Building a chase vehicle..

[James Siler]

I have a question. I am goint to start getting my 94 ford F150 ready to chase in 08 and I have thought about takeing out it's bench seat and putting in bucket seats. Can I do that? Cause that way I can install the laptop mount in the center alont with possiablly a small tv and my scanner. Any input from you guys is very much appreciated.
James

 

[David Drummond]

I have a question. I am goint to start getting my 94 ford F150 ready to chase in 08 and I have thought about takeing out it's bench seat and putting in bucket seats. Can I do that? Cause that way I can install the laptop mount in the center alont with possiablly a small tv and my scanner. Any input from you guys is very much appreciated.
James

That one should be easy, assuming it's a standard. You could change the seats, but would probably require some re-engineering to get the buckets to fit. If it's not a standard, you could build a pretty nice little console to fit on the hump between the seat and the dash to mount stuff in and still keep your existing seats.

For laptop mounts, for those that can't afford the big ones, or just don't want to put out that much money for a jotto. I bought one of these last year and I LOVE it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/LAPTOP-COMPUTER...yZ116346QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
.
.

 

[James Siler]

David, it is an automatic. I have thought about just designing a console for the center. ANd the laptop mount is one I have been looking at but couldn't make up my mind. But since you have given a good personal recommendation by using it then my mind is made up to get it. Concerning my truck it is in the shop getting the suspension redone since I wrecked it a year ago. But that statemeant leads to my next question, what is the offical name of the metal guards that cattlemen usally put on the front of there trucks or also on the front of police cars? Just thought I would show what I did last November.

 

[David Poch]

David, it is an automatic. I have thought about just designing a console for the center. ANd the laptop mount is one I have been looking at but couldn't make up my mind. But since you have given a good personal recommendation by using it then my mind is made up to get it. Concerning my truck it is in the shop getting the suspension redone since I wrecked it a year ago. But that statemeant leads to my next question, what is the offical name of the metal guards that cattlemen usally put on the front of there trucks or also on the front of police cars? Just thought I would show what I did last November.
View attachment 757

There are different names for different types of bumper guards or replacements. Grill Guards, Bull Bars, Push Bars, etc.

You can get some good ideas here http://www.westinautomotive.com/index.html

I am looking into something like this for my Ram 2500. http://www.ranchhand.com/frontbumperbullnose.aspx

David

 

[David Drummond]

The only drawback I had about that laptop mount was that the adjustment screws were hex head. Meaning you had to keep an allen wrench handy. That has turned out to really be a non issue though. I have found that you can tighten then just right and have enough resistance to keep it from moving on it's own, but you can still move it. I still keep the allan wrench handy in chase I need to make major adjustments. For me, it's a small price to pay for the money I saved over a jotto. I did brace mine against the center console, as the floor mount bracket was a little week for my large and heavy laptop.

 

[Brett Adair]

David,

Can you post a pic of how you have that mounted? I have the same laptop mount currently and can't find a place to mount the damn thing. It's like my flooring in that Montero is freakin plastic. I'll look for a better place.

 

[John Erwin]

I have a question. I am goint to start getting my 94 ford F150 ready to chase in 08 and I have thought about takeing out it's bench seat and putting in bucket seats. Can I do that?

Having done that once the only issue I had was that I needed to drill some extra holes to account for the different seat mounting arrangement. Please ensure that whatever seats you use will bolt into the reinforced portion of your floorboards, not simply into the weaker non-reinforced floor metal. Other than that the seats fit right in. I also upgraded the carpet at the same time for a factory looking job.

/threadjack

 

[Tim Samaras]

Once upon a time...(David, feel free to start a new thread if appropriate)

There were several advantages to stuffing your chase car full of gear.

Back in the 80s and early 90s chasers would do anything to get a peek at a radar or a visible satelite image or at least a verbal description of whats going on. That meant packing a TV, scanner, computers, ham radio...even a DirecTV dish to get the latest from TWC. They would put monster antennas all over their car (the 'porcupine' look), and strange looking gizmos everywhere. There was little/no internet, thus chasers had to stop by the NWS offices to get their data, as laptops were way too expensive back then. Also, listening in on the NWS broadcasts, and plotting reported surface observations was the way of life back then. I did subscribe to the Accu-Weather data modem service...way back then...

The folks that outfitted their cars back in the 90s/early 00s were called techno-chasers. Heck, I had an amateur television transmitter in my old Nissan truck to send LIVE television pictures back to the NWS Denver. I used an 11 element UHF beam on a mast and rotor, and a 20 watt amplifier. I'm sure Dean Cosgrove remembers my old goofy lookin' truck. Yes, I was one of those goofy techno-geeks that love that stuff...still do.

