Installing a Nexus 7 in Your Truck's Dash: A Step-by-Step Guide

As I embarked on this project, I must admit that it was daunting at first. The task required connecting to all the wires together, removing the pins and wires from the plastic connectors, and re-pinning my wiring harness to match up with the wires inside the car. However, as I progressed through the process, it became clearer that this was a challenge worth overcoming.

To begin with, I connected to all the wires together, making sure to identify the correct colors and connections. This can be a time-consuming task, but it's essential to ensure that everything is properly secured before proceeding. Once I had completed this step, I removed the pins and wires from the plastic connectors using a small screwdriver. It was surprisingly easy to do so, and I was relieved that this part of the process was over.

Next, I took the wiring from my car that I found and re-pinned my wiring harness to match up with the wires inside the car. The left front speaker positive was matched to the left front speaker positive wire, followed by a series of other connections. It's worth noting that this part of the process can be daunting at first, but it does get easier as you go along. I found it helpful to cross-reference the color codes with a picture I took of the wires in the dash.

After completing this step, I was left with a total mess of wires coming out of my amp. To clean up the chaos, I used a few zip ties to secure the wiring and prevent it from getting tangled. This step is crucial, as it will make the rest of the process much smoother.

With the wiring secured, I proceeded to test my setup by removing the stereo from my car's dashboard, disconnecting all the hookups, and attaching my new wiring harness in the amp. I then connected the RCA to 3.5 millimeter adapter to the amp input plug and plugged in the Bluetooth adapter into this connection. Next, I connected my phone or tablet to the Bluetooth adapter and played some music. If I was hearing that music, I knew I was doing great.

However, it wasn't until I wired the new 12-volt socket into the car's internal fuse box that I realized just how much work was involved in this project. The fuse box usually resides underneath the steering wheel, and I had to remove a cover to access it. I referenced my owner's manual to find a 10-amp fuse that is only powered when the key is turned on. If I didn't use a correctly sized fuse, my tablet and Bluetooth adapter would constantly drain the car's battery even when it was off.

To complete this step, I first grounded the negative wire from the 12-volt socket to any exposed frame of the car or wall. Then, I removed a 10-amp fuse from the fuse box and inserted it into one of the empty slots on my fuse tap. Next, I inserted an additional 10-amp fuse into the fuse tap and plugged the fuse tap into the empty slot.

I then plugged in the car charger and turned the key to test if the setup worked with the ignition off. If the car charger powered up, I looked for another fuse to tab. After finding a suitable fuse, I could permanently ground my 12-volt sockets' negative lead by screwing it into the frame of the car.

To secure the Bluetooth adapter, I found a nice and convenient location and drilled a hole in the side of a small unused compartment under the steering wheel. Using some velcro to attach the adapter was an easy solution that allowed me to hide the setup from view.

In terms of cable management, I used zip ties to secure the amp inside the dash and attached the wireless charger to the Nexus 7 using double-sided foam mounting tape. The final step in this process was mounting the tablet inside the dashboard panel.

To achieve this, I removed the dash and applied some sugru to either side of the tablet near the bottom. This created a temporary adhesive that allowed me to reinstall the dash with the tablet securely inside. While my only concern is that the sugru might not hold firmly enough, it has been working well so far.

In conclusion, installing a Nexus 7 in your truck's dash may seem daunting at first, but it can be achieved with patience and persistence. The process requires connecting to all the wires together, re-pinning the wiring harness, testing the setup, and securing everything with cable ties and adapters. By following these steps, you can enjoy an Android tablet integrated seamlessly into your car's dashboard.

With the Nexus 7 installed in my truck's dash, I couldn't be happier. The setup is not only functional but also looks fantastic. It's a testament to the power of DIY projects that can elevate an ordinary vehicle into something truly exceptional.

