Jeephrog

I really like to have my iPod music in the Jeep but I really hate all the wires. Also I have found that the sound when using this setup is better than using the headphone jack on the iPod into the AUX.

Today I am about 95% complete on on installing my iPod into my center console. It hasn't been too hard and I know many of you will like the way this turns out, especially those looking for an iPod mount. The iPod mounts I seen look clunky and give away the fact that you have an ipod in your Jeep.

First, the equipment you'll need:

1 Auto Kit for iPod w/ Dock Connector (available at http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=149006)

1 mini- jack cable - about 4 feet long should be enough

4 feet each (enough to go from the power outlet to the center console storage box) 14 gauge red wire and 14 gauge black wire

2 squeeze type wire splicers for 14 gauge. I am not sure of the exact name, but one end of the new wire goes in a hole, the old wire (in the car already) slips into a slot, then the whole thing is squeezed with pliers to make the splice. No stripping necessary.

2 crimp on blade connectors to attach wire to new power outlet

Connectors:


1 12v cigarette lighter/power outlet (about $5.00 at Auto zone)

A set of Torx drivers

A drill and a long - at least 8" - drill bit, about the size of the thickness of the end of Belkin iPod connector

A hacksaw blade.

1. First, get a good idea of the size of the iPod end of the Belkin outlet. Drill a couple of holes into the center of lower shelf at the interior right front of the center console. (will post picture). Use the hacksaw blade to cut the rest of the hole big enough to fit the connector through.

2. Now, remove all the torx screws on the bottom part of the center console. Lift the grey side up and partially away from the console box. Lift the console box up and back enough to get your hand underneath and in fron of it ( I did not disconnect the plug for the rear window switches). Push the iPod connector through your hole from the bottom.

Sample hole:



3. Have a beer now and take a break. This was not as easy as it sounds.
4. While taking your break, crimp the blade connectors onto one end of the black and red wires.

5. After break, follow BeerMonkeys instructions for removing the center dash. I will give you some additional hints on that. His write-up is here: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/removing-factory-radio-706/

6. My hints are to use a wide metal putty knife to pop open the top panel and to help with removal of the blank piece. You do not have to remove the stereo, just put your Jeep in a gear that allows you to get the bottom of the dash pulled out a bit.

7. Oh yeah, if you haven't already, you may want to disconnect your battery. I didn't, but I like sparks and that tingling sensation........

8. Now that you have the dash open, find the wires (there is a black one and a red one) going to the back of the power outlet. (I used the outlet on the right because it is un-switched and allows power to components all the time and the iPod stops drawing power when it is fully charged).

If you chose not to disconnect your battery, now would be a good time to put some electrical tape over those spade connectors that you installed while having your beer. Pretty soon, if those touch each other, you will likely get sparks.

OK - - All electrical safety precautions have now been announced……

9. Use the crimp splicers to splice the new red wire to the red wire on the outlet. Do the same for the black wires.

Note: If you have a mulit-meter and know how to use it, now would be a good time to ensure that the red wire, which is supposed to be positive, does indeed go to the center post of the outlet, which is also supposed to be positive. Hooking this up wrong could burn out our iPod.

10. Run the spade ends of the wires down under the center console and out the side near the passenger seat.
Connect the spade connector on the red wire to the center post of the new outlet. Connect the spade connector on the black wire to the other connector on the new outlet.


11. Reconnect your battery.

12. Plug the Belkin thing into the new power outlet. If you did things right you should get a green light on the Belkin. Plug your iPod into the Belkin – it should start to charge.

13. Now, connect your one end of your mini-plug cable to your Belkin and the other to the AUX port on your stereo. Turn on your stereo and select the AUX input and fire up some tunes on the iPod. If you have done everything right to this point you will hear your iPod music. If you don’t hear music, adjust the volume wheel on the Belkin until you do. If that doesn’t work, check your crimp splices and ensure you have power to the outlet.

14. Hopefully you heard your music. You should adjust the volume using the volume wheel on the Belkin to get the sound level you want. The iPod volume control will do nothing in this configuration and you won’t be able the reach the Belkin plug any more after this.
15. Using electrical tape, wrap up the connectors and the end of the new outlet to prevent shorts.

16. Unplug the mini-jack from the stereo

17. Pull most of the Belkin wire up through the hole and into the center box while pushing the plug and outlet under the center console and in front of the center box.

18. Push the black, red, and the mini-jack wires under the center console.

19. Route the mini-jack wire up through the dash and out the side near the AUX port.

20. Re-install the dash and center console.

21. Plug the mini-jack back in and you are pretty much done.

22. I haven’t done this yet, but I am going to install an elastic strap inside the box a couple of inches over the hole to hold the iPod. I have also used a little furniture slide thing on the front of the box to keep the iPod from rattling. You can se it in the picture.

Sorry, my camera battery was dead when I had the dash off :(

Finsihed Dashboard:

HUMONGO

I did something very similar with my XM. But I use the FM modulator. Ran the wires behind the dash and up to the XM on top of the dash.

Riprock

Do you have pics of the final product?

xravn

i'm not clear on this set-up, what does the belkin product do besides power your i-pod to make it sound better? your still using the same aux cable set-up to play your i-pod through the factory sound system. the little amp on it really do that much to improve sound quality? i have always understood, from working on sound boards and mixers that the higher your gain in the more distortion. you need more of a level input and pick either the radio or the i-pod to adjust volume and tone. the radio being prefered as it is basically your eq and amp unit in this case. either way i would assume the sound difference is negligible to minor at best.

HUMONGO

No, but I hard wired it almost exactly the same and fished the power wire behind the dash to the XM on top. I used a suction cup mount that attaches to the windshield.

Jeephrog

The Belkin thing basically gives you a line out vs. headphone out sound. I turn off the EQ settings on the iPod and use the radio EQ. The Belkin does have a volume control that I set at about the middle. I set it to where the volume is roughly the same from the iPod as it is on the sirius radio at a given volume on the radio. If the Belkin volume is turned up too much you definitely get distortion as you increase the radio volume.

As far as sound quality goes, I can hear a difference between going out from the head phone jack and going out from the connector on the bottom of the iPod. The difference is like going from a decent cassette quality sound to CD quality sound - not huge, but noticeable. The sound quality improvement is not a function of the Belkin but a function of which output you use on the iPod.

I wouldn't do this mod based only on sound quality improvement. Do it to be able to charge and listen to your iPod and not have cables all over the cabin.

Rubimon

Did you mount the ipod in any way or do you just leave laying in the console.

Also, I have been searching for a 3.5 mm jack that is on a right angle to even make it less noticeable at the head unit.

KiltedJK

If you're in to making your own cables, there are tons of options out there for RA ends.

Jeephrog

Right now it is just siting in the console. This weekend when I get a little time I am going to mount it on that little shelf by attaching some elastic bands across the shelf area above the hole. I'll probably get a smal piece of foam, cut a hole in it for the wire and iPod connector, and glue it to the bottom of the shelf.

That way, it will still be easy to get to an be out of the way and it won't rattle. I may also cut the hole a little bigger to let the wire more easily go down into it and get out of the way.

The right angle on the jack is a great idea. Wish I'd had one to install at the time.

Thats a good idea, too, making your own cable. I'll bet I can find a 90 deg end at Radio Shack and replace what I have now without taking anything apart.

Jeephrog

I finished up the iPod install to make it look, well, finished.

First I cut and stuck in some double sided tape:


Then I cut some foam rubber that I got from a computer hard drive package and stuck it to the double sided tape:


Next I cut some velcro and stuck it to the sides of the shelf:


Finally, I attached a padded piece I found in an old laptop carrying case and dropped in the iPod:


I also removed the fuzzy circle thing and replaced it with a piece of black velcro. Not shown in pictures.

As you can see, it is a very clean and functional setup. The iPod is protected and the wire tucks neatly behind it when the iPod is stored.