Cell Phone Mount for our Trucks

[TR65]

We ran the Power Tour in June with my cell phone suction cupped to the windshield for navigation, not a good look.

I got to thinking about a better way. We have a steel dash. Maybe a magnetic mount would work. Neodymium magnets are really strong....

I took a 2" piece of 2X1X1/8 aluminum channel and trimmed and bent it to fit the dash. I Gorilla glued 4 magnets from home depot to the channel. The top edge fits on the top of the dash and the two magnets hold it down. The second two magnets hold the mount to the nose of the dash. The lower leg locates on the vertical part of the dash and prevents rotation.

Trying this out on the dash indicated that it is plenty strong enough to hold the phone.

I bought a ProClip holder for my phone. (They sell a mount for your specific car and a mount for your specific phone. They connect together with four small screws.) I only needed the phone mount of course. ProClip is a high quality product, made in Sweden, but pricey. I use them in my other cars.

I mounted the ProClip to a small piece of 1/8 aluminum and Gorila Glued that to the magnet mount. Painted it up.

Pretty clean, works well. You can easily pull it off when you want and it will mount anywhere along the dash. The ProClip mount has the rotation and swivel motion.

[mongocanfly]

looks good!!..
you could also use some of that tacky back felt on the magnets and back side to help keep from scratching your paint..

[Getter-Done]

Nice work.




.

[Ronzo]

Well thought out, I like it.

[TR65]

Thanks men.

Greg,

Great idea. The glue on the felt is drying right now. My wife is a little put out since I blew her off when she suggested the same thing.

I'll put up a picture tomorrow.

TR

[TR65]

All felted up. Works good.

I used Elmer's spray on contact cement.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by TR65

Thanks men.

Greg,

Great idea. The glue on the felt is drying right now. My wife is a little put out since I blew her off when she suggested the same thing.

I'll put up a picture tomorrow.

TR

Did you have a moment and/
Forget the 2 magic words ( Yes Dear)






.

[TR65]

You would think I would learn after 44 years.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by TR65

We ran the Power Tour in June with my cell phone suction cupped to the windshield for navigation, not a good look.

I got to thinking about a better way. We have a steel dash. Maybe a magnetic mount would work. Neodymium magnets are really strong....

I took a 2" piece of 2X1X1/8 aluminum channel and trimmed and bent it to fit the dash. I Gorilla glued 4 magnets from home depot to the channel. The top edge fits on the top of the dash and the two magnets hold it down. The second two magnets hold the mount to the nose of the dash. The lower leg locates on the vertical part of the dash and prevents rotation.

Trying this out on the dash indicated that it is plenty strong enough to hold the phone.

I bought a ProClip holder for my phone. (They sell a mount for your specific car and a mount for your specific phone. They connect together with four small screws.) I only needed the phone mount of course. ProClip is a high quality product, made in Sweden, but pricey. I use them in my other cars.

I mounted the ProClip to a small piece of 1/8 aluminum and Gorila Glued that to the magnet mount. Painted it up.

Pretty clean, works well. You can easily pull it off when you want and it will mount anywhere along the dash. The ProClip mount has the rotation and swivel motion.

so maybe im thinking about this wrong and if then im sorry but magnets that strong say to keep away from Electronics and also medical equipment that they could effect pacemakers. and can damage computers and tv .. so here is my thought our smart phones really are like a small computer and since some of our phones can cost like $800 and we make payments on them. are you going to do damage to your cell phone that cant be fixed? just a thought dont get me wrong i love this idea im just hoping it wont kill your cell phone

[TR65]

Good Point WOLFMAN,

I thought of that, but they make magnetic cell phone mounts where you paste a thin metal plate to the back of your phone and stick that directly on a magnet.

The back of the phone is a good 1-1/2" from the magnet face. The magnetic field decreases as 1/(distance)^3. So very little magnet strength left at that distance. No trouble so far and I have been riding around with phone in the mount.

I will update if any trouble arises.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by TR65

Good Point WOLFMAN,

I thought of that, but they make magnetic cell phone mounts where you paste a thin metal plate to the back of your phone and stick that directly on a magnet.

The back of the phone is a good 1-1/2" from the magnet face. The magnetic field decreases as 1/(distance)^3. So very little magnet strength left at that distance. No trouble so far and I have been riding around with phone in the mount.

I will update if any trouble arises.

Awesome

[spacedebris]

wolfmanmike is right. You should be very careful of using magnets.

And TR65 you are also correct in that they do make magnetic phone holders.

However the commercial magnetic phone holders are typically weak (relatively speaking) magnets. Defiantly nothing as strong as the magnets you are using.

Computers use a hard drive that spins and stores data magnetically. So magnets such as what you are using would erase data stored on them. Now, luckily, cell phones use solid state chips that are a lot less susceptible to magnetic erasure. While a cell phone can be erased by magnets it would likely take something MUCH more powerful than those little magnets.

What I would be concerned about is if you use bio-metrics with you phone. I had a Samsung Galaxy S5 that I locked with my fingerprint. I dropped it one day down a irrigation pipe. Luckily there was no water in it but I had to use my friends magnet that he uses for "magnet fishing" to get it out. We lowered it down the pipe on a rope and hauled my phone back up. But it would not unlock once I got it back. I sent it into Samsung to have it repaired and they told me that although the bio-metrics were still there and accessible that actual sensor was "de-calibrated" by the magnet and only was able to scan a partial print thus it could no longer confirm it properly. Granted my problem was likely caused by using such a powerful magnet (80 lb pull). It is still something to think about. Now if you lock with password, facial recognition that uses your camera, or something similar then likely no worries. But if you use fingerprint or other "touch" bio-metrics then be cautious not to damage the touch sensor by getting it too close to the magnets.

[TR65]

Thanks for the info SpaceDebris,

This link has some good information:

https://money.cnn.com/2015/06/01/tec...et-smartphone/

TR

[TR65]

I have navigated using the phone in the magnetic mount for a couple of weeks now. I have found no issues. Works as normal.

TR

[Ken Cook]

I use a Nit-Ize Magnet and an Otterbox Defender case. The hole in the case to see the Apple is just the right size to countersink the magnet to the phone. The Rubber Case keeps it from sliding.The phone sticks to the metal dashboard with nothing else holding it. You could put your phone on the SIDE of your truck or any flat metal surface and drive away. I wish I could send you a photo but there is nothing on my dash to see. and the phone is what I use to take photos so I can't show it on my dash.

I also have a 1963 C-10 so I have a Flat Spot on my dash right next to the cluster.

I don't use the metal ball part in this truck.

https://www.niteize.com/product/stee...-mount-kit.asp

[rvrfoot]

I just got something. When I install it I will have pictures.

[BigChico]

Looks really good!

[MT65]

Great idea, seems to work fine for you, myself I just have the wife hold it, my hearing is slightly challenged, with her relaying the directions, it distracts her from the, “your running a little fast”, “why are you looking in all the vacant lots/backyards for another project “…I’m sure some of you get the drift…..

[TR65]

MT65,

We finished the power tour again in June with the phone in the mount.

Of course with the wife along I get all the direction I need without the phone.

TR

[smartjaw]

So have you thought about selling these? I've been looking for a mount as well, also like the ProClip system, but was thinking...do you even need all 4 of those magnets? Nice solution.

[TR65]

I'm more into spending money than making it these days.

Pretty easy to make the mount though. Add the ProClip and you are good to go.

Sure don't need 4 magnets, two would do but I think I would have to add spacers to stabilize it, so 4 magnets was just easier to do.

TR