Tablet / IPad Removeable Car Mount for $1 in 5 Minutes

I was looking for a tablet car mount that is easily removable and doesnt leave any traces on the interior. It's quite nice to use a tablet on longer trips, especially the navigation app, however i dont want to use it every day. Any commercial mount i had found took too long to remove or disturbed the design of the interior.

So heres a simple solution that anyone should be able to make in 5 minutes, and it removes itsself in 1 second completely. I have done over 600 miles with this on highways and European country roads with some agressive turns. It was holding the tablet perfectly secure and even dampned the road bumps a little - which wasnt originally intended but works really well.

Step 1: The Case

For this to work, you should already have a standard leather or plastic case for your tablet as most reasonable people do. If you don't have a case you are screwed - you will break your tablet soon so don't bother doing a mount for it. I use a case similar to this one.

Step 2: Bend It Like Banana

Next, you get a thin copper strip from your local scrapyard. If you ask for the price they will just laugh at you, which tells you its free. Then you buy some insulation tape in your colour of choice. This is where you spend your hard earned $1. Then you measure the lenght of the copper strip to the height of your tablet plus extra room for the bends. You can cut it with regular kitchen scissors or some other tools like a wire cutter.

Next you bend it somewhat as shown in this picture. The copper strip should fit around your tablet and the bottom should hold it in place. Then you add tape to the top and bottom bends. You may also tape the whole thing but you won't see the middle piece anyhow, as it goes to the back of your tablet between the case and the case cover when folded back.

Step 3: Cut Corners Like Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney cuts corners to avoid tax. You cut corners to avoid cracks. On the top end of the copper strip cut the corners as shown by the red circles ( i did this before bending but you can also cut corners after bending). This avoids damage to your car when inserting the copper strip into the gaps of your dashboard. You may want to re-tape so the edges are covered.

Step 4: Test It

The top bend is 90 degrees and should clip in the gaps of your dashboard. It should take a little force so it won't fall out easily. You can add more tape or bend the copper if it falls out too quickly. The tape protects your dashboard from scratches really well. I haven't had a single scratch yet.

Step 5: Assemble

Now you need to flip back your case cover and fiddle the copper strip through the gap that is usually left in the cover for charging the tablet. The top bend now clips into a gap on your instrument panel. As the copper strip goes through the back hole of your cover, it holds the tablet ABSOLUTELY IN PLACE, even when accelerating or doing sharp turns. The bottom bend holds the tablets weight.

Step 6: Done!

To remove it, simply pull your tablet and the copper comes strip comes with it. It is completely removed in 1 second and leaves no traces. As you can see in the video, it takes great force to remove it with one hand, however some hand had to hold the camera.