Dash RAM Mount Phone Holder

Hi, New member here. Just bought a 2013 MGM Offroad about a month ago and needed someplace to mount my phone which I also use for navigation when on my expedition and four-wheeling trips (Gaia GPS is the app I use). I had just come from a 97 land cruiser that I had made a mount for and was pretty adamant about keeping it in the same location as it had been on the 80. Some of my criteria was that since I'm right handed it needed to be accessible from the right side, it also couldn't be above any part of the windshield that isn't already obstructed by the hood, and it also needed to stay clear of any vents and not limit access to the stereo... or anything else for that matter. Lastly, if the RAM Mount is removed entirely I didn't want any obvious evidence that something was missing or anything unsightly remaining.... so I came up with this fairly simple method for mounting it onto the bezel of the stereo.

I had searched the internet and local hardware stores for the special kind of bolt or nutzert I was wanting but came up empty so I thought I'd attempt to make it myself. I picked up a 1/2" course thread stainless steel alan head bolt. First thing I did was drill a 13/64" hole straight down the middle of the bolt. In all honesty this was probably the hardest part of this project... trying to keep the hole centered all the way through. It started off centered well enough and by the time it went through the back it was only off centered a hair... didn't make any difference in the end result however. I then threaded the hole with a 1/4"-20 tap.

Next task was to get rid of the head and turn it down to something a bit more low key. I don't own a lathe but I do own a drill. So I placed the threaded part of the bolt into the chuck, placed the drill in my vice to hold it and wrapped a wire tie around the trigger to keep it spinning. Then I took my grinder with a cut off wheel and took off all of the head except of about 3/16 or so. I then tapered down the edges while it was still spinning. Next I put on my sanding disk and smoothed the head down till the course cut wasn't visible anymore. Lastly I took my polisher and some rubbing compound and shined it up.






Now for the nerve racking part. Remove the stereo and bezel. I picked the spot on the bezel that says "compact disc" or something like that in the upper left corner. I placed the head over that decal and marked the center of the drill hole so when the bolt is finally installed it'll cover up any remnants of the decal. Then I drilled out the hole... starting with a small 1/8" bit and working my way up in size as to not damage or crack the plastic. made it to 1/2' hole without any issues.





In order to get the large 1/2" nut to fit back there I had to grind down the bottom half of the nut and cut away at some of the plastic gussets on the back,




The next step I did was probably the second tricky part and I really didn't take a good pick of it but I got some thin steel plate... unfortunately I don't know what gauge it was, maybe 22 or something around there... still but easy enough to bend and shape with your hand. I drilled a 1/2' hole in it then cut and shaped it to fit behind the plastic bezel to help stiffen it up a bit. I used some liquid rubber to secure it to the plastic but I might just use JB weld if I were to do it again.



After that's in and the nut is on and tightened up (I used locktite on the threads too) I scuffed everything up with my grinding disc to provide some bite for the JB weld to grab on to.... then I smeared the goop all over and let it dry.



That's it! mounted the stereo back up and couldn't be happier with it, even turned out better than the one I did on my Land Cruiser.

Before:

After:



1" Ball mount (RAM-B-237U):



Arm (RAP-B-201U) and "phone mount" (RAM-B-202U) with an integrated quad lock system stuck and screwed on. I put some felt on it to give it a really snug fit. I plan on replacing it with one that's black and in the middle to help with aesthetics. (http://www.quadlockcase.com/products/quad-lock-st-adhesive-mount-twin-pack):




and the phone.... I'm currently using a 128gb iPhone 6:






This is what the back of my phone looks like. I purchase the quad lock universal adapter (http://www.quadlockcase.com/products/universal-adapter) and use the otter box defender style case. I use this case because it has the hard plastic inner shell that the quad lock adapter can stick to. I just cut away the soft exterior of the otter box and stuck the adapter on there. This mount has now been stuck on this particular phone for over 2 years now with no signs of coming off, its as solid as the day I stuck it on there. (for the keen eye this is my wife's iPhone 5s which was my old phone until 2 months ago)
This mount also works fantastic on my mnt bike and an arm band for jogging.

 

Damn! Those are some great backwoods machining skills. Never would have thought to use the drill like that.

Good work and welcome!

 

Thank you very much sir! It's amazing what one can come up with in a pinch. I'm sure that little trick might come in handy again sometime.

 

Most drills have a button or switch that you can push to lock the trigger; no idea about that model.

 

No lock on this drill, just a cheap Ryobi... has actually served me pretty well the last 8 years though. My dewalt has a lock but I didn't feel like squeezing that it my vice lol

 

It's a bit of a bump here, but I have the after market single din metra radio kit and I was looking to do something very similar, although way more off the shelf...to mount my 6s. I am sick of sliding it into the opening in the radio...

I am going to see if I can surface mount something that will hold a phone holder instead of the permanent clip mounted to the back of the case...
Very impressive job here!

 

Yeah... I tried the CD insert mount first and hated it right away. This is by far my favorite mod to the Tacoma yet.

Have you looked at this option?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mod-a-pillar-ram-mount-gps-phone-holder.372250/

It looks pretty simple to do and gets the phone out of the way while also providing a secure mount... my only issue with this method was it's on the left and I really wanted something accessible with my right hand.