Advice on Mounting GPS Unit..Likely Garmin..

[cohenfive]

i've searched here but haven't found exactly what i'm looking for so here's my question..

 

we just bought an lgt ltd wagon (for my wife...). the one thing she's disappointed in is the lack of gps so i'm going to buy her one of the portable units. i was thinking of the garmin 26XX series. is there anyone here who has one of these units and if so how has it been mounted in the car? we have an older garmin model and the beanbag mount is pretty dangerous....

 

thanks.

[tsyGT]

I have that Garmin unit. You can use the bean bag which is usually quite stable, but if you accelerate really hard you can get it to fall off into your lap!

 

It comes with a quick release mount with a removable adhesive that I have mounted on my dashboard. Not exactly pretty, but very functional.

 

Or you can try to retrofit the nav from an '06- but I'm sure it will be much more expensive than the Garmin unit.

 

tom

[ur a bus]

I have a Navman and am using the windshield suction cup mount. Not sure if Garmin offers anything like that or not.

 

Steve

[emlevins]

I have Garmin Quest mounted on the windshield under the rear view mirror. Here is a picture :http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6596. Nick also has one and has mounted it in the cubby - but had to add an external antenna.

[fmr360owner]

The issue as I understand it is that the passenger side airbag deploys from the windshield side of the dash. Anything placed on the dash, hung from the mirror, or attached to the windshield esp. on the passenger side is likely to be moving at a fair clip when it reaches your face. There is an admonition in the manual not to put anything there, but they don't bother to explain why.

 

I have also wanted to add a GPS and I also don't want to make any changes so permanent that they mar or affect the ability to sell the car at some point in the future. While I haven't implemented this idea, it seems to me like it would work.

 

I'm thinking of an L shaped bracket (for want of a better word) extending the width of the cubby. Short side vertical at the back and long side horizontal at the bottom, because that's the shape of the cubby. Attach a goose-neck to the vertical side, and extend the goose-neck out the open cubby door just far enough to attach the mounting bracket of your GPS of choice. The vertical side of the bracket will bump up against the top at the back of the cubby; the horizontal side will push down on the rubber mat at the bottom. Together, they should keep a modest weight suspended from the goose-neck in proper position.

 

The L bracket could be plastic or sheet metal, but should not bend at the crease and would have to be well-fitted to the cubby to keep the moment arm of the GPS stable (up down right left) without permanently attaching the bracket to the car. This way, the GPS could be removed quickly and hidden or taken inside. Running a power line up behind the dash to the cubby would make the installation much neater.

 

As I say, I haven't cobbled one together yet (nor bought a new GPS), so I may be full of shinola, but this would seem to work for most of us thumb-fingered people better than dremeling out the cubby and working with Bondo, and would put a less-than-OEM-cost GPS on the dash of '05s.

[jeffk]

Have a look at the new tomtom 300/700. I used the 300 on a road trip from San Fran to San Diego and it worked really well. The unit was mounted on a suction cup on the glass to the left of the wheel. I'm looking into a cubby mount.

[cohenfive]

i like the idea of a suction cup mount--not permanent but it will stay better than the dangerous bean bag. i think they call it that since in a sudden stop you might get beaned by the gps!!

[cohenfive]

looks sweet compared to the new garmin units....20gb storage capacity including storage of waypoints, etc. larger screen (5 inches diagonal) as well. best of all, of the 20gb storage 10gb is for mp3's....i wonder if you can store audio files too as i don't think the legacy stereo will play mp3 files...or am i mistaken??

 

here's a link:

 

http://www.lowrance.com/automotive/Products/iWAY500C.asp

[tsyGT]

I think if you (God forbid) are in an accident severe enough to fire off the airbags the GPS will be moving in the opposite direction from your face- I'm sure it will end up in the windshield rather than the airbag blowing it into the cabin. It's that whole momentum and laws of physics stuff, you know?

 

The Lowrance unit looks cool. I bought the Garmin unit and it is quite functional and has never let me down. Best of all I also have a Garmin handheld GPS I use for hiking and geocaching which can share the map software.

 

tom

[gfxdave99]

I have the garmin suction mount

 

http://66.132.239.129/picture1.aspx?i=010-10520-00-17408-26726&w=400&h=315

 

Its fallen off once and that was after a rapid temp change. I havent put it in the LGT yet because I want to figure out a way to wire it without wires going all over the place like i had in my previous car.

 

I'm thinking of doing the mod where you splice out the rearview mirror power for the V1 and see if i can get the garmin at the same time

[springnr]

Ram Mounts might have what you need. Click the "compatible parts" tab for more options.

[turbotaz]

Check out http://www.proclipusa.com. Get a vehicle-specific mout for the Legacy and a swivel adapter. I've done that install in 4 cars with Magellan Roadmate. Works really well.

 

http://www.proclipusa.com/?sectionpath=144&pageid=8754&processor=content&pcategoryid=12930&categoryid=13018&year=2005&p_origin=144&p_sectionid=144&p_pageid=8901&p_processor=asp&p_asp_processor=product&p_action=proclipcategorysearch&p_ppagecategoryid=13872&p_pagecategoryid=14172&p_pcategoryid=12930&p_categoryid=13018&p_sitecategoryid=&p_year=2005

[recuomo]

Go with the Garmin 320 and buy a 1 GB card for around $70 & it will hold the whole USA map. I got mine at GPSCity, no shipping, no sales tax in NY. Made 3 trips recently to VA, WA & CO and it is an excellent unit. Uses windshield suction mount.