I refuse to pay $40 for a phone mount! Or how to make your own for under a $1

It's solid. It's cheap. It's easy. No I haven't tested this in MOAB. But for most of us that DD their trucks on the road, it' works great. Even did the same thing in my Miata. It's even solid in that go-cart.

Got to Lowe's (or appropriate hardware store) and get a 4" electrical box cover. In my case it was .57 cents.

Order these from Amazon. They are also solid and a great deal. Even comes with extra adhesive in case you need to move it.

Magnetic Phone Car Mount Holder,[ 2 Pack ] Universal Dashboard Car Phone Holder for iPhone Xs Max XR X 8 7 6S 6 Plus Samsung Galaxy S8 S7 S6 Note 5 6 7 Google Pixel LG and GPS, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TC1N547/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Yes this is more than $1 but the actual mount isn't.

Cut off the ends. I used a cheap HF grinder. But whatever works for you.

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Fit the piece in your truck and mark where to bend it. Bend it. Here's the test fit.

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If you want to paint it, you'll need to scuff it and primer it first to get the paint to stick. This is optional but being it's galvanized, it may rust at some point. But being in the cab that may take a long, long time.

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I ended up painting it silver with some silver paint I had already to slightly match. Looking back I probably wouldn't paint it as the paint gets scratched when reinstalling the climate control. It's a tight fit but it works. I would also round off the corners more. I will do this in the future. I used 2 #4 3/8" wood screws from Lowe's. I drilled the appropriate holes in the mount. Then used a bigger drill bit to bevel the holes. Go slow so you don't remove too much. This way the screw heads are flush with the mount. Then added a tiny bit of 3M double side tape just to be a little more secure. You can't see it but it's obviously screwed into the silver radio surround dash piece.

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Theres an even easier way to make one, and its free.
1) Open window.
2) Grab slurpee cup from holder behind shifter.
3) Chuck cup out window.
4) Drop phone in hole from where slurpee cup was taken.

 

Now, now, we shouldn't condone littering. I'm sure you meant "chuck cup into the trash".

 

I was making the assumption that you'd be doing this on one of many runs to the local landfill.

 

My truck has that little slot thing next to the auto gear selector. And that's usually where I keep it. But now it's mounted so I can use navigation on my phone. And manipulating Spotify is easier with this vs holding the phone. I have nav in my truck but it's not the greatest.
It worked so well for the Miata, I figured I'd kill an hour on a Saturday.

 

To me that looked like $50-$100 or so worth of tools
$15 or so worth of paint & primer
$10-$20 magnet
Time and effort cutting and bending
Etc

I know a cheaper way to mount your phone and it will cost $0.00 guaranteed

 

I already had the tools. Who doesn't keep this stuff in their shop already?! That grinder is $15 at HF. Useful for many things besides making phone mounts.
Already had the paint and primer. But mount it raw. Who cares. That eliminates needing the sander.
$10 for 2 mounts. Since I already did the car, had the extra.
I guess your hour is worth so much more.

 

Nah. Your time is worth just as much as mine.

Here's my phone mount...

 

I don't know if you know this, but you can use tools for more than one job. And he probably didn't use the entire can of paint, either.

 

Got one of those Scosche (?) vent things. It was less than $10, works, why re-invent the wheel?

 

I bought a "magic mount" from target for 25 bucks and i love it

 

I see a razor blade for any passengers in the truck during an accident. Driver too in a rollover. A for effort but its unsafe to me anyways.

 

Very good point.

 

That's why I'm going to redo it and round it off. I live in the south. I can't block any AC vents.

 

Wait! What!? I throw everything out when I'm done a project and buy new for the next!

 

I've never had good luck with the magnetic mounts.

Here's my mount.

Pretty simple. It does slightly block one of the a/c vents, but at least it helps keep my Samsung from exploding, lol.

Modified from some cheap-o Amazon mount, maybe $8 for the mount, and if you count the total cost of the box of 100 screws I had, another $5. Just bolted it to the switch blank and it still rotates 360 degrees. I ended up heating up and bending over the fixed side of the arm (left side in the pic) so that it wraps more securely around my phone.

It's in pretty much the ideal location where it's easily visible but doesn't block *any* windshield visibility.

 

And don’t forget the cost of the truck. That’s probably another 35-40k right there.