I am trying to figure the best place to mount my Garmin GSP. I like the look of the kunda mount but am a little scared it will be a theft magnet. I am thinking of this persons vent mount since I can remove it and leave no sign of the gps in the car. http://www.miniacal.com/garmin_mount/ I was also thing of making something to hand the gps from the rear view mirror. Does any on know if there is a way to tap into some power in the little over head pannel I dont want the cable to have to drape down to the cig outlet.

 

I went with the dash pad (I'm not sure what it's called) and it was made by Garmin. It's like a small bean bag for my nuvi. It doesn't move at all even the way I drive. I set it on the left corner of the dash and run the power cord over by the door and down hiding it to the cig lighter. When not in the car I just unplug the gps and hide or take it with me. The only thing left on the dash is about 3 or 4 inches of the power cord and you can poke that into the vent hole.

 

+1 for the beanbag mount. It's simple to switch between cars and to pack up when you fly off elsewhere and need a rental car. Since I rarely keep a car more than a year or two, I'm not one for tearing the dashboard apart to make a "clean" install.

 

I have the KUDA, sorry no pics handy. I haven't had any issues and most of the time I keep the GPS stowed away. Most people that I've talked to think it's factory, especially since I have the wire coming up into the mount and then out of a hole I dremeled in the face. It's all very clean.

That coat hanger mount is pretty slick though.

 

I came up with this version of the coat hanger mount.

 

Since these things have become so cheap and everyone has one, are they still a theft target?

We keep one in my wife's Audi on the beanbag mount in the center of the dash, she just throws a baseball cap over it, but mostly to keep the sun off it when she's parked........

I keep mine in my Cooper all the time, and in plain site, although if I park in a "questionable area" I take it off the mount and toss it in the door pocket......

 

I wish I knew the answer to the theft quesiton. I would really like to get a real mount for the car.

 

it all depends where you park. but for me, i don't think i would take the risk of my windows getting smashed just so they can get a GPS unit. it's happened to my friend recently.

 

I suggest you consider mounting your Garmin on the speedometer face using the Garmin suction mount. If mounted on the upper right side, you cover only the higher (illegal?) speed numbers. It's easy to see and easy to program in that location. And, mounted that way you can easily remove it when not actually using it and it doesn't have the permanent mount showing which is a giveaway that you probably have a GPS in the glove box. I admit I'm probably paranoid about bad guys breaking in. You might want to at least give this mounting method a try ... and I've never had a problem with it falling off.

 

how do you find the glass on the spedometer if you suction your GPS unit to it. is it pretty solid? ie., no creaking and/or give in any way. the reason i ask is that i wonder if over time, the constant pressing on the glass to get the suction on well, may loosen the glass.

i don't have a mini yet, but am picking one up this weekend and was wondering where i could put a GPS unit.

 

I use the suction cup on my TOMTOM and suction it to that giant speedometer in the middle of the dashboard. I get a good view of it, plus there isn't a new blind spot in the windshield.

 

I have the KUDA mount and the windows are dark tinted. It is difficult to see from the outside and with a sunscreen, it is not visible. With the wire hidden it is almost impossible to see. I am into neatness and looks. It is very easy to mount and I take the GPS with me when I exit the vehicle. Only my preference.

 

Consider the CravenSpeed mount for a Garmin or TomTom. It mounts with a removable bracket behind the tach. The GPS arm can then be rotated for a variety of placements outside the steering wheel or dropped down into a position near where the factory nuvi is mounted and viewed between the steering wheel spokes. When the GPS is removed most people would not recognize it as a GPS mount, especially in the down position.

This mount is solid and I like the look and flexibility. It is easily reversible to mount the GPS on the other side of the wheel. It is also totally removable.

 

Interesting how hard is to adjust the position(do you need tools?). It looks like it would be far more steathly that the kuda.

 

I have the CravenSpeed mount and it is real nice. When I don't have the GPS mounted it looks loike a very small bar sticking out of the side of the tach with no indication it is for mounting a GPS

 

The adjustment of the arm is done with an allen head bolt, but I can move it up or down a number of times (weeks/months) before it gets loose. I'm thinking of getting a thumb screw to replace the allen bolt, but it is working form me the way it is.

I think the mount looks OEM with or without the GPS mounted.

I also upgraded to the "W" bracket which has mounting locations on both sides of the tach. That way I can switch the GPS location to the other side of the steering wheel when I have a co-pilot. You can do it with the bracket that is sold with the mount but you have to reverse the bracket each time.

 

how do you find the glass on the spedometer if you suction your GPS unit to it. is it pretty solid? ie., no creaking and/or give in any way. the reason i ask is that i wonder if over time, the constant pressing on the glass to get the suction on well, may loosen the glass.


The speedometer glass is solid, no creaking or "give" I can't say that the glass would NEVER loosen, but it's quite solid and frankly I don't see that happening. I've found that when people get a GPS for the first time, there's a tendency to have it on all the time to watch the moving map display. After a while that gets boring and most find that they mount the GPS only when you actually use it.

 

I have mine on all the time. It is my music player and bluetooth phone mic/speaker. I have it tucked in the down position most of the time because I don't need to watch it all the time.

 

I went from the suction cup on the speedo mount to the Kuda mount with hidden cabling.

One of the nice things about the Kuda mount is that I can hit the screen without taking my right hand off the steering wheel.

And when I park, I throw a baseball cap over the thing to cover it. The next step after that is to take the GPS off and stuff it in the glove box or under the seat (with the baseball cap over the mount).

 

The Craven mount is stealthy as all get out. I park on the streets in DC, and leaving anything in sight is a sure way to have someone move it out of sight for you. I have the MSN antenna/charger as well, and I've been able to run the wire pretty much completely out of sight.

The one problem with the Craven arm is that it is a little too long for the widescreen Garmin (4.5", or whatever it is). No matter how I adjust it, part of the screen is always out of view behind the steering wheel.

 

any pictures? also where did you run the wire. My coat hanger works well but with it setting on left side it gets a little wet when its raining and I open the door. Also there is no place large enough in the glove box or hidden box to keep the gps with the mount with out taking it apart not a big deal but kind of a pain.

 

I will try to take some pix. I did not notice I was in the 2nd Gen forum until after I posted. Mine is a 2004 MCS, so my experience may not be real helpful to you. Let me know if you'd still like to see it on the older model. I don't know the center stack on the 2nd Gen well enough to say if what I did carries over.

 

Never mind. It looks as though the kits are quite different.

http://www.cravenspeed.com/index.php..._slug=nuvi_kit

I don't think my experience will help you.

 

I'm not sure that I'm reading this right, but I wish the arm was about a 1/2" longer to bring the wide screen GPS units out at bit more from behind the steering wheel. If I had a GPS that had a more square shaped screen it would sit in total view.

Still, I think the CravenSpeed mount is great. Just a slight turn of the head brings the corner of the GPS screen into view. On my unit the corners of the screen are used for zooming, or menu access and not for important visual information.

 

It looks like there are extention arms. http://www.cravenspeed.com/index.php?productID=111
I think I am going to get the Craven Speed and give it a try.