Or just tablets, which have long ago become suitable for use in cars. Car enthusiasts have used these thin and powerful devices as a replacement for standard radios, GPS navigators, and some electronics and programming specialists even use them as a Tablet - it’s convenient, practical and not so boring in traffic jams. And if you have children, then you can keep them busy playing their favorite games or watching cartoons on long and tiring trips. Some have even adapted tablets as video recorders, and they perform their functions perfectly.

How to secure a tablet computer in a car? Types of holders

Multifunctionality, multimedia functions, as well as minimal size and power - all this is very, very good. All that remains is to make a mount for the tablet in the car.

Today the market is literally overflowing with different types of fastenings. There are quite a lot of such holders.

So, among all the devices, the following designs stand out:

Many people don’t want to bother with the choice and purchase a universal mount for a tablet in the car. These structures can be adjusted in height, width and other parameters. Mobile devices of any diagonal can easily fit into these holders. You can rotate the device both vertically and horizontally. There are also models from well-known manufacturers, but they are few and expensive.

Where to mount the tablet?

For these purposes, there are only a few places in the car. You can mount the holder on the dashboard, on the glass on the right, on the system. You can also install the computer on the back of the headrest. We will look at the pros and cons for each of these places.

The tablet will look perfect on the dashboard. They are often mounted as if it had always been there. But such designs cannot be found on sale, so car enthusiasts and car owners prefer to make such devices themselves. It all depends on sleight of hand and imagination.

To the right of the driver, you can install a mount for a tablet in the car on the glass. Naturally, you can purchase a ready-made design, or you can make it completely yourself. This is much more interesting and also allows for an interesting experience.

DIY tablet mount for car

So, here we come to the most interesting part of the article. Previously, many, before becoming car owners, had bicycles and motorcycles and regularly “farmed” something for them due to the lack of necessary spare parts.

So it is here, because looking for easy ways is by no means our method. Let's try to make a mount for the tablet in the car with our own hands. It's very interesting and economical.

Attach the tablet to the ventilation grille

To make a mount for a tablet in a car on an air duct, you will need the device itself, some stainless steel, a welding machine, and also a plumbing tool.

This homemade design has a number of advantages over the rather flimsy holders from the Chinese brothers. The design is very convenient to use, it is very simple to manufacture, it will not take up much extra space in the interior of your car. For manufacturing, you only need skills in working with metal and a welding machine.

The design has no disadvantages. It can be easily removed if necessary; it is a universal mount for a tablet in a car on a dashboard. In general, you can come up with many options for such designs. You can use various clamps and brackets.

Where to begin?

First you need to find stainless steel. Next you need to measure the strips to make the stand. 2 vertical stripes are recommended. The required strips should be 1 cm wide and 17 cm long. You also need to prepare one horizontal strip 25 cm long and 1 cm wide. Next you need to cut the strips and bend their edges. This will make it more convenient to use this thing.

The upper parts of the resulting strips need to be folded more than the lower ones. You should get a construction similar to an integral. The curved upper part of our strips will cling to the air duct grille, and the lower curved part will hold the tablet. The horizontal strip must be secured in such a way that it keeps the high-tech device from moving laterally. Then such a mount for a tablet in a car will be able to securely hold the tablet, and it will not fall out when driving on our roads.

You can also make additional inserts into this design. They do not have any functional load, but slightly increase the angle of inclination of the tablet.

As a decorative treatment, you can cover the resulting holder with fabric, leather or something else. As a result, the mount for the tablet in the car hooks onto the air duct grille and is held securely there.

We fix the computer instead of air ducts

This is a way to insert your tablet PC into your car. The mobile computer will be mounted in the middle duct. This method is suitable for VAZ cars.

What to do?

First you need to remove and disassemble the air duct housing. By the way, it is not so easy to disassemble it. There are quite a lot of small details. Gutted? Now you need to take the frame and try it on the tablet. The frame is suitable for small devices. If the mobile device is inexpensive, then perhaps the screen will fade. Therefore, it is advisable to recess it in a niche away from ventilation.

