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Indash radio replacement and general center dash panel update - suggestions


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Our In dash radio has apparently died and several or the other components in the center dash panel of our 2005 Safari Cheetah are worse for ware. Instead of trying to "restore" the original look I am thinking of making a new and updated panel. Currently available dash radios are relatively in expensive and may have touch screen, BT and other features that would be a nice add. The original 2 12v outlets may be replaced with a combinations of 12v outlet and USB or USB-C ports etc. Not sure what to do with the temperature control and am curious if anyone else has updated a radio and what are the wiring issues, if any. Any suggestions ?

radio outside.jpg

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I have a similar situation and was considering getting self-adhesive vinyl that has a similar look to the carbon fiber look of my dash where I may be using a spacer over a hole. 


As for the 12V outlets, i kept them for all the dash ‘ornaments’. However, these are not enough and added 2 dual port usb outlets extended from the 12V outlets. The combined power consumption of all these is low and I have not had any negative impact at all. That said, I will not add any more to this circuit.

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Yes, went with a fairly inexpensive unit, a Boss.

I removed my old BW camera screen as well.

The Boss has av inputs, so the camera is on its screen full time along with apple car play. It has 2 usb plugs, one rubs the CarPlay and the other charges a iPad mini I use for navigation 

It was a fairly easy install I had a piece of plastic cut to go over the whole set up. I didn’t have it hydro dipped to match the carbon fiber look of the rest of the dash, but I think I looks pretty good.

 

If you want pics I can dig them up

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jacwjames, thanks so much for posting the link. While wood is not probably the best choice for me it gave me some great ideas and a connection to directly ask questions of someone that already did the project. It is ironic that I am a member of irv2.com also and had not seen this.

Will52, did you have any issues with connections going from the OEM radio to the Boss?

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8 hours ago, 1nolaguy said:

jacwjames, thanks so much for posting the link. While wood is not probably the best choice for me it gave me some great ideas and a connection to directly ask questions of someone that already did the project. It is ironic that I am a member of irv2.com also and had not seen this.

Will52, did you have any issues with connections going from the OEM radio to the Boss?

Easy install Car play with apple phone and watch with turn-by-turn directions and Music off phone. Happy with it.

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One thing I noticed after installing our Boss unit are the control labels are difficult to read from the drivers seat.  The letters are TINY!.  The pop-up touch screen works well but using it as a back up camera is awkward (again, viewing angle). 

The built in coach camera gives an excellent view of what's 5 feet behind the coach but that's about it.  For that reason I installed a 2nd camera system to view what's back there, with an independent monitor that sits on top of the dash.  I can now see back to the horizon with a good view of the trailer (or toad).  Most importantly, I can see the back of the trailer (or toad) for when to pull in front of that semi I just passed. 

- bob

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On 6/3/2023 at 6:54 AM, cbr046 said:

One thing I noticed after installing our Boss unit are the control labels are difficult to read from the drivers seat.  The letters are TINY!.  The pop-up touch screen works well but using it as a back up camera is awkward (again, viewing angle). 

The built in coach camera gives an excellent view of what's 5 feet behind the coach but that's about it...... 

- bob

I thought the same thing about my camera, but discovered the up and down buttons on my monitor would tilt the camera. Though, someone had installed it so the down position was incorrect, so I had to cut and remount the bracket and now have the nice horizon view when I pan up and down

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