In dash USB plugs

Christarp

Member
Okay, so I decided to make this thread because someone sent me a PM asking how I did it, so here's how I did it.

The things you'll need:
- USB car adapter (x2) - I used two of these and they worked great: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=112&cp_id=11212&cs_id=1082603&p_id=10947&seq=1&format=2 The nice thing about these particular ones are twofold, The negative connector on the outside is always attached to the circuit board so you can solder directly to that instead of the inside circuit board, and they provide 2.1 amps, plenty of power to charge a full size ipad while using it.
- 1ft USB Extension cable, male to female (x2) - I ended up using these: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030304&p_id=8604&seq=1&format=2 (you can also get them in black HERE but they were out of stock at the time)
- Soldering iron and solder
- cable splice connectors (x4)
- Flathead screw driver
- Ratchet with extension and 7mm head
- Red (or pink heh) and black wire
- Quick set epoxy, I used Hardman Double Bubble extra fast setting epoxy (HERE) two packets should be plenty, you definitely don't need a pack of 100.

Now, with that in mind you want to disassemble the front dash, please excuse my lack of pictures I didn't think about turning it into a write up when I was doing it. To remove the front dash panel you'll need to do the following:
1. Remove the top dash piece, it simply pops up and off when you pull it up with the flathead screw driver from the back.
2. Remove the bottom dash piece, this also simply pops off.
3. Remove the 4 bolts on each corner of the front dash faceplate
4. Pull the center stack forward and the clips should just pop out.
5. Unhook the red locking tab from the power windows and unplug the wire
6. unplug as many other wires as you can get to
7. On the 07-10 the blend door and flow control are connected via mechanical cables (think of a bicycle brake cable) and they're real annoying to figure out unless you notice the small black bump you need to push on. Where the cable attaches to the center stack and is held in place, put the flathead screwdriver on the side of the small black bump you need to push in and release the cable from the center stack faceplate, then you need to disconnect the cable itself from the mechanism, again I did this with just prying from a flathead.
8. The center stack faceplate should be free and you're ready to start.


Now, the first thing you need to do is cut off this jacket around the female end of the USB cable, I used a knife and then filed the rest of it down so it was flush with the cable itself. You can see what it looks like before here (Sorry I didn't get any after pictures here) It's really simple to do.
IMG_0663.jpg

Then you need to prep the USB car adapters.
1. Pry the case off of one side of the car adapter, this will give you access to the internals
2. Take the silver cap off the spring and throw it away
3. Solder a wire onto the spring (this is the positive)
4. Solder a wire to one side of the negative terminals that the car adapter uses, if you use a different brand of car adapter keep in mind that a lot of the time these are not connected to the circuit board until you press them into the 12v socket which will compress these terminals and make contact with the negative terminal on the circuit board. For the ones I linked above they're always connected and as such you can solder a wire right onto the compressable negative side terminals
5. Put the casing back on and check to see that the indicator light lights up (you can test by just touching the leads to a car battery or something), if it does, you're good to tape it all up and ready to wire it inline.
IMG_0655.jpg

Now that you have that done you can go about drilling the center stack faceplate. Drill a small hole the width of the MALE end of the USB plug. You want the male end to fit inside the holes you make and the female end will sit behind the dash, this will hide the color of whatever outer jacket the extension USB cable uses and when it's plugged in there is a perfect amount of width left for the center stack faceplate thickness to not get in the way, I kind of suck at explaining it so hopefully the pictures help. Using a square file will help a ton to make them just the right size
IMG_0652.jpg

Now place your USB extension cable behind the dash and find a USB cable you want to use and make sure they fit together perfectly in the dash before you epoxy anything in place
IMG_0653.jpg
IMG_0654.jpg

Now WITH the cable attached at the front, and the extension cable at the back, mix up your epoxy and get ready to mount the extension cable. The reason you want the USB cable in the front while doing this process is so it doesn't drift as you hold it in place, this will prevent you from accidentally mounting the USB extension cable on the back in a spot where you can't plug your cable in. As long as your USB female side of the extension cable is flush with the connector (by cutting off the jacket like I mentioned before) you shouldn't have any problem with epoxy leaking through the holes you made and blocking your USB port or sealing the usb cable to the port. Make sure you hold it there for about 5 minutes while the epoxy sets.
IMG_0656.jpg

When all is said and done this is how it should look. Remember how I said you don't want to mount the female cable flush with the face of the center stack? That's because on a male cable there is a length of connector that sticks out of the female end, it doesn't fully "accept" a male end connector all the way. as such the thickness of the center stack plastic faceplate takes up this extra length and your cables mount very flush with the front faceplate when plugged in, and the female connectors end up being recessed.
IMG_0658.jpg

Now, you need to make a decision, do you want your USB plugs to be powered on all the time? or just when switched on accessory? If you want them on all the time, splice the two USB car adapters you made (with the wires sticking out) into the 12v car adapter on the right, this 12v cigarette lighter is always powered. If you want them only to be on when you have the key turned to accessory, use the left 12v cigarette lighter. The cigarette lighters are very easy to figure out the wiring on. The black is ground, and the other is +12v, I can't remember the colors they actually are, but there are only 2 wires so splicing into them is very easy. I chose to wire mine up so they are always powered.

Now make sure you test these before you put everything back together, turn the car on to accessory (if you wired them to the left 12v car adapter) and make sure the indicator lights on the modified USB car adapter turns on, if it does, great, if not, double check your wiring and also make sure the wires didn't break on the inside of your modified car adapter. Then I would plug in the extension cable into the USB car adapter and then plug in ANOTHER usb cable to the front of the center stack faceplate (something like an ipod where you can check to see if it's charging properly). Do this for both cables and make sure they both work before you put the dash back together. If your indicator lights work on the modified USB car adapter but you're not getting a charge from your device your extension cable may have an issue, make sure there isn't any epoxy in it or anything that would block the connectors. If you're getting a charge from both ports you're good to go, I'd just tape the extension cable into the modified USB car adapter so nothing will jiggle free.

After that you're good to put your dash back together and then you'll end up with this
IMG_0659.jpg

Hopefully I was able to explain everything well enough, didn't plan on making one of these so again I didn't really have any of the pictures I would've taken otherwise. Good luck!
 
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Kenny-g

Caught the Bug
Brilliant idea man. Nice job. I might try to do this one day but in a different location. :thumb:
 

Sharkey

Word Ninja
Definitely going to have to remember that...good find. Report back how well it works. I'd love to know if it will charge an iPad.
 
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JeepDrum

New member
This is great man! I have a 2008 X with basically no options (not even a/c), and I envy the usb options in my girlfriend's '12 Sahara. This is now on my to-do list.
 

jbaskin28

New member
Thanks for the idea. I put everything on order. Once it gets here, I'll figure out where I want to put mine. :D
 

james2003w

New member
Nice right up, I like the idea and it looks great. I was looking at doing something similar to this in my other vehicles and never did (kept fixing other stuff so was project'ed out).

Now that I have a new Jeep and everything is under warranty, I was trying to not cut my dash apart (Jeep isn't even a year old yet). I ended up purchasing this: http://amzn.com/B00Z1762Z4 and have it mounted in my middle console and hardwired directly to the battery. Friends love it as they can quickly charge their phones while riding with me. There is also an on/off switch on the device so you can turn it off when the ignition is off. However you can also just wire it up that way to, though you have to then click the power button on the box to turn it on (that's why I just directly connected it).
 
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