Tackform Dash Mount (No Drill)

[Fulton_Hogan]

The idea for this build came from these threads. Thanks for the inspiration, guys!

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...vigation-dash-mount-for-wrangler-tj-lj.36578/
and

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/no-drill-no-cut-ram-cell-phone-mount-bracket.26473/
I've been slowly working on this bracket, just taking my time to get it right. I started by asking around and a coworker had some spare 1/8-inch thick angle aluminum that was just the dimensions I was looking for (basically 1" x 3") so I lucked out getting this.

I cut out the gap at the bottom (the dash trim piece clip goes in there) and once I finally decided on which mount to use, I angled the top edges. To mount the bracket, I put a couple of washers under it to even it out with the plastic console piece and fastened it down with the two dash screws.

Once it is screwed in place, the dash trim piece snaps back in place and everything... just... fits.

For a holder, I chose a Tackform Drill Base mount that has 4.5-inch mounting arm because I wanted to take off as much weight as possible on those two dash screws. The Tackform arm lets me use it like a tripod, resting in the dash tray. The phone holder then rests on the forward edge of the console right where I wanted it. I'll probably cement a rubber or foam 'bumper' on the phone holder's bottom edge/corner just to help protect the console.

Sitting in the driver's seat, my eye-line places the top edge of a mounted phone in-line with, or just below, the top edge of the black band around the windshield's lower edge. In other words, it doesn't block the driver's view of the road. The plan is to leave the bracket and ball in place all the time. I'll remove the arm when it's not needed. To remove, it's just a single thumb screw and doesn't affect the rest of the settings. Easy off, easy on, but solid once in place.

Once I was done with tonight's final test-fitting I sprayed the aluminum bracket with some etching primer and satin black spray. When it dries and I mount it all together I'll get finished pictures.

I could have saved a little weight by taking the ball mount off its 2" x 2 1/8" base. However the three screws that hold it on would have most likely required me to countersink the aluminum plate, and I didn't want to get this close to done only to dork it up getting fancy. I found the black oxide screws (10/24 x 1/2") and nylon lock nuts at MonsterBolts. (Great pricing and really quick shipping, BTW.)

All in all, an easy project. Just make sure to measure everything twice (or three times in my case) and cut/drill once. Thanks for checking it out!

 

[Moab]

That's really slick.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

Finished mounting this as a breather between replacing both front and rear shocks yesterday.

Normal day-to-day configuration:

Side view of the bracket and mount. Everything back in its place:

Ready for use. Evidently when I bolted down the bracket and mount, it took out some slop. Now the cradle rests just above the console, so no need to pad its underside.

Front view:

This is a very stable mount and a tight phone cradle. I'm not the least bit worried about it falling out while driving.

 

[bstrobel64]

I'm definitely stealing this idea. Any idea how thick the aluminum is? I know you said a buddy snagged it from a scrap pile so it may not be easy to tell exactly.

 

[matkal]

Finished mounting this as a breather between replacing both front and rear shocks yesterday.

Normal day-to-day configuration:

View attachment 234316

Side view of the bracket and mount. Everything back in its place:

View attachment 234318

Ready for use. Evidently when I bolted down the bracket and mount, it took out some slop. Now the cradle rests just above the console, so no need to pad its underside.

View attachment 234313

Front view:

View attachment 234315

This is a very stable mount and a tight phone cradle. I'm not the least bit worried about it falling out while driving.

I did something very similar but with sheetmetal, I removed it because of vibration, I like the idea of aluminum angle" iron". Back to the drawing board.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

I'm definitely stealing this idea. Any idea how thick the aluminum is? I know you said a buddy snagged it from a scrap pile so it may not be easy to tell exactly.

No worries, it's pretty easy to measure if you have a micrometer.

Measures right at 1/8 of an inch.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

I did something very similar but with sheetmetal, I removed it because of vibration, I like the idea of aluminum angle" iron". Back to the drawing board.

I was worried about vibration. I tried to mitigate it with washer shims under the mount and specifically getting an arm that would allow a tripod-like mount by resting in the tray. It's been good the limited amount I've driven with it.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

NOW WITH BLUETOOTH!

