Defender Dash Upgrades

[John_M]

Hi guys, 

I'm looking to revamp the dash in my 300tdi with the centre consoles and pods from Mudstuff, as I want to add some extra features. The main reason is to add a double din touchscreen console (if anyone has express recommendations, any advice appreciated), but obviously also to add extras like lighting controls, diesel and seat heater controls, cb radio, etc.

My main question is if there is anything anyone really recommends having, like boost gauges, volt metres/split charge meters, electric windows etc, that I haven't covered, that help or improve  offroading/overlanding.

I'm just trying to plan how and where I would install things, and I really want to have considered all possible upgrades, before using up all available dash space and not having any room to install a really good upgrade.

Also, random side note, if anyone has found any alternative to carling switches, could you share what you've found, as i just don't like the style of them, and don't want to pepper a dash with a dozen switches that I don't like the look of.

Thanks,

John

[FridgeFreezer]

9 minutes ago, John_M said:

that help or improve  offroading/overlanding

Honestly IMHO less is more - less wiring to go wrong, less space taken up with gizmos, more dash space for storage.

A voltmeter per battery will tell you as much useful info as anything more fancy pretends to.

You can get the double-DIN head units with no CD mechanism which makes them all of about 2 inches deep, no bulging-out MUD console needed you can mount them flush with the standard dash.

[John_M]

11 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

You can get the double-DIN head units with no CD mechanism which makes them all of about 2 inches deep, no bulging-out MUD console needed you can mount them flush with the standard dash.

To be honest I hadn't thought about doing without the mud console altogether, but I am using a 300tdi, not td5, so would you mean mounting it with just some bent plates into the dash tray?

 

[FridgeFreezer]

This is ebay's cheapest single-DIN unit but I reckon a double-DIn would go in there without too much hassle:

[hurbie]

yep  , for an overlander keep it as simple as possible .

everything you add to it will eventually break ...

[Peaklander]

I have a Mudstuff panel in my 300TDi 110. I don’t do bling but I need what’s on it.

Switches are

1 and 2 for interior lights; one at front and a pair further back

3 work lamp at rear 

4 hazard. Wanted this front and centre. Original position is near door at knee height

5 6 7 heated front screen, rear and mirrors

Also have boost gauge, voltmeter fed from a dpdt switch to flick between the two batteries, an ammeter off the solar panel and a couple of usb outlets

Recently I went for power windows so that was two more Carling

Also there’s LEDs for the coolant level probe in the header tank

Finally I will be adding a miniature EGT display that has a maximum and alarm set point

The clock is on there because in its place at the binnacle I fitted a VDO oil pressure gauge and I wanted this in plain sight

The vehicle is a camper and these additions are helpful when driving and when parked camping.

 

 

[John_M]

13 hours ago, Peaklander said:

5 6 7 heated front screen, rear and mirrors

 

Ah I was looking at adding heated mirrors, but does it really make that big a difference?

13 hours ago, Peaklander said:

Finally I will be adding a miniature EGT display that has a maximum and alarm set point

 Yeah I was looking at adding an EGT, but I’m not sure what the advantage of knowing the exhaust temperature is, when there isn’t much you can do to control it/cool it?

[FridgeFreezer]

18 minutes ago, John_M said:

when there isn’t much you can do to control it/cool it?

Your right foot controls it surely?

[Peaklander]

Well it might depend on where you live and what sort of weather you get. Do you use the heated mirror function on your daily driver car if you have one? It might be that you don't realise this, as sometimes they are configured to be enabled and then temperature triggered. If you switch them on manually then you have answered your own question!

I find them very useful for clearing mist and droplets at the start of a drive but sometimes during one too. Of course in frosty weather they are great.

I am fitting the egt gauge so that I know the temperatures that I am getting. I doubt I will have to change my driving style but we do drive some reasonably challenging roads when on trips; often steep and sometimes high (>2,000m) so maybe there's something to gain by measurement.

[roamingyak]

I wouldn't bother with any kind of music or sat nav device mounted like that.

Instead get a tablet or iPad with SIM card/gps amp and some Ram mounts to hold it in place.
Then a Pioneer or Alpine sub and amp (200 quid) 

Use the tablet for music, navigation apps of your choice, Netflix at night and every other thing you can think of, plus its easy to remove out of sight.
Small boutooth music controller stuck on the steering wheel next to your thumb means you never have to look away from the road to stop/start, volume up/down etc

[Snagger]

John has a good point that simplicity is beneficial towards reliability, but I have really found the heated screens, mirrors and seats a huge benefit in my 109.  I ran those, plus roof lights and rear screen Sasha nd wipe from seven Carling Tech switches, which fit in their clip-together mounting module perfectly in one of the recesses on the Mud dash.  I have mine in the top slot, closest to the eye line out of the wind screen for safety.

CarlingTech have numerous styles of rocker pad for the switches, so you should hopefully find something that suits your taste.  They also have many types of switch, two or three position, including momentary (trigger) switches, toggled, latched and three position switches spring loaded to centre for window or winch controls.  All can have the rocker pads swapped to different styles.  They even have matching power sockets.

I haven’t found my voltmeter very useful, but it hasn’t been used much for camping.  Electric windows have the benefit of being all operable by the driver, if you mount the switches centrally, but do add cost and some complexity.  I think I prefer to keep the manual windows, though there is some temptation.  But all the heating bits - you’ll wonder why you didn’t add them sooner.

Do your research on the double-din stereos with big screens.  They have been discussed on a couple of threads here.  Many take a long time to boot up each time you switch the ignition on, and cheap ones can’t play the radio at the same time as doing cap play for sat nav or other functions.