Next, after all the measurements, you need to cut off the partition between the two ventilation panels. Then, when we have a single niche, we need to try on the design of the tablet and frame again. Depending on the measurement results, you may have to cut down the ventilation panel a little more.

Next, you need to glue the frame to the tablet screen, to its non-working part. Then you should insert the structure into the cavity and place it on double-sided tape. When everything is done perfectly, you need to treat the places where the partition used to be. It needs to be sanded, primed and painted, and possibly decorated.

Also, as a mount, you can ask your friends for a bracket from a broken holder and make yourself a frame or strip from metal to directly hold your mobile device and mount it anywhere, for example, this is how you can make a mount for a tablet in a car on the headrest. At the same time, a ready-made bracket will allow you not to bother creating it, and metal holders will become much more convenient than flimsy plastic parts. The kids will thank you for the tablet in the rear passenger seat.

A tablet in a car usually has two main roles: a driver assistant and an entertainment center for passengers. In the first case, it serves as a navigator, a news reader, and some also manage to do a little work or surf the Internet in traffic jams. In this case, the tablet is placed next to the driver - on the windshield or above the central panel. True, when placed on the windshield, it blocks part of the view and collects the views of neighbors downstream from everywhere. And when it is located above the center console, it usually blocks access to the car’s multimedia system, but does not interfere with the view, and you no longer have to reach so far for it. There is another method of fastening, which is devoid of all the above-mentioned disadvantages, and which we will also talk about.

As for the role of the multimedia center for passengers, this topic is even more relevant. Those who have children and who have to be on the road with them for a long time will definitely approve of it. It will also appeal to ordinary passenger travelers who are forced to spend several hours in the car.

In this review, we tried on six different types of car mounts and tablet holders, purchasing four sets from different manufacturers in Moscow online stores. With their help, we will try to evaluate the convenience and practicality of this or that method of fastening. Our small city SUV will act as a “tablet carrier”. The tablets that will assist us are already well known to our readers: these are the 8-inch Prestigio Multipad 4 Ultimate 8.0 3G (209 × 155 × 9 mm, 447 g) and the 9-inch Pipo Max-7 Pro 3G (218 × 161 × 9 mm, 485 g). Actually, there is almost no difference between them in size and weight, and we will use Prestigio more often (especially for photography), because it is white and is better visible against the background of the black interior of the car.

So, we’ll start the story about the holders in no particular order, and leave the most sophisticated solution for dessert. Here is a complete list of individual models and kits:

Perhaps this is the most classic option among those we selected. Vertex iTab 3 is not a holder, but a set of holders, which involves attaching the tablet to both the windshield and the headrest of the front seats. If you consider such a set unnecessary, then the iTab and iTab 2 options are at your service. In the first case, in the box, in addition to the cradle, you will only find a mounting bracket for the windshield, and in the second - for the headrest. Accordingly, they will cost you less than our iTab 3 option.

Characteristics table

Type	tablet holder set
Mounting options	to the windshield and to the headrest
Adjustable tablet diagonal, inches	up to 12
Range of distances between the side legs of the cradle, mm	115-185
Range of movement of the lower support of the cradle down, mm	27
Allowable tablet thickness, mm	25 (17*)
Maximum tablet weight, g	N/A
Max. length of bracket installation from suction cup to cradle, mm	190
Range of lengths for installing the mounting bracket to the headrest from the mounting bar to the cradle, mm	90-160
Own weight, g	395, 382
Description from the manufacturer
Approximate price, rub.	1350

* value declared by the manufacturer and (in brackets) our recommended value

On its website, the manufacturer states that the Italian design bureau Alessandro Bellini helps it design its products. We don’t know whether it had a hand in this device, but we can say that the holder is made very carefully and tastefully. The cradle is equipped with a special, fairly hard pillow covered with leatherette. Adjustment of the position of the holding legs with soft rubberized edges is carried out by rearranging them into a set of grooves, where they are held firmly enough.

