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Ram Mount
1205 S. Orr St.
Seattle, WA 98108
206-763-8361 VOICE
206-763-9615 FAX
Many of the latest HAM Radio units allow you to separate the faceplate from the radio to facilitate mounting the radio where it is possible - allowing you to save real estate on your dashboard. This is a handy thing, and it proved quite useful in our Emergency Communications Jeep.
Two of the radios we installed have this capability - the Kenwood TM-D700A (our primary 2m/70cm rig) and the Icom IC-706MKII-G (our primary HF rig and secondary 2m/70cm rig). In fact, the Kenwood TM-D700A does not have the ability to have the faceplate attached to the radio, it must be installed remotely. The Icom IC-706MKII-G can be used with the radio faceplate mounted to the radio, or remotely.
Icom charges an arm and a leg for the items to remotely mount the faceplate for the 706MKII-G. You have to buy an extra cable, a faceplate mounting bracket, and then something to attach that bracket to if you don't already have a vertical, flat surface to attach it to. Since it would be our secondary 2m/70cm rig, and we normally only run HF when parked, we left the faceplate on the radio and installed it in a Tuffy Overhead Security Console. There is a link to that review at the end of this review.
The saving grace here is that Kenwood supplies what you need to mount the TM-D700A faceplate remotely when you buy the unit, including a cable and a mounting bracket. The problem is that the mounting bracket is not ideal for all installations.
Their mounting bracket is designed to install where you have a fair amount of flat space. You peel off the cover for the double-sided tape on the bottom, stick it in place, and then secure it with screws if desired (heavily recommended). This would have worked fine if I wanted to mount it on the dashboard above the instrument panel. I didn't want to.
There is a small tray atop the center of the dashboard cowling that covers the radio and environmental controls. This was of little use to us, but was a great place to mount the faceplate. The factory bracket was just not adjustable enough to make the faceplate usable by either the driver or the passenger. I wanted something that would let me move it around a bit.
While in the process of reviewing the Lowrance iFinder GPS which we are recommending to our readers, we were also sent a mounting bracket for the iFinder. It is made by a company called RAM MOUNTS, and it is one of the neatest pieces of hardware I have come across in a long time. In checking their website, I discovered that they had a mount that would work with the D700A (Model RAM-B-138) - they even had a photo of it with a Kenwood TM-D700A faceplate on their site. It took a little drilling to make it work, but it works very well.
Every Ram-Mount unit consists of a baseplate, an arm, and another end that is either specially designed or "universal". The universal end has two holes in it that can be used to bolt on whatever hardware you want.
Each end has a ball attached. The ends of the center arm go over these balls. It allows for a great deal of articulation, yet when the adjustment screw is tightened down, it is VERY solid. They are also very well constructed.
You can see the Universal end pictured above. This required very little work to attach the Kenwood mounting base for the TM-D700A faceplate.
Here are several views of the upper-half of the Kenwood factory mounting bracket for the TM-D700A:
Top view looking down. The felt is designed to give some protection to the bottom of the faceplate. You can see the flanges that are bolted to the lower part of the bracket at the top of the photo - the rear of the bracket.
This is a rear view of the bracket. Note that there are already holes in the bottom of the bracket. Note also the ears on the sides and the cutout on top.
Here is the same view with the radio in place. The ears on the sides slide into channels on the back of the radio, and it clicks into place with the cutout on the top going over a retractable tab on the radio.
Here is the Universal mounting base on the Ram-Mount:
As you can see, it has two holes in it. This is where you bolt whatever item you are going to bolt to the Ram-Mount.
I first had to drill two holes in the Kenwood faceplate connector. Because you have that rubber on there from the factory (designed to give some protection from shock to the faceplate) you have to drill a little into both sides. I screwed this up and drilled too far in on the right side, so I had to push the rubberized felt out of the way on the left side.
As you can see, I didn't get that perfectly centered, but it ended up working just fine anyway.
The next step was to use bolts with small heads to attach the Kenwood mount to the RAM-MOUNT.
Use bolts with small heads so that the radio will seat fully in the mount. These came to just below the level of the felt.
We then took the whole RAM-MOUNT out to the Jeep to finish the installation.
It took four screws to mount the base. That was simple enough. I mounted it on the drivers side of that tray I mentioned earlier, next to the RAM-MOUNT for the iFinder.
Here you can see the ball on the base. You can also see the special attachment for the iFinder on the other RAM-MOUNT
I then put the arm on the base, and put the other end on the arm, and tightened it down.
Both RAM-MOUNT units in action.
Both RAM-MOUNTs and the IC-7086MKII-G as seen from the interior.
Now the TM-D700A faceplate can be seen easily by the driver, but is not in a dangerous position. It can also be moved for even better visibility for the passenger if desired. Both the D700A faceplace and the iFinder come out of their respective mounting brackets easily - without moving the RAM-MOUNTs, and can be stored away in the Tuffy Center Security Console if needed.
These RAM-MOUNTs are great. They are easy to install, and this was a fabricated mount. They have a lot of pre-made mounts available too.
If you need to install an item such as a radio faceplate, GPS, PDA, or just about anything else in your vehicle, give them a shot. If they haven’t already done it, they can supply you with the parts to make your own in short order.
-- James Bell, Jr. - Law Enforcement/Security Section and Jeep Section Editor - TCTR