[FridgeFreezer]

36 minutes ago, Snagger said:

John has a good point that simplicity is beneficial towards reliability, but I have really found the heated screens, mirrors and seats a huge benefit

Like this you mean?

 

[John_M]

 

1 hour ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Like this you mean?

 

 Nice lockers 👌
 

Are the LEDs for the status of the compressor?

[John_M]

1 hour ago, Snagger said:

Do your research on the double-din stereos with big screens.  They have been discussed on a couple of threads here.  Many take a long time to boot up each time you switch the ignition on, and cheap ones can’t play the radio at the same time as doing cap play for sat nav or other functions.

Would you have any links to those threads?

Thanks!

[FridgeFreezer]

45 minutes ago, John_M said:

Nice lockers 👌
 

Are the LEDs for the status of the compressor?

The locker toggles are miniature air valves, no electrics/solenoids needed

The LED's are for the cooling fans (slow/fast), the red one is a flashing one. I've got some better period-correct lenses from an old telephone exchange that I've been meaning to hide them behind but so far been too busy on other things.

There's a dual USB outlet with an illuminated toggle switch on the other side of the panel for passengers.

[John_M]

21 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

The LED's are for the cooling fans (slow/fast)

As in radiator fans?

[ThreePointFive]

I get the idea that more "stuff" = more "stuff" to go wrong, but even in an overlanding situation I can't see how your radio or heated rear screen breaking is going to leave you stranded. 

The only windows I've ever had go u/s were manual winders....

I'd rather have comforts for even a short while than not at all. The idea of a completely stripped out car for the sake of it just seems unnecessary to me.

[FridgeFreezer]

3 hours ago, John_M said:

As in radiator fans?

Yes.

https://fuddymuckers.co.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=alfie:electric_fans

49 minutes ago, ThreePointFive said:

I get the idea that more "stuff" = more "stuff" to go wrong, but even in an overlanding situation I can't see how your radio or heated rear screen breaking is going to leave you stranded. 

The only windows I've ever had go u/s were manual winders....

I'd rather have comforts for even a short while than not at all. The idea of a completely stripped out car for the sake of it just seems unnecessary to me.

It's not the thing failing, it's that when Land Rover owners add wiring they rarely do it to a high standard which then introduces new points of failure/fire into the whole system.

The ambulance has extra creature comforts but they've all been wired as simply as possible (no bluetooth-enabled BMS or whatever) and the factory side of the loom is left alone.

[John_M]

3 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

and the factory side of the loom is left alone.

I was doing some thinking as to how much I’d have to tamper with the factory circuits during a large electronics install. Theoretically, if I installed a leisure battery, and an auxiliary fuse board (cos if I’m doing dozens of upgrades I don’t want fuse taps or inline fuses peppered all across the LR), then wouldn’t have to touch much of the stock loom. 
 

The one thing I can think of that would require some tamperage is if I were installing a CDL & alarm system, as that taps into (model dependant) the park break, foot break, indicators, ignition system and a couple of other bits. (Currently looking at hawk car alarms as they seem to have quite good features for the price point, some are even thatcham Cat. 1)

But for the most part, any lighting, winching, heating or infotainment systems could be run separately off a leisure battery with just a relay trigger from the ignition when it’s set to run.

That way I can spare most of the original loom from tamper/damage if I were to go in wielding wire snips. 

[FridgeFreezer]

13 hours ago, John_M said:

The one thing I can think of that would require some tamperage is if I were installing a CDL & alarm system, as that taps into (model dependant) the park break, foot break, indicators, ignition system and a couple of other bits. (Currently looking at hawk car alarms as they seem to have quite good features for the price point, some are even thatcham Cat. 1)

Last I looked at alarm systems they had to be "professionally" installed for the insurance to accept them, and "professionals" seem to have an ugly habit of throwing it all in with a slack handfull of scotchloks and sparky tape just well enough to get the dashboard back together before running away much like the average LPG installer.

[Snagger]

Yes, but you could speak to a friendly professional to ask if they will just certify your better quality work instead for a fee.  I did that for other work on my car, most significantly the engine, PAS and disc brake systems, and the insurers were happy with their inspection and report.

[John_M]

1 hour ago, Snagger said:

Yes, but you could speak to a friendly professional to ask if they will just certify your better quality work instead for a fee.  I did that for other work on my car, most significantly the engine, PAS and disc brake systems, and the insurers were happy with their inspection and report.

I’d rather do that, then I can install it how I want to (primarily bc I can choose where cables are routed, and so I know how and where it might fail).
 

The other thing is, even if it’s not an insurance certified alarm, it’ll still put my mind at ease, as it will still scream at anyone who puts a hammer through the window.

But it still would be nice to have it certified to lower insurance costs.

[hurbie]

9 hours ago, John_M said:

I’d rather do that, then I can install it how I want to (primarily bc I can choose where cables are routed, and so I know how and where it might fail).
 

The other thing is, even if it’s not an insurance certified alarm, it’ll still put my mind at ease, as it will still scream at anyone who puts a hammer through the window.

But it still would be nice to have it certified to lower insurance costs.

if you want it to be certified , speak to the guy who does the certifing before wiring everything , there are rules how certain connections need to be made , and how wire's need to be tied in the vehicle loom.

this save's you some time doing parts over because the don't meet "standards"

[John_M]

2 hours ago, hurbie said:

this save's you some time doing parts over because the don't meet "standards"

Yeah good point, any idea the sort of standards they follow? I’m assuming it’s just like how the wiring passes through body/bulkhead etc. and how connections are made?

[hurbie]

10 hours ago, John_M said:

Yeah good point, any idea the sort of standards they follow? I’m assuming it’s just like how the wiring passes through body/bulkhead etc. and how connections are made?

it could be country specific , in the netherlands the wiring has to be "invisible" routed within the factory loom .