Treo 650 Dock in 2006 Prius

My two favorite pieces of gear right now are my Treo 650 and my 2006 Prius—so the obvious first mod I decided to take on was an integration of the two.

I bought the fully loaded 2006 model, so I have full Bluetooth integration of the phone features already. But I use my Treo as an MP3 player, running PocketTunes with a 2GB SD card loaded with music from Rhapsody. To use the Treo’s MP3 features in the car, you need to run an audio and a power connection (playing MP3’s eats up battery life). Luckily the 2006 Prius has both a 12-volt outlet and an aux audio input located in the center console. But it’s still not a perfect setup—nothing ruins the driving experience more than having lots of wires snaking all over the front seat. Plus, it’s a pain to constantly be plugging and unplugging individual cables into the phone every time you get in or out of the car.

What I wanted was a simple, good-looking, and functional docking system for the Treo. None of the car mounting systems I could find really met my needs—they all involved some sort of mounting stalk and exposed wiring.

After a fair amount of research, I decided to do my own mod using the Seidio INNO.DOCK. The styling is a good match to the Prius interior and it includes and integrated 3.5mm audio output. The audio output is set up to drive unamplified speakers directly, so I also bought the audio coupler to match impedance with the audio input on the Prius.

Here’s how it turned out:







Installation

The ideal location for the dock was on the center console—close to power supply, audio input, and in easy reach for navigating Pocket Tunes and the dial pad. I originally thought I’d just modify one of the cup-holders, but decided it would be too difficult and wouldn’t look good. Instead, I decided to install the dock in the upholstered armrest.

Here’s the step by step summary of the process with my comments. I did not take pictures during the process, so I’ve made some drawings to help make it clearer. The entire process took about two hours:

1. Remove the armrest – Open the center console and remove the 6 screws on the underside of the lid. Separate the upper and lower shells of the armrest by gently pulling the interior shell at the bottom of the armrest between the two hinge arms. The inner shell will pop out pretty easily. Once the two shells are separated, they come easily off of the hinge arms.
   
2. Determine the right hole size – The dock is approximately 3†in diameter. You want the hole to be slightly smaller so that it won’t pass all the way through. I decided to use an adjustable circle cutter (http://power-tools.hardwarestore.co...ole-saws/heavy-duty-circle-cutter-671094.aspx) rather than a hole saw. A 2-7/8†hole saw didn’t create a big enough hole and a 3†hole was too big, so the adjustable cutter seemed like the best way to go. I experimented with different settings on a piece of plexiglass until I got just the fit I was looking for—the dock fit through the hole just up to the top of the ports. Keep the blank from final test cutting as a pattern.
   
3. Remove the latch & strip the upholstery – Unfortunately the bottom of the upper armrest shell has reinforced with extensive ribbing. The circle cutter’s blade would likely catch on the ribs and cause havoc if you tried to cut from the bottom, so you have to cut it from the top. That means you have to strip off the upholstery. To do that, first remove the latch by using a jeweler’s screwdriver to back out the two screws holding it to the upper shell. Put some tape or a binder clip on each screw to keep them from falling back into the latch, otherwise you’ll spend 20 minutes fishing them back into position like I did. Gently pull up the edges of the vinyl upholstery, trying not to separate it from the foam backing. It’s only glued around the edges with contact cement, so it comes off pretty easily.
   
4. Locate the hole – Remember that the dock will have a USB cable and an audio cable protruding from the rear, so you need to locate it so that there is plenty of room for the jacks and the cables. This meant I had to locate it a little further back on the armrest than I ideally would have liked.
   
   
5. Trim the padding – Before cutting, I think it’s a good idea to trim the padding so the cutter doesn’t catch and tear it. The neater you cut the padding, the better the final upholstery job will look. I used the circular blank from my final test cutting as pattern and cut the padding with a razor knife.
   
6. Cut the hole in the upper shell – Once you’re confident you have the hole sized correctly, put the circle cutter in a drill press, and carefully cut the hole in the upper armrest shell. FYI, a replacement armrest will cost you about $140 from your Toyota dealer, so if you screw this up you’re out 1.5 Benjamins.
   
