What Is A Gps Device
GPS tracking got its start in the late fifties, with the launch of Sputnik. Scientists at NASA were able to track the satellite by measuring its shifts in radio signals, known as âThe Doppler Effectâ. Following this breakthrough, the military began satellite tracking experiments to follow US submarines. In the seventies, the Department of Defense called for the creation of a stable satellite network for global positioning. By the nineties, GPS devices were available for commercial use. Today, GPS and navigations systems are installed in cars during manufacturing.
That being said, there are many different types of GPS tracking devices utilized today, with various types of use. The average consumer GPS device doesnât meet the needs of enterprise fleet tracking. Instead, fleets require a more comprehensive GPS device with software that sends data to a centralized software system. Then fleet managers can use this information to improve efficiency, safety, and compliance.
But are GPS tracking devices necessary for fleet management? Where is a GPS tracking device installed on a car or fleet vehicle? Weâll answer these questions and more below.
Installed Fleet Tracking Devices
This is an installation and wiring guide for installing a wired GPS Tracking Device in your cars or trucks. If you came across this page as you were looking to install an OBD-II tracking device in your vehicle, this isn’t the page for you but we’ve got you covered over here: OBD-II Vehicle Tracker Installation Guide. Similarly, our battery powered GPS trackers are covered here: Battery Powered GPS Tracker Installation Guide.
Getting The Car Tracker Set Up
Keep in mind that once you install the GPS tracker in a car, you still need to make sure that its up and running properly. With CarLock, this process is simple. After the physical installation of the device, youll connect it to your computer and phone using the appropriate app, which you can download. The installation of the software is fast and easy. You can log in and then connect to the device in your car.
Using the app is just as easy.
The CarLock app lets you see the location of your vehicle in real-time, and it allows you to arm and disarm the device as needed. If there are any unexpected activities regarding your vehicle, the device will send an alert that goes to your phone, so you can check on your vehicle. It allows you to track driving routes, monitor car battery health, and much more.
You May Like: Car Rental Discounts Aaa Aarp
Wire The Power Supply
Your GPS tracker will either be wireless and equipped with its battery, plug into the OBD port, or have to be hard-wired to a constant power source in your vehicle.
For three-wire installations, you are going to have to disassemble some panels to locate the ignition wire that will provide your GPS with constant power.
Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery.
Connect the white, red and black wires from the GPS tracker into the appropriate matching wires on the ignition column by looping it as shown in the video below, and then test with a multimeter with the car off to ensure that there is always power going to the tracking device.
The red wire is positive, black is negative, and white is neutral. Be sure you get them all looped into the right spots. Having a wiring diagram of the vehicle will help you be sure about your wiring placements.
If you don’t have any experience installing hardwired GPS trackers, then maybe it’s best to leave it up to a professional to avoid damaging your vehicle’s electrical system and paneling.
Where Do You Plug In The Tracker
All of the GPS trackers in this review can be plugged into a vehicles OBD-II port, which is usually located on or under the dash, near the steering wheel. Virtually all passenger vehicles built since 1996 use OBD-II ports, and the cars owners manual will show the exact location. When plugged in, the tracker is powered by the vehicle, so it doesnt need a separate battery. The websites for many trackers let you determine whether the device will work with your specific vehicle note that many devices cant be used in all-electric cars.
Recommended Reading: Lt Columbo’s Car
Installing A Gps System: The Aftermath
Once you have the GPS tracking device installed, you would be surprised to see its seamless manner of functioning. After the device is embedded in the vehicle, it utilises the Global Position System satellites to obtain accurate and real-time location of the vehicle. The GPS then moves on to submitting data pertaining to the movement, location and current speed of the vehicle. This data is stored in a GPS server, that works as a condensed database. This database then relays the data to the receiving device, from where you can essentially track your vehicle. Apart from tracking, the process of GPS tracker installation can also make you privy to other essential information and functionalities such as stoppages, timestamps, geofencing, movement alerts, tampering alerts, vehicle health reports, and much more.
LocoNav offers you services for all your business needs, from Vehicle Tracking Systems, Fleet Management Software and Telematics, along with FASTag. LocoNav helps you in optimising your operations and business while you focus on the growth of your enterprise!
Finding A Hidden Gps Tracker On Your Car
If you suspect that someone may have hidden a GPS tracker somewhere in your car, you’ll need some basic tools like a flashlight, mechanic’s mirror, and a creeper or mat of some kind to help you slide under the vehicle. In instances where a simple visual inspection isn’t sufficient, specialized equipment like electronic sweepers or bug detectors may also be necessary.
