TonyHS

Since no one else has documented a headrest DVD install yet, I'll attempt to do so. If you wish to do an install, do at your own risk. I'm not responsible for anything you may break or start on fire...


For reference, I looked at this guide.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ml#post5502295

The install is very similar.

I started with removing the plastic seat backs.

Reach under the seats and feel for a elastic loop that goes over a wide plastic hook, and unhook the elastic, there are 2 one on the right side of the seat, and one on the left side. Till I get my pictures up, you can use the link, it's almost the same. The link referenced mentions not to leave the back in the sun, as he had problems putting it back on. I did not test that to see what happens.



Then pull the fake leather flap back, at least I think that part is fake.... And feel for a philips screw head on the left side and one on the right side, just like the rx install. Use a #1 philips screw driver to remove it. It might be a little tight, so make sure to use some pressure to keep it tight against the screw, you don't want to strip it.

Then lightly push down at the top of where the plastic meets the seat, it will move down a little and the cover will come off easily.



Now you can remove the old headrest, and feed the wires through the holes and put in your new headrest with DVD.

If you want the height to be adjustable, move them to the highest position and give it a little extra slack, and use some zip ties to tie down the wires so they don't hit the fan if you have vented seats. You will also want to tie up where the wire connection is with the wire harness are so they dont come loose and loose functionality.



I'm going to take apart the center console and run the power from the cigarette lighter. I'm also going to look for a switch so I can hardwire the headrest to the aux input so I don't need to use a plug and wire there, hopefully I can retain the aux function so I can easily connect another audio source.

I bought a set of Black 908T Xtrons touchscreen headrest. They look very similar to the Autotain Dream set. But do not come with the IR headphones and only one remote. They also do not come with the Versapost, so you have to use the plastic spacers. Look carefully at their auctions, some come with IR headsets and some don't, that's why the price is a little different. I also chose to do the auction since they had a lot a few days ago, I paid 250 shipped to my house, shipping was very fast! 2 days! I ordered on Wednesday and they arrived today.

So far I'm pretty happy with them. The black is a pretty good match, I'm sure all the owners know there are 3 different textures on our seats; the perforated one (not sure about non premium ones), a very smooth grain, and a slightly more rough grain. The vinyl (yes they are not leather) on the dvd headrest is a very similar match to the more rough grain. For tan and grey interiors, I'm not sure how close they will match. If you want perfection, there are perfect match headrest available, but you will spend over $1000 more, it may be worth it to spend the extra but I'm not that picky and would rather save the money for other toys. The fit is a little loose, but I have not heard any rattling. I can still adjust height, and I may see what I can do to tighten them up.



I'll continue the install instructions when I get more time this weekend and finish the wiring.

TheAirman

Absolutely a fantastic write-up !!! Thank you !!

When you do break into that center console, please try to document it with some pictures. I was wondering about that.

kyo7878

Tony, thanks for sharing~

TonyHS

Oh yea, for sure I will. I have more pic and details I'll add, but I just wanted to get some stuff down while it was fresh in my head.

Airman, I could not have done it so easily with out your help!

I almost got the center console apart. But I think I need to get a tool to help me get the seat climate control off, I can get the back side loose, but the front, closest to the dash is still locked in tight. I could use more force, but don't want to break anything. The car is so nice and squeak and rattle free, and I want to keep it that way.

TheAirman

These work pretty good:

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece...kit-69668.html

or these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece...set-67021.html

TonyHS

I actually just bought both of them tonight, I did finally get the seat climate control off, and the rest came apart pretty easily. I will take pictures of where I think you need to pry and such. I have not had a chance to finish up everything as I'm a little busy for the next few days, but I just wanted to make sure I could get it loose.

All said, there is plenty of power connections to use within the seat if someone does not want to go to the 12V outlet. However I'm attempting to do the install as little permenent modification to the car.

TonyHS

Okay, time for some updates. If you wanted a simple install, you don't need to read these instructions, you can simply tie up the wiring under the seat and run the wire around the center console, but I'm looking for a clean install, and end up spending much more time.

