Best Place To Mount a GPS

[rons8888]

I take it those of you mounting the GPS above the mirror are not having any summer heat problems when you leave it in a parked car?

[saaFJ]

I have mine mounted on the windshield and have the power hardwired to the fuse box using a fuse tap and tapped into a ignition keyed fuse so the power kills. I connected the GPS by purchasing a 12v outlet and used the the supplied power cord that come with the GPS. After removing the instrument cluster by popping off the back cover and removing the two nuts which hold it to the dash, I ran a line through the hole in the dash down from the top to the fuse box and then pulled the GPS power cord up through the hole. Using a dremmel I ground a hole on the back, inside, of the instrument cluster just big enough for the power cord to fit through. If anyone has any questions PM me.

here is my gps (TOMTOM) mount.
i didnt like it mounted on the winshield, as it was too far away for easy access and touchscreen entry, plus when charging the wire would drape over the dash. i also didnt want to put it on the dash as, for me, it cluttered the view and seemed a little too obstructive. i elected to use the front driver side cup holder. i removed the rubber insert and placed the adhesive disc into it. i use the tomtom goose neck mount and it works perfectly. the mount is made in germany and is of excellent quality. it has a suction cup and suction lever for strong suction. i zip tied the charger cable to the exact length to the cigaratte lighter port, which prevents the long cable from becoming a hassle when in use. the goosneck is adjustable to any angle, i have it perfect for data entry. i set up the tom tom for voice entry of both addresses and for calling people using the bluetooth feature and therefore is truly hands free. i dont really look at the screen while driving as the voice prompts are adequate to get me where im going. when valet parking i just remove the tomtom and slip it into back of the passenger seat's compartment. its really a great solution for those who dont want to have a complete in dash stereo/nav installed. i can remove the goose neck mount with just a flip of the lever to release the suction, then the rubber insert goes back in (over the thin adhesive disc) and you wouldnt know it was there.

[pa-juggalo]

[LandCruiserSteve]

pa-juggalo previously said:

Now, that's a nice clean install.

How is it attached??


(BTW, next time smile when you're in your own pics. )

[TennesseeSquire]

pa-juggalo previously said:

x2, nice install

[tukes mountain man]

Here's where I mounted mine......Using a ram mount...

[razzamanaz]

X3.......

Pa, How did you do this? Is the reception quick?

[Psychlone]

Here's where I put my TomTom, a pretty obvious position to mount a small gps. It's perfect to see and operate, it's out of the worst sunlight and can not immediately be seen from outside. I have not had any problems acquiring satellite connections from this position either.


The OEM TomTom mounting leaves all the cables lying around. The holder I got from Carcomm (CNM-167) takes care of both the power, computer connection, audio, and TMS antenna for traffic messaging.


Getting the cables out of the way required a little bit of drilling but that's all.


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Then on the right-hand side of the dashboard I have an offroad navigation setup based on a scavenged Thinkpad X40. Below it is shown running Google Earth full-screen. The plate is aluminum bent to spec at a metal workshop.


On the right side I put in three USB ports for keyboard and memory sticks. There is a red on/off button that very quickly takes the PC in or out of sleep mode.


When I want to use the keyboard to set up the system I just plug in a small Thinkpad keyboard to one of the USB ports and off you go. The Thinkpad TrackPoint is brilliant to use even when driving on rough terrain where it is absolutely impossible to use a touchpad or mouse.


View from the driver's side. The wires are run behind the dash. This includes the powersupply that goes to the 2nd battery, the gps antenna that goes up into the front window frame, and the audio aux connection so I can play MP3s over the FJammer. On the door you can see I've stuck the keyboard pouch so its out of the way when it's not used.


(The above is just abbreviated from the "build thread" I posted here)

[smurph]

NH_Joe previously said:

I saw Steve's original post about mounting his GPS to his rearview mirror and it inspired me to mount my nuvi 650 in the same place. I basically did some dremel and drill work on the nuvi suction cup mount and piggybacked it on the existing mirror mount with some longer bolts from Home Depot.

I cut the cigarette lighter plug off the power cord and hard wired the nuvi to the unused connector in the driver's side a-pillar. That connector provides ignition switched power and ground, so the nuvi starts up and shuts down with the car.

This is a great setup - it's out of the way but easily visible and within (my) reach. The amazing thing is that the reception is still great with just the built-in antenna on the nuvi!

Some photos:

Looks great! I was going to order some Ram Mounts and a seperate cradle but after seeing what you did, i'm gonna tear into the suction mount tomorrow and do what you did. I'll have to get more info on the power supply in the A pillar.

Good job!