As I look forward to my road trip on Thursday, I'm excited to see how this new installation will perform in real-world conditions. With the automate beta app running smoothly on my Nexus 7, I know that I'll be able to navigate roads with ease and stay entertained during long drives.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone I'm Taylor Martin with Android authority and about a year and a half ago I had the bright idea to install the Nexus 7 in the dash of my FRS fast forward a couple of months and Google decided to announce Android auto at i/o and it kind of crushed all of my dreams and ruin to the project for me but I wasn't gonna let that stop me now that I have a truck that only comes with a cassette deck and a six disc changer I decided I wanted to finish this project I was going to install the tablet in the f-150 so it did this is how I did it like I said I originally installed this very Nexus 7 in my car last year and ultimately removed it to reinstall the original head unit plus aftermarket Android auto head units are starting to pop up which provide just a sleek in appearance so why do this again why not just go the way of Android auto and call it a day well for one Android auto head units are kind of expensive and my truck doesn't have a true double din head unit slot also because the Nexus 7 fits almost perfectly into the opening behind the faceplate and I already had the parts and they were only collecting more and more dust the thing is installing a tablet in your dash doesn't have to be difficult you can do this in just a few hours and for relatively cheap around 150 dollars or less if you already have a nexus 7 laying around here's what you'll need a small head unit amplifier this is the most expensive thing I chose the Alpine KTP 4 v 5u 4 channel power pack last year because it's cheap and perfect for the job it also easily fits inside the dash without any problems you'll also need a 12 volt socket a 2 port USB charger a fuse tapped with a 10 amp fuse all of mine are still connected from the last install and you can go check out that video to see more detail on how everything was connected an RCA 2 3.5 millimeter adapter bluetooth adapter which is optional I went with bluetooth so I can connect multiple devices without having to rip open the dash a wireless charger a handful of zip ties and a compatible wiring harness for your vehicle you'll also need several cable splicers some people prefer to use wire nuts some prefer soldering and others choose the crimp method any will do finding the appropriate wiring harness for your vehicle can be either extremely easy or very cumbersome I just so happened to fall into the latter group and you will notice that there will be any differences between your vehicle and mine all throughout this tutorial you'll have to do some research and planning on your own as every car is a little bit different but for the most part this is a very easily adaptable tablet install tools needed our scissors a small screwdriver wire cutters and strippers a crimping tool if you have one needlenose pliers and potentially some wrenches and a multimeter depending on your vehicle first things first you'll want to find the proper wiring map for your car there are several great resources for finding this information which are all linked below before you do anything though it's probably best to open up the - unhook the current radio and see what you're dealing with make sure the wiring harness you purchased matches up perfectly with the connections inside your - if not you have the wrong wiring harness period I had quite a bit of trouble finding the proper harness for my truck it turns out there is very little documentation on the exact configuration I have and I ended up having to uninstall the factory amp and splice the factory wires to make this work there's a very good chance you will not have to do this but no promises if everything matches up you're ready to start splicing use the color codes on the wiring harness packaging to match up the wires from the head unit chances are they all have the same colors yellow - yellow for power green for left rear speaker positive Rheem with black for left rear or negative you get the idea once you've connected to all the wires together remove the pins and wires from the plastic connectors this can usually be done pretty easily with a small screwdriver then take the wiring from your car that you found and repin your wiring harness to match up with the wires inside the car left front speaker positive - left front speaker positive and so on and so forth it can be pretty daunting doing this your first time but it gets easier as you go this is probably the hardest part of the whole entire thing I found it best to cross-reference the color codes with a picture I took of the wires in the dash what you'll end up with is a total mess of wires coming out of your amp just use a few zip ties to clean it up before it gets tangled next you're gonna want to test it out remove the stereo from your cars - disconnect all the hookups and attach your new wiring harness in the amp connect the RCA to 3.5 millimeter adapter to the amp input plug the Bluetooth adapter into this connect your phone or tablet to the Bluetooth adapter and play some music if you're hearing that music you're doing great next you will want to wire the new 12 volt socket into the cars internal fuse box which usually resides underneath the steering wheel remove the cover reference your owners manual and find a 10 amp fuse that is only powered when the key is turned on otherwise your tablet and Bluetooth adapter will constantly drain your car's battery even when it's off to do this first ground the negative wire from the 12 volt socket any exposed frame of the car wall to then remove a 10 amp fuse from the fuse box insert it into one of the empty slots