A powerful 90mm suction cup holds the entire structure very tightly. The pressing force can be controlled using the foot, which has several fixed positions. If necessary, the clamping force can be increased. The bracket has two adjustment units: a toothed one that adjusts the angle of inclination near the suction cup, equipped with a convenient clamping foot, and a ball one near the cradle holder, equipped with a large locking plastic nut. The ball adjustment mechanism has total travel angles of up to approximately 90 degrees (45 in each direction), which is quite enough. The design has no backlash and holds the tablet very securely.

The headrest mounting option is also quite simple and reliable. The bracket is equipped with plastic hooks, which on the back side of the bar have handle-nuts that provide tight clamping. The bracket has two articulated gear mechanisms that can be used to adjust the position of the tablet in only two planes, i.e., adjust its height relative to the passenger and distance from the seat back.

The hinge mechanisms also have a common clamping handle. The fastening is secure. There are no backlashes. The only downside of this design is that it moves the tablet away from the back of the seat by at least 10 centimeters, which may not be very convenient in a cramped car interior or when using child seats. However, in our case, we did not experience any inconvenience, but the length of the bracket was always set close to the minimum (in the photo above - it is in the position of almost maximum distance from the back of the seat).

But this whole set has one drawback - the mechanism for attaching the cradle to the brackets is very tight. It’s easy to attach the cradle, but removing it later to move it to another bracket requires a fair amount of effort.

Advantages

• Reliable fastening, no backlash
• Sufficient adjustment ranges both on the windshield and on the headrest
• Good appearance and workmanship

Flaws

• Very tight mechanism for attaching the cradle to the brackets

A very original and unexpected solution for passengers in the back row! The design principle is simple: a small telescopic rod with a tablet holder is attached between the two headrests of the front seats, after which the two rear passengers can enjoy watching videos or surfing the Internet together. The holder can move along the bar, so that any of the rear passengers can, if necessary, move the tablet closer to themselves.

Characteristics table

The rod is made of aluminum alloy. The length of the two telescopic sections of the rod and the position of the cradle holder are fixed with clamping feet, like telescopic legs on tripods for photography. The rod itself has two deep grooves, as a result, the entire structure has no backlash, nothing rotates, everything is fixed to it securely and neatly. The cradle holder has a ball joint, clamped with a nut. The range of positions it can set is not very large (in any case, the bar will get in the way) - it will allow you to rotate the cradle in two planes by about 15 degrees in each direction.

The cradle has a relatively soft central pad and two levers on the reverse side for adjusting the position of the upper and lower paws, which also have rubberized attachments for holding the tablet.

Advantages

• Original design
• High-quality and reliable performance

Flaws

• Not detected

Perhaps the most practical solution is if the tablet user is the person sitting behind the wheel. The advantage is that, thanks to the long and flexible bracket, the tablet can be placed on top of the center console without limiting visibility or particularly attracting the curious glances of neighbors downstream. And the main drawback is that everything that is located under the tablet will be difficult to reach.

Characteristics table

*depends on the bracket attachment used

The relatively small suction cup securely attaches the bracket to the windshield. The “leg” of the bracket is rigid, but it won’t be difficult to give it the required shape. The cradle is quite massive. The side grips are spring-loaded and controlled by a lever on the lower left side. On the back of the cradle there are two small rubber feet, and they are there for a reason. The fact is that the rigidity of the structure is definitely not enough to prevent the cradle with the tablet from dangling not only during movement, but also from simply touching the screen. Therefore, he needs at least one more point of support. In our case, we positioned the structure so that the base of the cradle rested on the edge of the torpedo. In this position, he is no longer afraid of any bumpiness, but other disadvantages of this placement have appeared.

The main one is that the tablet is forced to be located almost parallel to the plane of the center console. As a result, both the driver and the passenger look at the tablet screen from a large angle - with all the ensuing consequences. In addition, this place is usually well lit since it is located near the windshield.

Of course, it would be more correct to rest the cradle not on the edge of the torpedo, but on those same rubber feet that are located below. But in our case, this was somewhat difficult to do due to the screen of the standard radio and its control buttons.

However, if the first type of attaching the cradle to the bracket for some reason did not suit you, the kit includes a second attachment that holds the cradle not by the top, but by the center. The nozzle is equipped with a ball joint that allows it to be rotated at small angles.

