I installed Wile E's Speed Pulse Generator this afternoon. First of all, he shipped it off via USPS right away on the same day I ordered it. The installation instructions came via email. Initially, I felt that the stock restrictions on the nav functions while moving were only slightly inconvenient, however, the restrictions always come into play when you are wanting to use your nav the most. Trips would be so much easier if your passenger could quickly pull up info about the town ahead. The whole point of having a nav is not to have to pull over to look at a map.
It took several hours - mostly due to my ineptitude at taking apart the dash and at soldering. Also, I was going very slow, trying real hard not to screw something up on my truck. What I didn't understand is that these modern dash parts are just clipped in so you just work something into the edges of the pieces that won't scratch the finish like a nylon pry tool. I found the Metra dash disassembly instructions rather cryptic and not really very helpful. Once I located the four 10mm bolts that hold the nav in (all are on the bottom), I managed to lose one in the dash and spent a lot of time hunting for it to no avail. If it rolls around back there too much, I'm going to have to pull apart the console to find it.
Once I actually got the nav out the instructions provided were crystal clear about what wire to cut and what goes where. I don't know much about electronics so I appreciated the detailed instructions about what kind of switch to get and exactly where to connect to get a 12v current and ground. Those wires are about as small as you can imagine. I find soldering inside my truck pretty hairy. I'm proud to say no burned leather, no melted plastic dash parts and only one small second degree burn.
I didn't find a satisfactory place to put a switch because the obvious control blanks on the dash are functionally smaller than they look. They also would be a royal pain patch up or replace. I'm thinking that I end up using the hidden shelf right above the cigarette lighter & power outlet (point the switches down). There's plenty of space to put switches and, eventually, a video-in for my portable DVD player. The switch mounts and any screw-ups will be hidden from view. I chose smaller switches at Radio Shack because I found the regular automotive ones were too big for my taste.
Everything worked perfectly after I got the dash back together. With SPG switched on, your location marker on the nav doesn't move smoothly. All you need to do, though, is to keep the SPG off. When you want to use the turned-off nav controls while moving, just switch the SPG on and choose your destination or whatever. Then switch it off. Very convenient.
This is a great mod. Well worth doing. Now I'm anxiously awaiting instuctions about how to enable video input when the truck is in motion.
My switch placement just in case anyone cares. It's a Radio Shack SPDT switch.