on your fuse tap insert an additional 10 F fuse into the fuse tap plug the fuse tap into the empty slot plug in the car charger turn the key and look for any signs of life if the car charger works with the ignition off look for another fuse to tab after you found a fuse you can piggyback off of permanently ground your 12-volt sockets negative lead by finding a random screw and screwing it into the frame somewhere and find a nice convenient and hidden location to attach the new power source I fortunately have a covered panel in my floor board that's close enough to the head unit that I can just leave it there drop the two USB cables from the wireless charger and the Bluetooth adapter through the hole in the dash down to the car charger and plug them in next look for a place to semi permanently attach the Bluetooth adapter I drilled a hole in the side of a small unused compartment under my steering wheel and used some velcro to attach the adapter then you want to do a little more cable management secure the amp inside the dash with some zip ties and attach the wireless charger to the Nexus 7 I originally wanted to use velcro for this but it was too thick and the nexus wouldn't charge through both sides of the velcro so I used some double-sided foam mounting tape instead the final step is mounting the tablet inside the dash panel for this I'm using some sugru which may not be the most polished option but it is a nice temporary fix until I can find something more permanent plus I want to be able to remove the tablet so I can do upgrades or tweak it overnight rather than letting it sit in the truck all the time sugru makes this possible but I'm still in search of a better option I remove the dash and applied sugru to either side of the tablet near the bottom let's sit and reinstall the dash with the tablet inside my only concern is that the sugru isn't going to hold firm enough the tablet seems to move just slightly when I tap it so I will definitely need to look into a better mechanism to secure the tablet but for now it works and looks fantastic best of all with the automate beta the Nexus 7 emulates Android auto perfectly without sacrificing its true tablet nature automate also keeps the screen on when the tablet is charging and closes when it's not charging in other words if the truck is on the screen is on when the truck is turned off the screen goes off and there you have it a nexus 7 installed in the dash of my truck just in time for my road trip on Thursday that is gonna do it for this Nexus 7 - install video but if you want to see more DIY videos from me on Android Authority or any other videos from the awesome people here at Android authority be sure to hit the subscribe button and hit the thumbs up button if you found this video helpful and give Android authority of follow anywhere in everywhere that you use social media they're awesome and they're everywhere so you should follow them and you can follow me on Twitter Instagram and most other places around the web at Casper Tech one last time my name is Tyler Martin and I will see you in the next onehey everyone I'm Taylor Martin with Android authority and about a year and a half ago I had the bright idea to install the Nexus 7 in the dash of my FRS fast forward a couple of months and Google decided to announce Android auto at i/o and it kind of crushed all of my dreams and ruin to the project for me but I wasn't gonna let that stop me now that I have a truck that only comes with a cassette deck and a six disc changer I decided I wanted to finish this project I was going to install the tablet in the f-150 so it did this is how I did it like I said I originally installed this very Nexus 7 in my car last year and ultimately removed it to reinstall the original head unit plus aftermarket Android auto head units are starting to pop up which provide just a sleek in appearance so why do this again why not just go the way of Android auto and call it a day well for one Android auto head units are kind of expensive and my truck doesn't have a true double din head unit slot also because the Nexus 7 fits almost perfectly into the opening behind the faceplate and I already had the parts and they were only collecting more and more dust the thing is installing a tablet in your dash doesn't have to be difficult you can do this in just a few hours and for relatively cheap around 150 dollars or less if you already have a nexus 7 laying around here's what you'll need a small head unit amplifier this is the most expensive thing I chose the Alpine KTP 4 v 5u 4 channel power pack last year because it's cheap and perfect for the job it also easily fits inside the dash without any problems you'll also need a 12 volt socket a 2 port USB charger a fuse tapped with a 10 amp fuse all of mine are still connected from the last install and you can go check out that video to see more detail on how everything was connected an RCA 2 3.5 millimeter adapter bluetooth adapter which is optional I went with bluetooth so I can connect multiple devices without having to rip open the dash a wireless charger a handful of zip ties and a compatible wiring harness for your vehicle you'll also need several cable splicers some people prefer to use wire nuts some prefer soldering and others choose the crimp method any will do finding the appropriate wiring harness for your vehicle can be either extremely easy or very cumbersome I just so happened to fall into the latter group and you will notice that there will be any differences between your vehicle and mine all throughout this tutorial you'll have to do some research and planning on your own as every car is a little bit different but for the most part this is a very easily adaptable tablet install tools needed our scissors a small screwdriver wire cutters and strippers a crimping tool if you have one needlenose pliers and