Homemade iPhone car mount

I wanted my phone where I could easily reference it as a GPS, as well as to check album artwork while listening to music. I didn't want something ugly that would mount to my windshield or come out of a cup holder on the other side of my driver's wheel, or buy some custom thing fitted to my air vents.

I originally thought I might be able to find a double suction cup to stick the glass of my iPhone 4 to the display in my Yaris. When I couldn't find anything right, I imagined mounting one of those spacer adapters run underneath the display to cover it.

Once I got them, I realized that I could shove one right into my CD player, and could easily install it and remove it with no damage. It's pretty sturdy, though the first couple of drives over big bumps, the phone would go flying, which is no good. Also, the charging cable doesn't fit quite right into the adapter hole, since those things are made for docks, not standalone cables. So I opened the hole a bit more and attached the cable to it, so it'd be a nice sturdy piece that can be installed and removed in seconds, and keep the phone from flying out.

You will need:
• Dock adapter
• Sugru
• Exacto knife & fresh blade
• iPhone
• USB car charging cable
• a car (preferably with a CD player)

Step 1 The dock adapter

First, you need to get a dock adapter that fits your phone. If you have an Apple iPhone, you're in luck! I used the Apple iPhone 4 Universal Dock Adapter 3-Pack from the online Apple store which cost $9. It comes with 3, which is a good thing if you mess this up, or want to make more.

Next, if you want to make your car USB charger fit more snuggly in this adapter, you'll need to trim the opening a bit.

I just took a fresh Exacto knife and carved out the inside of the hole. It's pretty soft plastic, and you can just carve away at it, while checking to see when the charging cable actually fits inside. Took me a total of 5 minutes.

Comments

[projectsugru]

I love this, it's a very clever way to mount an iPhone in your car. I think I would bond the holder to the dash with sugru as well so it doesn't fall. Oh, and have you seen this sugru cable tidy ?... could be perfect to manage your cable :)