Lamont Ram Ball Attachment to Dash

[Alberts46]

I loved Lamont's idea of attaching the Ram Balls in the two corners of the dash. He said he had some problems getting the nuts on, had to bend a wrench, etc. Well I sure know what he meant, lost several nuts, got frustrated and came up with another idea that was painless. I purchased the smallest butterfly type bolts I could find and used those. Took just a few minutes. There is plenty of depth in this corner, but near impossible to get anything but one finger to hold a nut. With the butterfly bolts this took no effort other than drilling a bigger hole, no need to try and hold a nut, etc. I am using the right side for my iPhone that with the 3" arm is the perfect position to take video, and the left side for the ram cup holder that is back ordered.

[fastfraser]

Pure Genius :thumbup:

[Lamonster]

:2thumbs::firstplace:

[Cavman]

Something we use to use in aviation in a hard to reach places holding nuts was curved hemostats. Once you got the nut started, we'd use small long wrenches to finish up.

[freebob]

I loved Lamont's idea of attaching the Ram Balls in the two corners of the dash. He said he had some problems getting the nuts on, had to bend a wrench, etc. Well I sure know what he meant, lost several nuts, got frustrated and came up with another idea that was painless. I purchased the smallest butterfly type bolts I could find and used those. Took just a few minutes. There is plenty of depth in this corner, but near impossible to get anything but one finger to hold a nut. With the butterfly bolts this took no effort other than drilling a bigger hole, no need to try and hold a nut, etc. I am using the right side for my iPhone that with the 3" arm is the perfect position to take video, and the left side for the ram cup holder that is back ordered.

Question.....Is that the same Ram ball with flange in pic 2 & 3...Pic 3 shows no flange w/holes....


Freebob...:doorag:

[Alberts46]

They are the same.

[jgwoods]

Genius indeed! I just put two RAM balls on my dash in about 3 minutes.
First I went to Lowes and got 1/8x3" toggle bolts.
Then I drilled two 3/8" holes in the corners of the dash as pictured. I had to widen the holes just a little bit to get the toggle/wing to go through but I just wiggled the drill a bit to do it.
Then, with the bolt already through the RAM ball I shoved the toggle through the hole and hit the screw with my drill/driver and cinched it to the dash.

I have a cup holder on the left one and a Drift 170 on the right one and the whole job took less than 10 minutes.

I might have preferred to use a 3/16, or even 1/4 bolt sized toggle set up but they require bigger holes in the dash- a 3/16 toggle calls for a 5/8" hole and I didn't want to go that big.
I don't think it really matters as the RAM ball feels like it is a permanent part of the dash using the 1/8" toggle bolt.

I thought a 2" long bolt might be too short to work, worried that the 3" would hit something behind the dash- no such problem, and the wing won't spin free behind the hole as it catches int he corner so no need to get a finger back there to hold it while securing the bolt.

Thanks Alberts46 for coming up with the idea. :clap::bowdown:

[Desert Spyder]

Why wasn't this thought of earlier? :clap:

[Alberts46]

Once in a great while even a dummy like me comes up with a decent idea. Besides I could not bend a wrench like Lamont to tighten a nut.

[kevorama]

Sweet! I've been holding off on placing the Ram's on the dash because I thought that there had to be an easier way. You've saved me the brain power. Great fix!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Phil]

Brilliant!!! And CHIFF (clever, high quality, innovative, functional, and fun)


Phil, Tyler TX- from my iPad3.5 using Tapatalk HD

[kevorama]

Alberts46, I just noticed that your iPhone is upside down in the last pic, LOL! :thumbup:

[Spy+]

Brilliant!!! And CHIFF (clever, high quality, innovative, functional, and fun)


Phil, Tyler TX- from my iPad3.5 using Tapatalk HD
Well said!!!

[Phil]

Alberts46, I just noticed that your iPhone is upside down in the last pic, LOL! :thumbup:

Your the guy that goes to the movies and misses the plot because he's looking for key grip mistakes like.... an upside down phone!! me too!!!


Phil, Tyler TX- from my iPad3.5 using Tapatalk HD

[kevorama]

Phil, great minds....:joke:

[CyncySpyder]

:2thumbs:nice:2thumbs: we just saw this and realized we used the same idea on the center cap to help reinforce it, since its just a plastic insert, easy to replace & a good position for the phone, as we don't usually use it that much visualy speaking;)

[mhoecker]

Is there anything behind the dash that water could get to once the hole is drilled? Would it make sense to put a bead of silicon sealant around the base of the RAM ball before installing? Thanks guys!

