Upgrading the head unit in a car most often comes down to just installing an aftermarket stereo, but the bravest of us turn to much more complex projects that involve building a custom dash mod.
One of the main benefits of a custom dash mod is that it allows us to install a full tablet, such as an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, in the place where the display would normally be located, and this would obviously unlock many more capabilities than a simple head unit.
But what if you don’t have the time and know-how to build a custom dash mod for your car? You can just turn to the solution that YouTube Spectro Racing has used for his 2008 Ford Mustang GT, and show to the world a few months back.
What he did was use a Samsung Galaxy Tab attached to the console using a giant block of wood that is glued to a spare dash plate found at a junkyard. The tablet stays in place using hardcore velcro, and the YouTuber guarantees you shouldn’t worry about the device moving or falling off because the Galaxy Tab has been on his dash for no less than four years with no such issues whatsoever.
And now comes the fun part. The tablet is connected to the car using an OBD2 to USB cord, so he also gets access to more advanced information thanks to apps like TrackAddict and Torque Pro. The advantage of a wired connection over Bluetooth is that the experience overall is much faster and stable, so theoretically, you can get real-time data on the go without any fears of sudden disconnects.
The connections are made right through the dash, so you won’t end up with tons of tangled cables that block access to certain buttons.
All in all, this is the simplest tablet dash mod that you can get, and while it’s not pretty, it certainly serves its purpose very well. Just make sure that you get all the wiring right, and you could end up getting OBD2 data on the tablet in no time too.
But what if you don’t have the time and know-how to build a custom dash mod for your car? You can just turn to the solution that YouTube Spectro Racing has used for his 2008 Ford Mustang GT, and show to the world a few months back.
What he did was use a Samsung Galaxy Tab attached to the console using a giant block of wood that is glued to a spare dash plate found at a junkyard. The tablet stays in place using hardcore velcro, and the YouTuber guarantees you shouldn’t worry about the device moving or falling off because the Galaxy Tab has been on his dash for no less than four years with no such issues whatsoever.
And now comes the fun part. The tablet is connected to the car using an OBD2 to USB cord, so he also gets access to more advanced information thanks to apps like TrackAddict and Torque Pro. The advantage of a wired connection over Bluetooth is that the experience overall is much faster and stable, so theoretically, you can get real-time data on the go without any fears of sudden disconnects.
The connections are made right through the dash, so you won’t end up with tons of tangled cables that block access to certain buttons.
All in all, this is the simplest tablet dash mod that you can get, and while it’s not pretty, it certainly serves its purpose very well. Just make sure that you get all the wiring right, and you could end up getting OBD2 data on the tablet in no time too.