The mount I made was one-half of the modifications I had planned for the center console; the other was adding Bluetooth capability.

I initially considered swapping the stock radio with a Continental AM/FM/Bluetooth (one of these) but didn't want to deal with potential wire harness and antenna connection tinkering.

I'd had my eye on this thread before starting my build:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-add-bluetooth-to-your-oem-radio.20063/
Because of that thread I bought a Bluetooth only module from Discount Car Stereo (their full Chrysler radio selection here). It arrived yesterday.

This is what you get in the mail:

The gray 10-pin plug goes to the OEM radio, the metal 7-pin plug goes to the module. Others have said it easily installs on the radio (which it does), but no one mentioned where the put the module itself. Here's how I did mine.

First, get the center console off and remove the radio. I wanted to use the center hole on the metal security bracket to bolt in the Bluetooth, but it was too thick to get between there and the upper vents. I remembered the back of the lower right area on the console is hollow, so I took it off to try fitting the module there. That, for me, was the trick.

Here you can see the Bluetooth connection at the top and the module at the bottom. The connection wire feeds up behind the HVAC controls.

Here's a detail of the module placement. I had to put the label side of the module against the dash (its base facing towards the cabin) to get the 7-pin connector to clear the 12-volt and aux power connections. The reddish square is where I put the module, the yellowish bit is how the module's connector and wiring were positioned clear the power outlets and get up to the radio:

On the back of that blank lower right section of dash are a couple of posts to which (somehow, luckily) are just short enough to hold the module in place and still allow the trim to be installed. A piece of Gorilla tape looped into a double-sided sticky held the module in place until I got that section of dash back together.

While I was behind the dash I saw the foam covering the antenna cable was old, dry, and just flaking away. I don't know if was originally for soundproofing or insulation, but I wanted to cover it back up. I took off all I could reach and covered it with some 1/4 inch split loom:

When you turn the radio on and hit the "Mode" button, the Bluetooth is powered on. The radio display looks like its running a CD. Syncing was easy; two clicks on the phone I was streaming Spotify. It's recommended your phone be over 70% volume for best results, and I found that to be the case. I put everything back together and it's all good to go.

(Now, I'm contemplating new speakers because the OEM ones are old and worn.)

Thanks for following along, and hopefully this is helpful to someone.

 

[bstrobel64]

No worries, it's pretty easy to measure if you have a micrometer.

Measures right at 1/8 of an inch.
View attachment 236194

Thanks for that. I got all antsy in my pantsy and went to the local metal supply shop and grabbed a foot of 1"x2"x1/8" aluminum angle and started mocking up and cutting away. I'll probably do something similar to what you did with the washers underneath since the dash bezel doesn't allow the angle to sit flush against it. I'm honestly surprised there's that much room to sandwich the bracket in there.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

Thanks for that. I got all antsy in my pantsy and went to the local metal supply shop and grabbed a foot of 1"x2"x1/8" aluminum angle and started mocking up and cutting away. I'll probably do something similar to what you did with the washers underneath since the dash bezel doesn't allow the angle to sit flush against it. I'm honestly surprised there's that much room to sandwich the bracket in there.

It was surprisingly spacious back there, yes.
Depending on the mounting base you go with, at 2-inches vertical on the exposed bit of bracket, you may be close on real estate with your phone's mount point overcoming the dash's lip. There is a bit of plastic ridge there that needs to be compensated for, just watch out for that.
If I remember when I get home tonight, I will post a picture of the note card that I used to make the cutout and drill points on the base.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

Here's how I figured out where to cut and drill my angle aluminum. Hopefully this will make sense, so bear with me.

Get a 3x5 inch index card. You'll want to fold it, I indexed it to the bottom (short) edge of the angle piece and folded it to match where the aluminum piece bends. Mark the side edges of the aluminum onto the card for reference.

Remove the long dash trim piece. Take the folded index card, center it on the cutout and two screws on the console top. Use a pencil and mark the center cutout edges. Keeping the card centered, put it over the top of the screw heads and press down on them. This helps you find the center of your drilling locations.

