[Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE] mjhuffer:
Here is my first official thread in the Evo 4G LTE forum. This is a basic guide on how I decided to wire my phone directly into my car to automatically stream music and charge, while making it clean as possible. Here is the list of things I needed in order to complete this installation. My goal was to have nothing to plug in allowing me to just drop the phone in the dock and roll on.

Materials:

Evo 4G LTE (baddest phone out there)

Incipio NGP Case (I give a review over the Diztronics below)(some other cases may work but this was one of the best fits possible)

Wired 12V Accessory Outlet for Automobile (with wire tap connectors and pigtail connectors) (you can also use a fuse jumper which I will explain below)

Belking Single Port Car Charger (which I modified by soldering the second and third pin together to allow full AC charging)

HTC USB cable (I tried to order a flat USB cable from China but the head was to big to fit into the back of the dock)

Vehicle Specific Mount (very sturdy and allows for a clean look)

ARKON APGN-VSM Vehicle Specific Mount Adapter (can be found here Amazon)

IBolt IBPF-33306 (I ordered from here Cell Guru. It took about a week to get to Indianapolis but it was the best price I could find. I ordered it along with an Incipio NGP case for around $40).

Bluetooth Streaming Stereo (You can use the AUX on your stereo but it's another wire to plug in and it is so much cleaner without it)

Instructions:

1.) Stereo Removal and Bluetooth Recommendations:

The first thing I did was take apart my radio unit dash section in my car. I have a 2002 Maxima so it was relatively easy. If you search google for your car Year Make and Model and simply type head unit removal afterwards, you can probably find a tutorial. The general rule with this is the more American and the newer the car, the harder it is to take apart the radio unit dash section. I had already installed a Sony MEXBT2900 stereo in my car which I used to stream Bluetooth all the way back to my HTC Hero. It is really good sound quality for streaming but the sound quality during phone calls is decent as long as you have the windows up and no AC blowing. There are much higher end Bluetooth stereos and I always recommend a Kenwood (was too poor to afford one at the time). I'm pretty good with car audio so if you don't know what you are doing at this point, find a buddy that knows what he is doing or find a local car audio shop to help you out. DO NOT GO TO BEST BUY. The installers there are complete idiots and will mess up you car along with overcharging you. Always try to support your local car shops. You can probably have them run the accessory outlet and install the stereo for around 100 bucks. If you are ballin enough to have a car with stock bluetooth streaming capabilities in your car, you are in luck. All you have to do at this point is run the 12 V Accessory Outlet.

2.) 12 V Accessory Outlet

You don't necessarily have to do this step as you can always run a charger from you current accessory outlet or what the old schoolers call it, cigarette lighter. However I wanted everything to be hidden behind the dash so I decided to run a new one from and existing power circuit. You have two routes you can go with this. Find a circuit that stays on no matter if the car is on or off. Find a circuit that turns on and off with the car. I was lucky enough that my accessory outlet right below my head unit turned on and off with the car which is exactly what I wanted. So I went to Amazon and ordered a 12V Power/Accessory Socket/Outlet. They also sell these in a lot of car stores such as AutoZone and Advanced Auto Parts. Make sure you get a fused one because anytime you run a new power wire in you car, it needs to be fused. I don't know the exact fuse rating needed as I always kind of guess (which is terrible but I'm not an electrician or an engineer). Usually the fuse that comes prewired into the socket is just right. I also ordered some of these and simple Wire Taps off of Amazon. Before going any further I recommend disconnecting the negative terminal from your battery. It will prevent and shorts or bad circuits. It not convenient for testing but it will save you if you mess something up. I got to the back of the current accessory outlet in my car and tapped into the wires. Positive to red, Negative to Black. They may not be colored this way in your Automobile so either try to find a wiring guide online or just do some testing. The cool things about the wire taps I ordered is that the accessory outlet clips directly into the taps and you don't have to strip any wires. You can buy a mountable Accessory Outlet online if it jiggling around behind your dash bothers you, but it really didn't find it necessary. Another option is find a fuse in your fuse box that controls a circuit that turns on and off with the car. Then you buy something called a Fuse Tap and simply slide the fuse into the hook side and then slide the fuse back into it's spot. From there you have created a new circuit but make sure the positive wire clipping onto the tap has a fuse. From this point you simply run the wire and ground the black wire of your accessory port to a ground point in your car (bolt or metal screw on the chassis). A big point here is if you do this and decide to use the AUX route, you could end up with a ground loop (horrible buzzing noise when phone is being charged and AUX is plugged in). It is hit or miss depending on how your automobile is wired. You do not have this problem with streaming bluetooth. So at this point, I ran the accessory outlet behind my stereo (back tucked away) and simply plugged in the charger and ran the charging cable through a convenient point in my stereo harness. This can be a tricky thing as I always recommend not to drill holes in you dash. Now for the fun part.

