[jimclemjr]

For last couple years I have used a Garmin NUVI 550 with a ram ball mount. I saw another thread that PapaSkeeta did and got me more excited about a tablet and Oruxmap style. I stumbled upon the Lifetime Trail Maps site and wound up buying it with the Samsung Active2 8"tablet. It is pricey like the Adventure Pro but all things considered I believe reasonable for the maps when I think about how many hours this older non-tech savvy guy would take to learn and load the maps and trails. I have used it three times now. I originally installed it with a Ram ball mount off the passenger grab bar but it was too shaky and I figured that was not good for my vision or the tablet. So I made a flat tube steel bar with a custom mount of the Ram Cradle mounted on the passenger grab bar. BTW the Ram cradle has the POGO pins in it to give it the power supply while installed. It is now firm and stable, within reach and easy to navigate. The maps have a 'night mode' which is nice as the regular screen is too bright at night.
I have the Garmin for sale with the mounts and 48 states TOPO if someone interested just send a PM. The NUVI is a hybrid GPS that can be vehicle mounted or hand held.

 

[jimclemjr]

Anyone try an Ipad?

I am not very tech-savy but the MotionX GPS app loaded well and looks like it will do a nominal job on my iPhone 6s. It was only $2 or $3 and has a bunch of trail maps to download. Worth looking at....

 

[jimclemjr]

I use a Samsung military grade Tab A so not too worried about some rain blowing in. I got a RAM mount and had the 1" ball and clamp mounted on my grab bar but was not happy with the movement. So made my own mount. a 3/8" alum base plate. It will swivel 90 deg if need to but I have found the horiz orientation best for me. I used a 1/2" x 2" tube steel with a couple SS U-bolts to clamp to passenger grab bar. I bent and welded a steel bar plate mount for the optimum angles for me. It is firm and without the shake and rattle of before. Noteworthy is the RAM mount is powered and I did not like the fact the cord and lighter plug to cig lighter would periodically come shaking out. So I got a 5 volt transformer off Amazon for $8 and mounted it in glove box and hardwired the cord to the RAM mount. It always has power ON, so it does not have to do all its gyrations every time I start it up from battery to power at breaks and lunch. Hope this potentially helps someone. Sorry pics are not the greatest in garage light.