Mounting a cell phone. Has anyone done it?

[Dirty_B]

Here is my cell phone mounting solution in my FJ. For safety and convenience reasons, I wanted the phone to be as close to my driving field of vision as possible and within easy reach. It is a hazard to have to look away from the road or try and finagle a phone that is out of reach. For those very reasons, I hated every other mounting solution I had tried! I have an iPhone 13 pro with a Spygen MagSafe compatible case. I also use a PopSocket that magnetically attaches to the case and is very easily removed, when attaching to the puck. The magnetic puck was purchased on Amazon and has an adhesive back that attaches to the vehicle. As you can see, I put it right on my steering wheel hub. This is a much less distracting and accessible position than virtually anywhere else, and it is rock solid. I’ve had it about a month and it seems to hold the phone just fine. The phone can be easily rotated to any position. I’m not sure if this would attach to the Rivian wheel, as it needs a relatively flat surface, although my FJ’s hub is a bit curved and it works okay. Also, this is not a charging solution, but I didn’t care about that.

This is a joke right? Isn't there a thing called an "airbag" right in front of it in the steering wheel hub? They open at like 200mph and will fling that right at your face/body... Good night Gracie.

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[Smacken77]

Has anyone tried a rearview mirror mount?

 

[pfbz]

Amazon.com: MINDSKY Magnetic Phone Mount Compatible with Mag-Safe for Tesla 3 / Y / S / X Accessories Cellphone Holder for Car Screen / Dashboard : Cell Phones & Accessories

I used that same mount, but in a different location. Mine went onto the area right in front of the armrest. It was originally intended as a temporary solution, but it works so well I'm planning on keeping it for a while...

What I like about it:

• SUPER strong magnetic attachment (I use a magsafe case). I've tested this on twisty roads and off-road, the phone stays PUT! Lots of other mounts Ive tried in other vehicles have a pretty weak connection and the phone often comes flying off...
• Good line of sight. Is it as visible as the main Rivian panels? Well no, but really quite good, easy to see/read info at a glance. It is pretty much always running Waze unless I'm off-road, and then it's running a trail app.
• Well positioned for adjustments/input. Falls right to hand for easy pinch/zoom or whatever.
• Well made. Not plastic crap, I'm pretty impressed with how well this mount is built.
• ~$30. Heck yeah!

What I don't like as much:

• Required removal of factory non-slip pad. Nothing is going to stick to that pad... It removes super easily though (just some thin double sided tape holds it down). I plan on cutting either a replacement OE pad around it (I imagine they are a bit hard to order right now?) or trim a generic amazon non-slip pad so it fits around the mount. But honestly, even with no pad there, it is about 100X more functional than stock.
• Not a charger. I could easily just mount an Apple magsafe charger to the mount, but the magnetic grip is SO STRONG as is, I kind of prefer it this way. Plus there are USB2 charging ports and little cable pass throughs right there! I usually just let it suck down on the magnets without charging, but the cord is always there... If my phone is low or if I'm on a long trip, I'll plug it in.

For size/weight reference, that is an Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

 

[seatosummit]

My magsafe solution.

Credit for the design goes to my delivery specialist who showed me his truck and offered to share the CAD model for the 3D printed phone mount he and some other employees had designed.

I ultimately printed it and am enjoying it so far. Mounted via double sided gorilla tape.

 

[flush]

My magsafe solution.

Credit for the design goes to my delivery specialist who showed me his truck and offered to share the CAD model for the 3D printed phone mount he and some other employees had designed.

I ultimately printed it and am enjoying it so far. Mounted via double sided gorilla tape.

do you have a link to the phone mount file?

 

[seatosummit]

do you have a link to the phone mount file?

https://a360.co/3ceOJeb

I just widened the USB C through which the cable has to pass.

In the version that I printed I had to manually remove some extra material with an xacto knife to allow cable to fit through. I haven't printed this version to validate that it in fact is a perfect fit.

I'm considering adding more material to the ridge along the rear surface to intentionally make contact with the dash to combat some slight shaking that I get on the one I installed. Would essentially involve adding a bit more material in the area highlighted in yellow in image.

 

[pfbz]

My magsafe solution.

