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Being out in the middle of the desert you can easily get turned around, and instantly you are lost. Luckily the government found a solution for this in the form of GPS. While covering off-road races we find ourselves out in the middle of nowhere, so we decided to get the best GPS for off-road use, the Lowrance Globalmap Baja 540c. |
Along with getting us out of a jam we can also input the map provided by the racing association so we know exactly where the race course is, giving us a better opportunity to find the best spots for getting the perfect shot of the action.
Most race trucks and buggies simply mount their GPS to the dash in front of the co-driver. In our prerunner we had to be a little more creative.
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We looked into buying a ram mount that would attach to the transmission hump in the floor board. Then one day vacuuming the interior we accidently sucked up the rubber pad that covers the tray of the factory console. I saw 2 screws that mount it to the floor, and I thought lets mount our GPS there. |
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Using the rubber pad I made a template out of card stock. |
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I cut the template out and laid it in place. |
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Using a scratch all I poked through the card stock to find the mounting holes. Then centering the gimble mount over the template, I held it up to the light to see how it would look, and to make sure it was centered. I took a drill and made new holes in the gimble mount using the template for locating the holes. |
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I had longer screws and with a washer placed on the screw I mounted the gimble mount to the console. |
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Unwired I added the GPS to the gimble mount to verify the fit. |
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Now it was time to mount the antenna to the dash. The Lowrance antenna must have a good view of the sky to work properly. Lowrance provides a base that can be permanently mounted, and the antenna simply snaps into it. I didnt want to make holes in the dash so I thought about using a bead of silicon to mount the base. We will see how long this lasts in the heat of the desert. |
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Here is a shot from the top. |
Now where to run the wires? There is a wired connection from the antenna to the GPS, there is a power cable that connects the GPS to a cigarette lighter, and this cable can also power a radar system if needed.
Fortunately the antenna cable tucked into the dash where the dash meets the windshield. I ran it towards the passenger door and followed down the side of the dash. I tucked the excess behind the fuse panel in the passenger floor board.
For the power cord I coiled up the excess and zip tied it to a wiring harness under the dash to the right of the gas pedal.
I have to say I am very pleased with the install. Now I have to go through the novel size instruction manual and figure out how to use all the functions the Lowrance 540 GPS offers. I think we will save that for another article.
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