DIY Ram ball mount bracket

I wanted a clean way to mount a tablet. The teck deck that goes above the climate controls is way too bulky and too high up for what I wanted. I also didn't want anything in the way if I wanted to take it off. And I wanted it pretty low profile with the tablet in. Additionally, I wanted to avoid drilling into visible parts of large trim pieces. I liked this setup. But didn't seem super stiff, and sticks out too much when not in use. So here's what I came up with.



Honestly pretty easy. Just made a paper template and cut it out of some 1/16" steel plate. Then bent it in a vice.



I tapped all the holes to 10-32 threads and cut the screws off flush on the back.



Here's how it goes in. Fits really snug. Used two self tapping screws to secure it.



Had to take a small trim off the plastic lip below it and make a small cutout in the climate control faceplate. A bit hard to see in the picture. but I took about two inches in length out below the knob that controls where the air is blowing.



I also ran a charging cable to the mount to reduce wire mess. I used one of the leftover USB ports from my AA/AAA battery charger project here. So I fished it down to the driver footwell.





The finished product. It's super stiff and feels rock solid.



I can upload the template to print out if anyone wants to make one. I could also make a few more if there's enough interest in people wanting to buy them.

 

I would take one! Looks good

 

Looks pretty good. For a second I thought it would be just as flimsy as the Panavise solution, but the Panavise puts the Ram ball too far from the mounting screws. So you end up with a lot of flexing in the metal when bouncing down the road. This seems like it's about as close to the screws as possible, further reinforced by keeping it against the dash panels.