In addition to tablets, as the manufacturer claims, this holder is also suitable for netbooks. We checked this statement on an old Acer Aspire One (screen - 10 inches, weight - 1 kg) and can confirm it: when opened, the netbook is securely fixed in the cradle, and it is quite possible to use it. One “but”: all the side connectors of the netbook will be blocked by the side holders.

Advantages

• Robust design
• Thoughtful design
• Ability to work with netbooks

Flaws

• To securely attach the cradle, you need to look for an additional support point on the dashboard or center console of the car.

Now we have reached the promised dessert. It can immediately be awarded the title of the most advanced solution for placing a tablet in a car.

Look at the official photo on the box! In an AstonMartin with a beige leather interior, the holder looks very harmonious and not at all alien.

In the box you will find a complete set of two holders. The first is a three-knee rod that is attached to the front passenger seat slide with the same bolt that secures the seat itself to the body. And the second holder is designed to be attached to the headrest of the front seat.

Characteristics table

So, with the installation of the main holder with the rod, there was only one difficulty: the tip of the fork, which is attached to the front seat slide, had to be rotated 180 degrees, loosening the mounting bolt. If this was not done, it would not be possible to place the entire structure next to the central tunnel in the car due to the dimensions of the gear joint.

Then the installation went almost like clockwork. The two bends of the rod, as well as the tip with the cradle lock, can rotate. It is also easy to control the angles of the gear joints, which are clamped with screws. As a result, the barbell can be given almost any desired shape. But even here we were slightly disappointed: it was not possible to install the bar as in the AstonMartin due to the fact that the central tunnel in the test car begins to expand towards the engine compartment (eh, they took the wrong car for the test), and the lower hinge allows you to adjust the position of the bar only in one plane. In other words, the first bend of the bar cannot be lowered down - it rests against the expanding central tunnel.

As a result, we had to assemble just such a “snake”, which would have been quite restrictive for the front passenger.

Further more. After securing the cradle and placing the tablet on it, it became clear that every touch of the tablet with a finger causes it to vibrate with an amplitude of 1-3 centimeters. In other words, the structure turned out to be too shaky. An attempt to tighten all the node connections tightly had no effect, but after that the main culprit became visible - this is the fork, which is attached to the slide. And if the rod is fixed securely and firmly enough, then the fork, made of soft metal, bends in vain, and it is this that is the source of vibrations of the entire structure. After dismantling, our version about the soft metal was completely confirmed: when the fastening bolt was tightened, the fork noticeably bent. Yes. A truly Chinese approach (may the Chinese, for whom he has the warmest feelings, forgive the author).

Update from 02/04/2014: as the forum members quite rightly noted, in our case the fork had to be driven into the space between the floor and the slide. This would significantly increase the rigidity of the structure, but you still cannot do without a second point of support for the rod. In other words, it would be desirable to rest the bar, for example, on a dashboard.
Another important addition concerns the bar itself. It is very likely that the central knee can be removed, thereby reducing the space occupied by the bar and reducing the leverage on the fork.
Alas, at the moment we cannot check these two versions, but they may be useful to those who still decide to buy this holder.

But we liked the second holder, which is attached to the headrest, better. Firstly, there are no screws, and the bar with the cradle holder is fastened using special fasteners. Secondly, the tablet installed in the cradle is located close to the back of the seat, which is a plus in a small car interior. However, there is also a drawback here: the screw-retainer of the hinge joint has become difficult to access, because it almost “sank” between the back of the seat and the headrest. But overall, the solution seemed quite practical to us.

Advantages

• Original idea
• Reliable and well-thought-out boom design
• Quite presentable appearance
• Convenient attachment to the headrest

Flaws

• The metal of the fork attached to the skid is very soft, which makes the entire structure extremely shaky
• Difficult-to-reach clip on the headrest ball joint

General impressions

Having become acquainted with six different mounting options for tablets, we can definitely say that we have no special complaints only about those that are intended for rear passengers. This is probably also because the tablet looks much more appropriate there. No, we don’t mind at all if the driver has a large map or convenient Internet access at hand, but the interior design of modern cars somehow strongly opposes this, which is why third-party solutions also have their pros and cons.

