The DVD system is finished!!!

[Keith McElroy]

I finally finished the DVD system in my Trac and put pictures of it in my library. My kids are happy that they can now watch movies in "Hawaiian Punch", which is what they call my Trac.



The install isn't that hard - the most difficult thing was getting up the courage to cut into the headrests to install the LCDs. I was mainly looking for a DVD system that:

A. Didn't attach to the roof

B. Wasn't overly apparent to thieves

C. Was realtively inexpensive



I found the DVD player on Ebay as NOS (new, old stock) for very little, the visor LCD as a discontinued manufacturer part, and the two 7 inch widescreen LCDs for a super low deal. The final cost of the whole system was around $235.00. The only part that I paid full price for was the wired FM modulator to feed the sound to the factory HU.



My wife keeps teasing me that I am "pimping my ride", but is hinting that she would like to have a passenger visor LCD as well. I may upgrade to an in-dash DVD player someday down the road, but it is nice that the only thing I can see from the driver's seat (when the kids aren't with me) is the small remote sensor below the HVAC controls.



Hmm...next project!

 

[R 2]

DVD = 07 ST (late availability).

 

[Stephane Bolduc]

Nice!

 

[Dallas Starr]

good job, lookin good.... hmmm... do you have the links to those ebay sellers by chance???

 

[Andrew Tollison 3]

Looks good, that is what I am wanting to do. What kind of DVD player did you use?. How hard was the wiring to figure out? Could I use my PS2 that I dont play anymore so I could have a 2-in-1 setup?

 

[Keith McElroy]

Andrew - The DVD player is a Audiobahn universal mount, slot-loading player. It essentially allows you to mount the thing practically anywhere, and with the remote sensor, it doesn't have to be visible. The wiring was fairly straight-forward. The only problem I experienced during the install was when I skinned a wiring while fishing it through the seats, which blew the fuse when turned on. Beyond that, there is a ton of space underneath the high-series console, so the wiring it easy to do. I tapped into the accesory power, which gave me the 12V, 5.45 A I needed to run the whole system. It is a 20A fuse, so that still leaves plenty of room for other toys. You could use a playstation to act as a second player, or the DVD player I used has a A/V in selection to allow you to play outside sources when it isn't on, which is probably the direction I am going to go sometime. The LCD wiring it very simple.



Big D - The only piece that was not in limited quantity was the visor LCD, which the guy said he had quite a few of.

 

[James B 3]

please tell me how hard it was to put the screens in your head rest. I have two 7.5" monitors and a dvd system I took out of my pacifica that I want to put in my track. but I have been affraid to try to cut the head rest.



James

 

[Keith McElroy]

james - The headrest part was only hard because my Trac still smells like new (04, 22K miles). I cringed when I cut the initial "X" into them, not knowing what was inside, but it worked out. The inside of my headrests were just a foam pad around a metal M-shaped frame. The back of the headrests had plentry of room to hold the LCD frames, which I zip-tied to the M-frame inside the headrest. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the process because it was pretty much laid out on another website. You just have to press on the area beforehand to make sure there is enough depth available.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Here is a serious question to everyone....how safe for a rear passenger are the LCD screens on the back of the front seat headrests like that?



Assuming one has their seatbelt on in a crash, would they ever face-plant into an LCD screen?



BTW, ele, sweet setup. That's why I asked the safety question... I have older kids and a few dollars to spend on eBay and would love the exact same setup.



TJR

 

[Whit Macknally 2]

Nice job, would you like to come to Birmingham and install mine!

 

[James B 3]

eledhel,



can you give me the other website you refered to if you still remember it.



thanks

james

 

[Keith McElroy]

james - Here it is.

 

[Sed Thompson]

nice install. i currently have the ceiling mount monitors and I'm thinking of redoing everything to headrest mounted screens. thanks for the link and info.

 

[Richard Turnbull]

Nice install, very similar to mine. I have done 2 very long road trips (4000 miles) with the family and let me tell you, with a 4 and 1 year old, it paid for itself a long time ago!!