7. Trim the ribbing to fit the dock – Attach the USB and audio cables to the dock and test fit it in the hole to confirm it clears correctly. I decided to rotate my dock by about 25-degrees to face the driver’s seat. With the dock in place, I used a yellow crayon to mark the ribs that interfered with the USB & audio jacks. Remove the dock and use a razor knife to remove the interfering ribs so that the jacks sit flush to the surface of the upper shell. Test fit again and trim until it fits perfectly.
   
8. Reupholster the upper armrest shell – Upholstering is really pretty easy. Put the shell upside down on a piece of cardboard and apply a liberal amount of 3M spraymount adhesive around the inside edges of the shell. Once the adhesive has has dried to a tacky consistency, all you have to do is align the material correctly, slightly stretch it around the shell, and press the edges into the adhesive. I started on the ends and then worked my way out from the center of the long edges. The adhesive is very forgiving if you need to undo and redo it. The hardest parts are the corners. Remember that the corners are largely hidden from view when it’s re-installed, so don’t sweat it too hard!
   
9. Reinstall the latch – Use a jeweler’s screwdriver to re-attach the latch to the upper armrest shell.
   
10. Cut and stretch the upholstery around the hole – Turn the armrest upside down so that you can see the hole you cut with the upholstery now stretched over it. Spray adhesive around the edges of the hole and let it dry somewhat to tacky as above. Using a razor knife, cut a series of radial slits across the hole, stopping about 1/16†from the edges of the hole. Pull the resulting wedges through the hole and press into the glue, putting a little tension on them as you go to get a smoothly upholstered surface.
    
    
11. Insert the dock with wires attached – Insert the dock into the hole, get the alignment to where you like it and make sure the wires and jacks are clear of any interference from the ribs.
    
12. Test fit the inner shell – Test fit the inner shell. It won’t fit because the bottom of the dock extends beyond the ribbing and the fit between the upper and inner shells is very tight. While the pieces are aligned, make a mark on the inside surface of the upper shell to note where the dock collides with the inner shell.
    
13. Cut a relief in the inner shell – This is the only really kludgy part of this install, but it’s hidden and I think it’s the best solution to the fit problem. Cut two slits across the inner shell—one on the end and the other far enough down to clear the bottom of the dock. Terminate the slits with a drill hole to prevent cracks from propagating over time.
    
    
14. Cut a wire exit hole – I decided to have the wires exit near the latch rather than trying to hide them in the lid. The tightness of the fit between the upper and inner shells would have required carving out the ribs for the entire length of the upper shell, and I didn’t feel it was worth it. I also was worried it would weaken the upper shell significantly. For the exit hole, I drilled a ½†hole next to the latch, and then used a razor knife to extend the hole to the upper most relief slit.
    
15. Reinstall the inner shell – Thread the USB & audio cables through the wire exit hole and align the upper and inner shells. This time press the inner shell hard to engage the latches that hold it to the upper shell. The relief slits will allow the portion of the inner shell that hits the dock to flex and give. With a little pressure you should be able to get it to snap together and hold. Replace the two screws near the latch end of the armrest that hold the inner shell in position.
    
16. Reinstall the armrest in the center console – Carefully pull the inner shell away from the upper shell at the hinge end of the lid. Once it’s separated, you can slide it over the hinge arms. Align the holes and drive the four screws that attach the lid to the hinges into place.
    
17. Plug it in, and you’re done – Plug the audio cable into the aux input. I plugged the USB cable into a 12V USB power adapter.

I’m exceedingly happy with the results. Placing the Treo in the dock is easy, as is removing it, when I get in or out of the car. The audio connection is amazingly good and the Treo is right at my fingertips if I want to skip a song. My biggest worry was that under hard acceleration or braking the Treo would come loose—but it stays put. For anyone with a Treo and some halfway decent skills, I’d recommend this mod for a weekend afternoon.

Arno Harris

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Shadetree @ May 29 2006, 09:09 AM) [snapback]262359[/snapback]</div>

I have a Sprint Treo 650 with the 1.12-SPCS version of the software. I've had no problems and the connection has been seamless. I have friends whose experience has been similar to yours...but I have no idea what the cause is. Good luck,

Arno