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Ram Mounts: How Do They Work?


Tymbee

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I've read enough favorable reviews to conclude that this might be the mount I want to use (60csx) and that "sticking power" doesn't seem to be an issue. But how precisely do they work? Do you press against a windshield e.g. and twist... ? Will they adhere to Plexiglas or other surfaces? When detaching, do they leave a footprint?

 

Also, how much force does it take to move the flexible arm models? That's the one I'm considering as I want to be able to stick it to a plane or boat windshield (Plexiglas?) and quickly flip it back forth to be viewable by left/right seats.

 

http://www.ram-mount.com/gps_mounts/rap105...1056224ga12.htm

 

[Not to beat a dead horse, but it's just a shame users can't search for 3 letter words such as "RAM" "GPS" "PDA" "GPX" etc. etc. etc. here!]

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I am very satisfied with the Garmin automotive windshield mounting bracket with suction cup mount (part #010-10457-00) made for the 60 Series. I've had no problems with it sticking tight to the windshield in hot or cold. It's adjustable and my GPSMAP 60CSx fits secure. It allows access to the power and antenna sockets.

Edited by greengecko
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They have two suction cups--a locking and a non-locking type.

 

I have the locking one, and it works great. It will occasionally (once every 6 months or so) lose its grip and come loose. I wet it, and it will restick. I am not sure what you mean by "footprint". They will leave a mark on the glass, but it is cleanable with window cleaner or water. I would think they would stick on any smooth surface--glass or plexy. I have not used the flexy arm models.

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I use this RAM mount for my 60C. Not flexy arm, but very easy to adjust. It is rock steady, and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. All of my experience is with windshield glass, but it should work as well on any flat non-porous surface. You just wet the suction cup and twist the knob to draw the little rubber suction cup tight. When you remove the mount, there may be a mark from the water you use to get a tight seal, but it cleans off as any water-on-glass mark would.

 

Again, can't speak to moving the flex arm.

Edited by Sputnik 57
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I use this RAM mount for my 60C. Not flexy arm, but very easy to adjust. It is rock steady, and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. All of my experience is with windshield glass, but it should work as well on any flat non-porous surface. You just wet the suction cup and twist the knob to draw the little rubber suction cup tight. When you remove the mount, there may be a mark from the water you use to get a tight seal, but it cleans off as any water-on-glass mark would.

 

Again, can't speak to moving the flex arm.

 

Where did you buy yours? I have the old RAM suction mount and like the newer style. I only really need the suction cup part, but would bite the bullet if I had to buy the mount for the 60CS again to get the new style suction cup.

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I use this RAM mount for my 60C. Not flexy arm, but very easy to adjust. It is rock steady, and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. All of my experience is with windshield glass, but it should work as well on any flat non-porous surface. You just wet the suction cup and twist the knob to draw the little rubber suction cup tight. When you remove the mount, there may be a mark from the water you use to get a tight seal, but it cleans off as any water-on-glass mark would.

 

Again, can't speak to moving the flex arm.

 

Where did you buy yours? I have the old RAM suction mount and like the newer style. I only really need the suction cup part, but would bite the bullet if I had to buy the mount for the 60CS again to get the new style suction cup.

 

Check GPS City. They have RAM accessory kits, as well as individual RAM parts.

Edited by CenTexDodger
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I use this RAM mount for my 60C. Not flexy arm, but very easy to adjust. It is rock steady, and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. All of my experience is with windshield glass, but it should work as well on any flat non-porous surface. You just wet the suction cup and twist the knob to draw the little rubber suction cup tight. When you remove the mount, there may be a mark from the water you use to get a tight seal, but it cleans off as any water-on-glass mark would.

 

Again, can't speak to moving the flex arm.

 

Where did you buy yours? I have the old RAM suction mount and like the newer style. I only really need the suction cup part, but would bite the bullet if I had to buy the mount for the 60CS again to get the new style suction cup.

 

Check GPS City. They have RAM accessory kits, as well as individual RAM parts.

 

Didn't have just the suction cup part and, unless they redesigned the mount itself, the one thye showed for the 60C looked nothing like the two RAMs I have for the 60CS..

Edited by baloo&bd
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I use this RAM mount for my 60C. Not flexy arm, but very easy to adjust. It is rock steady, and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. All of my experience is with windshield glass, but it should work as well on any flat non-porous surface. You just wet the suction cup and twist the knob to draw the little rubber suction cup tight. When you remove the mount, there may be a mark from the water you use to get a tight seal, but it cleans off as any water-on-glass mark would.