Madonna

[kevorama]

For what it's worth, the speakers aren't even weather proof. That appears to be a pretty tight fit, Madonna. If it is attached correctly you'd probably have to submerge the bike to get any water back there from this mounting procedure. I'm going into Lowe's or HD today to pick up my hardware. I have a box full of RAM parts, I just need to make sure that I have one that'll work with this. I might be back on Amazon here shortly ordering more. Good luck! :thumbup:

[bignose13]

Does the original stud just unscrew. then do you put the bolt in its place? or do you have to re drill to make it fit?

[cdavid]

Just a heads up, on my 2012 RT-S I was able to mount the Ram 'B' ball (RPR351WBBF) to the dash without too much issue. I did one side at a time.

I removed the speaker grill. I drilled out the Ram ball for a 6 mm stainless allen head bolt (beefier). I placed the 6 mm bolt thru the Ram ball mount. I drilled the corners of the dash where this threads shows it. I used my small finger to very carefully hold/place the nut behind the dash, going thru above the top of the speaker area. I then slowly threaded the bolt into the 6 mm nylock nut. I was easily able to slide a 10 mm wrench (open/box end) behind the dash by simply popping off the mirrors, unbolting some of the tupperware. There were 3 bolts under the mirror, the 2 bolts for the the side you're working on below the headlights and carefully pried the front trim and upper side tupperware (no need to pull it off) to expose the slot that you can slide a 10mm wrench to hold the nut. I used a 4 mm allen to tighten the ram/bolt thru the nut. Worked great, didn't need to bend any wrenches or drill a larger hole to for this thread's toggle bolt.

Oh, also be sure to place a towel or rag over the speaker cavity to catch any drill shavings or a 6mm nut you may drop doing this.

[SpyderGirl]

Clever!! :thumbup:

[bluestratos]

I tried the toggle bolt idea and the nut with a washer but in both cases the ball will still roll left and right. I actually sanded the back of the ball plate to matche the shape of the dash but even that did not help. Looks like I need to take it a step further, possible a tiny pin throught the flange to lock it in place.

[Fire Bike]

I loved Lamont's idea of attaching the Ram Balls in the two corners of the dash. He said he had some problems getting the nuts on, had to bend a wrench, etc. Well I sure know what he meant, lost several nuts, got frustrated and came up with another idea that was painless. I purchased the smallest butterfly type bolts I could find and used those. Took just a few minutes. There is plenty of depth in this corner, but near impossible to get anything but one finger to hold a nut. With the butterfly bolts this took no effort other than drilling a bigger hole, no need to try and hold a nut, etc. I am using the right side for my iPhone that with the 3" arm is the perfect position to take video, and the left side for the ram cup holder that is back ordered.

Is this a Ram ball that already has a hole in it or are you drilling it? Part # if already drilled?

[Alberts46]

I think this is the part number:

RAM Mount Plastic Flange Base with B-Ball RPR
Model: RPR-351-WBB-F SKU:RPR351WBBF

[bo9roadking]

Just a heads up, on my 2012 RT-S I was able to mount the Ram 'B' ball (RPR351WBBF) to the dash without too much issue. I did one side at a time.

I removed the speaker grill. I drilled out the Ram ball for a 6 mm stainless allen head bolt (beefier). I placed the 6 mm bolt thru the Ram ball mount. I drilled the corners of the dash where this threads shows it. I used my small finger to very carefully hold/place the nut behind the dash, going thru above the top of the speaker area. I then slowly threaded the bolt into the 6 mm nylock nut. I was easily able to slide a 10 mm wrench (open/box end) behind the dash by simply popping off the mirrors, unbolting some of the tupperware. There were 3 bolts under the mirror, the 2 bolts for the the side you're working on below the headlights and carefully pried the front trim and upper side tupperware (no need to pull it off) to expose the slot that you can slide a 10mm wrench to hold the nut. I used a 4 mm allen to tighten the ram/bolt thru the nut. Worked great, didn't need to bend any wrenches or drill a larger hole to for this thread's toggle bolt.

Oh, also be sure to place a towel or rag over the speaker cavity to catch any drill shavings or a 6mm nut you may drop doing this.

I did mine similar to yours, but I pulled off the mirrors and the tupperware to work at it from the sides. I didn't need to remove the speaker grills. I did have a problem getting the large flat washer and the nylock nut to stay in place behind the dash until I could get it threaded on the bolt. I wound up using my fingers and a magnetic tipped wand that I use to fish out screws and nuts that fall into small dark holes. The magnet held the nut and washer while I threaded it. Once threaded, I used the 10mm wrench to tighten the nut while I held the Ram Ball with the bolt in it.

[saint999]

Is this strong enough area to support a cup holder full? I dont know what else I would use it for .