Windshield Mount for Garmin GPS - A Guide to Getting it Right

Windshield Mount for Garmin GPS - A Guide to Getting it Right
Page content

The suction cup window mount that comes with your GPS is serviceable enough unless, of course, you have to deal with an exception. Lots of things can go wrong, and today we will look at ways to navigate around those issues.

It’s too cold!

If you happen to live in a place with cold winters, you may notice that your GPS suction cup will not stick to the glass easily. This doesn’t just happen to residents of Nome, Alaska. It can easily happen to drivers in Chicago or New York.

Your solution:

While your first instinct may be to warm up the suction cup, it is actually the windshield that needs heating. Set your front defrost setting for 3 or 4 minutes and your cup should stick.

It’s too hot!

If you have tried to remove your Garmin cup on a warm summer day, then you may have noticed it was stretching. This is the beginning of melt. If you encounter a stretchy cup, then simply blast it with cool air until it resolidifies enough to remove. This may take up to 10 minutes.

If your cup has genuinely melted, use a credit card or plastic putty knife to peel it off in one piece. You will probably have to replace the cup.

If you have already yanked it off and now have goo stuck to your windshield, you are going to have to take a dual approach. First use the cold air to solidify the goo. Then try to peel it off with a plastic scraper, or even your nail. If you still have residual goo use a glass cleaner.

Windshield ring

If that unsightly windshield ring bothers you, or you are simply worried it will make you a more likely theft target, There is little that you can do except remove it each time you take the mount off. The solution here is simple glass cleaner wipes.

In some countries and some states it is illegal to have devices attached to your windshield. That means that your windshield mount could land you a ticket. You may be able to twist your Garmin mount to fit onto your dashboard. Depending on your dash layout and your height this can be easy or difficult. If you can’t get it set in a comfortable manner you may want to buy a dashboard mount. If you just can’t take it anymore, you may want to consider an upgraded mount. Garmin sells a friction mount that can be used with any model. It costs about 30 dollars.