Attachments for Panavise Vehicle Specific Mounts

Arkon MG2APAMPSVHB is a great attachment for Panavise Vehicle Specific MountsPanavise is a company we don’t write about often.  In fact, this might be the first article.  The company makes a variety of mounts and, as it states in the name, vises.  They manufacture a large number of custom in-dash mounts and that’s what we are going to talk about today as we look at attachments for Panavise vehicle specific mounts.  These are also known as Panavise InDash Custom Dash Mounts.

Panavise vehicle specific mounts are a one piece solution that attaches somewhere onto your dash.  Panavise typically includes a special tool that is used to remove a part of the dash and expose some screws to attach the mount.  You then pop the dash part that was removed back on.  There isn’t any drilling or holes that you put into the dash with these mounts.  You are using existing screws that are currently within the dash that are currently holding such things as the radio or climate control onto the car.

Once the Panavise vehicle specific mount is installed, you are left with a metal plate that has a series of holes.  Most attachments for Panavise vehicle specific mounts use these holes.  The holes are in what is called an AMPS mounting pattern.  This is the key to finding an accessory for attachment to the mount.

The most common accessory for attachment to Panavise vehicle specific mounts will be a phone such as an Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy.  Let’s look at some good options.

The Panavise PortaGrip Phone Holder with AMPS Adapter Plate is the obvious choice because it’s made by Panavise.  This attachment kit includes a plate that screws onto Panavise vehicle specific mounts.  The plate has a T on it.  The T plugs onto the back of the included cradle’s slot.  Pull the cradle down onto the T and you’re done.  The cradle opens from from 2.25 – 3.75 inches.  That is large enough to fit almost any phone with or without a case or skin.  There are a set of small support feet at the bottom that can be shifted from side to side to accommodate any ports or cable.  A good solution.

A not so obvious choice is the Arkon VSM Smartphone Adapter Kit.  A photo of this accessory accompanies this article.  This kit includes the 4-hole AMPS plate needed to attach to Panavise vehicle specific mounts.  This attachment uses a ball and socket so unlike the prior attachment from Panavise, this will pivot and swivel.  This feature allows movement of the phone into landscape which is often preferred with GPS applications such as Waze (my favorite GPS app).  The cradle opens to 3.6 inches so will fit almost any phone with or without a case or skin.  It grips the phone tightly from the sides.  Unlike the Panavise cradle, there aren’t any bottom supports but the grip is quite tight so holding power isn’t an issue.  There is an included adhesive strip which will not be used for this application.

Here’s a nice feature.  Take off the cradle.  You’re left with a 17mm ball.  The back of your Garmin GPS has a 17mm socket that attaches to the ball.  These fit all Garmin car GPS devices made over the past ten years including Nuvi, Drive and DriveAssist.  So you not only get a phone adapter, you also get one for your GPS.

You can use Panavise Vehicle Specific Mounts to attach a Sirius Satellite Radio.  The Arkon Satellite Radio AMPS Mount is one of the few solutions for a Sirius / XM Radio on the market.  It has the required AMPS pattern and mounting screws for attachment to the Panavise InDash Custom Dash Mount.  Included is a second AMPS plate which attaches to the back of most Sirius Radio docks.  There is also a single T attachment which is normally used with older XM models.  The satellite radio can swivel and pivot towards the driver using the ball and socket feature that’s part of this attachment.

That’s about all that I can think of when it comes to what you would attach to Panavise vehicle specific mounts.  These four attachments aren’t expensive and will allow you to use the Panavise mount for a variety of mobile electronics.