iPhone Car Mount w/ Charger and Aux-In

[Workdawg]

At TNT's reception, Josh said he was looking for something to charge, mount, and allow aux in for his iPhone. I happen to have one, this is for him.

Griffin TuneFlex Aux (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/tuneflexaux)

It comes with a bunch of adapters for different generation iPods, none that actually fit the iPhone unfortunately. I had to modify the one for the iPod Touch to get my phone to fit in it. There were a couple others that held it sorta snug, but none tight enough for me.

Another issue with it is that it will rotate in the cig lighter outlet. This was solved by tieing it to the dash with some fishing line. I just tied one end to the neck of the mount and put a knot in the other end. I then stretched the line and slid it into the crack in the plastic around the radio. You can see it in the pics.


Pics:

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/pics347.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/pics348.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/pics349.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/pics350.jpg

[mazdamn02]

Yum.... do want.... your dash strip.

In other news, there has to be a better way to get it secure other than fishing line...

[dmention7]

duct tape.

nono, wait... gorilla tape!

[Workdawg]

Probably... some kind of rubber ring around there that would go in the cig lighter to hold it snug... the fishing line is a semi temp solution.

[DrWebster]

Yum.... do want.... your dash strip.

I've already called dibs on his dash strip. I may take his window switch panels too.

[mazdamn02]

I've already called dibs on his dash strip. I may take his window switch panels too.

No wai you have dibs on the dash strip, I actually went as far as getting it off his car and in to mine at one point! Dan had threatened to sulk, so I was forced to give it back by his sad puppy face.

[LASERBLUE135]

so does the line on the bottom go to the auxilary in unit so the ipod(music) can play over the stereo?

[Workdawg]

Yes Kyle.

[DrWebster]

No wai you have dibs on the dash strip, I actually went as far as getting it off his car and in to mine at one point! Dan had threatened to sulk, so I was forced to give it back by his sad puppy face.

Well alright, how about this. You can have his dash strip, I can have yours, he can have mine?

[YSOSLO]

One thing you guys might want to try using to keep the whole thing from rotating in the cigarette lighter is a round rubber washer. Not a flat washer made of rubber like one you'd use when connecting a garden hose to a faucet, but the black round ones that are also round in cross-section. They're found in any home improvement store in the plumbing repair area, and the round cross-section allows the washer to move back and forth on the shaft of the cigarette adapter which makes it easy (assuming you get the right size) for it to roll about halfway up the shaft of the adapter if you barely put it at the tip of the 12v adapter before inserting it. Just take the adapter into the store so you can be sure to get a size large enough to fit onto the shaft yet small enough that it doesn't slide freely.

[dmention7]

black round rubber washer = o-ring ;)

[Workdawg]

I finally got around to getting to Home Depot and I found some o-rings that fit. #15, 3/4" inner diameter seems to be about perfect for a cig lighter accessory. A 10 pack was < $2.

I had to jam one end of the washer into the lighter first, then leave the rest out, but it seems to work fine...

pics:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/1230324462.jpg

In this one you can sorta see how the washer is shoved in the top but sticks out around the bottom:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/1230324503.jpg

[YSOSLO]

It looks pretty good I think Dan...a lot better than the fishing line anyway...lol If you don't point out the o-ring sticking out, it isn't very noticable, and if it's sticking out so much that it's a concern for you, you might want to consider just a drop of clear silicone behind it to pin it to the metal ring around the lighter so it's flush rather than floppy. It's too back the o-ring is so thick. If the had a thinner one it would roll right inside rather than half and half.

[Workdawg]

They had thinner ones, but it looks fine to me. As you said, you can barely even tell it's there.

[ZixxspeeD]

if you dont want one that plugs into the cigarette lighter, google prosport clips, they offer them for our cars and its more of a neater look IMO

[Workdawg]

I actually wanted one the did plug into the cig lighter so that I didn't have to glue/mount anything to the dash anywhere. It works great other than the alternator/ground loop noises. Hopefully that'll get fixed eventually though.

[ZixxspeeD]

I actually wanted one the did plug into the cig lighter so that I didn't have to glue/mount anything to the dash anywhere. It works great other than the alternator/ground loop noises. Hopefully that'll get fixed eventually though.

the pro clip one attaches in between the dash cracks

heres the site

http://www.proclipusa.com/Default.asp

[Workdawg]

I think I looked at those. I wanted a solution that would charge it as well though. The aux-in adapter for the iPhone was a plus also. I just drop the phone in the cradle and it's all setup. I don't need to plug in the aux-cord or the charger.

It's also fairly adjustable in position so I can get it right where I want it. The current location is quite convinient for changing songs or getting directions.

[designflaw]

Nice! I have the one from kensington (http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-LiquidAUX-Deluxe-Auxiliary-Remote/dp/B0011UK2HO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1241202999&sr=8-1). I like it pretty well and the plug actually had some rubber action on it right away to keep it snug. The actual mount part rotates too which unfortunately slides a bit when I'm driving aggressively... but for the most part it stays put.

I wanted this type of setup for the exact same reason - I wanted the charging and the aux cable integrated into one thing so I don't have to deal with an audio cable and a charging cable.

I picked up a ground loop isolator from radioshack for mine... no more buzzing.

[Workdawg]

I went to radioshack to try and get a GLI, but they said they didn't have one. I got a cheapo ebay special and it pretty much eliminated all the highs and lows... the interference really isn't that bad for me, so I'm not that worried about it.

[Workdawg]

A little update about this: I'm really happy with their service.

As you can see from the pics above, the holder piece was not designed for the phone. I called them up a couple months ago and they sent me an adapter for my phone for free.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/1248641460.jpg

More recently, the left channel started to drop out on bigger bumps, so I called them up and they sent me another one under warranty. I had to take a picture of the device , then break it and take another picture, no messing with sending it back. I asked them if I could upgrade to the newer version with iPhone compatibility and the woman told me she was going to anyways. So I got upgraded to the new version that is compatible with the iPhone for free.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/tuneflex-aux-with-smartclick

There are some nice improvements to this version.

#1: It's actually compatible with the phone, the old one made some weird noise sometimes (not ground loop as I thought, though that was still there). This one just has a ground loop. My ebay special GL isolator works perfectly with it though.

#2: They added some rubber to the cig lighter part that keeps it firmly in place, so no need for the o-rings I was using before.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/1248641461.jpg

#3: It has a remote. Not really necessary at all, since the phone is easily within reach for changing songs and stuff like that, but it's kinda cool. It comes with a Velcro strap to mount it to the steering wheel. It's actually a magnet holding it to the mount, kinda weird, but kinda cool.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/1248641459.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/Workdawg17/New%20Car/1248641458.jpg