Headrest Monitors Installed (1 Viewer)

[elmariachi]

I finished the install of my headrest monitors. It was a pre-OME/ARB stipulation in getting another FJ-80. I have to admit rear seat entertainment is an excellent babysitter. I wanted a 7" monitor, TFT, not too much $$ and something mounted into the headrest (because I ain't EVER selling this one). I choose XO Vision screens and they run anywhere from $150-175 each. Each one took about two hours with a razor blade and a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel. I did choose to sacrifrice the adjustable headrest mechanism so I could make these work. I have DVD player coming and am mounting it in the rear of the Lexus LX450 center console I installed. More pics when I am done.

 

[mot]

Great job and a super clean install!

Thanks for the pics.

Hey, I never raise my headrest higher than the lowest part anyway (I'm not tall).

My wife is against the idea of having the entertainment system, but I've been working on her little by little, so hopefully she'll let me do it down the road. What a great thing to have on long road trips, as well as being stuck in a traffic jam with kids.

Thanks again.

Mot

 

[mooker82]

Nice clean install...i would have never though a 7" monitor would fit in that headrest...are you going to go with a 2 stage audio setup so the back has seperate sound from the front or do those monitors have built in speakers or headphone jacks?

 

[elmariachi]

Great job and a super clean install!

Thanks for the pics.

Hey, I never raise my headrest higher than the lowest part anyway (I'm not tall).
Mot

I can raise and lower them, I just can't click/tilt them forward. They are now locked in the rear click position.

 

[mot]

I can raise and lower them, I just can't click/tilt them forward. They are now locked in the rear click position.

As long as the kids (or whoever sitting in the back) can see the monitors w/o any glare, who cares, right?

I'm jealous!

 

[elmariachi]

Nice clean install...i would have never though a 7" monitor would fit in that headrest...are you going to go with a 2 stage audio setup so the back has seperate sound from the front or do those monitors have built in speakers or headphone jacks?

The 7" was a stretch, and I erred on the low side at the advice of an installer. They could have been 1/4" higher but then you run the risk of someone catching the top and ripping them out. Regarding audio, I have an infrared transmitter for the rear seat wireless headphones and I also have a wireless FM modulator for transmitting into the OEM stereo as well.

 

[NorCalDoug]

That's a very nice install. And one mod the wife would easily welcome
We've made several multi-hour trips (the one to Moab last year was around 15+ hours on one of the days ) -- the monitors would've made the trip a whole lot easier.

 

[e9999]

very nice job, impressive!

I would probably go with a portable player or old laptop myself for extra versatility, but that's just my practical side...

 

[LX_TREME]

Not bad... did you buy the DVD/MP3 Player yet? Otherwise Blaupunkt just fit perfectly to the rear center console. Sorry not for the cruiser console... gotta switch and buy the LX console to put DVD in there.. Plan to add TV features?
Such as integrated TV indoor antennas? let me know... Navigation system and view cam maybe... ;p wondering whos watchin ya'

 

[nakman]

Nice job.. why did you have to sacrifice the tilt feature? That's a deal breaker for me, I like to run em all the way forward.. or is that answer obvious once you pop them apart?

 

[mot]

Nice job.. why did you have to sacrifice the tilt feature? That's a deal breaker for me, I like to run em all the way forward.. or is that answer obvious once you pop them apart?

I'm guessing here, but if you tilt forward, then the monitor will point up, making it rather difficult for someone small like kids to get a good (vertical) viewing angle.

I'm probably way off!

 

[LX_TREME]

I'm guessing here, but if you tilt forward, then the monitor will point up, making it rather difficult for someone small like kids to get a good (vertical) viewing angle.

I'm probably way off!

You gotta get the adjustable monitor thats no problem at all.....
Tip- Just be carefull with those monitors you may want to tint all your windows dark to prevents got stolen from the thief.

 

[mot]

You gotta get the adjustable monitor thats no problem at all.....
Tip- Just be carefull with those monitors you may want to tint all your windows dark to prevents got stolen from the thief.

All the adjustable ones I've seen only tilts up, not down.

And for security reasons, you may not want to have the TV's on while approaching parking lots, including coming home where people can recognize where you live, etc... or just have some drapes.

 

[elmariachi]

All the adjustable ones I've seen only tilts up, not down.

And for security reasons, you may not want to have the TV's on while approaching parking lots, including coming home where people can recognize where you live, etc... or just have some drapes.

1. Tilt. It became obvious, after cutting into it, that grabbing the headrest and tilting it could be detrimental to the fit and finish where the shroud touches the leather. And, the sheet metal frame that holds the tilt mechanism bulges toward the rear, and to get the monitor down into the headrest flush, I had to remove part of it. During this process I saw an opportunity to make a bend or two in the flashing and lock down the ratchet. I couldn't find a 7" tilt monitor with a narrow enough shroud for the headrest.

2. Security. I used the Dremel to carve a circular indentation in the edge of the brown plastic headrest recepticle (you can remove it by taking the back off the seat, sliding your hand up inside and squeezing the tabs.) I fed the harness through so that the s-video plugs join between the headrest and the seat top. This way I can pop the headrest out and unplug it easy enough. There is 8" of cable slack inside the headrest so it moves freely if you adjust the headrest up or down. Ne leather cuts in the seat either.

3. DVD/TV. I looked at the Blaunpunkt but found a Pyle DVD/TV unit that fits the Lexus console perfectly. I could have gone Kenwood or Alpine but I was trying to do all this for under $500. I am not sure how I will handle the TV antenna issue but I'll post it whenever I figure it out.

 

[nakman]

Good info, thanks again for the effort. So if I'm to do this, I'll be adding the monitors to the 2nd rows.. so all the times it's just me or me & the we get the tilt head rests, but when there are rear passengers that need to watch a movie I'd just swap the headrests.. And by the looks of your plug above, that looks to be totally possible.

I'm still with Eric though, short term I'll just stick with the lap top..

 

[LX_TREME]

Jim, rear seat entertainment system:

The Blaupunkt model# ME1 (DVD, CD & MP 3 Player) and the Alpine double TV antennas mounted right above behind the rear view mirror. Hmm.. sorry no cable or DIS Satellite and sorry pics lil dark at nite time.

 

[lx450landcruiser]

what kinda signol you get with that tv antenna? work well when moving or only when stoped?

 

[elmariachi]

Jim, rear seat entertainment system:

The Blaupunkt model# ME1 (DVD, CD & MP 3 Player) and the Alpine double TV antennas mounted right above behind the rear view mirror. Hmm.. sorry no cable or DIS Satellite and sorry pics lil dark at nite time.

Very nice setup. I looked at Blaunpunkt but didn't see one that looked like it fit as well as yours. The opening in the garnish is 3" high and 7" wide and I found a Pyle that is 2.8 high and 7" wide, so that should work.

Jim

 

[Kalawang]

What kind of an alarm do you have ?


Kalawang

 

[LX_TREME]

what kinda signol you get with that tv antenna? work well when moving or only when stoped?

The inside TV antenna work very well stop n go traffic but when the vehicle travel about 80-90mph pretty much hard to get the solid signal reception.In my opinion the inside car TV antenna work and perform same job as your cell phone in certain area.

By the way Jim, Do you know right now there's new Techology for each monitor
(headrest monitor) has DVD player in it (Slim and Tiny), so lets say if you have 2 or 3 kids in the back seat.And assume all of them want to watch different movies they can watch and play their own without fighting over the movie.