Topic: Whats the best way to listen to your iPod while driving?

[AV]

I heard its illegal to drive with headphones on, and my brother let me have this thing he bought since he didn't like it.

It's this big black thing you attack to cigarette heater and you select a radio station thats empty and you can hear whatever your iPod is playing.

that worked well for a while, but recently it broke and now I'm looking for a replacement. Now before it broke it got a ton of static and a clear signal became near impossible to find. I live in Texas and so many religious and talk radio stations, and spanish stations and such that I can't find a single station to keep the iPod connected too. When I drive around some empty spots would become actual stations so i would need to constantly change it.

I bought these super cheap little speakers that just plug into the iPod (not iHome, but something for years and years ago that was on clearance)  and those are ok for when I am at home and in a room and don't want to use headphones, and not near computer but for he car the tiny music is drowned out by the normal truck noises.

I did raise the volume all the way, and select 'small speakers' but the difference is not significant to make it worth while.

My truck DOES NOT have a head phone jack, and only has CD player in it.

How much would it cost to upgrade the stereo to make it friendly for iPods ?
is the thing I had for the  car just a horrible product but more recent devices work well?

So what solutions have you guys found that work well to listen/charge your iPod as you drive that is street legal and not overly expensive.

I like to visit my mom every month or so from college and thats an hour drive so I rather not listen to stupid radio but listen to RFN podcasts as I drive.

So whats the best way to do that?

[BeautifulShy]

Let me refer you to this thread

[DAaaMan64]

I'm not so sure it is illegal to drive with headphones, if it is, it is likely a state law not a federal one (at least it should be a state law).  I know in washington state motorcyclists can wear headphones and ride.

[D_Average]

Since your car does not have a 3.5mm jack, your best bet is getting some of those cheap little battery powered speakers to plug your pod into (the ladies will be very impressed).

The tuner connectors are a real crap shoot.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I'm not so sure it is illegal to drive with headphones, if it is, it is likely a state law not a federal one (at least it should be a state law).  I know in washington state motorcyclists can wear headphones and ride.

Most driving laws are state laws.  I've also heard that it's against the law to wear headphones while driving in Texas.

My truck DOES NOT have a head phone jack, and only has CD player in it.

If your CD player can play mp3 files, you could simply burn the podcasts to CDs for your trips.  If it can't, you could burn the mp3s as CD audio, although from what I hear you'd have to use two CDs for RFN.

[AV]

Let me refer you to this thread

umm no. Hearing your iPod music or podcasts while driving is safe, its just like listening to the radio. Unlike text messaging or playing games which isn't safe.

The only thing unsafe was the stupid FM Tuners that might need me to change channels for the stupid thing to work.

I can burn the CD's thats not a problem, but 1) I don't have any extra cd's and i rather not totally waste them for something like that I will use only once.

also RFN and other podcasts may exceed the limit of what a CD can hold.  I'm very much leaning on getting an iHome type of thing, which one of those are the best ?

[Nick DiMola]

Well if you are a bit adventurous, most cars usually have an extra set of L/R RCA connections behind the radio. You can usually bust open the dash and pull these out and get a simple adapter that will allow you to connect with a headphone jack. I'll see later if I can find a tutorial for you...

[BranDonk Kong]

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, and only have a stock unit with no aux input, your best bet is an in-line FM transmitter. It plugs directly into the back of the stereo and then the antenna goes into the transmitter. It essentially "kills" your antenna when you turn it on, so you can't get any interference. You'll still only get FM-quality stereo sound, but it's the best FM-quality stereo sound that you can get on a stock unit. I have a Dension IceLink adapter (it uses the dock on the iPod), it cost about $130 at the time I got it (about 3 years ago), it is basically a CD-Changer emulator, so you get the absolute best sound possible from your iPod. In my wife's car we bought a Pioneer unit that came with a free iPod cable, which also uses the dock. Again, an in-line FM transmitter is your cheapest "good sound" solution. They're very easy to install (pull out the stereo, plug in the antenna adapter, and steal a ground and +12 connection and you're good to go).