Ultra-Low Budget Console Mount

(Click images for larger views.)

For a while I've been trying to figure out a nice way to attach my PDA to the front of the center console in my Ridgeline. I have a Car2PC aux interface adapter installed on the factory head unit & that would be the ideal location to let me use the PDA as an mp3 player.

After looking at a variety of aftermarket mounting systems, I arrived at two conclusions: (1) I liked the type that clamped over the center console better than the ones that mounted to the dashboard, & (2) all the aftermarket mounts I cost more than I was willing to spend

I had an old floor mount from the days of hard-wired car phones & it looked like what I needed, but I had to figure out how to mount it on the console. (I was not willing to drill the console!) Alas, he days of living a few blocks from a friend with a fully equipped machine shop are long gone, so I filed the idea away in the wishful thinking department.

While messing around in my shop, I spied a plastic bag with some optional hardware that had come with some curtain valances that we'd installed a couple of years ago. Voila! The answer to my problem is shown in the first picture below. A quick trip to the truck for rough measurements & a couple of minutes with the bench vise & some pliers gave me a rough version of my plan (second picture).

Back to the truck for a test fitting. The picture at the left shows the bracket in position. Everything clamps down nice & tight. The console will operate in all three positions, but it does need to be lifted slighting to "lock" it in the rear-most position.

The picture at the right is a top view of the trial fitting. The tab that was bent down on the curtain hanger extends between the two cup holders. I tweaked it a little to get a firm grip.

Returning to the bench vise, I began trying to remove the two tabs from the piece that I bent. This is now the top of the mounting bracket. I tried twisting the tabs with vise grip pliers. I tried to unscrew them. Finally, I attacked with a hacksaw & they were history. The picture below at left shows the bracket with the tabs cut off.

On the right is a mock-up on my bench vise showing the "antique" car phone mount in position on top of the modified curtain bracket.

I removed the circular base from the car phone mount, drilled a hole through the bracket & bolted the car phone mount in place with a flange nut. I ran a couple of zip ties through the holes in the mounting plate of the car phone mount & snapped the belt clip for my Palm hard case through the zip ties.

The picture at the left below shows the flange nut (silver, between the bracket & top of the console) & the zip tie/belt clip arrangement. I stuck some foam weatherstripping on the surfaces that touch to console plastic & glued a rubber hose washer to the bottom of the flange nut that rests on the console.

At the right is a photo showing the bracket in place with
my PDA clipped in place. There's plenty of clearance for my Palm DC-DC car charger, which snaps onto the bottom of the handheld. A little adjustment was needed to provide clearance for drinks in the drink holder.

A little rattle can satin black paint finished everything of.

Total cost of project: 60 cents for the flange nut.