My custom laptop car mount

Well after seeing these guys selling their products on eBay, I figured I could do better. First of all, I realized that they were just using normal 3/4" steel pipe. But I wanted to mount the laptop on the side of the floor and not the bottom. I managed to score some spare thick plexi from the local hardware store since it was sitting outside for a few months and was just a mess (but since I won't ever be looking through it I didn't care how messed up it was)...


I'm still scouting for some plastic sleeving to cover up the pipe. Due to it's mounting up foreward where it is, the front seat can still slide all the way up and I can still accomidate a passenger with little problem.


I'm currently using an old IBM Thinkpad with a 12" screen but I've got a newer Dell 14" that will soon be installed. Bigger screen with better color visibility in sunlight is a good thing!


My bolts on the plexi were a little too long but no one will know!


Here's where it hooks into the floor. I'll probably grab a carpet remnant from the local auto parts store to do a better cover up soon.


Here's the secret to my "over engineering". I have mounted the pipe flange directly on the metal of the unit body where most of the other installations I've seen sat on top of the carpet and insulation. This made for a wiggly mounting! I also upgraded the flange to 1" pipe size so that I'd have a larger mounting surface. Believe me, this mount is solid!

Legally, I'm not too sure how I'll stand up. I know that it's illeal to watch movies in the front seat while driving but I'm actually using GPS software most of the time. I also know that you can't mount GPS deviced in the windshield because of the risk of obstructing the drivers' view. Well this mount keeps the laptop out of the way of the windshield so I should be ok but I'm not going to run around asking the highway patrol what they think!

Overall, I think I spent about $30 but I've got some spare plexi and pipe for the next mount I'm going to do.

Nice, I'll wait till I get a new car before doing that...

A cop won't be friendly if he pulls you over and sees that little guy riding shotgun. I get crap here for watching music videos in my in-dash console.

Still, cool job.

I guess the problem is that I can either have this laptop sitting where it is (still not obstructing the view) or sitting on the passenger seat (where it was for the past year) where I have to look away from traffic to see what my next turn is.

BTW, taylorwilsdon, were watching music videos while driving? If you weren't moving, I can't see how a cop would have a problem with it.

how come you got black pipe and galv fittings? and from the looks of it, they are XH fittings, and they appear to be imports too... i would have went with 304 myself. buff it up, and it's real pretty.

Not bad. We have laptop mounts in all of our ambulances but no laptops yet. They put them there solely for GPS.... You'd think they would have spent the extra dough on AED's.............


-rye

Falls Included said:

how come you got black pipe and galv fittings? and from the looks of it, they are XH fittings, and they appear to be imports too... i would have went with 304 myself. buff it up, and it's real pretty.

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Well I'm not too worried about the appearance since I'm going to be covering this all up with some plastic sleeving once I find the right size. And I don't want it shiny, I want it as dark as possible. Also, I couldn't find a pipe flange in black pipe.

So, isn't that the transmission case you bolted in to with the flange? Not getting any weird grinding noise when your car shifts now, are you?

How do you keep it from shifting forward/backward when braking/accelerating. It doesn't look like you have it attached near the top or middle.

Isn't the laptop attached to the base it is sitting on? Looks like it would fly right off if you had to make a sharp turn. (or did some donuts ) Looks like any bumps/holes you hit are going to transfer directly to the laptop now which could knock it off, or worse, whack your hard drive.

Don't get me wrong, good job on doing it yourself! These are just my concerns if I were going to put one in.

VRMan said:

So, isn't that the transmission case you bolted in to with the flange? Not getting any weird grinding noise when your car shifts now, are you?

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Naw, I'm only going through sheet metal. The transmission is actually in the engine bay since this is a front-wheel-drive car. The only things I had to avoid were the components of the shifter.

How do you keep it from shifting forward/backward when braking/accelerating. It doesn't look like you have it attached near the top or middle.

Isn't the laptop attached to the base it is sitting on? Looks like it would fly right off if you had to make a sharp turn. (or did some donuts ) Looks like any bumps/holes you hit are going to transfer directly to the laptop now which could knock it off, or worse, whack your hard drive.

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The original design I mentioned above from mobilelaptopmount.com calls for a velcro strap that I still may use. But at this point, the slight tilt downward, the rubber feet, and the hard plexi surface have made for a pretty solid arrangement. I've actually been trying to get it to move by hard braking and very hard turns but it just won't budge! The fact is there is definite vibration transfer from the car to the laptop though. It would be better if it was still sitting on the passenger seat for vibration concerns but that has the disadvantage of not being that visible while I drive, and it doesnt' get as much air underneath for cooling. A good hard bump is probably the biggest concern at this point.

jmroberts70 said:

Well I'm not too worried about the appearance since I'm going to be covering this all up with some plastic sleeving once I find the right size. And I don't want it shiny, I want it as dark as possible. Also, I couldn't find a pipe flange in black pipe.

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ahh. good job.

Hmm... I would have rather used the seat bolts and mounted it to there than cutting up your carpet and making holes in the body. You know they make units that are pretty concealed and when you remove it one day it's just a matter of unbolting it without needing any repair work.

Is that a coffee ring on the lid of your notebook?

thefewtheproud said:

Is that a coffee ring on the lid of your notebook?

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[sigh] I was pretty much expecting someone to notice that! Actually it's from a milkshake I put there for just a second while getting out of the car last week. I'm so pissed it did that (not that I can't clean it off). I just finnished replacing that laptop with a slightly large model today. I'll post more pics tonight when I get home...

Ockie said:

Hmm... I would have rather used the seat bolts and mounted it to there than cutting up your carpet and making holes in the body. You know they make units that are pretty concealed and when you remove it one day it's just a matter of unbolting it without needing any repair work.

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I thought long and hard about that one. Here's an example of some of the products that do just that:


I have several problems with this design:

1) Too many hinges that could come lose.
2) Can't slide the seat foreward all the way with this in place (I'll show pics tonight of what I mean)
3) Can't pivot the mount downward to angle the keyboard.

I'm already thinking about a more sturdy way of using the seat bolt points with a very thick piece of sheet metal that the pipe flange attaches to since I may be contracted to do a lot more of these for the local police in my town but I'm not sure yet.

Just uploaded some new pics. Here's some shots:


Installed the larger laptop and had to get a better AC adapter (now tucked under the passenger seat). I plan on replacing the audio cable with a 90-degree connector version as I'm a little worried about bumping into the present ones I have.


Note the distance from the seat bolts to where the actual mounting pipe is. This is with the passenger seat all the way back.


Here you can see why I mounted the hardware where I did. This is shown with the passenger seat all the way forward. I didn't want the mount to get in the way as I frequently haul equipment in the back seat and I have to slide that puppy all the way forward to make stuff fit.

Still, I have driven the past few days with a passenger and they don't seem to mind the laptop where it is. They're only upset that it can't pivot to face THEM! I guess I'll have to mount a pivot point in version 2.0!!

I'm also looking into adding a 18" LCD touch screen and putting the laptop under the seat completely. This way I can have a larger screen area and no keyboard in the way. Thing is, I just don't have $400 extra right now...

Hey it is kinda hard to tell where exactly the laptop is sitting.. Could you get a picture fron the rear middle seat?

DumpsterDiver727 said:

Hey it is kinda hard to tell where exactly the laptop is sitting.. Could you get a picture fron the rear middle seat?

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Here's a shot from the back seat...


Sadly, I found mp3car.com and now I've got all kinds of ideas for my car! Who knows what I'll do next. I'm thinking of a 18" touchscreen and put the laptop under the seat or something...