Wisconsinite762
New member
I'm sure they reflect/retain more heat than nothing. But I'm not too worried about it. Still lots of gaps and turbulent air all around it.
2006 Sequoia Limited 4WD
- Thread starter Wisconsinite762
- Start date
I'm sure they reflect/retain more heat than nothing. But I'm not too worried about it. Still lots of gaps and turbulent air all around it.
Wisconsinite762
New member
MODIFICATION: ScanGauge/Ultragauge Alternative
GOAL:
Display and monitor live data, for cheaper than a ScanGauge II or III.
PURPOSE:
I have a ScanGauge II ($160) but it's small, there is no great place to put it, I can only monitor 4 things at a time on it, and it's just a cheap dot-matrix display. The new ScanGauge III ($270) has more features I want, it can show more than 4 things, full color display, larger, and you can have multiple screens set up and swipe between them. But it's too expensive for my penny pinching azz. The Ultra Gauge is cheap, has good customizability, multiple screens, etc, but it's still pretty small, has a dot-matrix display, cumbersome navigation, and no data logging.
So bring in the cheap ($60) android phone, a bluetooth OBD2 adapter ($30), Torque Pro App ($5) to display all the data you can dream of, and the Tasker App ($3.50) to make it all a seamless experience.
DURATION:
1-2 hours. Most of the time is spent setting up the dashboard to display the data you want to see in the format you want to see it. Also Tasker has a bit of a learning curve.
MATERIALS:
Android Phone
Veepeak Bluetooth OBD2 Adapter
Torque App
Tasker App
COST:
Less than $100
INFO:
Tasker App Info: This is where the magic happens. Tasker is a pretty powerful app which has capabilities way beyond my understanding. But by using some of the simpler features, I have it set up to make this a seamless experience. With Tasker I am able to check if there is power coming through the USB charge port (aka the car is on/running), when it senses power I set specific tasks to wake the phone, turn on bluetooth and GPS, launch the app, and bring it into the dashboard. When it senses no power (aka the car is turned off) I set the tasks to kill the app, turn off bluetooth and GPS, and go into sleep mode. With this, even though the phone is still powered on, I only lose 2-3% battery per day.
This makes it a seamless experience, turn the key, start the engine, and the dashboard is displaying live data in ~10 seconds. Turn the key off to kill the engine and it's screen off and in sleep mode in less than 5 seconds.
Google Play Store Link
Torque Pro App Info: This is a very popular app for displaying real time information, reading trouble codes, and even graphing/logging data. As a dash board you can configure it to display pretty much anything you would want to monitor. And you can set up 7 different screens each for a different purpose. I'm still playing around and finding exactly what I like, but the options are pretty endless. Display transmission temps, gear indicator, and torque converter lock/unlock status for towing, display instant MPG, average MPG, fuel flow, mass air flow, etc for monitoring fuel consumption, have accelerometers and pitch/roll gauges while you're out crawling.
Google Play Store Link
Lifestyle Overland's YouTube Video
OBD2 Adapter Details: The Veepeak dongle I used was the best rated and reviewed "cheap" obd2 adapter I could find. For $30 I figured I would take a chance and see how it worked, and I've been very satisfied with it.
Amazon Link
Phone Details: Any cheap android phone will work, heck many of us probably have an old one sitting in a drawer waiting for a second life already. You could even use a small tablet if you wanted more screen real-estate. I bought a Kyocera Duraforce Pro 2 for $60 off of ebay a while back to use as a GPS on my motorcycle (didn't want the vibrations to kill my main phones camera, or for it to come flying off).
The Duraforce Pro 2 is a 'tough' phone meant to handle drops, shock, vibration, and a wide range of temperatures. In this application the wide temperature range is the selling feature for me.
eBay Link
GOAL:
Display and monitor live data, for cheaper than a ScanGauge II or III.
PURPOSE:
I have a ScanGauge II ($160) but it's small, there is no great place to put it, I can only monitor 4 things at a time on it, and it's just a cheap dot-matrix display. The new ScanGauge III ($270) has more features I want, it can show more than 4 things, full color display, larger, and you can have multiple screens set up and swipe between them. But it's too expensive for my penny pinching azz. The Ultra Gauge is cheap, has good customizability, multiple screens, etc, but it's still pretty small, has a dot-matrix display, cumbersome navigation, and no data logging.
So bring in the cheap ($60) android phone, a bluetooth OBD2 adapter ($30), Torque Pro App ($5) to display all the data you can dream of, and the Tasker App ($3.50) to make it all a seamless experience.
DURATION:
1-2 hours. Most of the time is spent setting up the dashboard to display the data you want to see in the format you want to see it. Also Tasker has a bit of a learning curve.
MATERIALS:
Android Phone
Veepeak Bluetooth OBD2 Adapter
Torque App
Tasker App
COST:
Less than $100
INFO:
Tasker App Info: This is where the magic happens. Tasker is a pretty powerful app which has capabilities way beyond my understanding. But by using some of the simpler features, I have it set up to make this a seamless experience. With Tasker I am able to check if there is power coming through the USB charge port (aka the car is on/running), when it senses power I set specific tasks to wake the phone, turn on bluetooth and GPS, launch the app, and bring it into the dashboard. When it senses no power (aka the car is turned off) I set the tasks to kill the app, turn off bluetooth and GPS, and go into sleep mode. With this, even though the phone is still powered on, I only lose 2-3% battery per day.
This makes it a seamless experience, turn the key, start the engine, and the dashboard is displaying live data in ~10 seconds. Turn the key off to kill the engine and it's screen off and in sleep mode in less than 5 seconds.
Google Play Store Link
Torque Pro App Info: This is a very popular app for displaying real time information, reading trouble codes, and even graphing/logging data. As a dash board you can configure it to display pretty much anything you would want to monitor. And you can set up 7 different screens each for a different purpose. I'm still playing around and finding exactly what I like, but the options are pretty endless. Display transmission temps, gear indicator, and torque converter lock/unlock status for towing, display instant MPG, average MPG, fuel flow, mass air flow, etc for monitoring fuel consumption, have accelerometers and pitch/roll gauges while you're out crawling.
Google Play Store Link
Lifestyle Overland's YouTube Video
OBD2 Adapter Details: The Veepeak dongle I used was the best rated and reviewed "cheap" obd2 adapter I could find. For $30 I figured I would take a chance and see how it worked, and I've been very satisfied with it.
Amazon Link
Phone Details: Any cheap android phone will work, heck many of us probably have an old one sitting in a drawer waiting for a second life already. You could even use a small tablet if you wanted more screen real-estate. I bought a Kyocera Duraforce Pro 2 for $60 off of ebay a while back to use as a GPS on my motorcycle (didn't want the vibrations to kill my main phones camera, or for it to come flying off).
The Duraforce Pro 2 is a 'tough' phone meant to handle drops, shock, vibration, and a wide range of temperatures. In this application the wide temperature range is the selling feature for me.
eBay Link