The basic steps involved in locating a hidden GPS tracker on your car are:
Perform an exterior inspection: Use a flashlight and mirror to check areas like the wheel wells and under the vehicle. Most trackers are hidden in easy to reach locations.
The tracker may be dirty and difficult to see.
Perform an interior inspection: Check the data port first. Most GPS trackers are small, so don’t overlook any potential hiding spot such as the trunk.
Sweep the vehicle with a bug detector: Bug detectors are available from many of the same places where you can find trackers. Be aware that some trackers only transmit when the vehicle is moving and sweepers can’t detect passive trackers.
Know when to seek professional help: If you suspect that someone hid a tracker on your car, but you can’t find it, a professional may be able to help. Technicians specializing in automotive electronics, car audio, and car alarms often have the necessary expertise and equipment.
Also Check: Can A Car Salesman Make Six Figures
Remove The Wires And Device
Now is the time to remove the cable from your car battery. It is not tough to remove the components. You need to disconnect the antennas at the receiver and pull the GPS antenna. Bring the car back to its best form.
Now that you have successfully removed the device from the vehicle, you need to reconnect all the ignition wires and put back the components in their original place. It would help if you connected all the wires back together.
The person who installed the GPS tracker device in your car might have damaged the wires. If you have located the damage, then remove it and reconnect it. Now the only way to ensure that you havent messed up is to try and start your car. If it starts, you did everything right!
Installing Portable Obd Gps Tracking Device On Your Car
OBD typetracking devices are recommended for people who want hassle-freeinstallation. You can find the OBD portmostly under the steering wheel or dashboard, but it varies by the make andmodel of the car, hence you should refer to the cars manual for its exactlocation.
Once youfind the OBD port, you can simply plug in the GPS tracking device to it withoutany trouble. OBD type trackers doesnt require dedicated power source other than the power it derives from the port itself, so you can start itsoperation right away.
If you wantto install a tracking device for personal cars then OBD plug-in type GPStrackers are the best, since it requires less wiring and can also be easilyremoved and fixed on to a different car if required.
Read Also: How To Remove Scuff Marks From Plastic Car Interior
Things To Consider While Placing A Gps Tracker For Car
Before we discuss more the places to put the car tracker let us discuss the criteria for selecting such places. Depending upon the vehicle tracker design the places may vary. A GPS Tracker comes with two types of power sources, i.e battery-powered and a tracker that can be connected to the car battery.
As per Brick house security, signal strength plays an important role in the location of the vehicle tracker in the car. As a general rule of thumb, the tracker should have a line of sight to the sky even though most of the trackers can capture the signal through windows, wood, and glass. Along with signal strength, it is obvious to note down the battery life and built quality to decide the tracker location.
Wiring Guide For Tracking Device:
Primary Device Wires There are three wires that need to be connected to an external power source RED, BLACK, and WHITE.
- RED goes to a constant power connection with a voltage between +12V and +24V.
- BLACK goes to the vehicle chassis or is tapped into an existing ground wire.
- WHITE is for vehicle ignition detection. Connect it to a circuit that is active only when the key is in the RUN position. This circuit should be between +12V and +24V when active, and +0V when inactive.
WARNING: You MUST use a digital multimeter to identify the proper circuits for power. The GPS device MUST have +12V or higher to operate correctly. Beware that many newer vehicles now have data wiring that operate at +8V or lower which will NOT work.
Also Check: Request Car Title Florida
Choose Track Your Truck For Your Gps Tracking Devices
At Track Your Truck, we offer some of the best GPS tracking devices on the market today. With our devices easy installation and in-depth tracking abilities, you can receive real-time information about your fleet vehicles location and performance. We offer hardwired GPS tracking devices and premium GPS plug-in vehicle trackers to give you the flexibility you require to receive the best tracker for your fleets unique needs.
Famisafe Is Reliable At Smartphone
I bet you would agree with me that there is no other better program that can perfectly and actively serve as a reliable smartphone-based vehicle tracking tool. With its GPS location feature, you can track the location of your car in real-time to know where exactly it is at a particular time.
- Let’s say. For example, your car is in use by someone else. You can monitor where they have visited with your car. You have the right to know that it is your car, after all.
- If the car in question is in use by your children old enough to drive, you can set a Geofencing zone for the car so you will get an alert when they go to restricted areas.
- You can also know when they move past where they actually said they were going so you can burst them easily.
