Grrrrrrr.....I threw in the towel yesterday on getting my Kenwood TM-D710 mounted in my Jeep Grand Cherokee. The last straw was when the backseat bottom cushion wouldn't fit back in. I thought I had this all measured correctly, and that there'd be room enough between the bottom of the seat cushion and the radio. Nope. So I took the mounting screws out of the bracket, and let the radio sit all the way down inside the bracket. Nope again. So then I pulled the bracket completely out, trimmed the under seat carpet and padding, and let the radio sit on the floor pan directly. Nope, still about 1/4" too tall, and I really didn't want to squish the radio between the floorpan and cushion bottom.
This came after spending about two hours fishing the power, microphone, and control head cables under the carpet, and up through the rear of the console so I could run them where they needed to be at the front of the console. Oh, did I mention it took about an hour to REMOVE the console? Then I realized I'd forgotten to run the speaker leads along with the other cables! I decided to just let them hang out from under the seat for now, and get the seat back in so I can go pick up my girlfriend and her buddies from the airport next week.
That's when I found the "Interference Fit" problem between the radio and the seat cushion.
I really started to lose it, and decided to call "Game OVER" before I let it get to me any further.
Out it all came, and the console and rear seat cushion went back in. I still have the radio and GPS antennas installed, and the cables for those are readily reachable. When time comes that I *need* a radio for mobile use, I'm going to just let the radio sit on the floor behind the driver's seat. I'll connect the antenna to the main body of the radio, the GPS cable to the adapter box I made, and run the power, microphone, and control head cables up front.
Maybe at some time in the future I'll look into how much of the plastic under seat frame I'd have to cut away to make it fit nicely, but not this weekend!
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<i>The Fisher Saga</i> Continues - Act III -
Been working on this post since right after Thanksgiving. I'm making very good progress on the Fisher, and will most likely power it up...
File it under Doo-Doo happens. Been mechanicing and millwrighting a good part of my life, I understand your frustration. Oh Yeah, said in jest, "better you than me."
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was a Tool and Die Maker, and he pounded in to me "Measure TWICE, Cut ONCE". The whole idea behind mounting it under the seat was to have an almost 'invisible' installation, with just a couple of connectors mounted on the console that I could plug the microphone and control head into, removing them when not needed. Always nice to be able to hide attractive things that might tempt some loser to break a window!
ReplyDeleteI'll figure it out, it's just frustrating that the first try didn't go very well.
Ouch... I know that was frustrating! Better luck on the second goaround...
ReplyDeleteFor now I've mounted it on a plastic cutting board I bought at Lowe's. I took the loose cables and put them in some plastic 'split loom' to keep them neat, and to conceal the excess length on some of them.
ReplyDeleteI'll give it a 'Road Test' this weekend.