Oh! So that's what that thing is for . . .

Now if you could close it with the stuff inside that would REALLY be cool. Alas, the friction mount is too tall, and the tray isn't deep enough.

Is being made about the mark left on your windshield?

First of all I should say I only took/used my StreetPilot3 when I was traveling or going to an address I didn't know the location of, so it wasn’t in my car a lot.

I had/have a streetpilot3 that wouldn't fit on my dashboard using a beanbag (the only option at that time) so, I had to set it on my console and use an external mount antenna. The external mount antenna attached to the windshield with a suction cup, when I left the car I would take the StreetPilot3 with me. I usually just set the beanbag, antenna (which I did remove from the windshield, but I didn't clean the windshield), and power cord, under the seat. In over 5 years I never had a problem.

My wife’s car, on the other hand, the beanbag did work, so there never were any marks left on the windshield. Her car had a window smashed when nothing was visible in a parking lot with a guard. There were some hidden items stolen but the point being, it seems like it may be the luck of the draw. I’m sure the thieves saw her park and stash her belongings and then waited for an opportunity….. She never leaves anything in the car now, and if she was a reader of this site would insist that I clean off any suction cup marks.

I still think it’s the luck of the draw or maybe if Mercury is in retrograde… Unless the Earth has shifted on it’s axis…..

My new unit fits on my dashboard just fine with a beanbag, but I still kind of like the suction cup mount….

Just a little comment about windshield marks...

I never get any, to avoid my windshield mount to fall off and to eliminate the marks. If you clean the windshield extremely well as well as the cup, it won't fall off nor will it leave marks.

I use the suction cup mount, but don't mount it to my windshield. I drop it into a cup holder and play with the angle of the unit until I feel the it won't fall over and I can still see it. Even being away from the window VERY seldom does it lose reception. Only fell over once, in my work van and it has shallow cup holders

I took someone else's hint and just attach mine to the instrument panel in front of the tachometer (which is pretty much superfluous on a car with an automatic transmission, anyway). It's out of sight (for people walking past the car), and no worries about marks on the windshield.

Interesting! I tried to put it infront of the tac, but with the slight curve in the plastic, it didn't stay on. How did you make it stay?

"Just bought a 08 Taurus and thought the same thing
Now if you could close it with the stuff inside that would REALLY be cool. Alas, the friction mount is too tall, and the tray isn't deep enough."

No. That would be supercool. Like some James Bond thing.

In my case, Q, the salesman, must have quickly gone over the GPS-friendly aspects of the car. He spent more time talking about how I could escape from that big trunk in case I got Shanghaied by the Mob.

Being serious (for a moment) I wonder about which vehicles are GPS-friendly and which are not. I use fleet vehicles regularly and occasionally rent vehicles. I will refuse a guzzler like I got in April when I visited the Commonwealth of Virginia, but now I have to consider how my GPS will fare. I know the Ford Fusion has a GPS bin, but don't know about the Focus. Maybe other makes have paid attention to this aspect of driving?

Thanks!

Greg Paul

P.S. Last night was the first time I tried driving with GPS in darkness. The Nuvi screen was reflected on the windshield, but way out of my normal line of sight. It's all good.

Greg, I did the unltimate install on my 08 Taurus. The hatch looks identical to the Five Hundred, so it should be possible with the Five Hundred, too. EVERYTHING fits inside the top compartment and it closes out of sight. The cables are always connected. I just swivel it up and turn it on.

This is the view with the Nuvi stowed and turned off. The cables run down inside the dash and are always connected. I ran the audio output cable up there, too.
http://tinyurl.com/6mvozt

This shows the door opened, but with the Nuvi still folded flat. Power and audio cables are still connected, though.
http://tinyurl.com/5ugyjr

And here it is with the Nuvi swiveled up into place and the lid holding it in place. The lid extends about 2" and provides a great sunshield.
http://tinyurl.com/6yfbzf

James Bond, indeed!

Best of all, there was no cutting, soldering or splicing and NOTHING is permanent. Well, there's a small hole in the upper right rear of the tray and another inside the console compartment for cable access, but both are under the rubber mats. I popped the cradle off the ball mount and using foam double-sided tape, attached a 3" strap hinge to the back of the cradle. The other side of the hinge is taped to the bottom of the tray. A small piece of velcro along the top of the Nuvi holds it to the underside of the door when it's swiveled up. I don't have to disconnect anything when parking. I just lift the lid, switch the Nuvi off and swivel it down flat and close the door. The Nuvi still comes off the cradle, and I do take it with me when parked for a while. Gets pretty hot in there when sitting in the sun while parked at work, for example.

