Custom iPhone 4 Otterbox mount

[Dat_Ninja_There]

So I took the idea from setasai, over on ninjette.org, from his write up on a custom garmin gps mount here

Basically, I wanted to mount my iPhone so I know when someone important calls while I'm riding, like my girl or the office. Unfortunately, all the prefabbed mounts I found only worked with the iphone while it is not in a case. I wanted to be able to use a mount for my iPhone 4 while still in the trusty and durable Otter Box Defender case. So heres what I did....

1. I ordered an extra Otterbox beltclip/holster from ebay.
2. I removed the beltclip from the holster
3. Went to Home Depot for some 1/8" thick, 3/4" wide aluminum strip metal, nuts, bolts & washers
4. Used a metal coat hanger to bend up a stencil for the design of the cross bracket, using the 2 lower bolts of the windscreen in the dash area as my mounting points
5. Bent my aluminum strip at the same angles of my metal hanger stencil.
6. Marked where all the holes needed to be drilled on the aluminum bracket
7. Fabbed up an L-bracket to mount to the cross bracket
8. Mounted the holster to the L-bracket

Extra Otter Box Holster


Beltclip on back that I removed


Otter box holster without iPhone


Otterbox holster with iPhone


I'm gonna take the bracket off and apart tomorrow and spray it with primer and flat black paint so that it blends better with the dash area.

Also, mounted my garage remote with some velcro between the handlebars, lol. Works out great.

[dubojr1]

[slolane]

Looks good

[Dat_Ninja_There]

removed the bracket today and painted it and reinstalled it. Looks much better now that its all black

[Cazper]

Thats a great idea... I think it would work better if it didn't block the top half of the spedo... but you are limited with space with the stock windshield. With a double bubble it could be up higher. I may have to rig something up like this for my garmin phone and then supply it power...

Thanks for the pics and the ideas

[Dat_Ninja_There]

Originally Posted by Cazper

Thats a great idea... I think it would work better if it didn't block the top half of the spedo... but you are limited with space with the stock windshield. With a double bubble it could be up higher. I may have to rig something up like this for my garmin phone and then supply it power...

Thanks for the pics and the ideas

Yeah that's my only grievance too. But you're right I was limited on the space. I do hate not being able to see my neutral and turn signal indicators. But I do like being able to use my gps and speedo apps, and knowing when someone important has called, like the office.

[slolane]

I went ahead and did this tonight...

Mount: bent up some scrap metal, made an L bracket to attach, marked and drilled holes.

Holster: removed belt clip, drilled hole to mount to L bracket, used drill to route out bottom of case so power may be supplied while in holster. I will be adding a velcro strap to clamp it in as extra security as I didn't want to put velcro directly on the back of my case.

I have a Double Bubble windscreen so it is able to sit up above the stock gauges no problem...

Mount:


Phone mounted:


I use MotionX GPS on my iPhone and iPad and it works really well.

[Live2ride]

Looks good slolane, so next up is the ipad mount, right?

[slolane]

Originally Posted by Live2ride

Looks good slolane, so next up is the ipad mount, right?

Thanks man.

Heck yeah, I would have to get the touring windscreen (thread here) and then maybe I could fit it... humm.

[Dat_Ninja_There]

Yeah I need to get the double bubble, so I can see all my gauges again lol

[geeker]

Originally Posted by slolane

I went ahead and did this tonight...

Mount: bent up some scrap metal, made an L bracket to attach, marked and drilled holes.

Holster: removed belt clip, drilled hole to mount to L bracket, used drill to route out bottom of case so power may be supplied while in holster. I will be adding a velcro strap to clamp it in as extra security as I didn't want to put velcro directly on the back of my case.

I have a Double Bubble windscreen so it is able to sit up above the stock gauges no problem...

Mount:


Phone mounted:


I use MotionX GPS on my iPhone and iPad and it works really well.

I use MotionX everyday for work. Logged 1000's of miles on that app and it is fairly accurate most of the time. Any address I'm trying to find on major highways end up saying I arrived 15 miles before I actually get there. Everywhere else, it's spot on. I might have to come up with a similar mount for my iPhone so I can have my navigation up for work days. On days I'm not working, I'm just as happy to not have it and ride a random road to find out where it goes. Reminds me of all the driving I used to do when I was younger and gas was 85¢ a gallon.