Agree on declutter = pretty. But have been in cars before w/o that *one thing I took out* and needed it. Tiny curse raincloud following just me around, I guess... My old-school 5 x D-cell Maglite / bat from what, 1997? Still with me... and battery cap's a chamfered flat -- guess with all the 'tacticool' crap selling these days, Maglite decided on a small-investment mod for way more appeal commuting -- esp if your commute involves black ice and crossing water Re: some of Hammer's reccies -- totally forgot about my digital 100-psi JACO gauge (#1 on ProjectFarm) and OBD2 reader / app. Haven't had to use the reader for the XW60 but tbh don't see a lot of utility unless something's malfing enough to be noticed. Nice to know it's there when that happens, tho... but imo it's more for deeper modders who'll need the data. The JACO's been pretty much flawless, except for one thing: on at least my Toyota's valve stem threads, a riser of some kind on the inside of the JACO's chuck catches the brass threads, preventing you from pulling it off the stem immediately. Pressure leaks out for a split second too long, so the pressure when you finally get it off, isn't the same as you measured. With the digital JACO and its hose and relief valve, all you should need to do is overinflate, then bleed the pressure on each tire down to your spec with the JACO -- this lessens time inflating by a lot, especially if your pressure comes from a vending station that charges $2 for 5 mins of pump. Old tech trick... Besides the spare tire mod, am really interested in this one, as like to park very close to my passenger-side wall, and a motorised mirror would make this easier. Will do some reading Oddly enough, no one will ship the super-cap power pack I want (Autowit 800A) to even though it's not a Li battery, it's a cap. Despite, still falls under Li-ion air freight restrictions, apparently. Not enough we have the Matson Tax of 30% on everything, plus 30% COVID Tax -- we can't even get decent jump packs if our 90F summers kill 12V batteries like flies You know, have had nothing but good exps with those simple push-thru-w/-glue-then-trim cylindrical white rubber plugs, on both my Paseo (had one tire with two in the tread I ran for years to the wear bars) and in moto treads -- which if you don't know what you're doing is far more likely to kill / maim you vs. just strand. So if I run out of Dynaplugs on the road (if/when I move back to the mainland, and roadtrip again)... good to know every hardware store in BF, Egypt'll stock something like that, which I can vouch for. Tbh, know for a fact those chintzy sticky rope plugs kits work astonishingly well at least on moto tires, and to boot the kits are easily stowable under the seat of a sportbike... real-estate which is shrinking with every human generation, apparently (thus the rise of tank and tail bags). But on a car -- esp one that's 3200 lbs vs. 500 on very similar 190-195/60R17 tires... I wanted something w/ a bit more redundancy (the barbed tip)... and Dynaplugs seem a bit less faff than the white glued push plugs to install, by enough for me (plus don't seem to need as much enlarging of the hole w/ a rasp, to work). Am aware patch-plugs installed with the tire off the wheel, are the only sane repair if you want to retain the most of your speed rating... but for limping to a tire shop or dealership, fits the bill and takes up minimal space. Thanks for the reccie -- The one non-intuitive, non-routine addon or car stuff I've used most historically tho, is the Gerber multitool (MP600). Doesn't pinch like early military models anymore, and have used to do everything from cutting a seatbelt in a flipped car to a cooking utensil to digging out a whoor of a 20mm metal shard from my hand. Used to be a Victorinox Swiss Champ but those of course have toy pliers... the Gerber's full size in comparison being a massive multiplier (I'm here all week) used side-by-side... stuck on the shoulder in the middle of nowhere, or coming up on your buddy and their bike who'd crashed on wet leaves (the bane of backroad mountain twisties in the PNW, effing oak leaves that decompose like they're made by Ziploc). If you have enough room in the console for a Snickers, you can tote an MP600.
I'm pretty sure only otatrant and I have done the mirror mod. I started it in the fall of '23 and finished in the spring of '24 when temps had warmed up enough to work outside again. Otatrant just did theirs a few months ago. It's not for the faint of heart or limited of skills. You have to source parts from overseas, dive deep into the wiring diagrams, and either pull the dash out(what I did) or scrunch yourself under it(what otatrant did) to get at some of the wiring. Because of the level of work and the needed skills, I don't recommend doing it unless you are already at an advanced DIY level, you really want/need the features, and you plan to own the car for well over five years. It's absolutely not worth the work if you're just going to turn around and sell/trade the car in three to five years.
Not successfully. I bought the model from the Japan Harrier and I am coming to the conclusion that it is not going to work. Thinking about contacting Gentex to see if they have any information and would be willing to help. I am getting from Techstream 18 the following DTC. U019887 Lost Communication with Telematic Control Module "A" Missing Message. Still a work in progress. Not looking good though. I think it may have to do with the difference in the GPS systems in Japan and the USA. The Harrier mirror has a DVR and dual cameras that record location and video feeds and store on a micro sd card. On the positive side it looks like the two can wires I added are working since I can read the error via Techstream. Addidng the CAN wires was simpler than I expected too. Only had to run them from the mirror to the A pillar since the CAN wires the rest of the way were already present on my car. Was thinking I was going to have to remove the dash too. I might try to borrow another digital rear view mirror from a Subaruu Forester that is very similar to the model that comes with the Prius to test my hypothesis.
Well I am an ex-mechanic... and have pulled dashes from cars before (did the heater core on the Paseo, which has a monoblock dash, one-piece ~50 lbs, w/ 0 way to swap it otherwise (add'l nightmare, as did it in 25F weather after finally getting tired enough of wiping the inside of the windshield every few mins, just to go to the corner shops in WA, freezing my nads off. Blocking off the core = great in AZ, but real winter weather, nope). That said... if the job entails fabbing your own harnesses (these are CAN busses, after all), or fabbing any parts by modding OEM ones beyond drilling holes or something simple (100% reversible, best-scenario)... may want to preserve resale and trade this in. Intrigued to see how the new 1.5L HEV systems Toyota's planning for the new Corolla do in real customer hands... by that time, may be better to stay OEM and get one. But if not... enough MY will have passed to consider it (car will be paid off by then, which is when I tend to feel fine about hacking my vehicles up). For now, it's just me walking around to the other side of the car, to foldi in the mirror to get into my parking space. This is my only vehicle, and I don't have covered parking... so has to be something I can accomplish in one day max. Will take a gander at otatrant's writeup EDIT: ah, just read otatrant's reply above. Have no exp dealing w/ CAN, so perhaps this isn't worth it to those not already familiar with modding them. Thanks for the info, fellas!
Good things to think about! It reminded me to put the black Carhartt jacket over the black-plastic-bag-wrapped donut behind the passenger seat. Less glossy, ie more stealthy, lol, and I have a tendency to not dress warmly enough in the car, although in the interest of more mpgs....
