garmin dashboard mount

I can almost guarantee that anything not bolted down in an accident is going to become a missile inside the vehicle. My wife was recently in an accident, and even an umbrella in a side door pocket rocketed out of the pocket and impalled the dash (like an arrow). G-forces in an accident are incomprehensable. A GPS device not bolted down WILL become a missile in an accident. Question then is where will the impact come from - which ultimately will determine the direction of your "missiles" flight.... Don't mean to frighten - just a fact of life......

Joel

Very true, it depends on the impact. If it's a head on collision the GPS would continue it's forward path (if it's a head on collision the GPS might be the least of your worries).

Well I know that I wouldnt put the mount where a Airbag is. Also We have side airbags that needs to be watched out for. That would be like a missle shot from a cannon

That's why I wonder how good those vent mounts would be in this situation. I wonder if the manufacturers of these have tested with an airbag deployed. I don't think I'd worry about the steering wheel airbag but the passenger airbag could possibly pop it and rip or do God knows what. Interesting.

I have a Garmin C550 that has a ball mount in the rear to connect to an arm, which connects to the dashboard mount. The ball/mount arm connection is a friction fit.The dashboard mount is secured to my cars dashboard with a very strong adhesive pad supplied by Garmin. I would imagine the Garmin C550 would release from the ball mount arm connection before it releases from the dashboard in case of an accident. I think the dashboard mount is safe.
Now the C550/arm connection is another story.

Reading the Manual, It states NOT to place the Mount where airbags will deploy..

Hummmm..

I would probably avoid any type of dashboard mount for saftey and cosmetic reasons.

There's a spot on my dash panel (near the stereo) where I could place the adhesive dash pad and c320. However, this would make it a vertical placement and I'm not sure if the sticky pad can hold the weight of the unit vertically. I'd rather hear your suggestions before I end up with a mess! Thanks

Get the Garmin weighted pad/base. It has three padded and weighted spread/feet. It works fine in my Prius, where it has a textured dash top and the sticky pad will not hold for long. Here in Hawaii, we can use the suction cup mount, but I hate to place anything on the windshield. Also, I don't want to stick anything to my dash. I needed this mount for my CA trip, as they do not allow the suction cup mount. This is the only mount that I use and the suction cup mount was placed back into the box for storage. It's easy to move the GPS from car to car...

Any mount will not be "safe" in a wreck. I use the Garmin beanbag mount. Under normal circumstances, it works very well. It has never shifted at all during heavy braking or turning. But, in a wreck, it would definitely being flying around the people compartment along with everything else that is not bolted down at that time.

Check out the Mount Guys..... http://www.mountguys.com for mounts that connect to your airvents.

I use the bean bag all the time. I use a velcro on the three weighted pods to make it more secure. I am sure if you are in a serious accident it will move around. I used to have a Street Pilot III - now there is a brick coming at you.

Here is what I did. I removed the rubber pad from where the ash tray would have been. I mounted the circle disc just inside the ash tray compartment leaving enough room for the Garmin mount. The power cord plugs into the power supply inches away. I hide all the extra power cord behind the mount. This is a very clean installation.
So far no problem with Satellite receiption even in the long tunnel at LAX, the one that goes under the runways at the airport.
When I leave the Tahoe I put a baseball hat over the Garmin and the power plug.

It sounds like a smart idea to mount it where the ash tray would have been, I shall check if I can do that too! (Although I'm quite happy with the window mount, the thought of GPS becoming a missile scares me...)

In my opinion there is a reason why Garmin mounts on the window and dashboard. The CXXX Series is designed so the audio will reflect off the front windows in the car and give a richness to the audio. Mounting the GPS on top the dashboard or on the window insures that your eyes are always on the road and not looking for the GPS if it were mounting somewhere else.

I also use the top of dash mount with the weighted 3 pads, as I felt it was easier to change cars with. I very rarely have 3 passengers in rear seat and so I set this mount on the center of my dash. If I do have a front end collision and this becomes a missle, it would hpoefully fly between my 2 rear passengers.