I'll apologize for the length first. The truck in question is an '01 Limited 2WD V-10. I recently acquired a Magellan Roadmate 1220 basic GPS ($46.00 shipped!) to serve my occasional needs. I hate cords and goofy mounting solutions, and am trying to devise an elegant mounting/power solution while preserving the ability to pop the unit off for theft prevention. This would be visually unobtrusive.

I am almost 7 feet tall and as a consequence, when driving my direct field of vision is, of course, through the upper part of the windshield. Lowering the sun visors on either side blocks a significant portion of my vision. I have thought about this a lot, looked at all types of mounting hardware and have found nothing that I see will help the mounting dilemma so I am considering the following since it will be very close to where my normal line of sight is.

I plan on using an ordinary cheapo metal bookend which is basically just an L shaped piece of metal that is fairly stiff. I would slide the base, longer portion underneath the headliner where it meets the windshield area. This would be relatively snug, but could easily be removed leaving no sign that it had been there, hopefully. That would leave the vertical portion of the bookend pointing down just above and behind the rear-view mirror which is almost my eye level. The GPS could then be attached with 3M High Bond Double Stick or possibly 3M Dual Lock, but this may be too strong.

These operate on 5V, so 12V power from anyplace in the car must be stepped down before going to the GPS. There is a hardwire cable available with a voltage regulator already installed inline so this seems the simplest to go with. I was hoping that I could get into the overhead console and tap into a wire there which is not "always hot", but is powered when the engine starts. That way, the unit would not draw current unless you were driving. The wire could exit the overhead console at the frontmost part near the windshield, then down the back of the bookend to the bottom of the GPS where the mini-USB port is located.

How do I drop the console and which wire would be the best to T-tap into as described above? Is there room in the console for the small, relatively flat regulator? Does this seem to be a reasonable plan? Please share any advice. Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome budrn....

no pics in your post.... but have you considered the simple bean bag mount ?

if this is your first gps, I might caution you on permanent mounts,
if you are like me (and a lot of others ) the first gps is just a spring board to many more as you upgrade to newer features, newer units...

in lite of that, I use the beanbag in both our vehicles with success because I didn't want a permanent mount...

although normally to the right of the steering wheel, it's easy to shift around to where I like it..

and typically before I get to a destination, I will drop it to the floor right under the edge of the seat where it is mostly hidden....
good luck...

 

I hard wired my GPS to my overhead console. My unit is a garmin which runs on a mini usb power source. To step down the power to 5.1 volts (usb power) garmin built a small board into the cigarette lighter power adapter. I removed the board along with the power wires and spliced it into the rear vent window switches. Since they are hot with the ignition the GPS goes on and off with the ignition switch. The wires run out of the headliner with the wires to the rear view mirror. Very clean looking. I used the garmin suction cup mount just above the mirrior and it looks great, is out of the way but still in view for use. Since the mount is attached to the dark visor portion of the glass it can hardly be seen from outside the truck.

 

Thanks JD, but anything sitting on my dash or suctioning to the windshield is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I hope I explained it well enough in the original post, but this would not be permanent. If you got a new GPS. you'd just have to install the mounting tape on the back and it would stick the same as the old one. If you sold the truck and wanted to remove it, all you'd need to do would be slide the bookend out from underneath the headliner, and stuff the wire back into the O/H console. No cords anywhere, no stickies on the dash or windshield.

 

k !

I see your idea of the L shaped metal mount now...

good idea ! I may try that too since that is where my audio cable to run back to rear dvd is stored too
and installing a 12v adapter may not be hard there either....

Yes - that's the ticket ! pushing the metal thru a gap between panels....
have seen that when pushed thru dash panels and when pulled out - no traces !

 

You need to look at these mounts by Kuda, they are a bit pricey but are really cool!

kudausa - KUDA car custom color leather mounts for mobile electronics

 

Project is finished, with a total investment of $12.00. Had the mini bookend lying around. $5.72 for 3M 06480 Hook&Loop fastener tape,and $6.48 for a cigarette lighter receptacle. Dropped overhead console, (1 bolt, 2 clips) and T-ed off of rear vent switch wire (so on in Acc/Power key position), to new lighter receptacle. Plugged original GPS charging cord with voltage regulator into it and ran wire down RVM wire cover to GPS. There was plenty of room inside O/H compartment for all this. Bookend was slightly longer than I had hoped, but is okay as I get used to seeing it.





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