So you've seen my unboxing of the CarpodGo model, next I needed to install it in the vehicle.
Like most 'mounts' out there, there are a few ways to make it happen, and you just have to first decide what's the best for you and your needs.
As you saw in the unboxing we have mainly 2 options on how to put this together. There is the rounded mount bracket.
It has a 90° ball joint piece that'll connect to the back of the unit and then the other onto the piece that would be then 'stuck' down on the dash, or wherever you see best.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of this for my dash as the material feels a little ... Leathery, so I'm not sure the adhesive will stay as strongly connected.
The next option is their window mount piece, which has a suction cup for you to connect to the inside of the windshield, you can then adjust for the angle and distance so that it goes to a spot that makes sense for you (it does take a bit of fiddling to find the right spot).
They do recommend that the device rests on the dash; whether in case it 'falls' or just to help support it, I am not quite sure.
Once in place, you can remove the back plate off of the unit so that if you wanted to hide it away when not in use - although it is a pretty strong magnet, so be prepared to fight with it a bit.
The downside with mounting it is that the unit doesn't allow for itself to rotate the display, so you do have to mount with the cords and plugs on the left side, meaning there'll be cords on the driver side. Not a fan of that.
At least you do get long cable options, so you could run it around from the unit over the dash and then under and around to the console.
Speaking of the power, you'll notice the plug that it comes with (and I was debating just running my own cable up to it rather than use the one it came with) has a 'switch' on it for power on/off. This is just in case the power you have in your car is one of those that still supplies power if the vehicle is turned off. You wouldn't want this display to be staying on after you're out of the vehicle, and plugging/unplugging would be a pain.
The option then is to include the backup camera. Now, my vehicle has one already, so I didn't need it, but I may swap this to my wife's older vehicle, which doesn't.
To install it, you find where you'd like to put the camera (usually just above the housing for the license plate) and then run the long long signal cord it comes with through your vehicle and up to the unit (it has a 2.5mm headphone connector to connect). Finding the right channel through your vehicle might be the tricky bit. I'm not a handy person when it comes to automotive work myself, and not being able to hide/cover them would be an important thing.
It also includes a powerline filter incase the camera flickers a little; this will help to ensure it's a steady connection.
Connecting the camera to the unit isn't the only thing. You'll also have to connect the switch wire for it; essentially, a little lead that you then run out to be able to signal when does the camera need to turn on and display on the screen. To get that signal, why not take it from when your vehicle is backing up; and the a good way to know is that the reverse light turns on; so if you connect that signal line to that power connector, it'll signal the unit when it's backing up and then that powers up the camera and displays it. Kinda smart when you think about it.
Again, I'm not as handy in the automotive realm, but it shouldn't be too hard to pop out your light mount, and tap in the connector into the hot lead. Then just tucking the cord away as you want it to go all over your vehicle (finding ways to hide it, or under things etc...), that can take a while.
So, now it's installed, I'll play with it a bit and see how it goes and give you my thoughts on it.
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