In Search of the Ultimate 3rd Gen Phone Mount

4Runner4Leon

Senior Member
I've been having some discussion with other members on the "What did you to your 3rd Gen today?" thread about my ideas for phone mounts, and decided to start a new thread rather than littering that one.

I started with one of my favorite mounts for other cars, the SCOSCHE MagicMount Universal Mount (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I608BJ8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I mounted it on the solid plastic part of the dash as shown here:



As you can see, part of the mounting pad is hanging over the padded part of the dash, and is obviously not doing anything useful. I mounted it this far forward to allow me to tilt the phone enough to point at my face. But now I'm finding the mounting scheme to be too wimpy.

[MENTION=115590]StreetCreeper[/MENTION] pointed out that he has a very similar setup, except his mount is fully attached to the plastic part of the dash, as shown below in a side by side comparison. So his is more solid than mine, but again, the angle of the phone tilt is limited.



In the meantime I started designing my own bracket which would have a two point attachment, and take out the cantilever effect, shown below from the concept to the cardboard mockup to the CAD model stages:



Below is StreetCreeper's response, which I'd like to use as the starting point for this thread. And I would love to hear others' thoughts and suggestions.

That looks pretty solid. I assume you will use some type of adhesive pad to bond it to the dash?

If you want something completely solid, you might be able to pull the center bezel back and locate a mounting point (bolt/screw hole or whatever) and possibly make a mount that attaches to that – then bends around the bezel (probably need to shave an 8th off the back of the bezel right where the mount is so it will close over the bracket cleanly.

Similar to the way Hab has hers set up in the pic below – but on the side you want and attached behind the bezel.



​

I would do this myself but I'm way too lazy. But looks like you know how to design things of this nature so shouldn't be anything for you and might provide you with a very solid mount with plenty of flexibility in terms of viewing angles. Would also leave a smaller footprint on your dash.

You could even run a power cord for your phone through the back similar to how I ran my GPS in the pics below. It makes for a clean install without cords running all over.









​

Or better yet, if you can do wireless charging with you phone, you could make the bracket and then mount a wireless magnetic charger and run the power cord through the bezel. Then you just slap your phone up there and not screw with any charging cables at all.

Just a thought though. Your design looks really solid as well with two attachment points!

Yes, the idea would be to use double sided tape at the two pad locations, and then adhere the SCOSCHE mount to the third (forward facing) tab. I think that will be enough - if not, then a fastener through the dash may be the fall back option :).

I'm sort of intrigued with the wireless charging thought - do you have any photos of what's involved? I hate having to always rummage for the stupid charging cable.

This one I got for Christmas is pretty solid. Installed it today. I still need to hide the chord though.

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[MENTION=190943]jbrentd[/MENTION], that looks very interesting. What is this mount, and how does it attach?
 
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Op. That brand makes the exact same one with extra legs that hold the phone from falling down in landscape mode.
 
The link above is for ‘99 and newer. The pix of the mount shown above is for ‘98 and earlier. Hence the different mount shape or whatnot.
 
[MENTION=190943]jbrentd[/MENTION], that looks very interesting. What is this mount, and how does it attach?

The mount and phone cradle are both made by Proclip. Here’s a link to the ‘96-‘98 mount. It has a lip on the top part that slips in behind the trim. And it comes with strips of tape that hold the top and bottom parts to the trim. It’s kind of universal so that it’ll work with different types of cradles.

https://www.proclipusa.com/product/852399-proclip-center-mount

Here’s the iPhone cradle. It’s pricey but worth it, IMO. It’s a piece that I take with me from car to car. I just buy a new mount that’s made to fit the car. It’s adjustable for different width cases and you can adjust the tightness of the swivel too.

https://www.proclipusa.com/product/adjustable-holder-for-small-to-medium-cases-with-cable-attachment
 
Good leads on the Pro-Clip, who knew! I'm a bit dubious of their '99 version, it looks like it effectively blocks one of the vents?



It seems that their design for the '97 is quite good (splits the area between the vents), but I'm not sure I like the '99 concept.
 
I've been having some discussion with other members on the "What did you to your 3rd Gen today?" thread about my ideas for phone mounts, and decided to start a new thread rather than littering that one.

Since I was part of that discussion I'll chime in.

The ProClip looks like a cool system but I'm over clip or double sided tape systems. I wheel a lot and wheel hard enough that I've caused a failure in every mount I've purchased so far. Since you and I had this discussion a few days ago I decided to look into a bolt on model. I've identified what screw holes will be used but need to get some acrylic to fab something up.

Look the the right side of your steering wheel. Under the gauge cluster trim there's a screw. Under the dash trim there's also a screw. That's the two mounting points I plant to use. I'm still working out angles and how to make it semi-adjustable. I've got a bunch of failed magnet units that I'm looking at making work.

So that's where I'm at with it. I'm more of a measure and make it type of guy so no CAD stuff from me but if you want to check out the mounting points I'm talking about I'd like to get your thoughts.
 
