Changes to my RAM Mount gear plus long-term review 

😮

I mean...these don't obstruct my vision in the least, other than I can't see all of the hood of my truck. I have no tolerance for anything blocking my view on gnarly trails and have configured my setup accordingly. These are WAY lower than anyone using any sort of suction-cup windshield mount for their phone or dashcam. I think it's reasonable to outlaw actual obstructions to vision, but (despite how my camera angles may have made this look in the video) my setup doesn't block my view. I guess I'll see what happens next time I'm in Arizona. 🤞

Of course, this is going to vary from vehicle to vehicle. From my driving position, my devices only block my view of the hood of my truck. On offroad trails where I need to be able to pick lines carefully, I do not like having any vision obstruction at all. If my devices were any lower, they would complicate access to my stereo and heating controls which for me actually creates more of a hazard as I would have to find my way around that stuff while driving down the highway. Extending the weight of my devices any further on longer arms also amplifies the jiggling on unpaved roads and stresses all the components. The beauty of RAM's system is there are many other ways these things could be mounted, not even necessarily on the top of the dash. Up to everyone to find a solution that makes sense for their particular use case. Thanks for watching!

I know a couple of guys here in Orygun that got tickets from high mounted screens. I really like how solid those are, I have a Garmin Overlander in a cupholder mount and it shakes around a bit.

I've been running my iPad on my dash for close to 5 years now, like many many many other people. If the iPad or my phone runs hot, I can actually direct a little AC onto them from the dash vents. And the way I placed or held the camera while shooting this video may have made my devices appear higher than they actually are. From my driver's viewpoint, they only block my view of the hood. I'm not too worried about cops, but having my full field of vision is important to me on gnarly trails...I have no tolerance for obstructions to my vision. 🙂 Interestingly, when I was looking for solutions for my Maxtrax, I had dozens of people suggest I mount them on my hood (which I've mocked up and rejected as it WOULD significantly block my vision). Somehow people get away with this though, I have a buddy who runs Maxtrax on his hood and it's SO much more obstructive than my dash-mounted devices. I have been running the configuration seen in this video since August of last year and it has worked out fabulously.

It's truly a non-issue. I can count on one hand the number of times my phone has fallen off, and those few times were on rough backcountry dirt roads where I don't actually need my phone...it can stay on the floor, or I can also simply come to a stop at any time to retrieve my phone...there's no traffic to worry about. 🙂 If I find myself on a road rough enough to make the phone fall, I just plop it into the center console since I don't actually refer to it when I'm in the backcountry.

Nice, glad to hear it has worked well for you Bob!

"Tippy Taco" 😆 Aptly named👏

@@softroadingthewest Ha, it was a Peanut Gallery comment on the Surprise Snow video.

I was trying to formulate some kind of joke around if you started carrying a traditional narrow two-person boat on top of your camper, you could name your new watercraft Tippecanoe, and perhaps name your camper Tyler. But I couldn't really get it to flow and would probably be lost on most anyway, LOL.

@@softroadingthewest Apropos of nothing; for years I had a sailboat named Tofu. Jenny and I built a small launch craft for it and named it the Miso Dinghy.

@@pala4833 🤣🤣

It's nothing special, just a cheap MagSafe-compatible thing I found on Amazon that was cheap and well reviewed: amzn.to/3P3l9IR

Hey John, the cables are just running to USB ports in a few locations. The phone charger and a USB/Lightning cable for the iPad go to a cigarette lighter>USB adapter in the dash. I have a super long cable for the old Garmin GPS so it goes to one of the USB ports I installed on the "power management" switch box I built on my center console. The dashcam has a cigarette-lighter style plug and I have it plugged into a cigarette lighter outlet in my center console which is only powered when the truck is running. This way the dash cam automatically turns on when I start the truck and automatically switches off when I turn off the truck. Long ago a bought a set of self-adhesive wire clips in various sizes, and I've used several of those to help (sorta) neatly route the bundle of cables down off the dash. You can kinda see this at 3:33 and again at 7:41

I'm not sure what you mean? How which things are integrated?

