I have a Dashcam on the windscreen and a SatNav on a smooth plastic plate on the dashboard.
Both are held in place by suckers, as is usual.
However, they both have a tendency, particularly in hot weather, it seems to me, to lose their 'suck' and fall off at inopertune moments.
I was wondering if some kind of grease or oil on the sucker, instead of the usual saliva, would provide a permanent (ideally) solution or, at least, a longer life than at present.
Any ideas?
My interior rear-view mirror was simply glued on. When the mirror got knocked on one occasion and fell off, I just glued it back with evostick. Rather permanent though...
I don't even use saliva. I do clean it all first with some IPA.
BTDTGTTS
Get a vent clip for the phone. Added advantage is it won't sit in your eyeline (unlike some of the morons I see who manage to put their device directly in front of them on the windscreen). I found this one excellent
Anything that requires glass suction is a non starter. It *will* fall off when you least expect it which is also when it's most inconvenient.
It's the only language they understand :)
The phone isn't a problem, it just sits in my shirt pocket as usual and connects to the car vialuetooth if I need to access it for any reason (rare)
I abhor anything blocking my view through the windscreen and the very idea of a 5" SatNav dangling from the mirror horrifies me!
(The dashcam is right at the top of the screen to the left of and mostly hidden by the mirror)
In any case, the DashCam would be in the distance section of my varifocal glasses, so wouldn't be a lot of use, anyway!
It currently sits dead centre on top of the dash (Ford Focus), is below my view through the windscreen and needs only the briefest of glances if necessary.
As I know very well, which why I was asking for suggestions as to how the seal might be improved to stop/slow the speed at which the vacuum is lost.
I had wondered about trying one of these
Each to their own, but I don't like anything in the centre of the windscreen at all. The phone I use as a sat nav clips on the RH vent below the windscreen. Before that I had a suction arm which stuck to the quarterlite on the RH. Both positions intended to keep the thing OUT of my eyeline.
The dashcam is mounted slightly behind the RV mirror and doesn't eat into the visible windscreen too much.
I also set my phone to divert all calls and autorespond with a text when I am driving.
A casual glance on roads and forums suggests I'm in a minority of a minority. I guess safe driving is overrated these days ....
My lever action sucker satnav windscreen mount has been on over a year no problems. Use lens cleaner on the windscreen first.
No its a very old problem indeed and has to do with the air under the sucker the changing air pressure outsieide and the different expansion rates of glass and plastic. I doubt there is any good solution unless you want to glue them down. Brian
I know that back in the'70s, my dad used a Retrovisor (see
SteveW
Mine's in the centre of the windscreen, low down.
This means it obstructs my view of the kerb 3ft in front of the car, which is not anywhere I normally look when driving. I lean around it when parking.
Andy
My dashcam is high up on the RHS of the windscreen, and is completely hidden by the sun visor when that is down (which is all the time). When the car went for its first MOT, I was phoned by the garage who told me they would have to remove the dashcam as anything obstructing the line of sight meant an instant MOT failure. So I told them to remove it for the test. I replaced it when I got the car back after it passed the test.
It was only when I got the car back I wondered if leaving the sun visor down would result in an instant failure, as that was "obstructing the line of sight"!
Yes, I was wondering about a smear of oil or grease of some sort but I don't have any gelatine.
Would a drop of light oil be suitable?
What about WD40? The white spirit content should be good for cleaning both glass and sucker bit is there sufficient oil residue to maintain the seal?
Do you just place the sucker on the screen and move the lever? I found my dashcam fell off after a few days if I did that. It lasted at least a couple of months if I pushed the sucker onto the screen as hard as possible, and /then/ moved the lever to lock it in position.
Hanging up items such as furry dice and air fresheners sat navs could cost drivers £100 or even invalidate their insurance if they put them on the rear-view mirror.
The Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act warns that a driver is not allowed to use a car if their view of the road is obstructed in any way.
The rule has always been there, but authorities are now ensuring it is being enforced.
Absolutely the latter. Or the first hot day and goodnight Vienna so to speak.
Glass/rubber will seal a vacuum for years - think kilner jars. Its a matter of getting a good vacuum to start with which is cleaning and degreasing the windscreen, pushing down hard and then moving the sucker lever.
When our car had to go in for a repair after being rear ended by a taxi driver (at 5mph ...) the management company made a point that any in-car recording devices needed to be disabled or ideally removed "for security".
I posted about it on the legal newsgroup and it was suggested it was either over zealous DP interpretations or a security feature preventing the location and internal layout of the premises to be gathered for a raid .....
Good !
So you can't get footage of the junior mechanics taking it out for a joyride ...
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required