Sugru Dash Mount For Electronics

On long trips, and even just driving around town, I like to have my mp3 player on hand.  I can't go far without my favorite podcasts like the Skeptic's Guide, StarShipSofa, and the Drabblecast to keep me busy!

In the past, the player has ended up dropped in the passenger seat, shoved in the glove box, or even on a lanyard around my neck, all to make sure it's nearby if I need to skip a track or pause it or something.  But no more!  With just a few minutes work with some sugru, I've got a mount on my dash that exactly conforms to the shape of my mp3 player. 

This project should work just as well for a phone, iPod, media player, or whatever electronics you'd like to have within easy reach while driving! 

Here's a little demonstration video with making instructions:

Step 1: Testing the Area

This should be done a day or two before starting this project. 

It's a good idea to test if the sugru will bond to your dash, as it doesn't form a permanent bond with all materials.  I had plenty of other sugru related projects going on, so during one of them I pinched off a piece and stuck it to an inconspicuous part of my car's dashboard. I checked it in a couple of days, and it was pretty hard to remove!  I'm glad I did it in an out of sight area, as it left a minor scar in the vinyl after being removed.

You may want to consider that, as if you ever remove this mount it may leave some minor scuff marks on your dashboard!  I'm not overly concerned, as my car's 13 years old and not worth that much anyway, but for those of you highfalutin folks with yer fancy new horseless carriages, this may be an issue.

Comments

[Adapaty]

Hi i like it, i just bougth my first pack of sugru, im still deciding what to do with it, its a good idea for my GPS, thnks

[depotdevoid]

Cool, post some pictures if you do!

[nobs81]

velcro is not a good thing to use when trying to do this in an area where it is constantly hot. I've been an audio installer for over ten years and everytime i used velcro it would almost always come off. There was one brand of double sided sticky tape i used to use with applying alcohol first that always did the trick.

this stuff sugru i have never used. I would be concerned if it gets hard, after a couple years of being on the dash it will really ruin it. the pic where u tested it on the underside dash makes me think this stuff wouldn't be my first choice, especially if i had a lexus or similar expensive car. to replace a piece of dash in one of these vehicles can run u hundreds of dollars. I once broke a shift knob in a merc s55 amg which set me back $900 bucks.

the best way is to fabricate a piece of small gauge metal and mount it behind a panel on the dash where u can hold it in with a screw. then use some sort of adhesive to hold it on to the bracket. I used this method hundreds of times and worked everytime.

[depotdevoid]

Good to know--fortunately for me I don't exactly drive luxury or even vaguely new automobiles!

[nobs81]

same here.
was just throwing it out there before someone goes and and tries it.

[l595902684]

(removed by author or community request)

[eydryan]

why not just use velcro? the mp3 player is light enough and it makes for easier mounting as well as usage.

[depotdevoid]

Well, I disagree that velcro would be easier for usage, but more importantly, sugru is at least 90% more awesome than velcro.

[zieak]

Velcro is to 1980 what Sugru is to 2010?

[eydryan]

useless and overpriced?

[eydryan]

it would be easier because you wouldn't have to hunt for the center point each time you clip it on. plus, I'm pretty sure this kind of usage makes sugru loose in time. also velcro would look a bit nicer when there would be nothing clipped to it, this way you get four thingies sticking out, not so nice.

not sure why sugru is so popular, it's nothing more than the silicone we've had for years. plus there are some adhesives out there that leave a much smoother finish.

but hey, to each his own, right?

PS: why didn't you make any cable clips like this http://sugru.com/blog/phone_charger_cable_tidy/ for those two cables, so you just plug them in easier

[depotdevoid]

Yeah it does look kinda cheesy without the player in place. It's actually really easy to pop it in place though, I've had no problems with that.

Sugru's big right now because it's a new form of silicone and the marketing ploy is to target folks like us. The makers of sugru teamed up with instructables.com, hence the sugru contest.

Re: cable tidy: I may do that, if I win in the sugru contest!

[Creamaster]

FYI:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-Sugru-Substitute/

[depotdevoid]

Yeah, I saw that! I'm thinking I may have to make some.

[t.rohner]

Rockbox rules... i have a e280v2 myself.

[depotdevoid]

Nice, my girlfriend has one of those, mine's an old e260v1. I hope it never dies, I love the thing.