FamiSafe offers a reliable experience using their program for a 3 days free trial as well to track a car with GPS for free.
Don’t Miss: Lease Carvana
Get A Beginners Guide To Tracking Devices For Company Cars:
With Vimcar, theres no need to take your vehicles to the garage to have car trackers fitted. Here are the basic steps to installing tracking devices in cars:
When it comes to fitting a tracker to a car, other fleet tracking systems have hefty installation fees, take vehicles off the road for an extended period of time or are difficult to install yourself. Vimcars plug-and-play installation lets you install the hardware yourself and comes with no hidden fees.
Check The Live Location Of Your Car With Loconavs Car Tracking System
After you have selected the type of Vehicle Tracking Deviceyou want to use, you must choose the place where you want to place the tracker.
If you want your tracker to be more accessible, you must place your tracker at a viewable position. The deck below the entertainment system is usually the best place to fit your tracking device as it can be easily accessible and can be easily connected to the charging port.
If you want your tracker to be discreet, placing the tracker inside your dashboard would be the best choice as it is out of sight and can be hardwired easily.
Also read: How Can a GPS Tracker for Car Benefit You
Now your GPS Vehicle Tracker is plugged in, is placed in your desired location and your car tracking system is ready to use. Power up the tracker with the power on button or in case of a hardwired tracker, power up the cars engine. Then check to see if the signal strength of the tracker is good. Check the date and time and correct them in the settings if needed. Then take your car for a spin.
While driving, check if the car is being tracked properly. Try driving your car in various directions and check for any errors in direction data. Try out the navigation system and set routes to known locations. Check if the routes are well optimized. Also try out different features that are provided by the car tracking system. If any errors occur, contact the customer care service of the trackers brand.
Don’t Miss: Easy Clear Coat Repair
Installing Hardwired Gps Tracking Devices
A hardwired GPS tracking device from Track Your Truck is our most popular choice for vehicle tracking. In most cases, you will want to have a professional installer or mechanic do this for you, although we have outlined the basic steps below. While prices vary depending on your location, we find most mechanics charge ~$100 per vehicle to install. All our devices come ready to install, letting you get your monitoring capabilities running a few minutes after installation. Review the three steps to installing our hardwired GPS tracking devices.
Why Install Gps For Fleet Management
Nearly all fleets have some sort of vehicle tracking device, and those that donât likely will very soon. This is due to the upcoming ELD compliance deadline on December 16, 2019, which requires all fleet vehicles to have an ELD installed to track driver HOS . This safety regulation is mandated by the FMCSA . While this particular regulation only requires ELDs for HOS tracking, many ELDs also provide other functions.
In addition, many fleet managers have seen the benefits provided by fleet tracking software such as cost reduction, improved driver safety, and greater operational efficiency. These factors, as well as the benefits below, are why every fleet should install GPS tracking systems.
Recommended Reading: How To Fix Burn Holes In Car Interior
Best Place To Put Gps Tracking Device Inside A Car With The Battery
As we discussed earlier you can be really creative in this segment of car trackers. There will be a magnetic mount with this type of GPS tracker. This can be placed anywhere on the car where there is a metal part. But be sure not to place it near the fuel tank or its pipes. As stated earlier the focus should be on placing the tracker for a car where it can get a direct connection without any object in between .
Extension Cables For The Port
If you would like to move the location of the device to a different area of your vehicle where it wont be as noticeable or so its out of the way, you can choose to buy some extension cables for the OBD II port. These cables plug into the port and then provide you with the additional length needed to move the site of the GPS car tracker device.
Again, youll just need to plug the device into the end of these cables for it to start working. The installation of the car tracker is fast and easy.
Don’t Miss: Florida Auto Title Replacement
Hard Wiring Your Device
Use the wire cutters to remove a small section of insulation from the constant power wire.
Tip: Be careful to use the right gauge wire cutters to prevent the power wire from being cut. Or else say goodbye to your dashboard stereo!
Use the pick tool to create a small gap between the exposed copper wires. Take the exposed end of the red wire on your GPS tracking device and thread it through the newly-created gap in the constant power wire. Wrap any loose copper wire ends together and cover the connection with a piece of electrical tape.
Repeat Step 2 for the white wire on the GPS tracking device, using the poke and wrap method to connect it to the ignition wire.
Tip: Wrap the exposed wires together thoroughly for an optimal connection.
Finally, add a ring terminal to the exposed end of the black wire on the GPS tracker. Place the ring terminal end on a metal surface , such as the steering column, and secure it there with electrical tape.