Now get the trim piece you took off and check how wide the tab that locks it in place is compared to the pencil marks you made for the center cut. The trim's lock tab is wider than the console hole, so I widened my pencil marks to match this tab's width. I recommend you do the same.

You can now put the index card back on your angle piece, just like when you folded it, and scratch through the card to mark screw centers and center cutout on the aluminum. Alternatively, measure the marks on the card and transfer them to the aluminum.

Here's my card for reference:

 

[bstrobel64]

It was surprisingly spacious back there, yes.
Depending on the mounting base you go with, at 2-inches vertical on the exposed bit of bracket, you may be close on real estate with your phone's mount point overcoming the dash's lip. There is a bit of plastic ridge there that needs to be compensated for, just watch out for that.
If I remember when I get home tonight, I will post a picture of the note card that I used to make the cutout and drill points on the base.

Yeah I was hoping for 1x3 but apparently that's an uncommon size according to the guy at the shop. The 2" should do alright though since I will most likely use a 2 hole AMPS pattern Mount. I measured sort of similar to you but just cut a piece of paper to roughly the right size and then folded to get the exact size I wanted, marked the holes at the edge of the paper, and then folded some more to get the hole centers lined up and center punched through the paper.

 

[Moab]

Do they make a piece of angled aluminum that would work?

 

[matkal]

I used a section of square aluminum (tubing?) that was 1.5(?)x 4(?) and cut it into two "L's". With my phone not touching the dash it bounces around a bit with a 3" RAM arm, I think I'll try a 2" arm.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

Do they make a piece of angled aluminum that would work?

I did cut one end of mine down with a hacksaw to its final dimension, I think it was the horizontal base piece, but I can't completely remember. I do remember looking for angle pieces and finding there wasn't anything with exactly the dimensions I was looking for; so one way or another I knew I was going to need to cut it down.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

Yeah I was hoping for 1x3 but apparently that's an uncommon size according to the guy at the shop. The 2" should do alright though since I will most likely use a 2 hole AMPS pattern Mount. I measured sort of similar to you but just cut a piece of paper to roughly the right size and then folded to get the exact size I wanted, marked the holes at the edge of the paper, and then folded some more to get the hole centers lined up and center punched through the paper.

Yup, templates are good friends.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

Today I figured out another use for this mount!

I needed to jump out for something and didn't need my glasses so I took them off and almost tossed them into the shallow tray up there, for when I got back in, but then I was like "Wait a minute..."

I still use the leather case I made and fit to the windshield frame's internal tie down loop to store those glasses; but for the quick glasses off, jump out, jump back in, glasses back on, this was a nice realization.

 

[bstrobel64]

I'm gonna have to do some rework to mine. The plastic ball on the phone side softens in the heat and I have to break it away from the arm and the tackform mount itself gets phucking hot sometimes to the point I can't touch it for a while after getting in. Thinking I may go with a Ram X-grip and a shorter arm. Maybe when I get around to that I'll also try to rattle-proof my dash.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

I'm gonna have to do some rework to mine. The plastic ball on the phone side softens in the heat and I have to break it away from the arm and the tackform mount itself gets phucking hot sometimes to the point I can't touch it for a while after getting in. Thinking I may go with a Ram X-grip and a shorter arm. Maybe when I get around to that I'll also try to rattle-proof my dash.

I actually bought a windshield sun shade because the interior gets WAY hot here in the Florida sun. One of those might help you too.
Additionally, I don't leave my arm hooked on the mount on the regular. I got a little zippered Molle pouch where the arm, its connected phone mount, a plug-in USB power adapter, and phone cord stay when I'm not using the whole system. That all stays in the center console until I need everything hooked up.

 

[bstrobel64]

I actually bought a windshield sun shade because the interior gets WAY hot here in the Florida sun. One of those might help you too.
Additionally, I don't leave my arm hooked on the mount on the regular. I got a little zippered Molle pouch where the arm, its connected phone mount, a plug-in USB power adapter, and phone cord stay when I'm not using the whole system. That all stays in the center console until I need everything hooked up.

Oh that's not a bad idea. I use the mount enough and am therefore much too lazy to go through that much effort. I'd much rather just complain about it.