We will not definitely recommend anything for the driver - it’s better for everyone to look at our description of this or that holder and draw their own conclusions. But we advise you to treat the Daystar DK-1 with caution - at least until the manufacturer replaces the “plasticine” fork that attaches the rod to the front seat slide.

Modern cars are equipped with many different functions and have a lot of the latest digital equipment. This could be an on-board computer with a large clickable screen with support for playing video files, the presence of many other devices to make the trip less boring. However, not all cars participating in road traffic have similar devices and additional gadgets. Basically, all cars produced before 2010, and some after, do not have such rich accessories and cannot pamper passengers with additional devices in order to brighten up their time on the road. But many people want to connect a modern gadget during a trip, sit comfortably in the front or back seat and enjoy the trip with their favorite films or cartoons.

Many car enthusiasts are thinking about purchasing a tablet holder for their car.

This is not at all difficult to do, because current developments make it possible to obtain moral satisfaction from almost all processes, even from driving as a passenger. But still, with what and how to fasten it if the car manufacturer did not provide any standard fastening.

General points

There are a lot of things you can buy on the market today, and tablet holders are no exception. The whole point is just where and what device to install. You can choose a holder for a tablet on the dashboard, a holder for an iPad in the car on the headrest, on the dashboard and on the windshield. There are even designs with which an iPad or a regular tablet can be mounted between the headrests of the front seats. Naturally, this requires certain fastenings, which have their own designs for each of the intended placement locations.

The placement location also depends on the purpose for which the gadget will be used. If the device is used as a navigator, then there is simply no better place than on the dashboard or on the windshield. If it is installed for entertainment, installation locations can be selected on the headrests, as well as between them, and the dashboard.

Placement on the dashboard

To install the gadget on the dashboard, suction cup mounts are used. But another addition to placing the gadget using a suction cup should be a rubber or neoprene adhesive pad, where the suction cup itself will be attached. Many fasteners come with it included.

To install a tablet or iPad using this mount, you need to pay attention to the presence of a tripod. Mounting can be done without a tripod, or with a short stationary or long telescopic one. With the suction cup option, it is best to choose a rigid short tripod with the ability to change the angle of rotation of the screen. The suction cup can be placed anywhere on the panel on both the driver and passenger sides. There is an option for mounting tablets with tripods on an air grille. Such options most often use clothespins in their design.

Installing gadgets on seat headrests

Fixing the tablet on is an option exclusively for passengers in the rear row of seats. Most often, as mentioned above, this is done for children. There are two options for performing this procedure: in the first option, placement occurs on the headrest itself, on its back side. In the second option - between two head restraints, the driver's and the front passenger's.

With the first option, the gadget will practically not be able to be rotated, since the distance between it and the headrest will be small. The second option involves the presence of a mount that is installed on both headrests and a clamping device in which you can place both a regular tablet, usually from 7 to 15 inches, and an iPad of different sizes. Moreover, the clamping device in most models can move from one to another and take one or another angle of rotation.

Mounting the tablet yourself

In addition to ready-made solutions, which are not always cheap, people are actively coming up with gadgets for the car interior. And these solutions are often several times cheaper and more practical.

One of the options for securing the tablet is as follows: a three-sided frame is mounted from plastic corners to fit the size of the tablet, a plastic base is cut out and it’s all glued together. It turns out to be a plastic pocket with grooves. Then you can cover the entire structure with thin felt or subwoofer material, and make a loop from a fabric cord for installation on the headrest. That's it, one of the options is ready. If you have all the materials, this can be done in half a day.

The second, less popular, option that has a place in life is to install the tablet using wire tendrils into the holes on the radio. Almost every radio has 2 or 4 holes for attaching it to the car panel. To do this, you need a regular book-style tablet case and a wire with a diameter slightly smaller than the holes. A piece of wire is inserted into the bend of the “book” and inserted at both ends into the holes on the panel. Thus, you can use the tablet both as a navigator and as a means for watching videos.

These are not all the options for installing tablets in a car on your own. Every day, craftsmen come up with new ways of fastening in order to save on at least something in our dear world.