I have a new Toyota Highlander. I took the large black disk that came with my 550 and cut off about 1/3 of the disk. I left enough of the disk so the suction cup has room to mount on the disk. I purchased some double sided tape 3/8” wide, the stuff that has some kind of foam between the sticky tape.
I put the tape around the top and sides of the vent next to the radio. This gives me a good view of the GPS.
If you try this be sure the GPS won't interfer with the windshield wiper arm. Mine work fine.
When I remove the GPS unit I have a post-it-note that says "pick up laundry". The note covers the disk.
p.s. Windex will remove the stick tape if you need to remove the disk.

Joe

If anyone has tried this in their home, it's wonderful. It's like double sided tape that actually releases without damage when you pull the tab correctly. I use it for everything I hang. That aside, I emailed 3M about it and it should work in the car. Heat will effect how long it sticks but the stuff is wonderful. There's all types of attaching configurations and something should work for most of you. I thought I'd be using it for my phone arm which came loose once but not since. Anyway, doesn't matter anymore with my 760. (I used it's suction cup on the windshield). But if I have any problems, I'll go the 3M Command route. Check it out.

Joe, a picture is worth a thousand words. Buddy, can you spare a couple grand?

That is an "A-ha" moment, if ever I've heard of one. That is a great way to camouflage the disk. Hmmm, what will they think of next? I'll also be trying the suction mount on the guage panel behind the steering wheel too. I had tried it a couple of years ago, but the mount was too large.

I stuck the disk on the top of console and always take my GPS unit with me. So far I did not bother hiding it, but next time I go downtown or on a trip in unknown parts, I was thinking of cutting out a hole in the underside of a Kleenex box. In a family van, that's absolutly not out of place accessory.

Simon

When I first connected my nuvi to the PC, I did not have an angled USB connector so I had to lay the unit face down on the table. Now what I'm doing is I stick the suction cup mounting bracket on a CD jewel case. It's wide enough that it sits firmly on the desk.

I was wondering if with some rubber feet underneat and a few washers glued inside for weight, it would not do a removable stand for the dashboard. Then I pictured one of it's clean edges in my face as it flies off on impact...

Simon

JohnC,

You are some Kewl Dood!

I like the JPGs. I like the text. However, I've got a question and more.

It has been a few decades since I last hung my feet over the headrests and looked under an instrument panel. (those turn signal jobs have gone the way of carburetors). How did you wire this thing up?

I suppose the power line is placed inside the console between the front seats. So, for starters, did you hook this up to the 12v inside the armrest or the 12v on the face of the dash? There's likely a lot of air (empty space) available, but I don't know how to get into that area.

***

Please remember that when you get that promotion to 0007 you lose your LTK.

GregPaul

There are 2 torx-15 screws holding the lid hinge. Then 4 more holding the tray in the dash. Remove them and the tray lifts out. Drilled a hole through the right rear corner of the tray for cable access. Fished the charger cable and an MP3 cable down through the dash and out the right front side of the console. The front side panels of the console just snap in, so it was easy to route the charger cable to exit the console between the console and the passenger seat. I plug it into the dash socket and stuff it down between the console and seat when not in use. The MP3 cable continues up into the console where it plugs into the AUX socket for the radio. Had to drill an access hole in the bottom of the console for that, too. I used electrical fish tape to poke through the access holes until it exited the dash or console and I could tape the cable to it and pull it back through. Both sets of holes are under the rubber mats in the tray and console.

There was no cutting or soldering of cables, so if the charger fails I just pull a new cable through.

The tray cover is plastic, so it does not affect GPS reception. I placed a smail strip of black velcro along the top of the Nuvi so that after it is swiveled up, the lid sticks to it and keeps the lid from bouncing if you're on a bumpy road. I attached a 1/2" thick by 1" long strip of wood to the underside of the lid so that when it is "velcroed" to the Nuvi, it sits a little higher. Otherwise the curvature of the lid would obscure a little of the top of the Nuvi screen.

And the best part was I never had to lay under the dash to do any of this.

Hmmm...I have been sticking my NUVI right on my windshield without even thinking that the suction marks would be an advertisement to thieves. Just one more thing I've learned from this site.

Thanks all for your comments.

JohnC,

The scales have fallen from my eyes. I've got a deficit when it comes to the handiman skills, so I needed those additional explicit details.

Thanks again!

GregPaul

ive worked in nyc for 9 years and have left the docking station/radar stuck to my window for about 3 or 4 years off and on for various things and have never had a problem. parking in harlem ive had worse things happen to my bumpers and windshield wipers(from parking tickets). guess its just wrong time and place for some people