My point is that I'm not so sure one needs all that 'stuff' these days. A celphone, laptop, and a data cable is all that's needed. Cellular coverage is so good, that I don't worry about 'data holes' anymore. With the spotter network available now, and being able to call your report in WHILE STILL CONNECTED...gets the job done to report what you see. There are chasers that actually broadcast LIVE TV pictures through the internet as they chase.

Cool stuff.

So...sintered to the basic question...why have all that 'stuff' all over your car anymore?

Tim

 

[David Drummond]

David,

Can you post a pic of how you have that mounted? I have the same laptop mount currently and can't find a place to mount the damn thing. It's like my flooring in that Montero is freakin plastic. I'll look for a better place.

That's the only pic I have. It's screwed right through the carpet in to the floor with sheet metal screws. I had to drill a pilot hole for the screws.

 

[David Poch]

For laptop mounts, for those that can't afford the big ones, or just don't want to put out that much money for a jotto. I bought one of these last year and I LOVE it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/LAPTOP-COMPUTER...yZ116346QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
.
.

I've seen that mount before and wondered about it.

How does it hold up to bumpy roads? My truck rides pretty rough and I need something that will stand up to a lot of bouncing and shaking around. Does it take any of the shock away from the laptop or is it pretty stiff?

I need something that will absorb some of the shock and not kill my hard drive.

David

 

[John Diel]

David,

I have a Jotto Desk which is very similar to what David Drummond has, though it looks a little less complicated. Mine is mounted about the same way DD's is as well. Mine holds up to very heavy vibration very well. You actually want less bounce while driving or you won't be able to see the monitor (not that you should be looking at it while driving, of course).

The swing arm actually takes a good amount of the shock and tends to dampen the vibration quite a bit. However, it MUST be solidly mounted to the floor board or Transmission hump or it will shake itself loose.

I'm driving a Ford Explorer up and down washboard, potholed, and just plain lousy Oklahoma roads and so far, I haven't had a lick of trouble.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

David – I am curious!

What is all the grey felt like stuff that you have all over your dash board?

I am guessing that it is Velcro so that you can stick and fasten down any loose items that are inside your car. One of my pet hates is loose equipment that fly’s around inside the car every time you turn a corner. I often use thing Velcro strips to fasten items down. The bonus is that Velcro can be removed with out leaving a trace that it was ever there…

As for me – when I chase I use the bare minimum of equipment that I can possibly get away with (simply because I have to fly over to the US and then rig out a hire SUV)

I make up a custom (fused) power cable that runs direct from the battery to the front passenger area. From here I power up my laptop and my 2Meter radio.

I find that a simple laptop / Data card combo covers about 90% of my chase needs. The remaining 10% is covered by a baron.

Therefore I agree with Tim! Keep the fit out simple and equipment to a bare minimum - this way there is less to go wrong.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I've seen that mount before and wondered about it.

How does it hold up to bumpy roads? My truck rides pretty rough and I need something that will stand up to a lot of bouncing and shaking around. Does it take any of the shock away from the laptop or is it pretty stiff?

I need something that will absorb some of the shock and not kill my hard drive.

David

I recently upgraded from a cheap e-bay mount, and, if you can afford it, you should definitely go with the Jotto. The quality is directly proportional to the price, and you'll notice a Jotto may run almost 10x the cost of that e-bay mount, but it is indeed 10x better. If you are a solo chaser, not having an easily adjustable mount may work for you, however, you're still going to have to regularly tighten everything to make sure it doesn't come flying apart.

As for vibration dampening, any mount is going to absorb much energy. What you can do is put some foam on the table part of the mount for the laptop to sit on top of. That will prevent some jarring collisions as the laptop rattles around on top of the stand. Most laptops are designed to take some abuse though and I never hit any problems after the couple of seasons I've used these mounts.

 

[Skip Talbot]

By the way, does anyone have any good internet resources/guides on automotive electrical?

 

[David Drummond]

I've seen that mount before and wondered about it.

How does it hold up to bumpy roads? My truck rides pretty rough and I need something that will stand up to a lot of bouncing and shaking around. Does it take any of the shock away from the laptop or is it pretty stiff?

I need something that will absorb some of the shock and not kill my hard drive.

David

It has some flexibility in it and will absorb some shock. On that last chase I was going down a pretty decent backroad and a pretty good clip. Hit a BIG hole I saw at the last moment so hard it dislodged the rear ac/heater control that mounts in the ceiling of my van. The laptop lid closed from the jolt but stayed put and it's taken ever rough road I put it down.