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Brodit TomTom iPhone Car Kit Adapter
Article by: Darren Griffin
Date: 7 Feb 2010
 Brodit have released a mount adapter for TomTom's iPhone car kit cradle, Part No #533091.
Although this has been mentioned in passing in the forums I thought it worthy of a special mention having had the opportunity to test the TomTom car kit over the last week.
Good as TomToms cradle solution is, I have a dislike of windscreen mounted solutions and in my current car, the windscreen is so steeply raked that they are impractical.
Brodit's solution is simple and replaces the ball mounted windscreen suction mount with a plate that allows it to be affixed to a Brodit ProClip or indeed any other flat surface rather than the windscreen.
Installation is similarly straightforward. Two screws are all that secure the existing ball mount. Remove these, swap the suction mount for Brodit's and replace the screws.
Brodit's solution retains all the adjustablity of the original design and allows you to mount the cradle securely.
This doesn't help with the already expensive cost of the TomTom car kit but if you have already invested in the cradle and are looking for a solution that allows it to be mounted securely someplace other than the windscreen then here is the answer.
Brodit part #533091
Brodit mounting solutions are distributed in the UK by Nemesis Group and available from DSLDevelopments.
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 Posted by mikealder on Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:41 pm |
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Had this been released a couple of weeks earlier I wouldn't have resorted to getting the Dremel out and converting a Garmin Nuvi Brodit ball to do the same job!
I also don't like screen mounts and don't like cables all over the car (well not the current car, the last one was a mess of wires all over the place).
The brodit option which can offer a secure attachment for pratically any device to most cars is a sound investment, with only two small screws to release its easy to addapt the TomTom car kit to the Brodit Ball, just make sure you get the small spring back in the housing correctly otherwise the car kit mount will spin too freely on the ball - Mike
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| Posted by ttrevor on Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:20 pm |
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Has anyone got a link to this adaptor have had a look on DSL but can't find the adaptor? I have converted a Garmin ball type but I want another one for my other car?
Iphone x 64gb IOS 11.3.1 / IPhone 6 Plus 32gb IOS 12 beta /Volkswagen Scirocco R 280 bhp /Suzuki Vitara swb vvt+ /Suzuki Jimny special/running Apple Mac Mini / Apple air/ iPhone x /6 plus navigation / Apple car-play |
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| Posted by Darren on Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:25 pm |
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It's Part No: #533091
If you enter 533091 as the search term it will come up. I'll amend the post with the part number as well.
Darren Griffin |
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| Posted by ttrevor on Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:47 pm |
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Thanks for the info Darren much appreciated
Iphone x 64gb IOS 11.3.1 / IPhone 6 Plus 32gb IOS 12 beta /Volkswagen Scirocco R 280 bhp /Suzuki Vitara swb vvt+ /Suzuki Jimny special/running Apple Mac Mini / Apple air/ iPhone x /6 plus navigation / Apple car-play |
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| Posted by prl1862 on Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:53 pm |
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I've been using this for a couple of weeks now. It does the job perfectly. I found that mounting the ball on the right hand side rather than the top gave much more scope for adjustment, letting me get the perfect angle for the iPhone.
Phil Lee
iPhone 3GS with TomTom W.Europe 1.4, TT Dock and CamerAlert, also CoPilot Live 8
T-Mobile MDA Vario III (HTC Kaiser) with CoPilot Live 7 and TomTom Navigator 6 |
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| Posted by Darren on Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:20 pm |
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That little spring is a real fiddle to keep in place when you re-attach the parts Grrrrr!
Not the most secure and long lasting design I've ever seen to secure the rotating part of the mount. I can see that getting looser and looser over time.
Not Brodit's fault of course.
Does it really just sit in the slot? There are notches in that area that look like they were meant to secure it somehow but when I disassembled mine it was just sat there and took a real fiddle to get back together and actually working.
Darren Griffin |
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| Posted by ttrevor on Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:35 pm |
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Hi Darren that tiny little spring just slots in it is a pain to get correct so you don't jam the ends of the spring as you put the cap back on and tighten the screws
Iphone x 64gb IOS 11.3.1 / IPhone 6 Plus 32gb IOS 12 beta /Volkswagen Scirocco R 280 bhp /Suzuki Vitara swb vvt+ /Suzuki Jimny special/running Apple Mac Mini / Apple air/ iPhone x /6 plus navigation / Apple car-play |
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| Posted by mikealder on Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:24 pm |
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Put a tiny bit of tin foil (baking foil) crushed up to add pressure to the spring and the friction it exerts on the rotation ring is far better, mine was swinging around in the car when cornering (at speed) - it doesn't do this after I added the silver foil - Mike
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| Posted by Darren on Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:30 am |
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| mikealder Wrote: | | Put a tiny bit of tin foil (baking foil) crushed up to add pressure to the spring and the friction it exerts on the rotation ring is far better, mine was swinging around in the car when cornering (at speed) - it doesn't do this after I added the silver foil - Mike |
Where does the tin foil go? Under the spring in the void where it contacts the mount ring or someplace else?
Darren Griffin |
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| Posted by mikealder on Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:32 pm |
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Wrap it around the two ends of the spring to increase the pressure the spring exerts on the rotation ring, alternate is to add a blob of solder to each end of the spring to increase the thickness where the cap presses down on it - Mike
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| Posted by Darren on Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:37 pm |
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I've just received the Brodit adapter but need to finish the review of the standard cradle first.
I'll grab the photos I need and get it posted tomorrow. Then I can disassemble and fit the Brodit part and will experiment with your suggestions to get it nice and tight.
Darren Griffin |
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