sporcanm

This review is from: NAVGEAR 14027 Universal GPS Vent Mount (Electronics) This GPS vent mount is absolutely perfect and fits great in my 2001 Honda Accord, but only after looking at it a few minutes until I found one of its super-flexible aspects. It seems extremely versatile and I could get it to fit exactly where I wanted and oriented the GPS exactly how I wanted. I almost thought it wasn’t going to work without rigging up my own tether to the vent by a simple large twist tie until I just realized that the mounting bracket itself is really flexible to adapt, not just the mount plates. This thing is really ingenious.

First, it comes in 2 parts, first the mounting bracket itself which has a universal socket of its own, and then 5 mount plates which hopefully cover with all that you will need. The box lists Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom, and “fits most brands”. I immediately recognized mine (TomTom), an O-shaped ring and connected mine on. The mounting bracket has a ball joint of its own and a knob that tighents or loosens. You might not realize it at first, but you can flip your whole mount upside down to make the whole mount higher or lower, such as the case for which way my O-ring hangs for my Tom Tom, up or down. Then the ball join lets you swivel and tilt, then lock it down once you have picked. So it doesn’t really rely on your device-specific mount plat or device having its own swivel. I find the mount plate flexibility and stability to be absolutely stellar. I really am thrilled.

Second, something you probably will not realize at first, is that the connection to the vent itself is very flexible. you don’t have to accept the prongs oriented as they are out of the box. The instructions are incredibly simple and without a good diagram to give you your options, so I didn’t realize it at first and couldn’t get it to connect and almost gave up. The prongs to the vent from the mount can be turned upside down to grab from under a blade on the vent or over the blade. By default it is over the blade. You can also slide them horizontally along a slot so that they line up with vertical blades in your vent. one thing you don’t realize at first is the angle of the bracket depending on whether you put the hook over or under a blade. I couldn’t get it to latch going over, then I realized it was because the angle of the whole bracket was too steep to fit. Flipping them around an clamping under worked easily. A simple trick is to just remove both prongs from the mount, and take one and try to hook one on its own which is super easy. Then you can try to connect the mount to it already affixed and you will see the angle of the prong connection to the mount which might not match depending on under or over. Then take it off, put it back on the mount, and hook both properly. The weight should actually rest on a lower lever that sits on the edge of the vent, not the blades, so it should just provide stability, not necessarily have to support weight. Another trick is that the prong might seem too thick at first for the fent. but you need to just hold back the spring and the piece it is pushing which stays on the outside of the blade and the rest of the arm is actually thin and hooks around. However, I could envision that some cars could still have entirely too narrow of slots, but it seems like most cars should work out.

Removing it isn’t quite as easy as the box claims. I find it easy to put on, but takes a little more maneuvering to get it off. I have to hold back the edge of the spring-blocks on the 2 prongs which have a lip for you to hold onto, and then I have to hold my vents up which are pushed down naturally as I try to unhook it, then it unhooks. I think more practice will make it faster.

Limitation on Magellan: Check your Magellan to see if it uses a double or single-groove mount point. This has an adapter for double-groove, but not single groove.