 

Again, can't speak to moving the flex arm.

 

Where did you buy yours? I have the old RAM suction mount and like the newer style. I only really need the suction cup part, but would bite the bullet if I had to buy the mount for the 60CS again to get the new style suction cup.

 

Check GPS City. They have RAM accessory kits, as well as individual RAM parts.

 

Didn't have just the suction cup part and, unless they redesigned the mount itself, the one thye showed for the 60C looked nothing like the two RAMs I have for the 60CS..

 

Is this not the part you are looking for? If not, then I don't guess I understand what you are looking for.

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I've read enough favorable reviews to conclude that this might be the mount I want to use (60csx) and that "sticking power" doesn't seem to be an issue. But how precisely do they work? Do you press against a windshield e.g. and twist... ? Will they adhere to Plexiglas or other surfaces? When detaching, do they leave a footprint?

 

Also, how much force does it take to move the flexible arm models? That's the one I'm considering as I want to be able to stick it to a plane or boat windshield (Plexiglas?) and quickly flip it back forth to be viewable by left/right seats.

 

http://www.ram-mount.com/gps_mounts/rap105...1056224ga12.htm

 

[Not to beat a dead horse, but it's just a shame users can't search for 3 letter words such as "RAM" "GPS" "PDA" "GPX" etc. etc. etc. here!]

 

If you are speaking of the slender, single "rod" looking flex arm then be aware that I broke two of them over the course of only 8 months. It was great to bend into the shape I wanted but, moving it from my truck to my wife's car and reshaping it each time wore it out. It's actually a solid rod inside the sleeve.

 

I have a 76 series, not a 60 series, but I also had severe issues with the RAM mounting cradle. It totally destroyed the rubber on my 76 series due to putting it into and taking it out of the mount a ton of times.

 

I have since purchased a different RAM mount (still a suction mount but not the flex arm) and a Garmin cradle adapter. This allowed me to use the RAM mount with the Garmin cradle. I'm much happier with this setup.

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If you are speaking of the slender, single "rod" looking flex arm then be aware that I broke two of them over the course of only 8 months. It was great to bend into the shape I wanted but, moving it from my truck to my wife's car and reshaping it each time wore it out. It's actually a solid rod inside the sleeve.

 

I have a 76 series, not a 60 series, but I also had severe issues with the RAM mounting cradle. It totally destroyed the rubber on my 76 series due to putting it into and taking it out of the mount a ton of times.

 

I have since purchased a different RAM mount (still a suction mount but not the flex arm) and a Garmin cradle adapter. This allowed me to use the RAM mount with the Garmin cradle. I'm much happier with this setup.

 

Thanks for the input, Thrak-- and all the others who responded as well.

 

I understand what you're saying about the flexible arm situation. But specifically what "Garmin cradle" are you referring to-- perhaps a link to make sure we're talking about the same thing?

 

I have two bean bag type mounts that I had used to my iQue and Garmin replaced for various electrical reasons. I wonder if a base like that could be adapted for use with a 60csx as well?

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I use this RAM mount for my 60C. Not flexy arm, but very easy to adjust. It is rock steady, and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. All of my experience is with windshield glass, but it should work as well on any flat non-porous surface. You just wet the suction cup and twist the knob to draw the little rubber suction cup tight. When you remove the mount, there may be a mark from the water you use to get a tight seal, but it cleans off as any water-on-glass mark would.

 

Again, can't speak to moving the flex arm.

 

This looks to be exactly what I need for my 60cx. Are there any possible wear issues with the cradle similar to what Thrak mentioned for his 76 series (see quote below), or is the Ram cradle "safe" on the 60 series? Has anyone used this for a long time?

 

Thrak wrote:

"I have a 76 series, not a 60 series, but I also had severe issues with the RAM mounting cradle. It totally destroyed the rubber on my 76 series due to putting it into and taking it out of the mount a ton of times."

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This looks to be exactly what I need for my 60cx. Are there any possible wear issues with the cradle similar to what Thrak mentioned for his 76 series (see quote below), or is the Ram cradle "safe" on the 60 series? Has anyone used this for a long time?

 

Thrak wrote:

"I have a 76 series, not a 60 series, but I also had severe issues with the RAM mounting cradle. It totally destroyed the rubber on my 76 series due to putting it into and taking it out of the mount a ton of times."

 

Rubber wears. There's nothing you can do about it.