Credit for the design goes to my delivery specialist who showed me his truck and offered to share the CAD model for the 3D printed phone mount he and some other employees had designed.

I ultimately printed it and am enjoying it so far. Mounted via double sided gorilla tape.

https://a360.co/3ceOJeb

I just widened the USB C through which the cable has to pass.

In the version that I printed I had to manually remove some extra material with an xacto knife to allow cable to fit through. I haven't printed this version to validate that it in fact is a perfect fit.

I'm considering adding more material to the ridge along the rear surface to intentionally make contact with the dash to combat some slight shaking that I get on the one I installed. Would essentially involve adding a bit more material in the area highlighted in yellow in image.

It looked like there were cooling vents on the back side of the center display… does this cover those? I thought about mounting something there but was reluctant to block the cooling…

 

[seatosummit]

It looked like there were cooling vents on the back side of the center display… does this cover those? I thought about mounting something there but was reluctant to block the cooling…

I haven't removed the panel, so can't say for sure.

In feeling around behind the panel prior to mounting, I didn't feel any discontinuous surfaces, for what it's worth. Anyone else know what lives back there?

 

[camaroz1985]

My magsafe solution.

Credit for the design goes to my delivery specialist who showed me his truck and offered to share the CAD model for the 3D printed phone mount he and some other employees had designed.

I ultimately printed it and am enjoying it so far. Mounted via double sided gorilla tape.

Looks great!

 

[travbz814]

If you remove the adhesive (or simply poke 4 holes in the right spots) you'll see 4 small Phillips head screws. I removed these and flipped the split silver bar over and that gave more adjustment range. Even with that, I've got such a big phone that positioning so it doesn't interfere with the stalk is a challenge.
If I were to do it again I would likely cut 1" or so off the end of that split silver bar as it keeps the thing from sliding in as far as I'd liked. Doing so would also allow for angling that part upwards to the left a bit more to help with stalk clearance.

Cutting off 1" was the perfect solution. That also allows you to slide off the mount without having to remove the screws.

Thanks for the tip @kneebuster !

 

[Darth Rivian]

I couldn’t be more ridiculously disappointed with a lack of areas to mount normal cell phone holders, however, I did find one has a very small footprint on the backside and articulates pretty well. I’m not a fan of having on the left side since I’m a righty, but it will work for now. The backside is about the size of a quarter, and can mount in several different locations potentially on the right side that works for other people. I’m not affiliated with whoever sells this, but I found on Amazon for like nine bucks. I also had an old one laying around from my model three that I attached on top of the steering wheel housing, that works for wide angle viewing if that’s the way you like to read maps and such. It doesn’t take up too much space. Thank goodness the small screen near the steering wheel is mostly useless information for now lol

 

[LivingInKaos]

Not Magsafe and not up with the displays, but I made one to fit that worthless slot at the front of the tray. Picture is my first iteration.

 

[kewlasu]

Figured a way to reuse my old mountek phone holder (normally it uses the CD slot to mount to older cars)

I found my old magnetic cd mount like yours and works just like yours.

 

[BHWhite]

I couldn’t be more ridiculously disappointed with a lack of areas to mount normal cell phone holders, however, I did find one has a very small footprint on the backside and articulates pretty well. I’m not a fan of having on the left side since I’m a righty, but it will work for now. The backside is about the size of a quarter, and can mount in several different locations potentially on the right side that works for other people. I’m not affiliated with whoever sells this, but I found on Amazon for like nine bucks. I also had an old one laying around from my model three that I attached on top of the steering wheel housing, that works for wide angle viewing if that’s the way you like to read maps and such. It doesn’t take up too much space. Thank goodness the small screen near the steering wheel is mostly useless information for now lol

Can you post a picture with the phone? Any concerns about gluing to the wood?

 

[Darth Rivian]

Can you post a picture with the phone? Any concerns about gluing to the wood?

I would consider mounting on the left most angle that runs up and down or on the bottom angled trim. I’m not an engineer or physics professor, but the sun hitting the phone holder all day makes that adhesive a little suspect. I also tried this mount as well. Sort of trying everything since the Rivian’s center console phone holder is more of a catapult than a phone holder.

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