cockpit mods, computers, radios and more

[little_joe]

Holy moly what a mess, but to each his own.

 

[ralphy1997]

As long as I'm showing the interior, here's what I did with the rear seat area. I did this a while back. I removed one the rear seats.

In it's place I mounted a Engel MT 27. And added a custom rack with storage items and removable storage box, all easily accessible by simply opening the rear driver's side passenger door.

Photo 1 This photo shows the storage box in place which is removable. The refrigerator in the back ground. The rear passenger side seat is still in place. The GPS unit mounted in the far right powers the computer and has an external antenna on the roof, so it doesn't need to see out the window. The rack stores various items, including camping gear, paper towels, first aid kit and supplies and emergency climbing rope, among other things.

Photo 2 Same stuff from a different angle.

Photo 3 A different view with the storage box removed. Now you know my secret hiding spot for the computer..LOL! The temp gauge is left over from when I had the laptop in a locked storage container back here and I had that gauge to monitor temps inside when the laptop was powered up. Now I kind of use to it monitor temps on the Asus Eeebox, but it seems to run much cooler than any laptop even without any fan.

Lots of flying projectiles if you were ever in an accident. Do you have a helmet?

 

[Ihasfip]

That thing looks like a NASA space station. Its cool you found places for all that. Hope you don't spill your soda, LOL. I only have a Garmin (yuppie city boy GPS), and a Garmin handheld (for offroad treks, kept in the center console. I have an Iphone (cracked screen so I use it as my Ipod), engine temp guage mounted next to the t-case shifter, a small cb, on the passenger side of the tranny tunnel, and a little cigarette lighter outlet multiplier thingy. I got way too much s*** floating around.

D

 

[wearsabrowncoat]

Better not call it a cockpit mod. It would be hard to get insurance if the FAA classified your rig as an experimental vehicle. I don't see how you could get a normal airworthiness cert with that jumble of electronics

 

[Brian894X4]

Lots of flying projectiles if you were ever in an accident. Do you have a helmet?

Most everything is bolted down tight. There’s not a lot that can fly around anymore a bunch of groceries thrown in the back seat.

Holy moly what a mess, but to each his own.

I know the set up looks hap hazard, but everything has its place and is bolted down very tight and solid. I drive over a lot of rough roads and I hate stuff moving around or rattling. Its looks cleaner and more organized in person. I guess the pictures don’t really do it justice.

What's your thoughts on that cell phone booster? Which model do you have? I've been considering one, but man, a couple hundred bucks is expensive.

The booster I have is the one designed specifically for the iphone, from Wilson. I have the iphone set up to read it’s reception in diagnostic numbers, instead of the worthless bars. Basically the lower the number the better the reception, down to about 51 and the higher, the worst. 51 is basically standing under a tower and roughly 110+ is lost reception. Normally without the booster, around town, it reads around 80s or 90s. With the booster it almost always reads 51..so it definitely works somewhat. But I’ve not found that it significantly increases range into an area where I had no coverage before..which is really what I wanted it for. It definitely improves reception where reception already was, but doesn’t seem to add reception where it wasn’t before. At least not significantly.

If I was to do it again, I might look at a different model. The iphone version seems cheaply made and overly simple and I wonder if some of the other generic Wilson amplifiers might actually be better. But you're right...they are expensive and probably not worth it. If I only had a cell phone and no other means of communication, I'd probably consider another booster and just see how it worked.

 

[CowboyUp]

If you still add more stuff probably you will need a copilot with you soon !

 

[Jonny D]

The Bat Mobile does'nt have that many guizmos. That thing is awesome.

 

[Cannon88]

I'm kinda wondering what your garage might look like....

Hahaha, my EXACT thoughts when I opened this thread!

 

[nautilus]

How do you get your iphone to display diagnostic numbers instead of the bars?

 

[d0ubledown]

where does the flux capacitor go?

thats some insane gadgetry you got going on there! but your 60 looks kinda lonely in the back...nice setup though? you should slowly run through a rough section of town...roll the window down and ask for directions! lol

 

[Brian894X4]

How do you get your iphone to display diagnostic numbers instead of the bars?

Do a search for "Apple Iphone Field Test Mode" to get the codes that you can imput to get your phone to do this. I tried to find a good site, but rather than point you to one site, it's probably best that you search and read up on it first.

where does the flux capacitor go?
thats some insane gadgetry you got going on there! but your 60 looks kinda lonely in the back...nice setup though? you should slowly run through a rough section of town...roll the window down and ask for directions! lol

LOL! I was trying to figure out where I had an FJ60 in any of my pictures...but I get it now. If I have to ask for directions with two GPSs and an PC, I'm in big trouble. Of course, I've still been led been led astray by both on occasion. If all else fails, there's always the all knowing...

------------------

Here's the back of the rig. It doesn't involve any electronics, but someone was asking me what it looks like back there.

It has a single AO drawer set up, loaded with spares, tools, power tank and other gear. It's pretty well jam packed. Above deck I now use storage bins, secured by screw in loops to hold various gear, camping gear, clothes, etc.

The white tank on the left window is a gravity feed water system. Holds about 4 gallons and is fed through a copper pipe and valve that you can kind of see in between the two bins. Mostly used for washing. I try to drink out of bottled water instead.

I also carry 10 gallons of fuel in 4 seperate 2.5 gallon containers. 3 on the upper deck and 1 down below, using the Wedco nato cans which seal up perfectly air tight. There's some controversy about carry fuel like this, but I've had zero problems. Unfortunately these cans are extremely hard to get these days, if not impossible, I believe.

 

[julstirn]

drawer system looks nice and organized

 

[silverhorse]

COOL!

 

[Adolf]

Very cool setup! Like it a lot!

 

[Brodie]

I installed a Land Rover cupholder, even that makes me feel cluttered, does that count?

 

[Bluetribal]

I am curious about the rear work lights on your tailgate.
Could you show how they are mounted and where you tapped power from or did you run a new dedicated power line?

 

[busmup808]

The inside looks like a cock pit of an airplane.

 

[Big Green]

I have been wondering the same, about your rear mounted lights

 

[Brian894X4]

Thanks for the comments, just realized this thread was revived....

Regarding the rear mounted lights, they are powered with a dedicated wire.

I have a fuse panel in the rear quarter panel, which is powered via a single wire to the auxiliary battery in the engine comparment. The fuse panel, powers a relay, which powers the lights. A signal switch wire runs to my center console to turn the lights on and off manually. They don't come on with the rear back up lights.

What I did was build a bracket that bolts to the two upper license plate screws. The bracket holds the lights and the license plate and it's been pretty strong and reliable.

I fed the wire from the lights through a hole I cut in the plastic rear license plate light bracket and the wire is then fed through the inside the tailgate, out the bottom of the tailgate via a drain hole and into the interior of the vehicle to the relay in the rear quarter panel.

The rear license plate light and cover sort of got in the way, I ended up removing it and making my own in its place, using just a single light.

Hope that helps.

BTW, the roofrack is has since been removed. It wouldn't fit in the garage of my new house with it on there, so I'm basically running without it now. The exterior looks rather plain jane, except for the front end and sliders, but the interior is the same as in the pics. Here's what it looks like now..

 

[concretejungle]

I love seeing that you "use" your truck for work and all the mods are there for a reason! Most of us have all these mods for the few times we might need them.