2.) Installing the Vehicle Specific Mount

There are infinite amount of mounting options but I wanted to choose a flush/semi-permanent one. I did some research and I found these little pieces of metal called Vehicle Specific Mounts. There are a couple of companies that make these. Pro-Clip, Pro-Fit, Arkon, Tessco, Bracketron, and Pro-fit. My advice is spend and hour and do your research. Think about where you want everything mounted and take in consideration viewing angle and safety. Find a cheap one because they are all basically machined pieces of steel (this may not be possible as the materials aren't expensive but I'm sure the R&D is). I ended up ordering a Pro-Fit NS-50-95 Custom Mount from TSS Radio. They are based out of Chicago and are very fast and responsive to any questions and shipping. They should all come with instruction on how to mount and all the necessary hardware. While you have the radio dash unit taken apart, this is a good time to get this installed. Follow the instructions and make sure everything is secure. Once you have this mounted correctly, you can put everything back together while making sure your charging cable has enough slack. This is a good time to do a test run and make sure your wired charger is getting power to your phone.

3.) ARKON APGN-VSM and IBolt Car Dock

These things go together like pees and carrots. It is a simple 17mm ball mount so the dock fits perfectly onto it. Once you figure that out, you can slide the Arkon Adapter apart. You will see what I mean if you order one. It basically has sliding teeth that allow the adapter to separate into two pieces. Before you separate it though, line it up with the VSM and find how you want to put it together. Slide the dock apart from the adapter now and attach the Arkon adapter to the VSM with the Arkon included hardware. This is very easy as it includes 4 screws and 4 nuts. When you are doing this, make sure the sliding teeth are facing up so when you go to mount the dock, you are sliding it down onto the dock. You will understand if you decide to do this because if you mount it the other way, the mount may slide down and apart over big bumps. Connect the power cable to the back of the dock and you should be good to go. Make sure everything is charging and works properly.

4.) HTC Car App Settings

I wanted it set up to where I would simply get in my car, turn the car on, throw the phone in the dock, and it would connect to my bluetooth and start streaming music. To get into the setting of the car app, just press on the bottom information bar where the battery and signal are displayed. I have my settings in the pictures below. This is the bad ass part of the whole operation. I can have my bluetooth off on my phone and when I plug it into the dock, it starts charging, starts the car app, turns my bluetooth on, and immediately starts streaming my music. When I take it off the dock, it stops playing music, obviously stops charging, and TURNS MY BLUETOOTH off on my phone. Play around with the settings to your liking or go out and find another car dock app. I like the stock one but other have decided to move on to different things.

A big thing I wanted to ask and nobody on this wonderful forum would answer is, will using the dock void my charger mod and revert it back to USB charging? The answer is no. I still have full AC charging through the dock. I'm am so pleased with this setup as it makes driving so much easier considering I drive a manual. My baby has 145K on it and it is still running strong. When it is time for a new car, I will simply buy a new VSM and do this installation all over.

5.) Incipio NGP Case vs. Diztronics TPU Case

I initially ordered the Diztronics because the Incipio wasn't available yet. I jumped on the Incipio as soon as I found it was released and luckily Cell Guru has it for around $13. The main reasons I like the Incipio over the Diztronics is because it is a little thicker, sturdier, grippier, and it covers the buttons. The covering of the buttons isn't an issue at all as all the button work relatively easy and there are no accidental presses of any type. All the ports are protected but accessible and it provides better protection of the camera lens with a little thicker material back there. Also the whole thing is a grippy flat black polymer, and not just the back of it like the Diztronics. I give the Diztronics about 7/10 stars because although it is a great TPU case, it simply lacks some things. I give the Incipio 9/10 and the only reason I didn't give it a perfect is because the covered buttons are just a slight bit harder to push.

This is the basic tutorial of what I've done. I honesty think it is the cleanest way to mount you EVO4G LTE and allow it to charge and play music without any extra plugging in. The pictures I took are with my phone. Sorry I didn't include more but I don't have another camera. Let me know if you have any questions.