This forum is dedicated to helping people with questions about installing radio equipment in vehicles. This can include antenna installs, electrical wiring questions/problems, and mounting systems. Pictures of installs are welcome.
Note: Discussions regarding lighting, sirens, and other equipment now has its own forum in the 'off-topic' section below.
I have been doing installs - cleanups / etc for many years - my buddy - owner of a local shop called me to show me what he found under the dash of a Audi he was working on....
All I have to say is - if this is you or anyone you know - please stop installing or shoot your friend...
PS: it was not actually anchored to anything - it just fell out ont he drivers feet a few days before..
We had a department that had a Tow truck company do their installs apparently they thought they could do a good job becuse the tow trucks have lightbars..
The result was about the same as the picuture.. We ripped it all out and started over....
How much stuff is in that car? I hope you don't mind but i'm going to save that picture and send it to a buddy of mine that is thinking about having a local so-called "installer" do his vehicle.
I'll tell him to bring the picture with and tell them don't do it like this crap! LOL
Seriously though, that is a mess. I don't envy anyone for having to spend the time cleaning it up. But, i would be damn sure to charge the owner for it and let them deal with the previous bone head that did that.
Maybe they could take the bill to small claims court and go after the previous installer.
Ouch is all i can say!
Duct tape is like the force, it has a dark side and a light side and it holds the universe together.
"I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own!" - Adam Savage
Looks like the work of most of the shops around here, including the "M" shop. Just pull back the passenger floor mat on most any police car, and that's what you see. If you would look at how they are butchering the installs on the new Greathundred system, it would make you puke. But, what do I know, anyway
I'm done with all that non factory crap in totality (except for 2 ways of course that I put in). When I got my Dodge Ram I let the dealer put in
a 'Silencer'. I was getting it for the remote entry feature but it also has a ignition disabler. I heard this BS of how 'secure' this Silencer was and how it couldn't be disabled if the remote was lost and it would have to be towed in blah, blah.... Well as you probably guessed I go to unlock the car at 2AM 50 miles from home and nothing. OK I use the key to get in but sure enough the ignition is disabled. Figure the remote's battery took a crap. Wake up a buddy and wait for him to go get my spare keys and bring them. Push that remote and again nothing. So after after a few choice explectives I go diving under the dash. Found the Silencer module and I'm looking at a fused wire that leads to the module. Can't be this easy can it ? I pull the fuse out and try the ignition and it starts right up.
Total under dash time about 20 sec. Yup, very secure indeed.
Well I think the previous owner to the car was Asian... for whatever that is worth....
THe worst part is that the Dealer replaced the body computer a few days before becasue things were not working right and since the computer is not under that side of the dash never saw that mess.
The new owner was like - JUST TAKE IT ALL OUT...
Station House Products wrote:
WhelenTech wrote:This car does or did belong to a homeboy.
The pictures titled typical cluster, number 12, and cluster 2, number 14, look like some crap i had to help clean up once.
I especially like how you got a shot of the console pulled out with all the spaghetti hanging from it to the car.
I challenge anyone to do that with my installs. You will have to dissasemble the console and disconnect all the wiring first. But, that's because i cut everything to length with maybe a few inches or so to spare at the most for future changes or repairs.
I think the biggest problem is that most people don't know enough to just cut the wiring to length and be done with it. Maybe they are worried about resale value, or future use. For crying out loud, a power cord is cheaper than replacing everything after a fire from wires getting rubbed through because they were bundled under the carpet.
One of these days i need to take some pictures of my van's install. But, it isn't finished just yet. Still tweaking everything.
Duct tape is like the force, it has a dark side and a light side and it holds the universe together.
"I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own!" - Adam Savage
When I was getting off the bus at home just 15 minutes ago, I noticed a mess of cable like that hanging out from under the dash, from their Tait 2040 radio and T630 MDT installation.
All of the pics look like the install jobs of my competition here. the worst part is they also use scotch locks or quick taps for remote starts and wire ties around the connection if they only tape wrap stuff. The pics of police installs look like my motorola dealer here, You think they might be "TRAINED" or something, In my shop its all solder, or quality crimp connectors and rolls and rolls of split loom (or conduit, in some parts of the country). i have a few pics of under carpet wire spider webs too. if interested you can email. jraudio@wbsnet.org
"IT'S UNWISE TO PAY TOO MUCH, IT'S WORSE TO PAY TOO LITTLE. WHEN YOU PAY TOO MUCH YOU LOSE LITTLE MONEY-THAT IS ALL. WHEN YOU PAY TOO LITTLE, YOU SOMETIMES LOSE EVERYTHING. BECAUSE WHAT YOU BOUGHT WAS INCAPABLE OF DOING THE THING IT WAS BOUGHT TO DO"
"IT'S UNWISE TO PAY TOO MUCH, IT'S WORSE TO PAY TOO LITTLE. WHEN YOU PAY TOO MUCH YOU LOSE LITTLE MONEY-THAT IS ALL. WHEN YOU PAY TOO LITTLE, YOU SOMETIMES LOSE EVERYTHING. BECAUSE WHAT YOU BOUGHT WAS INCAPABLE OF DOING THE THING IT WAS BOUGHT TO DO"
Who the F&$K needs remote operation of seat adjustments and pager notification??? Wait, let me guess. This car does or did belong to a homeboy.
