Hi, I was just going to throw these pics into the WYD today thread, but then I remembered how much research I tried to do on this before pulling the trigger on a product and figuring out my own mounting solution. So I figure I'll post a thread that can be found on Google in case some other dad comes along and wants to mount a distraction for their kids for long trips that are suddenly on the table...
Anyway, the mount that I used is made by a company called Tackform, I bought it on Amazon
here (Not affiliated, I paid for the product after personal research.). It took me 2 minutes to assemble without any need for instructions (some were included). It has a very simple construction, but I will point out that it has a very short arm - this left me with exactly one possible mounting position for a permanent sturdy install.
I didn't take a pic of this stage, but I pulled off the trim piece on the back of the console. The rear vents pop out here, set aside on the seat for when you put it back together. I brought this piece inside, mocked up where I wanted to mount the plate, drilled small holes, and shot some short wood screws that I had laying around into all holes. The plastic was quite soft and easy to drill into, so I originally planned on putting epoxy on the underside of each screw, inside the trim piece - but the screws all torqued down quite nicely, to my surprise, so I skipped this step. The plate's adherence is easily as strong as the plastic itself.
I had some sort of faux leather/vinyl ish material that I picked up from Hobby Lobby last weekend to make some makeshift engine bay mudflaps out of (haven't got to this part yet) that I made a little cover for the plate out of. I hot glued it onto the plate on top of the screws, this helped immensely with making the mount blend in with the trim and look as if it belongs. Zinc screws looked horrible.
It holds strong even with a 12" iPad Pro locked on. With the tablet mounted, I shook it around pretty hard and it didn't budge. I think the trim piece itself will pop off if you get into a wreck, but it will have no problem at all holding during normal use. I will take the iPad off when we are off road for obvious reasons, we don't need it then and I don't need $1200 bouncing around.
Overall I am very happy with the install, it was very easy. End result is more satisfactory than I expected it to be, but of course not OEM tier. I believe that for this purpose, this is the best solution available on the market at the moment for a permanent, secure tablet mount meant to be visible to all rear passengers (centered and out of the way) that does not drill into the floor/take up floorspace.
The only downside that I have noticed is that when opening the console, it will only open maybe 60-75 degrees now. To me there is plenty of room, some may find this uncomfortable to access. I don't access my center console often, never while driving, but if I needed to it would not be difficult.
I hope this helps someone in the future.