Mini Key Fob

[Stang70Fastback]

Figured I'd share this here as it's a bit of an odd modification. I'm a skinny guy, and skinny guys like me hate carrying stuff in our skinny pockets. The OEM Subaru fob (at least from 2015-onward) is very pretty to look at, but also hilariously massive. My car being keyless entry with push-start, I never need to actually take the fob out of my pocket. I've also only ever needed to use the physical key once in four years of ownership - and it was the day I bought the car, in the dealership lot, because the trunk valet mode button was depressed.

So having bought a new 3D printer, I decided to see if I could make a smaller "Mini Key Fob" for my purposes. This is the result. It is 26% shorter, 32% narrower, and 52% thinner (yup, less than half as thick!) It loses the physical key, but the buttons can still be depressed through the thin skin up top (it still takes as much force as the stock fob, so there shouldn't be any accidental presses.) No more light either (I was prototyping with translucent plastic which allowed this, but this final version is printed with stronger, solid blue plastic.)

I'm quite pleased with the result! It works for my purposes, and feels SO much smaller in my pocket! Still need to figure out how to sand it to a proper finish, but it still looks decent after some basic sanding.

[ichitaka05]

That's freaking cool! There are few more tweak might needed, but overall still amazing! I have first gen style key fob, so it's smaller and lighter than current ones... but I wish for smaller key fob, so this is amazing to mod!

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

That's freaking cool! There are few more tweak might needed, but overall still amazing! I have first gen style key fob, so it's smaller and lighter than current ones... but I wish for smaller key fob, so this is amazing to mod!

What other tweaks you would want to see?

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

What other tweaks you would want to see?

Quickly I can think 2 things:
1. It's cool to see flexible and able to depress through the Lock, Unlock & other buttons... but would like to see some logos, so I know which ones I'm pushing. (if I do push it)
2. If there's a way to put the key in there, it's way way better.

First key fob is small and light as is... but if you can make smaller than this plus few tweaks, I would gladly give you my money.

[tehShirt]

That's awesome, good work. I'd echo ichitaka and say the lock/unlock/trunk and panic button (areas) could have embossed emblems.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Quickly I can think 2 things:
1. It's cool to see flexible and able to depress through the Lock, Unlock & other buttons... but would like to see some logos, so I know which ones I'm pushing. (if I do push it)
2. If there's a way to put the key in there, it's way way better.

First key fob is small and light as is... but if you can make smaller than this plus few tweaks, I would gladly give you my money.

It almost looks like yours is already pretty minimal in size compared to the newer style. I would venture a guess that it's close to the size of Stang's printed one.

Now, that said, if the guts are pretty much the same then you know you can transplant them into a fob like his easily enough, and he can probably do a version that has a space for the physical key to snap or wedge into place similar to the OEM fob. It would make it a little larger (add width), but you'd have the physical key on you just in case SHTF. As the saying goes, better to have it and not need it....


Stang, kudos on the work, that's pretty impressive, and the side by side comparison is crazy.

[spike021]

Awesome work. Looks super cool. Might be worth using my backup for a fob like this eventually.

Also,

No more light either (I was prototyping with translucent plastic which allowed this, but this final version is printed with stronger, solid blue plastic.)

Maybe I'm dumb here but.. what light are you referring to? I've never noticed a light on my fob.

[tehShirt]

Originally Posted by spike021

Maybe I'm dumb here but.. what light are you referring to? I've never noticed a light on my fob.

Top left of the lock button, the little circle is the light.

[8RZ]

Amazing work, nice job.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by tehShirt

Top left of the lock button, the little circle is the light.

Oh nice. Mine's never lit up.

[Drambeenie]

Any update on this?

[tacos]

Originally Posted by Drambeenie

Any update on this?

Stang70 x Drambeenie collab?

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by Drambeenie

Any update on this?

It works well for me! I tweaked the inside to be compatible with more years, as it turns out later years have a different chip layout to support things like remote start. I also changed to black plastic, and PETG, rather than PLA so that it would be more heat resistant (PLA tended to warp in the sun on a hot day.) Lastly I doubled the top layer thickness as the buttons were a bit TOO easy to press, and because I wanted it to have better long-term durability.

It still isn't the prettiest thing in the world, but it gets the job done and is much more pleasant to have in my pocket

Dunno if these Facebook images will display or not, but this is what it now looks like straight off the printer.

[tehShirt]

What are your thoughts on reusing the buttons and membrane? Shouldn't increase the height much and you wouldn't have to deal with durability/accidental button presses.