My 'suction cups suck' mount.
I was contemplating whether to post this or not because it's not the greatest craftsmanship in the world but people were asking for it.
This could help you if you have problems keeping the suction cups up or your dots above the mirror are raised and prevent them from getting a seal. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have a nice dark tint strip because it would look sort of goofy from the outside if you don't.
I made it to ensure my shiny new V1 doesn't fall down and get damaged as a result of the suction cups crapping out, and to prevent any safety issues with it distracting me as it falls or coming loose in a collision. I had bad luck with the Beltronics cups.
I actually found some bigger, better-designed suction cups I got as a pack and hadn't used, so I'm using them instead of this mount because they look better and keep the V1 closer to the windshield and more concealed by the tint strip.
A few months ago, I had made a good, solid mount for my Belscort-design detectors which is adjustable because the mount is metal and can be bent.
I had looked forward to making a similarly solid solution for my V1, but I was disappointed that mount wouldn't work in this simple configuration. I saw that the adjustability was dependent on the suction cups bending, so the easiest solution I could think of was to simply use the suction cups but restrain them mechanically.
It's a very simple concept. There's one strip of aluminum that's taped to the windshield with 3M Dual Lock tape. The suction cups are sandwiched between this piece and another piece that has holes cut out to allow the mount to be installed on them. The two pieces are held together by a small, self-drilling bolt screwed into the top piece.
Here's how to do it.. (I didn't take pictures during the process so you'll have to use your imagination)
You'll need...
- A strip of aluminum 1.5" wide and 1/8" thick, available at the hardware store.
- Dremel with cutoff wheel
- Metal file
- Drill, drill bits of some sort up to 3/4"
- Self-drilling bolt of an appropriate size. I recommend hex-head for ease of assembly.
- Socket/wrench and combination wrench for whatever size bolt you got.
First, I just sat the mount with the suction cups on the strip and made markings. I made lines about 1/4" from the outside of the suction cups, then made another line in the exact center of those lines, then a line running lengthwise down the piece, 3/4" from each edge. The V1 suction cups are exactly two inches apart, so I made a dots 1" from the center on that line.
First, I drilled out 3/4" holes for the suction cups. I simply started with a small bit and kept moving up to 1/2", then finished it with a step drill bit because it's the only one I have that goes that large. I recommend filing the rough edges so it doesn't tear apart the suction cup.
Then I cut the aluminum a few inches from what will become the finished work. I held the two pieces together with vice-grip pliers (note the marks from them, like I said not great craftsmanship) and cut along the outside lines. That way both pieces were same length despite my inability to cut two pieces of metal to the same measurements. I like to use the Dremel cutoff wheel to mark where the cut will be and then finish the job with a hacksaw.
After the ends were cut off I poked the suction cups through the big holes and installed the mount, and marked a good place to put the bolt. I disassembled it and drilled a hole for the bolt...
Important - I held the two pieces of metal together again to drill the first hole, which should be just small enough that the threads of the bolt dig into it. (It's much easier to drill the first hole through both pieces at the same time if you're like me and also can't drill a hole in the same place twice.) Then I separated the pieces and enlarged the hole on the bottom piece (that the suction cup goes through) to be larger than the threads so the bolt just slips through.
After the holes were drilled, I drove the bolt into the top piece to make the threads, then removed it. I reassembled the whole deal but this time with the suction cups and mount in it. This can be kind of tricky - I had to rotate the pieces to work the suction cups through the holes and into the mount, and then tighten it down.
After it's assembled like that, you'll have a good part of the bolt still sticking out the back. Cut it off with a cutoff wheel as much as you can (warning, spark show!), then file it down.
At that point you're almost done, just clean the surface of the aluminum and the windshield and stick it up with your Dual Lock.
Some of you may have noticed a problem by now - the mount will be much farther away from the windshield than with the suction cups, causing the V1 to point to the sky. The simplest solution to that is to just cut another piece of aluminum the size of half a piece of dual lock, and tape it up so it touchs the rubber on the front of the V1. (I told you it would be ugly).
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Originally Posted by stano0098
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