Your comment is out of line and belies your bigoted thinking.
Are you for real???? Take off the rose colored glasses my friend and take a look around you. Like Whelen Tech stated, typical cars or "toys" can be associated with typical groups of people (either by race or nationality) it's as simple as that. If you think my comment "is out of line", then I guess you don't get on the board that often.
Oh yeah, and by the way. I'm not a bigot either. I hate everyone equally!
davkenrem wrote:
Your comment is out of line and belies your bigoted thinking.
If you think my comment "is out of line", then I guess you don't get on the board that often.
Don't get on the board? Hell, I don't think he gets out of the house, let along on the board if he thinks that was out of line. Sounds like reality to me.
"I'll eat you like a plate of bacon and eggs in the morning. " - Some loser on rr.com
eBay at it's finest:
Me: "What exactly is a 900Mhz UHF CB?"
Them: "A very nice CB at 900Mhz speed!"
Looks like it was done by a group of coked up howler monkeys.
we see stuff like that alot with the local p.d.
They let trustees do their installs. Iluck out and have to clean it up.
theres no room for rommex and duck tape .
Wow, this thread is bringing back some bad memories of install horrors. I'm primarily a Moto portable bench tech now days, but back when I first started I was elboe deep in the shop installs. We took over Salem, Va. PD's two-way service. The shop before us had piled, twisted and clumped INCREDIBLE ammounts of extra wire and "clusters" of sh** under the mats of these crown vics.
After we went through the whole fleet, we managed to get everything uniform in how they were installed and physically setup in each car. The officiers immediately noticed that the floor mats were lower to the ground I wish I had some pictures of what we found!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane jerks! KIDDING!
I don't mind being called a "homeboy" - if it was 1995... Way back in the day we ALL called each other that... all kinds of folk... white,black(me),MY homey was Jewish!So it did not make a difference. guess it was a different time then..I'm not really sure of the current slang is....
But when i find out i'll be sure to let everyone know.
Just to keep everyone up to date.
Gig
Go ahead...Fire at will.... Mods too..
Radios by Fisher-Price? Never!!!
I use /\/\otorola!!
Cheers
73, de'N2GIG
Station House Products wrote:Hell, I STILL call people "white bread" when the mood so strikes me.
I love getting those voicemails from you like that...
Regardless... let's steer the topic back towards what the subject is about. And as long as the stereotyping doesn't go farther than where it has. I really don't want to have to knock a post out because of any major racial profiling, etc.
JAYMZ
"Mom and dad say I should make my life an example of the principles I believe in. But every time I do, they tell me to stop it."
Calvin
i had to do some removal/upgrade to the truck today
he is taking the sander out of a single wheel into a dullie
well the sander wiring was ok not the best/plow ok/
but he had remote door openiner installed. and it was a hack job done one of the local stero guys the thing never worked correct so i tore it out
It just about burned ..thats why it came to us. The driver smelled a burning smell..It was under the hood..The 8G from the battery wasnt fused..The selenoid was stuck open and it melted about 3 ft of insulation .This was a job done by a local tow company.
Didn't they tell you what the console is for? That's a wire storage compartment because if you cut wire it won't work right. They give you 17ft of cable for a reason right?!
The installers friends
Cables Ties
Split Loom Tubing
Heat Shrink
Most tow companies man handle cars anyway, why would they do quality wiring?
I can't imagine having to spend time to fix that. Thats one of those projects where you just disconnect everything from the wiring, pull everything except the main lead from the battery out... and start over.
Only to add to the misery....I had a guy call me and ask why his lightbar wasnt working.. ended up talking him into a full REDO!! This car needs it, and I will post my result...
OK, we had a truck come in here yesterday with a problem. It belonged to a local city and was the fire chief's 2003 Ford Expedition. The complaint was that they couldn't run the siren and lights when using the radio since the whole shooting match would shut down for a few seconds each time you did. Come to find out, the radio (110 watt Kenwood low band), the light bar (MX-7000 with just about every option) and the siren/switchbox combo were all wired to a.... 50 amp circut breaker!
It gets even better though. Besides the fact that it looked like a rat's nest, there weren't any fuses other than the ones that came as part of the equipment such as the siren and the radio. Also, the wire was regular 600 volt household electricl wire. Items were all wired with black (negative AND positive sides) as I guess this was the color of the week. I have some pics at the shop and will post them on Monday. Just never ceases to amaze me how people work and what they will try to get away with just to save a few bucks.