Finally, work wasn’t consuming all of my nice day where I could be working on the Tahoe!!
I got done what I intended this afternoon, figuring out how and where I’d be running wiring and removing interior panels to make ready for doing the actual runs tomorrow. I REALLY lucked out…it looks like I should not have to drill any holes to pass the power cables in from the battery post. You can see DAYLIGHT from the passenger door into the engine compartment!
The battery is just past that opening, which is wide enough to run the one 6-gauge and one 10-gauge wire that need to go through there. The grommet for the door wiring is just below the hinge, and there’s room to make a water drip loop on the back edges of the hinges without getting in the way of the closure. I’m more happy about this development than I can express.
With the battery on the passenger side of the truck, I’ll be running the power distribution down the passenger side for the first time. The 6-gauge wire will come through the area behind the kick plate in front of the passenger and to the stud on the bottom of the distribution block you see mounted about in the middle of the photo below. That gives me place to distribute up to 10 power runs, I believe I’ll be using 4-5.
They are hard to see since they’re black, but there are two Velcro strips near the distribution box, one between it and the laptop stand and the other up near the air conditioner controls. Those are where I’ll have most of my USB power run, with a total of 11 USB ports between the two locations. I’ll have four more between the two power outlets in the dash. I don’t expect to need all of them, but better too many than too few. There will also be an inverter running off the power port in the center console (facing the second row) and an 8-port USB hub along with the laptop power supply and outlets for laptops in the second row.
The laptop stand is just sitting there, in the approximate position it will end up. I’ve decided to remove the passenger seat and mount the floor bracket that was in the van to the hump just below the center console. That will put the bar about 2″ closer to the console and about 2″ further back in the truck than if I took the seat bolt mounting bracket from the Suburban. That will make a huge difference, as I’ve taken to running with the laptop more between me and the driver than straight in front of me.
You can begin to see things along the dash taking shape:
From lower right counter-clockwise back to the start: Roxan’s COVID mask, Windshield mount for passenger (usually my) phone. Next to the mirror is the mount for the 5G MiFi. Far edge of the windshield is a magnetic-mount phone holder, currently used to support the phone used for the Twitch stream. Then you see the dash mounts for the driver’s phone, the tablet used to give the driver a radar view, and then a multi-card input/output device for my computers, Roxan’s sunglasses and the forward-facing dash cam. You also see, under the tablet, the remote head for my amateur radio. Here’s the same view from outside the driver’s door:
The item you see laying on the center console is one of my LiveShell pro devices, which are how I stream for KWCH. I have a total of three; I think I’ll be chasing with two this year — one for the Severe Studios/KWCH stream and one handling the Twitch feed (from the forward-facing dash cam). That’ll free up the cell phone that has been doing the Twitch stream for my Facebook Live sessions for KSStorm.Info Insiders.The LiveShells will be mounted on bracket arms like the radio head is. Those arrive Sunday.
No shots yet of the back — it’s a mess because that’s where I’ve moved everything from the front to get it out of the way. I’ll be putting two items back there: my amateur radio base and the battery backup for its power supply. I will also still have a rear-facing dash-cam and work area lighting; don’t know if I’ll get them installed this weekend or not.
I really hope I’m not waiting all day for my Amazon delivery….it is the special socket needed to remove GM seat bolts. If I can get everything up front done and the radio mounted, powered and tested tomorrow, I’ll feel like it’s a major victory!