 

The issue I had with the RAM holder for the 60 series had to do with how it holds the unit it place. To use it, you need to have the belt clip "button" screwed in. The button snaps into a hole on an arm which extends from the middle of the holder, and a small lip on the edge of the hole engages the groove on the button. You're supposed to be able to flex this arm enough to get the lip out of the button's groove, when you want to remove the unit. Mine was such a tight fit that I had to use an allen wrench to unscrew the button from the back (through the hole). However, a little time with a rat-tail file fixed the lip so that it both held the unit securely, and released it without much pressure.

 

ram60ko5.jpg

Edited by Prime Suspect
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(...) I have since purchased a different RAM mount (still a suction mount but not the flex arm) and a Garmin cradle adapter. This allowed me to use the RAM mount with the Garmin cradle. I'm much happier with this setup.
I understand what you're saying about the flexible arm situation. But specifically what "Garmin cradle" are you referring to-- perhaps a link to make sure we're talking about the same thing?

If I'm not mistaken, Thrak is talking about the RAM-HOL-GA11U adapter.

 

ramholga11.jpg

 

The lower holes connect to a standard RAM diamond plate. You then take a regular Garmin mount, remove its forward/backward adjustment screw (releasing the cradle piece), and then slip the Garmin cradle between the "U" section at the top of the adapter and thread the screw back through again.

 

I think someone (might've even been Thrak) posted some pics of the mount in action, but I can't seem to find the thread right now. If there's interest, I can take some pics after work today - I've got a RAM base + adapter + Garmin 76 cradle setup out in the car.

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If I'm not mistaken, Thrak is talking about the RAM-HOL-GA11U adapter.

 

ramholga11.jpg

 

The lower holes connect to a standard RAM diamond plate. You then take a regular Garmin mount, remove its forward/backward adjustment screw (releasing the cradle piece), and then slip the Garmin cradle between the "U" section at the top of the adapter and thread the screw back through again.

 

I think someone (might've even been Thrak) posted some pics of the mount in action, but I can't seem to find the thread right now. If there's interest, I can take some pics after work today - I've got a RAM base + adapter + Garmin 76 cradle setup out in the car.

Would it be a combination of these two parts you are refering to from Garmin and Ram-mount?

 

010-10456-00.jpg + ramb166ga11.jpg

 

It seems to me to be the best combo.

 

ProsperoDK/René

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I use the flexarm setup. Even though the third picture makes it look like it's in your face, it really isn't. It barely breaks the horizon on the hood, it is off just to the right and down of my direct vision making it as convenient as looking just to the right and up of my direct vision for the rear view mirror. It is mounted on the tunnel so the holes are obscured by the carpet if I should ever remove this system. and where the flex arm bends, I utilized an existing screw on the dashboard to mount a velcro strap to wrap around the arm and hold it in place when I don't have it closer to me for editing, or when it is not being used by my navigator

 

Something to think about between a temporary mount and a more permanent solution. Although the flexarm doesn't take much force, moving it around is going to cause the suction cup to give way even faster.

IMAGE086.JPG

IMAGE092.JPG

IMAGE090.JPG

Edited by TotemLake
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Would it be a combination of these two parts you are refering to from Garmin and Ram-mount?

 

It seems to me to be the best combo.

Yes, that's essentially the setup I'm using, ProsperoDK - the only difference is that I have the 76-series Garmin cradle rather than the 60-series. I've only had this setup for a couple of weeks, but it seems quite solid. (The real test will be whenever I get a chance to take it offroading in my Wrangler. :laughing:) Assorted pics of the mount:

 

ram_pic_car.jpg <== Mount on windshield

Sadly, not in my Wrangler - I'm on a business trip at the moment, so I'm making do with a Ford Cobalt. As a side note, the Cobalt is one of the few cars where I had trouble with the regular Garmin beanbag dash mount that I'd used previously. I don't know what it is with the Cobalt's dash (maybe it's made of Teflon :laughing:), but the beanbag mount just couldn't keep a grip.

 

ram_pic_closeup_1.jpg <== Closeup of Garmin cradle and RAM adapter

 

ram_pic_components.jpg <== Component view

76-series Garmin cradle on top, RAM adapter on bottom, screw from Garmin dash mount which fastens the two parts together (passes through arm on one side of adapter, through bottom of cradle, then screws into opposite arm of adapter).

 

ram_pic_teeth.jpg <== Teeth on cradle and adapter

The RAM adapter has "teeth" on the inside, just like you find on the Garmin dash mounts, allowing the cradle to be tilted forwards and backwards to adjust the angle. The RAM ball+arm system allows further adjustments - makes for a very flexible system. This is the section of the mount that I'm a little uncertain about for offroading - whether the teeth will grip well enough, or whether the bulky 76CSx getting jostled around by the terrain will make the teeth slip and cause the cradle/GPSr to flip down.