[Spokehedz]

Awesome sauce... I now know how I am going to mount my droid to my bike to function as a bike computer.

[depotdevoid]

Bike computer!? Awesome, post some pics!

[davie1003]

Great instructable..thanx a lot... no more fumbling for the gps on an interchange

[depotdevoid]

Thanks Davie, glad you liked it!

[btucker2122]

Nice idea. One question. Wouldn't it be a little more easy to wrap the mp3 player in Saran Wrap so that you can avoid the peeling out the player issue? It would also make it a lot easier to apply more Sugru shaping, because you know that the mp3 unit isn't going to get stuck.

Just a thought.

[depotdevoid]

Thanks for the tip btucker. Projectsugru pointed that out and I've added it to step three, I wish I'd thought of it myself!

[jamwaffles]

My old MP3 player :D RockBox :'D nice instructable! Sansas really do rock - I've just bought a Fuze off eBay for another stint of RockBox.

[depotdevoid]

Thanks! I didn't know they'd ported rockbox to fuze. I know some horrible day I'll have to upgrade, maybe I'll look into that so I can stick with what I know.

[jamwaffles]

Another note I'd like to add is this: Thank god you aren't using an iPod :) for that alone you deserve an Instructables medal or something :P

[depotdevoid]

Thanks again, I'm all about stickin' it to the iPod man. Still, I've stopped recommending non-iPod mp3 players to the computer illiterate, as it always ends up with them coming back and grumping to me about how they don't understand it!

[jamwaffles]

Shame about that :( And as for RockBox... they've ported it, but on the Fuze V2 hardware (no outward appearance change) it's still a bit buggy, although progress is being made quite quickly. Take a look here: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SansaAMS for more info. The main page at RockBox shows that the version 1 Fuze is supported nicely.

Thanks,

James

P.s. have you heard of anythingbutipod.com? You might like it ;P

[depotdevoid]

Nice, thanks! I can't spend too much time on that anythingbutipod, it'll make me WANT NEW STUFF that I can't afford!

[jamwaffles]

Ha ha lol true yes :P still, it's an excellent site eh? :)

[jimg16]

I would be concerned about the player (iPod, by MY choice!!) becoming a missile in an accident.

Having had a radio fly out of its chassis when my car was rear ended prompted me to comment.

[depotdevoid]

Thanks for the comment jimg. I suppose it is possible that you could end up with the mp3 player being launched and hitting someone, but really I suspect it will be okay. the airbag is located right above it, so if everything works out right you'll get hit in the face with that instead of the player. Having been hit in the face at high speed with an airbag I know it's not very pleasant, but infinitely preferable to, say, a dashboard.

Though your comment does make me wonder . . . anything you mount on your dash like this does run the risk of being fired off at high speeds in the event of an impact. Is having anything dash mounted really safe? Have car manufacturers taken this into account with crash tests?

[roosta]

i just used sticky velcro, but nice thinking.

[riseabove]

That's really neat. I'd have a hard time making peace with the inevitable scar. I think I would have to find a spot on that dash that could be replaced. Maybe order the part ahead of time and hold it for the day I either changed gadgets, or had to sell the car.

Guess I'm a worrier. And I have the first new car I've had in 25 years. Gotta keep it pristine for awhile. Oh ... getting off topic ... that's a pretty cool solution, dude!

[depotdevoid]

Yeah, I suspect if this baby was new I'd be a bit more worried . . . it is the nicest car I've ever owned, but it's still 13 years old with 160k miles on it! Thanks for the kind comment.

[projectsugru]

Hi depotdevoid, cool hack. If wrap your mp3 player in cling film for this hack, you will be able to remove the player from the cured sugru much more easily :)

[depotdevoid]

Interesting, I hadn't considered that! I'll add that point to the instructable. Thanks for your help!

[piperjon]

I like the minimalist design of your MP3 holder over the kind that you have to jam in a vent, only to have it wobble about and distract you during trips. And get hot when you have the heater on. Brilliant! Only question, though, is your airbag behind that? Would your passenger have a new Sugru eyeball in the event of a front-end collision? Just curious. Great ible! - Pj

[depotdevoid]

Really though, wouldn't a sugru eyeball be an improvement over the original? Or maybe an mp3 player eyeball?

Thanks for the comment Pj, glad you liked it!

[bettbee]

Nice instructable! Very useful.

[depotdevoid]

Thanks Bettbee, glad you liked it!