automotive - Possible to reliably run USB over a non-standard USB cable?

I'm planning on building a device for my car that sits somewhere in the rain tray or behind the dashboard. It will use automotive connectors so that things are sealed, easily connected and disconnected, etc. I plan on having it be controllable/configurable over USB, but I still want the unit to be sealed.

How feasible would it be to run the USB connection through the normal pins of the sealed connectors? It would be regular stranded conductors in the 18-20ga range, and I'd probably have to bundle, twist, shield and heat shrink them myself.

Is this a reasonable approach or is there something better I should be looking at... some specialized USB connector or something?

Answer

I would recommend using proper sealed usb connectors. Molex makes some. They will be much more reliable than making your own. If you don't like the molex ones, searching for "IP67 usb" brings up several alternatives.

http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=industrial_usb_type_a_and_b_plugs_and_receptacles&channel=products&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction&parentKey=sealed_connectors#overview