Which GPS bean bag holder?

[AlmostBoatless]

Thanks again for your advice! Which GPS bean bag holder does everyone recommend?

We just bought our first GPS; the Garmin 760LMT and cannot wait to use it! Any suggestions/advice appreciated!

[willald]

We recently got a GPS and went through this as well. Here is a thread I started, discussing the same subject.

Mounting to the windshield with a suction cup, I never liked; Like already said, they will not stay, and the other big problem is, that puts the GPS unit waaay too far forward in the Motorhome, completely out of reach. Some talk about mounting it on the side window, but that puts it too far out of eye sight going down the road; you need it in the center, up high where you can look at it without taking your eyes too far off the road. That rules out mounting it near a cup holder, too, as previously mentioned.

I also did not want any kind of mount that left anything permanent on the dashboard. Doing such makes you a much bigger target for a thief. They see the GPS mount on the dash, even if no GPS unit is on it, they know that the GPS unit is probably somewhere in the vehicle, and will break in just to get it. Seen that happen more than once.

Sooo, the above reasons pretty well meant that for us, the bean bag mount was the answer. I ended up going with THIS one, and it works great. Very happy with it, works exactly as it should and as I'd hoped. Really like that I can pick up entire thing, mount and all, and use it in all our vehicles, or can hide it in the trunk or wherever, so there's no way to know there is a GPS unit in the car.

The Garmin bean bag mount mentioned earlier is OK, but has one problem: They have bean bags all around them, so you have to set it a little further forward on the dashboard than I'd prefer. The one I have, the bean bags are in a 'horseshoe' shape, with none in the front, so it can go right up against front edge of dashboard. You need it close enough you can reach it easily.

[mike_mck]

F1bNorm wrote:
I've mentioned this before. Our Garmin is suction cupped to a can of beans and it goes in an extra cup holder.

Norm

Oh interesting solution. My Garmin suction cup is useless on my windshield. 7" screen. Trying your solution this weekend.

[GoPackGo]

I've used the Garmin beanbag in the past with much success. It stuck like glue for several years but then started sliding a little on tight turns. So I used some spray on cleaner (windex ?, Simple Green ?) on it's underside and it was as good as new !

I now have the Rand Mcnally 7" GPS and have been using a windshield mount, but ALL WINDSHIELD MOUNTS WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL ! So just yesterday I ordered the Bracketron Nav-Mat beanbag on Amazon for $16 including shipping ! Such a deal !

And it will be on my dash. A GPS is kind of useless if it's down there in a cup holder where it can't be seen. The Rand unit has lots of good info on the screen and I want to see it. The front window on my truck is huge and I place the GPS beanbag so I can see both front corners. Would you rather that I look down between the seats periodically for several seconds ? People put all kinds of trash on their dash and hang lots of junk (beads !) from the rear view mirror - those are the ones to worry about.

* I should add that I didn't want to put anything permanent like glue or velcro on my dash. I would guess that the glue on the velcro might fail after a period of time anyway due to high heat temps and the effects of the sun.

Tim

[Dtank]

AlmostBoatless wrote:
Thanks again for your advice! Which GPS bean bag holder does everyone recommend?

We just bought our first GPS; the Garmin 760LMT and cannot wait to use it! Any suggestions/advice appreciated!

That is a very, very "deep" question!..

Bound to elicit endless discussion -
making an informed selection extremely difficult..:h

Fortunately, the results will be preserved and accessible via "search" for future reference - as it's bound to be a hot topic for years to come...:C

Good luck with your new Garmin!

.

[CavemanCharlie]

F1bNorm wrote:
I've mentioned this before. Our Garmin is suction cupped to a can of beans and it goes in an extra cup holder.

Norm

This sounds like a good idea.

[CavemanCharlie]

Boy, I don't know where you all live but, if you drive around here and you have anything stuck to the windshield or setting up that high in the middle of you dash you will get a ticket that's going to cost you over 100 dollars. As you should, you don't want anything blocking your vision.

Now, that being said I do have a small 3x5 back up camera screen setting on my dash but, it is low and over in the corner on the drivers side where it doesn't block my vision.

So, if you mount it on the right place you are fine just be careful where you mount it is all I'm trying to say.

[imgoin4it]

Two little tabs of velcro on the dash and the opposite tabs on the bottom of the GPS then use the suction cup as the third leg. Have the tabs in all our vehicles and move the GPS from one to another.The third leg allows the GPS to be tilted back and forth to adjust for visibility. I have tried about all the ways mentioned and like the velcro best of sll.

[AlmostBoatless]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Those windshield mounts do NOT stay put. Any temp change on the window and your GPS is on the floor. And you can't move them when needed.

8 years and counting with this. I like it because I can just grab the whole thing and use it in my truck when needed. And you can adjust it seven ways to Sunday for better viewing.

Where did you get the round one? I also like the Amazon one and the ebay one looks like the same.

thanks for all the great info!

[Bumpyroad]

wa8yxm wrote:
This one looks interesting

All Electronics Corporation

Do not *yet* have one but am considering with my next order from them

They are a surplus house so prices are right.

that was the one that I had, piece of junk. might work OK for a tiny GPS but not for a standard one. I returned it to shipper.
I use the standard garmin one but can only move it 5 ways from Saturday. 🙂
bumpy

[rockhillmanor]

Those windshield mounts do NOT stay put. Any temp change on the window and your GPS is on the floor. And you can't move them when needed.

8 years and counting with this. I like it because I can just grab the whole thing and use it in my truck when needed. And you can adjust it seven ways to Sunday for better viewing.

[seaeagle2]

I'm a HVAC service tech so I use my GPS all day, I got tired of the Garmin randomly falling off the windshield, sometimes I'd go 2 or 3 weeks with it working fine, then it would start not sticking. I finally just duct taped the mount to the dash, no more problems.

[ncrowley]

I have been using the Garmin bean bag mount for a long time and I think it is great. Here is one link to it:

Bean Bag Mount

We used it for a Nuvi so we could move it between cars. It was great in the coach because I could put the Garmin on the dashboard where I could see it. The windshield mounts put it too far away. When I purchased the 760LMT, I was surprised when I was able to use the same bean bag mount for it. I was worried I would have a problem because the LMT is larger but it works great.

[Ed_Gee]

I find this Lido mount to work well with all my GPS and ham radio needs: Lido bean bag mount

[wa8yxm]

This one looks interesting

All Electronics Corporation

Do not *yet* have one but am considering with my next order from them

They are a surplus house so prices are right.

[Bipeflier]

This one!

I have these in 3 vehicles for tens of thousands of miles with not one issue.