Yeah, that was a tad vague. I have all the compnents you have but don't know how to make my tablet into a gps. Anyhoo....@@softroadingthewest

@@gordaro2828 Ahh gotcha. I cover that in another video. This link _should_ get you to that chapter of that video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZJUcf8NY9MA.htmlsi=ZQBpmNxWgpKDJTWX&t=286

Appreciated brother!@@softroadingthewest

I use an app called Gaia GPS and yes, it uses the GPS receiver inside a phone or a cell-capable tablet to track your location and show you where you are on the map. You can pre-download map data before your trip so it's already there in your device and not reliant on cell signal. This video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZJUcf8NY9MA.html includes a segment that explains this more thoroughly. It's about halfway in, you can skip forward to the chapter called "Navigating."

Thank you!

This has been on my list for a long long time but honestly I've struggled to find motivation to review this, since I just don't really know what to say about it. It does what their website says it does. I'm happy with the purchase. Perhaps I'll get this knocked out one day, but I keep finding other things I'd rather make videos about. 😆

On trips it just stays right there in the mount, out of harm's way. I haven't seen any need for the added bulk of a case. I've been using this same iPad for nearly 5 years now, it remains undamaged. 👍

@@softroadingthewest you're a lucky guy! Mine for sure would see some gravel or pavement, taking it inside or out to the vehicle. The mount however is doing a great job. I've used ram mounts for many years.

Oh believe me, I would LOVE sponsors. Running this channel isn't sustainable on the ad revenue from RU-vid, and I'm still trying to figure out how to keep this operation afloat. A couple of ongoing sponsorships from companies whose products I believe in would go a long ways in ensuring the survival of the channel. 😏 I've reviewed many many products that were provided at no charge to me, and for years I had an ongoing sponsorship agreement with Jackery, with them paying me monthly. I currently still have an ongoing agreement with Yankum Ropes. I review all products - sponsored or not - with my honest impressions and opinions, but if I give a glowing positive review about a product, many people automatically assume I've been paid to say what I said. So when I'm looking at items I've bought myself, I like to make it very clear that I'm not just trying to sell them something. 🙂

Well you've a great channel and I appreciate and respect your improvements and due diligence!@@softroadingthewest

Yes. In fact, not only did I screw in the rail, I drove additional screws to further secure the section of dash this is attached to. I forgot to mention that how I've mounted this is detailed in the older video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Uk2VS6p2aZU.html An additional bit of well-thought-out modular brilliance from RAM is that the new aluminum rail I bought years after the original composite rail had the exact same screw hole alignment...all I had to do was remove the old composite rail and replace it with the aluminum track using the exact same screws and bolts. 🙂

I'm not sure...maybe. I obviously will not be putting it back on the truck as long as the camper is on there, and I don't anticipating changing that anytime soon...and also the rack is kind of a PITA to store LOL. I feel it's highly highly unlikely I will ever use it again, in which case I would love to get rid of it. I hadn't given it a whole lot of thought honestly so let me sleep on it. If you haven't heard back from me by the end of the week, give me a poke by replying to this comment again. :-)

@@softroadingthewest Awesome, I shall do that. Thanks for the response back.

I have no idea. Are Samsung phones compatible with Apple chargers? I doubt it, but I've not had the opportunity to try, so I do not know. A little Googling might get you a better answer. 🙂

It is screwed on there. I forgot to mention that my installation is covered in detail in the older video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Uk2VS6p2aZU.html Obviously that is specific to the 2nd-gen Frontier but you can at least see what I did. It's about halfway into that video. The new aluminum rail I'm using now has the exact same screw holes as the old composite rail seen in the older video, so swapping them out was effortless (and brilliant design on the part of RAM).