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Would it be a combination of these two parts you are refering to from Garmin and Ram-mount?

 

It seems to me to be the best combo.

Yes, that's essentially the setup I'm using, ProsperoDK - the only difference is that I have the 76-series Garmin cradle rather than the 60-series. I've only had this setup for a couple of weeks, but it seems quite solid. (The real test will be whenever I get a chance to take it offroading in my Wrangler. :laughing:)

Thanks for the pics, Munin - Last evening I ordered the different parts from GPS Warehouse UK in England (www.gpsw.co.uk). They had both the Ram Mount, the Garmin Cradle and the connector, including the shipping it came to just under 50£ - not to bad. I'll probably have it sometime after the weekend.

 

And looking at your pictures I can see just how easy it would be to connect the too - and I think I would do the same as you and let the connector-arm rest on the dash to support it.

 

Say Hi to Hugin when you see him :laughing:

 

ProsperoDK/René

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Thanks for the pics, Munin - Last evening I ordered the different parts from GPS Warehouse UK in England (www.gpsw.co.uk). They had both the Ram Mount, the Garmin Cradle and the connector, including the shipping it came to just under 50£ - not to bad. I'll probably have it sometime after the weekend.

I think you'll be pleased with the mount. The 60-series Garmin cradle should give you even more positioning options than my 76 cradle, since you'll have two hinges for adjusting the cradle's angle instead of just the one hinge that I have.

 

And looking at your pictures I can see just how easy it would be to connect the too - and I think I would do the same as you and let the connector-arm rest on the dash to support it.

You can't tell from the photo because of the angle I took the picture from, but the arm actually isn't being supported by the dash - there's a little bit of air between them. (You might be able to see the gap underneath the screw on the left side of the RAM arm - there's about the same amount of space underneath the arm.) On a clean smooth surface like a windshield, the suction cup has a very strong grip - I was pleasantly surprised the first time I tried it out. :rolleyes:

 

Say Hi to Hugin when you see him :rolleyes:

:laughing: We always get together for an expresso and biscotti (birdseed-flavored, of course :laughing:) before we head over for our nightly chat with Odin.

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This is the weighted mount I use for my 76CS, I like the fact that I can remove it easily and place on the floor or take the whole thing into the house. I had a suction cup 1st and like this better. It's very flexible and heavy so it conforms to the dash and doesn't slide around.

 

rap279iu5b.jpg

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This is the weighted mount I use for my 76CS, I like the fact that I can remove it easily and place on the floor or take the whole thing into the house. I had a suction cup 1st and like this better. It's very flexible and heavy so it conforms to the dash and doesn't slide around.

 

rap279iu5b.jpg

I drive in an older small car so I don't have the flat space to put a mount like this unless it is on the dash right in front off the steering wheel, and then it would obscure my view to much so that's not an option.

 

The mount I referred to I can put on the left side of the steering wheel so its below the bottom line of the front window.

 

I'll post a picture when I have it mounted.

 

Actually my car would be worth about 33% more with the GPSr mounted on the dash including the map software on the unit.

 

ProsperoDK/René

Edited by ProsperoDK
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This is the weighted mount I use for my 76CS, I like the fact that I can remove it easily and place on the floor or take the whole thing into the house. I had a suction cup 1st and like this better. It's very flexible and heavy so it conforms to the dash and doesn't slide around.

 

rap279iu5b.jpg

That mount might be what I'm looking for to use in my SUV. Do you know where I can get more information about it?

 

--Larry

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That mount might be what I'm looking for to use in my SUV. Do you know where I can get more information about it?

The base is a RAM RAP-279U Non-Skid Weighted Friction Base. As with most RAM bases, you can add on a whole variety of arms/cradles/etc to fit your specific device. A quick way to see a number of pre-packaged combos is to open up that page I linked to, go to the Search box at the top, and enter "rap279" - that'll bring up rigs for iPods, GPSrs, PDAs, etc.

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The base is a RAM RAP-279U Non-Skid Weighted Friction Base. As with most RAM bases, you can add on a whole variety of arms/cradles/etc to fit your specific device. A quick way to see a number of pre-packaged combos is to open up that page I linked to, go to the Search box at the top, and enter "rap279" - that'll bring up rigs for iPods, GPSrs, PDAs, etc.

Thanks for the link, I'll see what I can find on their Web site!

 

--Larry

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