Let's sum it up

Using a tablet in a car is far from a luxury, but a necessity. Many people use it to plot the desired route, and some use it as a video player. In both cases, you can use different options for securing the gadget in different parts of the car. Fortunately, today you can, if you don’t buy a mount, then come up with a rational replacement for it.

We won’t tell you how to connect the tablet to the car, but we will show you several ways to mount this gadget in the car’s interior. You can make all the fastenings, except the first one, yourself from certain materials that anyone can find.

Mounting the tablet using a ready-made holder

Using a ready-made holder purchased in a store, you can quickly and easily secure the tablet yourself. The kit includes a glass suction cup and adjustable feet. You can attach it to the dashboard or windshield. The glass is held in place by Velcro, and to install the mount on the panel you need to use double-sided tape or self-tapping screws.

Homemade wire fastening

You can make this fastening option from a piece of stainless wire or knitting needles. The tablet must be enclosed in a book-type case.

First, you need to drill a couple of holes in the panel with a diameter slightly larger than the thickness of the wire so that it fits tightly into them. After this, you need to bend the frame, open the book cover and hang it on the frame.

U-profile

The fastening method using a U-shaped profile can be considered a semi-professional job. From the profile you need to make a kind of shelf on which the tablet rests. From a thick duralumin strip, bend an arc with screws that will be required to secure it to the panel.

Cheap option

Everything is simple here: you will need a cord with a fastener, which is used in clothing. This lace is threaded through the book cover. In this case, you need to fix the phone holder on the panel, which will act as a hook on which the tablet hangs.

Velcro

You need to attach Velcro to the back of the tablet using double-sided tape, and the second part of it needs to be fixed on the panel in the required place.

How to choose a tablet

So, we’ve figured out how to mount a tablet in a car, and now we’ll tell you how to choose this gadget:

1. The tablet should not have any physical buttons other than the power button. We are talking about mechanical and touch buttons, that is, the “back”, “menu” and “home” buttons should be software whenever possible, that is, appear only when loading.
2. If you want to install a tablet in a car, its diagonal should be no more than 7 inches. In the car, the space for the radio or GPS is 2DIN, which is about 7 inches.
3. It is better to choose a tablet with built-in GPS and a 3G module. Everything is clear with the navigator, but 3G is required to connect to the Internet, which is never superfluous. It also helps weak GPS transmit and receive data using A-GPS technology. It’s good if, instead of a 3G module, you buy a portable 3G WiFi router and distribute the Internet to your phone and tablet. That is, you can take the device home and use it in your apartment.
4. Considering that the tablet will have to play music and work as a navigator, you need to select a model with a fairly powerful processor and at least 1-2 GB of RAM.

How to integrate a tablet into a dashboard?

First you need to make markings somewhere on the panel. To do this, take the back cover of the device and try to make sure that the panel completely covers the sides of the tablet. After that, drill holes for your gadget, buttons and outputs. You can limit yourself to just the power button, but it will be more convenient and beautiful if the panel has a USB output and volume buttons. You can not display the latter, but simply set the maximum volume on the device.

Disassembling the tablet

Look on the Internet to see how your specific model is disassembled, as in some cases there are certain nuances. It is also better to download the diagram of your device so that you do not have to spend a long time searching for the necessary contacts. Take a soldering iron and solder the USB extension so that one end is in the glove compartment, and the other is mounted into the panel using a glue gun.

Understanding sound

There is nothing complicated here. To avoid having to solder anything on your tablet, take inexpensive headphones and cut the wires. Insert the Jack into the headphone output of the tablet, and solder the cut wires to the tulips and insert them into the amplifier or radio.

Output of buttons and connectors

Display the power and lock buttons, as well as volume buttons. To do this, use thinner wires. You can cheat with power if the gadget has a separate charging connector. If the device is charging from USB, be prepared to solder again.

Ideally, use the COM connector, to which all wires from headphones, buttons and connectors should be soldered. In a car, the same connection is made to the reverse COM connector. This is necessary for quick installation or dismantling of the device.

