ARKON Mounts - Friction base and others reviewed

[Brickie64]

I've been using the Akron friction mount with my GO920 this week and I've had a couple of issues with it when using TMC connection. The mount is not perfect when trying to connect the TMC at the bottom of the PND. I think Akron could re-visit the bracket arrangement and make some improvements.
Has anyone else tried there's yet ?

Gav
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"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible"

Garmin Nuvi 3598 + GO 720 (+USA Map Card) + NavFree for iPhone in case all else fails ;-)

[Darren]

What's the issue exactly?
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Darren Griffin

[Brickie64]

Darren,
The problem is that the TMC antenna sticks out quite a long way below the base of the GO920 so I need to pull the base clear of the dash to prevent it fouling on the dash. I've mailed you some photos for illustration.

Gav
_________________
"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible"

Garmin Nuvi 3598 + GO 720 (+USA Map Card) + NavFree for iPhone in case all else fails ;-)

[Darren]

Received your images:


Yes I see the problem you have. On my car the dash is sloped down sharply which gives the mount enough clearance.
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Darren Griffin

[john877]

[Darren]

I'll raise these issues with Arkon and see what they say.
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Darren Griffin

[spdgps]

Anyone else able to post pix of the non slip mount in use?

TIA,

Si.

[Brickie64]

Darren,
Any word back from Arkon about the friction mount issues earlier ?

I 've had chance to use it in a couple of other vehicles with different dash arrangements and it seems the TMC is generally a problem unless you can pull the Satnav close enough to you that it misses the dash.

Overall, I think it's pretty useful but perhaps a couple of other comments good/bad.

The PND is much closer to the driver so easier to reach when driving, this is generally much better than window mounted option.

It's a lot easier to hide the PND if you stop for a quick break.

The supplied suction mount has good adhesion.

You can't get the mat to slide off the dash no matter how fast you corner

The Mount bracket is definitely too short and needs two adjusters ("tilt" just behind the PND rather than "pan") to give a better range of height adjustment. In fact there do look to be other Arkon brackets in their catalogue which would be more suitable for this application even if they needed a little modification.

The mat is just too large to fit in the tray in the middle of my dash on my Golf MK5 so it has to squeeze in the gap on the right side of the screen, and it doesn't really fit there without turning it to face the door.

Shame the mat base design isn't a little more flexible, like the Garmin offering.

Hopefully Arkon will revise the bracket design so it's more appropraite for the GO series devices.

Cheers

Gav
_________________
"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible"

Garmin Nuvi 3598 + GO 720 (+USA Map Card) + NavFree for iPhone in case all else fails ;-)

[Darren]

I'll chase them up. The friction base is available on its own and Arkon have many other mounts so perhaps they could substitute a different one.
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Darren Griffin

[Brickie64]

Looking at the product catalogue (can be downloaded from their web site).
I would say that the CM019-7PS-2 mount might be suitable if the pan adjuster can be inverted and the bracket is suitable for a GO series adapter plate.
May be better if they use this with the "robust short base".

Gav
_________________
"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible"

Garmin Nuvi 3598 + GO 720 (+USA Map Card) + NavFree for iPhone in case all else fails ;-)

[Darren]

Back in July we reviewed a selection of models from Arkon's range of new mounts including their new friction base mount solution. We particularly liked the friction base and windscreen mount options but Arkon have a huge range of solutions and there is almost certainly one to fit every possible eventuality!

All the new mounts share a common mounting system that uses a custom adapter plate to mate the satnav with the mount.

Arkon have now added support for TomTom's EasyPort equipped models, Mio's Moov 200 and 300 models as well as Navman S-Series unit to the supported device list with mounting bundles and dedicated adapter plates to suit the new additions. Arkon are the first mount manufacturer I'm aware of that have a solution for the EasyPort devices.

Should we ever get any sun there is even a clip that mounts to your sunvisor, a nice covert location if only we had some sun to justify it!

You can read our original review of Arkon's mounts here.
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Darren Griffin

[gregh]

Hi Darren,

Continuing my search for a universal mount, I wonder if the SM316 : Universal Mini Adhesive Dashboard, Desktop, or Console Mount would screw onto a Brodit mount, so I would get the solidity of Brodit and the flexibility of Arkon

Cheers,

Greg

[Darren]

[gregh]

[Darren]

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