I found that onfair sells the versa post by themselves without the headrest on ebay and their own site. However if you order from their site it costs $10 or 12 shipping and ebay costs $6 shipping, both sell the post for $20. I figured the since the Xtrons and Autotain head rest look the same, there's a chance they might actually be made by the same people. I don't know if they are or not. But I took a chance and ordered them. I was very happy to find that the threads and diameter of the post are the same! So I slipped off the 10mm posts and put in the 12. I determined the loose fit was because of the plastic adapter sleeves, the internal diameter of the sleeve is a littler greater then the diameter of the 10mm metal posts.

At first they fit great! However once you get a bit lower it gets really tight! So tight that the head rest are no longer adjustable in height. So if you want to adjust you will want to stick with the 10mm posts and use the plastic adapters. Another option would be to get a set of metal sleeves, stuff something the supplied ones to get a tighter fit, or get different plastic adapters to and hope for a better fit. I think the problem is not where you initially insert the headrest post into the seat, but lower in the active headrest part, something there might be a little smaller. If I had calipers I could check the actual diameters of the factory posts and the dvd posts, but I don't so I cant tell.

Here's how the seat looks with the new posts, and some slack for the headrest to move.


So this is where the $1000+ perfect match dvd headrest shine. I'm guessing not only does the color and grain match the Lexus interior, they may even be real leather instead of vinyl. They probably also have posts that fit perfectly.

Okay, now time to look at the center console.

Here is what the cup holders look like.


The white on the bottom is a little fabric pillow, not sure of the exact name they are called, I'm guessing it's for sound deadening. There's a lot of the inside the center console as you will see later.

Use a trim removal tool to remove the 3 plastic plugs on the driver side plastic panel under the seat, and 3-4 (depending on which stereo you have) plastic plugs on the passenger side panel under the seat. This is so you can get the move the wiring from under the seat and into the center console much easier. These plugs are one time use, I was able to get them off and back on, but not sure if they will survive a second removal. I may just order some new ones and replace them anyway. If you want to, you should buy yours before you do the install. On the driver side you may also want to remove the 2 12mm bolts and take off the bracket that holds what may be the hard drive for the nav of, this makes running the wire to from the drivers side much easier. Then I slipped a wire loom over the cables to make it look nice, you can buy loom at radio shack, harbor freight, frys, and many other places. Additional note, you might want to take the fuse holder and fuse off, or else you might break it off when pulling your cable under the carpet. DONT ask me why I know this..... Also it may be easier to run the wiring the other way around from the center console then under the seat, because the connector on that side of the cable is much more slim and nothing to be damaged. There's also a chance you might crush the connections on the av cable. Again, DONT ask me why I know this.....

I ran the av and power cables for the dvd along the factory wire looms and ran the cables under the carpet, and seat rails, and pulled them out of the carpet opening of the center console. I connected one of the headrest audio output to a mini aux input cable and ran that back out under the center console plastic to plug into the aux jack. Someday I'll get a switch and move that back internal to the center console and free up the aux input.




You can carefully fit all the wiring into the space there and be able to fit the cup holder back on.

Then next mod might be putting a small LED in there so my bottles of water can light up like the cup holders on many fords.


Here's another picture of the center console apart.



This is how the headrest look with the 12mm versa posts.


Does anyone know how to remove the cigarette lighter. I know you are supposed to press the tab inside the lighter on the side then pull up the metal sleeve, however for the life of me I cant find the tab! I want to remove it up so I can hard wire the dvd power to there so I do not need to plug it into the socket. I know I can use wire taps, but I don't like them that much and want to avoid that.

TonyHS

I soldered a wire to the 12V of the Console power port.





If you take the port out, I did it by just prying, there's a tab you can press from inside the port, however I cant find it.
Once you have the port out, remove the rear plastic cover, and you see the little pie shaped hole, you can have your wire come out of it like my picture. I used some rosin on the wire, then heated it up a little with the metal plate on the back of the port next to where the bolt and nut is and soldered it down, seems to hold pretty tight. I also added a fuse and an disconnect so I can remove it from the dvd head rest cables. It's pretty easily reversible. And if you ever need to buy a new power port I don't imagine it being too expensive.... Maybe $20 max??? I'm totally guessing. I bolted the ground to one of the bolts that hold the center console down. All of this is easily reversible. This step is not needed, you can simply tap the power with t-taps or something similar. However those seem to always cut the factory wires a little and I don't like that.

Now my center console looks like this.