For high-quality cooling, you need to attach the cooler to the tablet with super glue, which can be connected to the battery directly. You must first drill holes in the lid for airflow and air outlet.

When I travel, I use my smartphone as a navigator. I've had several factory made car phone holders and there was always something that didn't work for me. Over time, they become loose, or installing a phone in them becomes problematic.

Show 5 more images

The last car phone holder I purchased was a sticky silicone mat with slots in which you could mount your smartphone upright on its side. But my friend could not install her smartphone in a leather book case into it; she had to remove the case. I decided to bring to life an old idea. Life hackers must act, let the rest whine!

You will need:

• a piece of wood, approximately 300x100x8 mm (I had a piece of black fiberboard)
• mini loop
• spring
• a few screws, glue
• engraver with attachments or hand router
• mounting platform (I used the notorious silicone mat)

Note: This holder mounts to a rough surface on the dashboard, and if you want to place your phone on the windshield, this is definitely not your option.

I will show you the simplest option for assembling a phone stand in a car. In the end I used sealant after I assembled the holder, but that was because I remembered it too late.

Files

Step 1: Cutting out the parts

From a piece of fiberboard I cut three parts of the following sizes:

• Top cover 150x90x8 mm
• Bottom cover 130x90x8mm
• Roller 9x90x8 mm

The roller needs to be glued to the top cover at a distance of 5 mm from the edge; this indentation will allow you to use the holder with one hand. When the glue has dried, secure the roller with two additional small countersunk screws. This part will protect the top edge of your smartphone.

Step 2: Making the Slots

Using a linear milling compass or a milling bit (or a hand router), make a slot in the bottom cover, slightly wider than the smartphone in the case. The smartphone should not sit tightly in the slot; I will return to this point later. The slot will protect the bottom edge of your smartphone.

If the piece of wood from which you are making your smartphone holder for your car is too thin, you can glue two beads on the bottom cover to create a slot for your smartphone.

Cut a cutout for the spring on the top cover, on the side with the bolster. The cutout should not be blocked by the loop and should be slightly longer than the spring. The picture shows that this cutout turned out very sloppy. My engraver seems to live his own life, moving wherever he pleases.

When you're done with the slot and cutout, sand until you're happy with it and remove any dust.

Step 3: Apply sealant

Place masking tape around the areas where you will apply the sealant. Once you have applied the sealant, wet your finger with soapy water and smooth the surface of the sealant with it. Pay special attention to the edges to ensure there are no loose pieces of caulk sticking out.

When you are finished applying the sealant, carefully remove the tape so that the edges of the sealant are even and leave the parts to dry overnight.

Step 4: Attach metal parts and assemble the structure

Attach the loop very carefully. If it is tilted slightly, the lids will not be parallel to each other when opened. Depending on the material you used for the lids, the hinge and spring can be screwed directly onto the wood. I didn't have the right size screws, so I used bolts and nuts. I made recesses for the nuts so that they hardly stand out above the surface of the covers.

First we fix the mini loop on one of the covers, then we fix the spring on both covers. After this, we attach the loop to the second cover. This makes it much easier to secure the loop correctly.

Step 5: Decorate the holder

I had an unnecessary piece of leather, using percussive letter stamps (by first wetting the leather) I made an inscription. The options to highlight the uniqueness of your holder are truly endless.

My Skoda Yeti has a wonderful flat area on the dashboard. Our holder must be mounted on an almost flat surface. If the surface of your dashboard is not flat, you will have to mount the holder to something else or level the surface somehow. I already mentioned that I had a sticky silicone mat. Using scissors, I cut off all the protrusions that hold the smartphone in a vertical position until I just got a flat silicone mat. You can buy these on eBay or most hardware stores. I attached it to the smartphone holder with some paper clips.

In general, you can simply drill a hole in the dashboard and secure the holder with a screw.
Well, you have made a universal smartphone holder that fits almost all market smartphone models. It can be used for smartphones without a case, with a case, or with a flip case. It is easy to use with one hand, and when the holder is not needed, it barely rises above the dashboard.

If the evolution of smartphone displays goes the way of larger ones, you can make the holder “jaws”, so that such a holder can also be used with tablets. Enjoy.