I was bored today and lately I've been getting aggrevated by not having an ideal way to use my Zune while driving my truck. It's a 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab. I wanted an easy way to see what is playing, change the song, etc., without fumbling around and getting distracted from driving.
I looked around for what was available on the Internet for mounts and really wasn't happy with the options I could find. So, today I set out to make my own.
I used some scrap aluminum that I had laying on the work bench from an old project. Cut and bent it to the appropriate size and shape. I did mess up my first run and made the it too tight for the Zune to fit in. Oh well, do over.
Here is what I came up with for a final product.
This is one of those two holes in the dash that I could never figure out a purpose or use for until now. This is where I ended up mounting my holder.
In the older.
I lined it with some felt fabric I picked up from the fabric store for less than a dollar.
Made sure I cut a notch out for the USB/Charger connection.
View of the back. I painted it black, but left the sides the bare aluminum. The bracket I made to mount it with got pretty banged up because of several do overs on getting it positioned correctly, drilling out the rivets over and over, bending, hammering, etc. You can't see any of this when it is mounted though.
In the truck, while in Drive to show how it would looking when driving. Perfect spot really. I can see it really easily, and reach it just as easy as the radio to change the song.
Another view.
I ended up using the hole to hide the bundled up extra wire from the audio cable. This I didn't plan for, but it worked out very well. I plan to have a custom cable made just the right length eventually. I also plan to do the same for the charger cord, nice and short, straight shot to the cigarette lighter for power.
The only thing this really cost me was a little time, and it was fun to make. Just thought I'd share.
ben