Since my GPS appears in a picture I posted on another question I just asked, I thought I'd see what brilliant ideas might be out there for mounting a standalone GPS in the 2011. I don't want mine on the windshield, but rather I like to permanently-ish leave it lower on the dash. I don't want to ruin the look of the dash either by having extra crap on it either. This is turning out to be problematic to the point I almost wish I had forked over the extra $1500 for the factory unit. Almost!

Right now it's press-fit into the partially open lower cupholder and the wiring hidden behind the dash where I have a 12V outlet wired into an upfitter switch (see picture below).

I am wondering if there might be a way to mount the GPS on the silver vent to the right of the steering wheel, and run the wire down behind the dash from there.

Has anyone come up with the bestest idea ever on this?

 

It is really a matter of personal preference. Personally, I would remove the 12v power plug above your finger and make a bracket to hold the gps in front of it. You could then plug the gps into that 12v outlet. I would try to use the right size hole saw on a thin piece of metal and put it between the outer lip of the cigarette lighter and the plastic it is mounted in. It might take some playing around with to get it right, but that is one of the few other options I see.

 

The truck in this pic is my GMC. I made a block of wood with a compound angle on the front to fit in one of the cubby holes in the dash. I am thinking about doing the same idea with the small cubby you mentioned in the other post.

 

Sorry, I can't resist. No mounting problems at all with my navigation unit. It's right where Ford put it for me in the middle of the dash in plain sight! LOL

 

I have a wide screen garmin mounted with a Ram mounting system. It keeps the Garim near the top of the dash but not above the visibility line to the road. It angles towards my face and is close to touch the screen,close to the wheel and doesn't block any vents. When I traded from my 08 the adhesive base came off easy but it never fails in the summer sun with the weight of the GPS mounted.
I don't like GPS's low or in the middle like OEM installs. I don't like taking my eyes off the road and looking down much. I should figure out how to post a pic so I can start posting them.
Ram mounts are strong and don't more around when pressing the screen like other mounts including Garmin OEM stuff. I have them on my Snowmachines as well. I can't see the Ram at all when it's installed and its very easy to remove or change view. I have so many customers,route points,Favorites,etc. that I need to take it in the house and work on the mapping in the pc,edit names,etc. find new places,make routes then send them into the Garmin. I can take it as well when I travel with other vechiles..

 

If you manage to get a picture of your setup it would be neat to see.

Like you, I prefer the portability as well as the quality of the Garmin. I often set complex routes up while in the house using desktop software or just sitting there with the Garmin. I also find this is a technology that keeps improving in leaps and bound so I generally use these things for 2-3 years then move on to the next improvement. I wanted to keep that flexibility. Garmin and TomTom both get high marks for their routing engines, and I happen to prefer the Garmin product. I'm in the surveying/mapping/charting business so I tend to have a low tolerance for bad maps, lousy routing and crappy map interfaces, so decided to stay with the tried and true at a good price.Time will tell is this was a good move!

 

I have mine in the upper left corner of the windshield, with the wire ran behind the pillar. I installed a dual outlet accessory outlet under the steering column panel, that is hooked to the run circuit. My GPS and my blue underdash lighting plug in there. When I shut the truck off both power off. And it's easy to see there without taking your eyes off the road! I towed a car last week, and the owner told me he was looking at the GPS on his phone when he crashed.

 

I'm with you on that but age and vision means I can't read the screen looking straight ahead. So in my truck having it down low means only moving my eyes to "see" the screen.


Same with me. My Garmin 478 goes from the truck, to the motorcycle to the boat. My particular unit has a marine mode and on my little Whaler I have the bottom sounder hooked up. It also travels with me wherever I go, never bother with rental car navigation units. I prefer my Garmin over the nav unit in my wife's Lincoln.

I have only upgraded once so far, from the Garmin 276 to the current 478. I really like the way the 478 operates - except for entering addresses. You have to scroll the alphabet for each letter, and it doesn't auto complete the spelling.

I think MapSource is a weak point with the Garmin. When I set up a route, especially for some exciting motorcycle rides in the mountains of NC & TN I typically look for places to go on MS Streets & Trips and then try and find the same roads on Map Source. One particular quirk with Map Source is that when you update maps it is not exactly seamless between the GPS and the map program. And if they don't match, your routes will not work correctly when downloaded.

I find that Map Source just isn't "graphically" pleasing.

Its my understanding that the new Ford nav units are based on the Garmin engine, is this correct.

 

I use Mapsoure alot and it has gotten pretty good lately. I've tried alot others but always go back to MS. Especially now that MS is Nuvi friendly.
If you have problems with routes after new maps or changes do a recaluate to them in MS and or Nuvi or your GPS and you will be all set until the next Map updates.
I have about 400 plus customers and other things I manage now in MS.Phone numbers,etc. I use the catagories for levels of active customers or family,business suppliers,etc. Other then haveing recaluating routes after a build or new maps I don't have any issues. From what I've read Garmin is still the best all around.

Yes I too hate just hate to move just my eyes off the road down to a GPS. Not in Boston traffic you don't. I keep one eye on the gps and one on the road by having it up high.

 

I have turned off the backlight on occasion and just used voice prompts. Sometimes I think the audio is better, especially when a lot of turns are involved.

 

I gave my TomTom to my wife and use the SYNC service with my iPhone. It's great.

 

Last night I popped out that cubby and attached some velcro to the inside upper surface, and attached a Garmin mounting disk to it using the other piece of velcro. My thinking was the Garmin ball-mount would attach, pointing down, and I'd clip on my Nuvi from there. All great theory but in reality the Nuvi couldn't be angled up enough toward the driver.

So on to my next idea. Someone mentioned using the 12V outlet to create a mount. Since I don't have any old 12V plugs lying around I just removed the cover and stuck the same piece of velcro and the mounting disk over the 12V port! I don't know if it will even hold for the night but when I have more time tomorrow I'll take it for a spin. My initial impression is that it's a great spot. If it looks promising I'll get a bigger piece of velcro, cut a hole in it so I could remove the Garmin mounting disk and access the 12V source in a pinch. Otherwise I rarely need it that 12V outlet, and could use one of the other four I have available.

 

I finally came up with a GPS mounting solution I'm happy with, thanks to the discussions here. I found a 12V plug that was the right size and had a bit of a flat spot on top so I used Goop to affix a Garmin mounting disk to it, plugged the thing in to the 12V port nearest the driver and attached my GPS to the top of it. So far it is working well and is in a great spot:

 

Any chance you can post pics of your mounting and plug from the backside? I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Thanks!

 

Here's one shot from the side, but I don't think it will have the detail. I'll take another picture of it when I get home tonight.