Dashboard Disk Mount for GPS and other suction cup devices

California and Minnesota have this big bummer of a law that states that no one can drive with anything hanging off of their windshield. I finally got tired of looking down near my gearshift for my GPS map, and decided to get a dash mount.

Unfortunately, it's $20 wherever I look for a decent beanbag mount. Ridiculous! Garmin sells disk mounts for their products and many reputable dealers include dash mounts now. But what if you need a dashboard mount for your old GPS? Well it's pretty easy and cheap to make one.

Required Materials:

Smooth, flat plastic or something surface (if it's not absolutely smooth, your suction cup won't mount to it!)
I used a cd case. You can use a jar lid.

Double sided mounting tape

Scissors

Permanent Marker

Step 1: Get the appropriate materials

Your disk needs to be made of a relatively sturdy plastic. I used a CD case that I had lying around. The outside of the plastic was smooth. The inside of the cover was slightly rough and not conducive to suction. Therefore the rough side was the one I placed adhesive on! However, both sides should be as smooth as possible (the adhesive sticks better in my experience) so I ended up supergluing two disks together so both sides were smooth.
Obviously you'll want to try the suction mount before using the plastic.

Your scissors need to be pretty strong.

Ditto with the adhesive tape.

Comments

[GorillazMiko]

Cool instructable, but I didn't know that in California (where I live) that it is against the law to have things hanging from your windshield...

[bpfh]

It's no longer illegal in California :

Check out section 12 from the California DMV (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm) :

"A portable Global Positioning System (GPS), which may be mounted in a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or in a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest to the driver and outside of an airbag deployment zone, if the system is used only for door-to-door navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated"

[infection0]

here's a page from the garmin website

[scott1202]

I love the idea of putting a GPS in our vehicle, thank you for sharing and GPS reviews, have a great day! Cheap car gps

[Bobblob]

I wanted a quick, cheap and convenient way to mount my GPS too.

I found a small space where the top of the dashboard and the front of the dashboard meet.  All vehicles are different so you must be creative to find a mounting place in your application but no glue or tape needed with this.

I bought  a piece of .125 inch thick Acrylic plastic sheet cut to size and bent a lip with a low heat torch.   Suction is great and slips in and out easily.

My windshield is several feet away so this brings it closer to me yet is just below the windshield/roof line and maintains good Satellite connection.

[hunkydorry]

 I used the sticky back velcro.  When I leave the car, I remove my gps and replace it with a little bobble head dog that also has velcro on the bottom.  That way anyone looking in doesn't realize that something is missing from the dash.   As far as removing sticky goo from your dash, there is a product out there called goo gone.  It removes labels from bottles and things so it might work for your dash as well.  But I would read the instructions carefully first in case it could cause discoloration.  But before buying goo gone, try WD-40.  that stuff does a multitude of things.

[zozzles]

Oh well... written by someone who apparently doesn't know how unbelievably hot a dashboard (or car interior) usually gets... I haven't seen any double-sided tape whose adhesive hasn't turned into sticky NON-adhesive goo after a month or so after being cooked in this manner. Worse yet, the goo is often difficult to remove from the dashboard!

[Amnesia Wes]

When I park my car and take off the GPS, I just drape a towel across the dash like I'm trying to protect the dash from the sun. It hides everything without making it look too obvious.

[clanger]

I DRIVE A FORD TRANSIT VAN AND STICK MY SAT NAV TO THE DASH BOARD GLASS SO ITS MOUNTED IN LINE WITH ALL THE DIALS BUT ONLY OBSCURES THE OIL PRESSURE GUAGE WHICH I NEVER LOOK AT MUCH . IT WORKS WELL IS OUT OF SIGHT AND CAN EASILY BE VIEWED THROUGH STEERING WHEEL,I ALSO MADE A BLACK CARDBOARD BOX TO SLIP OVER IT TO MAKE IT INVISIBLE FROM OUT SIDE WHEN IAM NOT IN, VAN WORKS WELL

[infection0]

interesting. I think i'll take a look at that option :)

[NE-Phil]

Great instructable. Simple to make and cheap, too. But keep in mind that a GPS is one of the most stolen items out there. Most of the bad guys see the windshield or dashboard disk mounts on a parked car even if the driver remembers to hide the GPS itself. Or, if you hide the windshield mount, they can see the ring left on the windshield. All are invitations for them to break in. That's why I bit the bullet and bought the beanbag. When I'm parked, I can hide the whole setup in the console. No reason to break in!

[infection0]

good idea phil, I think I'll start placing something like a CD on top of my disk when I leave my car!

[infection0]

BTW, this is where I got the idea for my first instructable...BTW, this is where I got the idea for my first instructable...