I want to fabricate my own mount for my Garmin NUVI, like the one available from the dealer, that mounts to the back of the tachometer in my 2004 MCS. Others have done this; can someone provide me with the specs for the screws that go into the back of the tach? TIA

 

That would be cool.

 

Take a look in the boost guage threads, they adapt those same screw to mount a pod for the guage, only thing that'll change reall is what it looks like. If I were to gothat route I'd probably get the boost guage mount and mod that to hold the Garmin.

Shameless posting of my custom mount

 

NICE photo!

 

huh, my bb with telenav fits perfectly inside my cup holder.

i just put a sheet of EZ felt in there.

 

I'd like to make my own Kuda-type that I can put way back into the lower driver-side corner of the dash. I'm tired of reattaching my suction cup, but I like where it is and that all the wires are hidden.

 

for my nuvi, I just use the suction cup mount, and mount at 3 o'clock on the speedo. That way I can still see all the needles, and it can easily be moved out of the car to another car. I don't use it every day in the MINI, so I personally did not want something as permanent.

If you mount it near the Tach, and you don't mount it high enough, it will be blocked by the steering wheel. I have the craven iPod mount, and I can't even see the screen because of the steering wheel. If I were to do it again, I would have gone a different route.

 

+1

I had mine at the top of the windscreen in the very corner but with it there and the rear view mirror it was really blocking my view. On the speedo works good as I don't really look at it all that often. Plus the passenger/navigator can watch it/fiddle with it.

 

here is a pic I just snapped, so you can see what i was talking about, the power cord just hangs down and easily plugs into the lighter socket from there.

 

I like your positioning of the Nuvi. That's where I put mine when I'm using it. I have trouble with the lighter plug though. It doesn't make a solid contact & often turns off. I'm going to do a hard wired power cord.

 

I like that 3pm on the speedo , plus "she" wont know how fast I'm going.

 

Hey Indigo, LOVE the dash and wheel cover, SWEET! What floor mats are in the pic?

 

they are coco mats. www.cocomats.com

 

I'll have to try that location with our new Nuvi. I hadn't even considered it was light enough to mount to the speedo. That is great!

 

what kind of leather wrapping is that? peacock? Ive seen it in some classic cars and such. Looks sexy!

 

03Indigo,

How can you tell how fast you are going with that mounting location? I tried that spot and could no longer see how fast I was going.

 

Maybe this will give you some ideas. I too had difficulty finding a place to mount my G nuvi 360. I wanted it high so I could see it without looking down and taking my eyes off the road so far, but I did not want it mounted to the windshield, so this was my solution. The metal arm is 1 x 1/8" aluminum, heated, twisted, bent and drilled to fit. The screws are longer versions of the originals. There are plastic spacers under the arm that the screws go through, they are about 1/2" tall.

The ball is a steel ball (started as 7/16") that I drilled, tapped and inserted a 1/4-20 thread. Unfortunately, the only steel ***** I could find were heat treated and I could not drill them, so I heated it to red hot, let it cool slowly, then it was easy to drill and tap. After I mounted the 1/4-20 screw, I mounted the ball with screw into a drill press spindle just to spin it and then used a hand drill with a sanding wheel on it and spun both so I could reduce the size evenly and smoothly so it would fit the socket on the stock Garmin holder. I hid the power and audio wires behind the arm. I also put a strip of the fuzzy side of velcro on the back and bent the arm so it had a little tension against the dash, so it would not vibrate. I tucked and hid all the wires and the power is hardwired, so there are no wires visible. It works great.

One thing I like is that it does not block anything and I can touch the screen while still holding the steering wheel. I just wish 'Austrailian Karen' could pronounce my local street names correctly, hehe.

If I ever take it out I'll get better pics. This is an easy one, so don't be afraid, just do it.

YD

Garmin Mount 1.jpg
Garmin mount 2.jpg
Garmin mount 3.jpg

 

Very nicely done.

I bet you could sell some of those to us guys who aren't as handy as you.

 

Ostrich leather in black and tan.

well, I can see the speedo up to over 110...but I dont' drive that fast. I can see up to the highway speeds just fine. I don't have it in the car while on the track, so it is not an issue.

 

Different device, but the it should work for you too.......

I've played around a lot with mounting the Roady where I can not only see it without taking my eyes "to far" off the road, but also reach it to tune/program while on the fly.

Version 1:




To handle the cord issue I mounted the aux input and a 12v power outlet in the euroshelf. Everything tucks in between the trim panel and the steering wheel housing.

Version 2 involved a film canister, some epoxy and the interior light dimming ****. It worked very well, until the summer and then the heat got to it.

I've moved onto version 3, which might be the last one. I took the new drink holder, inverted it, molested the metal loop portion and mounted up a custom bracket to hook the roady to. I like it

 

Very nice Smokey best XM install I have seen to date.

 

Very nice install. We have some very talented people here on NAM.

 

I've had good experiences with the "bean bag" mount from Garmin (have a Garmin 350). We used it on a Mini "road rally" of 186 miles this past weekend in the mountains of PA with a lot of twists and turns - never moved. Don't have to worry about the tell-tale suction mark on the windshield that thieves look for and is easy to move from car to car, if need be. Thought I'd put my two cents in!

Chris
Dovermini

 

Now where is that blushing smilie Thanks Jeff.

If wanted, I've got some additional/more detailed shots of the build on the home computer I can post up tomorrow???