copenhagen, they had to import limos because there's no more than 1200 limos in the country: "it's too cold to walk from the hotel to the conference, so let's take a limo".

Who likes to be lectured on global warming by folks who don’t fly commercial themselves?

But I digress!


Yes, I thought about that spot over the dash but it's illegal in CA to have any screen blocking the windshield (I think there's an exception for GPSs not sure if they specify screen size). Furthermore I don't know about reliable mechanisms to lift screens (links? I'd love to know more about them) and finally it's too far from the driving position anyway. But perhaps in another spot, a hidden screen could work better...

But thanks for your input, really appreciated!

EWWWWW, are you kidding me..... There is a way around it though. Number 1, it isnt blocking any of the drivers view, its right in the middle of the dash. Number 2, kill the motorized idea, your dash is so big a stationary screen would not be in the way. I see you pictured an example, I would move it up so it matches the dash better. Number 3, find an awesome fabricator that can make the add on look factory. They cant say that its illegal if they didnt know it did not come that way.

You have got me curious on what my laws are. I will be having one for the driver and passenger, but I dont have enough dash space to make it stationary.

PS: Give me about 3 hours. I am going to photoshop what you can do. I think you will like the idea, and it will still be within the law.

Here:

Though it's typically common practice to suction that new GPS unit to your windshield just as soon as you whip it from the box, folks in California have long been unable to enjoy such luxuries outside of their own driveways. Currently, it's illegal to have navigators stuck to one's front window, and police have been handing out "obstructed view" citations for those who disregard the law in the Golden State. Now, however, the California Senate will be voting on Senate Bill 1567, which would "add an exemption for the use of a seven-inch GPS screen mounted on in the lower corner of the passenger-side windshield or a five-inch screen on the driver's side." Of course, there's still oodles of red tape (and you know, a vote) to pass through before gridlocked drivers are able to toss that NAV up at eye-level, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/21/c...-gps-mounting/

Here it goes.... its very crued, but it gives you an idea. At the back you can have a access door made to get to the screen. The area with the clock can be covered over and made to maybe store electronics for the screen.

Thanks, man!

Yes, true, I know what you mean now. I like it.

I'm not sure the above is legal, I think one have to trace one horizontal line from the windshield and check if it's there (as if the driver was like 4' tall). I'll look into that.

However, it's a good spot, because it's not as far from the driver as where I had first envisioned. I don't like the side covers, or the necessity to integrate with the dash that way. It's going to look like a CRT that way. But just standing up by itself will not cut it either.


I think it's possible to integrate in that spot in another way. Maybe if I could make it feel like it was standing up there, kind like floating, but in a way that it wouln't look it's removable, or with cables showing.

A bit like these headrests on the Porsche Panamera: see the "integrated, but floating" ,with no wires showing, I'm talking about?



Sorry for the big picture, couldn't find anything smaller. I think the new 7 Series has something like that too.

Can you see what I mean? No idea how something like that would look like in the dash. I definitely don't want anybody thinking it's easy to brake in and simply grab it. Your solution accomplished that, but I think it's too retro looking, at least that's how I see it.

PS. Your seats look like a bit like those, right, IIRC. Did you find a solution for your headrests yet?

Im not a big fan of those. It looks like a add on that wasnt suposed to be there. I can see why they did it though because the high back seat isnt wide enough to fit the screen.

Because I wanted all my screens to be 7 inch, I did find one that fit. For the third row though, I went on a different route. I am connecting the screens to the pillars.



As you can see they were just wide enough to fit the screen holders. I cant wait to install the dash screens though. I think its going to be fun to design so it looks like no screen comes out of it.

So I got this tablet that I'd like to integrate in the car too. I can use it as my main computer or the just as a wireless screen for control from any of the 3 rows. Anyway, I got have a secondary computer for when the tablet is not in the car. Also with the tablet, I don't need any bigger screen. This one has a transflective 12.1" screen, it's great.

It's the LE1700VA I've referred above.




It's not going to be easy to integrate this, but I have some ideas in mind. Definitely not like the above. See like the portrait mode makes the front end look distorted? So no portrait mode I guess.

Later I'll post more pictures with one possible solution.

No point to use this spot either, also it can be dangerous in case of an accident. But it maybe be a good spot for storage, below.



Note that after 5 secs of inactivity the display goes dimmer. It still had the standard battery savings settings at this point. Even when connected, Motion dashboard sets it according to the ambient light (there's a sensor on the bottom left), and even then not on full brightnesss unless under direct sunight. I have since moved it to full brighness when connected to power, and I am playing with gamma settings now. Huge difference, but I have to wait for sunnier days to see what's best.

Bellow what would seem like a good spot, but actually it's not ideal. It should be able to rotate to the driver/passenger to make it work, so I'm thinking.





I also thought about storing it inside the center console somehow. Maybe with a sliding tray, hinge or some embedded on the lid. But it should get out of it's "resting" position and move forward to better reach driver's view.





So a hinge mechanism would work like this perhaps:




These are very sturdy, and work well. The weight of the tablet would be support by some rubbery like material on the underside of the arm to rest in the cupholder area without scratching it, but firm enough not to vibrate much.

The problem would be to support the monitor/tablet. The ideal mounting for storage inside the console is likely to be very different then the ideal position for viewing when outside the console. Another hinge would be needed, or some way to rotate the display support for storage.

This would be the arm sticking out with the display/tablet somehow mounted on top of it.




^^^ anything mounted on top of this arm to support the display wouldn't be able to clear the rear of the console when rotated inside for storage. I'd have about 1 or 2 inches...(I suppose I could remove the tablet from the support and only having to storage the supports inside the console. With a monitor, that would be different, but then again it wouldn't be as big. A 10.4" display is much smaller than a 12.1" tablet+bezel.)

This would be roughly what room would be left for the display support: not much more than one inch: