My DIY iPhone 4 car dock
 

Hey guys so I have been trying to find a good spot to dock my iPhone 4 cuz it's always sitting in my lap or in the cup holder. So I finally decided it was gonna go where the button blanks right below the gear shifter. I have found that it's perfectly out of the way so I can still shift. It's not done yet, I'm still gonna install some felt or vinyl over it to make it look more finished and factory. Let me know what you guys think. I will post a DIY tomorrow when its all said and done. I have it connected to my DNX9960 with the Kenwood iPod cable that controls video and iPod controls, and it's routed through the center console.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/3d63e83f.jpg

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/72df8c73.jpg

^that's pretty interesting... I might have to do the same!

Thanks! If you like it so much rep is appreciated ;)

I thought about doing this long time ago nice job looks good. what dock did you use or are they all the same?

Thanks! I used the Apple universal dock. About $50 but it fits with any case on!

huh, i'd paint it black and maybe fabricate a cover for it? :confused:

interesting idea though!

That looks awesome!

Ken excellent idea. I'm actually gonna glue black felt over the white part. I thought about black paint, but taping that off would be a pain in the ***, and I think felt will look better anyway! Thanks for the comment!

Thanks man!!

only thing id be worried about is the dock connector standing up to abuse. its meant to be put onto a desk and never move. with the car moving forward and stopping, i can see the dock connector, either on your phone or the actual dock break within a matter of months.

oh wait one more thing...the safety of this. being rear ended (lets hope this never happens) or braking hard and the thing will go FLYING!

as for the color, you can go to a fabric store and buy automotive vinyl, which matches pretty decently with our plastic to wrap it with

The dock will not move at all, I will show in my DIY how its secured in place. As far as getting rear ended goes(hope that never happens also) ;) Its still an unfinished piece, and I am still rigging up a back support piece for it that will not allow for any movement of the phone from the dock connector. Ive already tested braking really hard and its solid. As far as safety during an accident goes, whether the phone is in my lap or on the passenger seat or cupholder, its still a projectile. this at least provides a bit of security. Thanks for the comments chops, I will take your concerns into consideration when rigging up my backplate!

Vinyl is exactly the type of solution I am looking for.

Does your phone stay in place during spirited driving?

i understand that the dock will not move, im more worried about the phone. the actual connector on the dock is the only thing holding it on, and thats a fragile piece of plastic. however, that back support piece would be good, or if you had the time, you could fabricate something with fiberglass/bondo and sink the connector in, and mold the dock around your phone a half inch or two, making it nice and snug :tup:

Something like this in place of the cubby would be a nice mod:
http://www.didntyouhear.com/wp-conte...rxinterior.jpg

Yes it stays in place rather well.

Hmmmm very interesting thought!

yah, EZ felt FTW! :)

or even black vinyl or DiNoc CF.

Ya I just bought some vinyl from Joanns fabrics that matches our stock look really well!

Vinyl finished!

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/0cf29235.jpg

That look really good waiting for the DIY. I will do this next week. :tiphat:

Here is the finished product. I am kind of rethinking doing a DIY because I ran into a lot of problems today.

The dock would not allow the Kenwood iPod cable to play music because the iPhone recognizes the dock and the cable and gives an error that only one accessory may be used. Needless to say I had to hack up the dock and custom fabricate my own dock. I basically pulled the guts of the dock out and used just the plastic white part as my base and fed the Kenwood iPod cable through the dock hole and secured it with crazy glue and a metal bracket. I then made a back support as member chops had recommended. I used half a Belkin IPhone case and wrapped it in vinyl. Some more crazy glue and lots of high hopes and this is the finished product.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/6a1f0248.jpg

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/7773c689.jpg

This was easily a 4 day project of trial and error. I assume it's a project not many will want to take on. But if you do, let me know and I will make a DIY.

nice!!

I need to ask as you are having iphone 4, is it easy to sync with bluetooth of kenwood, as mine doesnt search iphone dont know awhy

Thanks!
Your contacts should sync right away. What headunit do
you have? As far as Bluetooth goes, you can only play songs one by one through Bluetooth. If you want to be able to control your iPod, video and your playlists and such from your headunit, you need the Kenwood KCA-IP301V iPod Video Direct Cable. Hope this helps!

Just wanted to update this thread. After about 4 months of use, this iphone dock has not only been flawless, but I might actually be going into production to create this product for interested members. I have perfected the design flaws and my prototype is currently being patented. I will update as soon as my patent comes in. If you are interested in such a product, create a list here and after my patent comes through, I will contact AK about vendor status.

Gave you rep for innovative thinking :)

Looks great. If you go into production, good luck. Stuff like this keeps the scene moving.

Thanks man! Appreciate it very much! Im getting excited!.

I'm very interested in this! Would it work with my pioneer avh-p4300dvd? You did an amazing job +1 to you sir!

Yes it's very possible. You need the pioneer iPod cable which is part number cd-iu50v. Also an apple universal dock, some felt, super glue (for the felt) and lots of patience! If you need a step by step let me know I'll email ya something. I'm still in the process of getting this patented but I don't mind helping a couple forum members out. Thanks for the rep!

Well I just got my patent letter in the mail that says my patent infringes on numerous existing patents. Well looks like I'll be making a DIY for everyone. I just ordered one of these. Should be interesting. FLSHDOCKV2AV

$150 for that???! no thank you!

I agree but I wasn't talking about the whole dock, just the insert. I bought it for $4.00.

Doesn't it get in the way when shifting?

It only slightly got in the way of 6th gear. Everything else was usual shifting. I added some angle to it eventually and it looked like this.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...EB748E452B.jpg

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...EB79B25F73.jpg

Did you ever start production on these? I am still interested in one!

Plastidip FTW!

Wow.... and no one thought of this?

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...36638895_n.jpg

It was a free DIY kinda thing for me... Took 10 minutes, cut some hard cardboard out and made a box. Pasted a black piece of cloth over top of it from an old shirt that I cut out. Cut a slit, routed iPhone wire there through the center console... Wire extends freely so I can pull my phone out to look at it while it's still connected, and put it back in. The box is also deeper than the dock thing so it's quite sunk in when you put it down, only about 1/4 of the phone sticks up. Doesn't get in the way of shifting at all. The cable in the picture is a USB/AV cable, so it does charge my phone, stream music, and also mirror the image on my double din. Thought about having a dock down there too, but then if I ever had to pick up my phone I wouldn't want it to get disconnected
Patent on something like that.. :ugh2:

Im an ocd kinda guy, and that just looks too messy and out of symmetry for me. Im glad it works for you though!

I am currently still making these. I have made one for my Sti for an iphone 5 and have made a couple for some local subi guys.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/PA061354.jpg
http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/PA061360.jpg

Im making them for $200 shipped. Let me know if youre interested.

Looks vandalized.




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