DIY RAM Track Dash Mount

I got sick of my phone falling off and smacking my knee using magnetic mounts and wanted to get rid of the metal plate so I could use wireless charging so I made this dash mount for my truck over the holidays, thought I'd share. I think the actual mount ended up around $20. With the extra RAM pieces and phone mount I came out closer to $80, but $45 of that was the phone holder.

I ordered most of my RAM pieces from GPSCity and they were great to work with (had to make some cancellations and returns as a lot more RAM pieces were purchased during this project) but for some reason they say these tracks won't be in stock until Feb. 2020. So I got the track from The Mount Depot.

There are several RAM tracks that would work, including the popular one included in TTM. I chose this one because all hardware is hidden and it allows for placement along the entire length of the rail. The RAM track with screws along the edge, that is the lowest profile RAM track, WILL NOT fit due to being too wide (ask me how I know).


Parts
16" RAM Composite Tough Track
Cheap cutting board
3" L brackets
8-32x1 Pan Head x4 (black)
8-32x1.25 Pan Head x4 (black)

Optional
RAM Track Ball
RAM Mount with Octagon Button and 1" Socket
ProClip Adjustable Holder for iPhone 11 Pro Max with Rugged Case

First step was laying some masking tape across the bezel and dash then marking some lines to help with lining up the support screws. Sorry I don't have photos, but I drew vertical lines approximately where I expected to find the radio mounting bolts (which are just outside edges of the radio). You can see these lines in the photos further down (the black lines). I then used a razor to cut the tape down the seam of bezel.

Next I removed the bezel and cut the plastic spacer. (Forgive the messy work area, it's all cleaned up now).



I painted the cutting board piece with some vinyl and plastic dye I had from a recent tweeter sail panel project, but it doesn't matter because it's not visible.

Sorry I didn't get great pictures of this part but hoping the result picture will show my point. I held up the L brackets to the top two radio bolts and trimmed then drilled so they'd fit in the slot and match the height of the bottom of the bezel. Then I trimmed to approximate length the bezel would allow. I also marked the masking tape on the dash with the center line of the bracket (silver lines).

Once I was able to snap the bezel on, I extended the lines from my dash tape to the bezel tape and drilled through the bezel until my drill bit hit and marked the L brackets. I then pulled everything back apart, and drilled and tapped mounting holes in the L brackets.





After that I took the bezel back and matched it up with the RAM track and to drill mounting holes for the track and I had ream out the area where bolts mount to my support brackets as those didn't line up with mounting holes. You can see that I made a mistake on one end and had the track flipped upside down.



Luckily the positions of the notches are pretty much covered by RAM balls in most mounting scenarios I foresee. If I had used sheet metal screws to mount the track to the bezel instead of machine screws I probably could've avoided these holes. But the holes were already drilled by the time it occurred to me.

Final product -







I currently only have my phone mounted, I had purchased an iPad mount but my 10" iPad with case is realistically too heavy. For what it's worth, it was the RAM connectors which had to be added to put it at a reasonable viewing angle that added leverage and created vibration with the heavy tablet, the track was solid.

 

Great minds.... I've done the same thing in mine. It has worked and held up great for over a year now. I know there are some companies making similar, but I couldn't stomach the cost when that track was $15. Nice work and enjoy

 

Look great OP, thanks for the info!!! I’m looking to make something like this as well, do you have more pictures of the diy?

 

Unfortunately this is all I got, if you have any questions I’d be glad to answer though.

The biggest thing I’d do different is to use sheet metal screws to hold the track to the bezel. Then I could remove the track and bezel separately and wouldn’t have had to notch the top to get to the screws.

 

You may notice the spacer corner isn’t cut perfect to match that curve, that’s because the angle on the cutting board was almost perfect so I just had to lay it down, trace along the bottom with a sharpie then cut that straight line (i.e. no curved or intricate cuts were made)

 

@RUSSELLTACO

 

My thoughts exactly. I emailed expedition essentials about getting it without the track and it was still $65, I figured I could do that part in my own for dirt cheap. I actually already had the L brackets so technically it was even cheaper than I say.