potentially some wrenches and a multimeter depending on your vehicle first things first you'll want to find the proper wiring map for your car there are several great resources for finding this information which are all linked below before you do anything though it's probably best to open up the - unhook the current radio and see what you're dealing with make sure the wiring harness you purchased matches up perfectly with the connections inside your - if not you have the wrong wiring harness period I had quite a bit of trouble finding the proper harness for my truck it turns out there is very little documentation on the exact configuration I have and I ended up having to uninstall the factory amp and splice the factory wires to make this work there's a very good chance you will not have to do this but no promises if everything matches up you're ready to start splicing use the color codes on the wiring harness packaging to match up the wires from the head unit chances are they all have the same colors yellow - yellow for power green for left rear speaker positive Rheem with black for left rear or negative you get the idea once you've connected to all the wires together remove the pins and wires from the plastic connectors this can usually be done pretty easily with a small screwdriver then take the wiring from your car that you found and repin your wiring harness to match up with the wires inside the car left front speaker positive - left front speaker positive and so on and so forth it can be pretty daunting doing this your first time but it gets easier as you go this is probably the hardest part of the whole entire thing I found it best to cross-reference the color codes with a picture I took of the wires in the dash what you'll end up with is a total mess of wires coming out of your amp just use a few zip ties to clean it up before it gets tangled next you're gonna want to test it out remove the stereo from your cars - disconnect all the hookups and attach your new wiring harness in the amp connect the RCA to 3.5 millimeter adapter to the amp input plug the Bluetooth adapter into this connect your phone or tablet to the Bluetooth adapter and play some music if you're hearing that music you're doing great next you will want to wire the new 12 volt socket into the cars internal fuse box which usually resides underneath the steering wheel remove the cover reference your owners manual and find a 10 amp fuse that is only powered when the key is turned on otherwise your tablet and Bluetooth adapter will constantly drain your car's battery even when it's off to do this first ground the negative wire from the 12 volt socket any exposed frame of the car wall to then remove a 10 amp fuse from the fuse box insert it into one of the empty slots on your fuse tap insert an additional 10 F fuse into the fuse tap plug the fuse tap into the empty slot plug in the car charger turn the key and look for any signs of life if the car charger works with the ignition off look for another fuse to tab after you found a fuse you can piggyback off of permanently ground your 12-volt sockets negative lead by finding a random screw and screwing it into the frame somewhere and find a nice convenient and hidden location to attach the new power source I fortunately have a covered panel in my floor board that's close enough to the head unit that I can just leave it there drop the two USB cables from the wireless charger and the Bluetooth adapter through the hole in the dash down to the car charger and plug them in next look for a place to semi permanently attach the Bluetooth adapter I drilled a hole in the side of a small unused compartment under my steering wheel and used some velcro to attach the adapter then you want to do a little more cable management secure the amp inside the dash with some zip ties and attach the wireless charger to the Nexus 7 I originally wanted to use velcro for this but it was too thick and the nexus wouldn't charge through both sides of the velcro so I used some double-sided foam mounting tape instead the final step is mounting the tablet inside the dash panel for this I'm using some sugru which may not be the most polished option but it is a nice temporary fix until I can find something more permanent plus I want to be able to remove the tablet so I can do upgrades or tweak it overnight rather than letting it sit in the truck all the time sugru makes this possible but I'm still in search of a better option I remove the dash and applied sugru to either side of the tablet near the bottom let's sit and reinstall the dash with the tablet inside my only concern is that the sugru isn't going to hold firm enough the tablet seems to move just slightly when I tap it so I will definitely need to look into a better mechanism to secure the tablet but for now it works and looks fantastic best of all with the automate beta the Nexus 7 emulates Android auto perfectly without sacrificing its true tablet nature automate also keeps the screen on when the tablet is charging and closes when it's not charging in other words if the truck is on the screen is on when the truck is turned off the screen goes off and there you have it a nexus 7 installed in the dash of my truck just in time for my road trip on Thursday that is gonna do it for this Nexus 7 - install video but if you want to see more DIY videos from me on Android Authority or any other videos from the awesome people here at Android authority be sure to hit the subscribe button and hit the thumbs up button if you found this video helpful and give Android authority of follow anywhere in everywhere that you use social media they're awesome and they're everywhere so you should follow them and you can follow me on Twitter Instagram and most other places around the web at Casper Tech one last time my name is Tyler Martin and I will see you in the next one\n"