What have you done to your 200 Series this week?
- Thread starter MScruiser
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Wife was clamoring for CarPlay, so I decided to be a guinea pig for an Android unit that replaced the stock 2016 unit completely. I've done this in a few past cars before to mild success, so I'm pretty comfortable tweaking it to be usable. All these Chinese units have weird quirks you have to work around, and this certainly was no different. No instructions, some back and forth with the engineers, poorly translated Android menus, etc.
I finally have it set up to be mostly wife-friendly, as we will both run it in CarPlay 100% of the time, so any underlying software bloat has been removed, and it boots up and goes straight to CarPlay very quickly. Probably the biggest complaint I have now is I lost my outside temp readout while in CarPlay, and I don't think there's a way of displaying it in the center cluster. I lost some of the climate control screens, but I never used them before, as the physical buttons did everything I needed. There is still a climate overlay that pops up when you use any of the controls, it's just not the stock screen.
To those wondering if the '16-18's camera quality is due to the cameras or the screen or both...I can report it's definitely the stock cameras that are terrible, lol. Will probably replace at least the rear camera, and will keep an eye out for better front and mirror cameras.
I finally have it set up to be mostly wife-friendly, as we will both run it in CarPlay 100% of the time, so any underlying software bloat has been removed, and it boots up and goes straight to CarPlay very quickly. Probably the biggest complaint I have now is I lost my outside temp readout while in CarPlay, and I don't think there's a way of displaying it in the center cluster. I lost some of the climate control screens, but I never used them before, as the physical buttons did everything I needed. There is still a climate overlay that pops up when you use any of the controls, it's just not the stock screen.
To those wondering if the '16-18's camera quality is due to the cameras or the screen or both...I can report it's definitely the stock cameras that are terrible, lol. Will probably replace at least the rear camera, and will keep an eye out for better front and mirror cameras.
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I see they didn’t install the 16+ center caps, presumably because the original hub center caps are still on there..
I know the wheel center caps not fitting is well-known, but when I did the swap on my 13 I found the wheels don’t even clear the hub center cap. It is mild interference but definitely there. The lug nuts will pull the wheel on adequately but the interference will be clear when you realize the wheel is teetering back and forth as you start torquing things up. Plus the wheel will stick slightly on removal.
Just a heads up.
Congrats otherwise!
Wife was clamoring for CarPlay, so I decided to be a guinea pig for an Android unit that replaced the stock 2016 unit completely. I've done this in a few past cars before to mild success, so I'm pretty comfortable tweaking it to be usable. All these Chinese units have weird quirks you have to work around, and this certainly was no different. No instructions, some back and forth with the engineers, poorly translated Android menus, etc.
I finally have it set up to be mostly wife-friendly, as we will both run it in CarPlay 100% of the time, so any underlying software bloat has been removed, and it boots up and goes straight to CarPlay very quickly. Probably the biggest complaint I have now is I lost my outside temp readout while in CarPlay, and I don't think there's a way of displaying it in the centers cluster. I lost some of the climate control screens, but I never used them before, as the physical buttons did everything I needed. There is still a climate overlay that pops up when you use any of the controls, it's just not the stock screen.
To those wondering if the '16-18's camera quality is due to the cameras or the screen or both...I can report it's definitely the stock cameras that are terrible, lol. Will probably replace at least the rear camera, and will keep an eye out for better front and mirror cameras.
Those front OEM cameras are pricey around $900+. I ended up buying a dash cam with front and rear cameras. The rear camera is up front down low. Works well but needs my iPhone/ipad screen to get sharp images of terrain near front wheels. But the in dash screen is no great deal to begin with, at least on the 2011.
Thanks!
Those are just some wheels I had laying around, not what came on it. I didn't notice any interference, but I'll check again. Thanks for the heads up.
Are the LX hubs or grease cap different than the LC? I had these same wheels on my LC for a few years and didn't notice any issues. I do know about the front wheel center caps not fitting all the way on, and how to fix. But that is just an issue with the center caps, not the wheels themselves. If there is an issue with the fitment of the actual wheel I am interested.
It's really close, and the thin metal of the nut center cap allows the wheel to ultimately bolt on, but if you look closely at the nut cap you'll probably see a witness mark and deformation.
That is, unless my wheels are even tighter on the ID than usual 2016 wheels.
I had images of the slight damage to my hub center caps but must have deleted them..
Finally installed the TJM Venturer bumper. Had to find someone who could special order it and took about 6 months to get from Australia. Once arrived had it powder coated to match and installed over the weekend along with the HE headlights. Installed the ARB non-swingout rear bumper this past summer and also powder coated to match.
Yeah I'm not surprised, the stock head unit alone is something like $2500 to replace (used), and there's not much to it, just an ancient screen with a brain behind it. I've seen cameras already that are less than $30 that would likely be a lot better, but I need to research the factory connections, I'd want them to work with the factory head unit just in case I want to put it back in.
One and a half days in the garage and job done (extended brake lines, brake fluid flush and bleed, AHC globes replaced, AHC drain, fill and bleed, rear coil spacer 20mm, E&E Off-Road rear shock spacers and front top hat spacers)
The ride is both tighter AND smoother, probably due to new AHC globes but the higher preload on springs likely helps too.
One observation: I searched before but not well enough. To remove the front AHC lines to put in the top hat spacer, there are two 12mm bolts holding the hose fitting in place at the top of the strut. I relieved line pressure with the front bleeder screws on either side (next to the front globes) and then the fitting pulled off the top of the shock with just a bit of effort.
Bleeding out all of the 20,000 mile old black AHC fluid and bleeding the system took just a bit over one full can of fluid.
Santa didn’t bring the DrKDSS bolt on panhard correction bracket so that will have to be sometime this spring. Maybe Cupid will bring it.
Two questions for those who have replaced gloves: should I re-bleed the system after driving for a week or so? Does it take some cycling of the suspension to get the air moved around?
I wrapped the plastic console pieces in leather. Turned out great! Between that and the Hamilton CarPlay unit, feels almost like a new truck.
Bought the LX 5k miles ago (158k now) for my wife, and got it up on the lift for the first time for a thorough look see. I changed oil, filter, spark plugs (old were in spec, but unknown mileage), air filter, and cleaned the throttle body and MAF sensor. Greased the driveshafts for possibly the first time since new… New rear pads, and had a frozen guide pin - the rubber cap was missing and had water intrusion. Luckily O’Reillys had new rubber parts and guide pins. AHC flush on the list for tomorrow, along with MPC remote start.
Possie Bugger
SILVER Star
just had its 28th oil change, the 2nd set of rear brake pads and a new OEM battery.
tomorrow marks the 5 year anniversary of picking it up at the dealer. now at 182,500 miles.
tomorrow marks the 5 year anniversary of picking it up at the dealer. now at 182,500 miles.
All I did was drive this week, but I hit a milestone.
Do you still have the cargo cover available?
Long gone
Installed 295/70/18 KO3's ...loving the setup, this is a big truck and these tire size make it look proper, like your cruiser didn't skip leg days.
Nice, let’s plan for another 8 ahead of that number
. I will probably never sell or replace mine especially as I have only just reached 45k on my 2021 and at this pace I will “only” reach 250 to 300k miles by around 2055…
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