Look the the right side of your steering wheel. Under the gauge cluster trim there's a screw. Under the dash trim there's also a screw. That's the two mounting points I plant to use. I'm still working out angles and how to make it semi-adjustable. I've got a bunch of failed magnet units that I'm looking at making work.

So that's where I'm at with it. I'm more of a measure and make it type of guy so no CAD stuff from me but if you want to check out the mounting points I'm talking about I'd like to get your thoughts.

Thanks for the thoughts! I do like the idea of non-adhesive based mounts, so I'd like to explore your idea a bit more. Do you mean the two screws circled in yellow below?



If so, then taking it to the next step, you would probably want a third anchor point, right (two points define a line, three points define a plane, or something like that :))?. Where would that third attach point be? If I am picturing correctly what you have in mind, it looks it'll be quite a large mount. Or am I missing where the attach points will be?
 
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Thanks for the thoughts! I do like the idea of non-adhesive based mounts, so I'd like to explore your idea a bit more. Do you mean the two screws circled in yellow below?

If so, then taking it to the next step, you would probably want a third anchor point, right (two points define a line, three points define a plane, or something like that :))?. Where would that third attach point be? If I am picturing correctly what you have in mind, it looks it'll be quite a large mount. Or am I missing where the attach points will be?

I'm not sure it will need a third point. 1/4" acrylic is pretty damn tuff. I think just following the contours of the dash with an arm that's 1" thick or so would be plenty beefy. So the mount sits to the right and has two longer arms to attach to those screw holes. Get some longer screws and a few washers and it should pull everything tight.

I'm a form follows function type of guy so I don't really care what it looks like as long as it's bomber. lol
 
I'm not sure it will need a third point. 1/4" acrylic is pretty damn tuff. I think just following the contours of the dash with an arm that's 1" thick or so would be plenty beefy. So the mount sits to the right and has two longer arms to attach to those screw holes. Get some longer screws and a few washers and it should pull everything tight.

I'm a form follows function type of guy so I don't really care what it looks like as long as it's bomber. lol

I see, I think I get it now. But no matter how beefy the bracket will be, the weakest points will be the two screws, they're just trim screws, not designed to have big ass brackets and phones cantilevered from them :).

I am still hoping to avoid doing what I'm about to suggest, but if you are function over form kind of guy for the rig, why not consider drilling through some parts of the dash/bezel? To be fair, I have not examined the dash/bezel that closely, so I don't know where good attachment points would be.

And also, I would not immediately discount adhesives. There are some crazy strong adhesives out there, and if chosen carefully, I expect the bond between the mount and the dash will be stronger than the parent material. I don't think I'd need anything that industrial, but I bet there is something out there strong enough to meet even your needs.
 
Panavise makes one that mounts on the right side of the radio. It attaches to a couple of the radio screws under the radio trim.

Very solid product. I have one but have never put it on, never needed it.

Panavise, InDash, Toyota 4 Runner - SR5 96~02

Cool find, I love the concept of using existing but hidden fasteners (kinda like what [MENTION=143526]theesotericone[/MENTION] was addressing). But not crazy about the location, I am still hoping to have the phone higher up, closer to my "eyes on the road" line of sight. I wonder if anyone makes a similar concept to tie into something else behind the bezel, but higher up?
 
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Panavise makes one that mounts on the right side of the radio. It attaches to a couple of the radio screws under the radio trim.

Very solid product. I have one but have never put it on, never needed it.

Panavise, InDash, Toyota 4 Runner - SR5 96~02

Disclaimer, I have not read the thread, just skimmed through looking at the pictures. I have a Panavise mount and I love it. I put 6 neodymium magnets on it, and slipped one of those metal backing plates made for magnet phone mounts between my phone and it's case. It holds my phone very well. Even on extremely rough roads bouncing all over the place it holds it steady. It's a great location also for looking at the phone for navigation purposes. Even when I don't use my phone for navigation and I'm driving I put it on there just because it is convenient and out of the way.

10/10, would recommend.
 
I see, I think I get it now. But no matter how beefy the bracket will be, the weakest points will be the two screws, they're just trim screws, not designed to have big ass brackets and phones cantilevered from them :).

I am still hoping to avoid doing what I'm about to suggest, but if you are function over form kind of guy for the rig, why not consider drilling through some parts of the dash/bezel? To be fair, I have not examined the dash/bezel that closely, so I don't know where good attachment points would be.

And also, I would not immediately discount adhesives. There are some crazy strong adhesives out there, and if chosen carefully, I expect the bond between the mount and the dash will be stronger than the parent material. I don't think I'd need anything that industrial, but I bet there is something out there strong enough to meet even your needs.

Trust me I've thought about drilling threw the bezel. Those screws go into a plastic insert that goes to sheet metal. There plenty strong enough.

Coming out the side of the radio isn't a bad idea either. I'll look more into that as well. I've had my dash apart a few times so I'm pretty familiar with what's inside. I think it would be good to come up with a bolt on solution that's easy to remove. Nothing permanent and all good glues bond to plastic but they also leave residue if they fail. That's something I'd like to avoid.
 
These may be good options for those willing to drill through the dash (courtesy of [MENTION=164808]Ron Burgandy[/MENTION]):

 

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