The Ford Explorer is a large SUV. Ordinarily that’s good news for mounting a device. The good spots aren’t all available in this vehicle but fortunately, we found some good spots. Let’s take a look at what we got.
Our typical location for mounting a phone or GPS is the windshield. Not much of an issue here. We also have been liking the air vent. There’s a few challenges but still a good location. The cup holders are one of the few spots to mount a tablet and the Ford Explorer has a few deep ones set in a good location for a small or midsize tablet.
Can’t access the seat bolts as it’s covered with plastic. No go on a CD player mount as they eliminated them in this vehicle. Using the dash is not recommended as the extended console display in the middle partially obstruct this area.
Now let’s recommend a few specific mounts for a Ford Explorer.
Windshield and Vent Mounts for the Ford Explorer
The iOttie Easy One Touch 5 Car Mount for SmartPhones
On the vent, we continue to like the Square Jellyfish Jelly-Grip Car Air Vent Mount and it is one that we have been recommending lately. The Square Jellyfish Jelly-Grip mount can be used to hold most phone models with or without a case or skin. It has a ball and socket so the cradle swivels into any orientation. This mount will work on flat vent slats that are 3/8 to 1 inch deep. The included cradle opens to 3 5/8 inches which is fairly large.
The Square Jellyfish Jelly-Grip mount can also be used for a Garmin GPS. All Garmin vehicle GPS devices made over the past ten years include a custom cradle that has a 17mm socket on the back. Remove the cradle from the Jelly-Grip mount and you have a 17mm ball. Just snap the Garmin cradle onto the Jelly-Grip mount minus the cradle and your GPS can be mounted to the air vent.
We recommend using this on the vent to the left of the display.
We wrote a full review of the Square Jellyfish mount awhile back and it’s worth reading for more information.
Other Mount Locations on the Ford Explorer
A car seat bolt mount will not work on a Ford Explorer. The seat bolt is completely covered with plastic. While you can use the option to bolt it directly to the floor board, most are not going to want to drill holes into their vehicle’s floor, so we will avoid these.
The Ford Explorer has a pair of cup holders in the middle. This is probably the best spot to mount a small to midsize tablet. The cup holder is a good location for using apps that aren’t interacted with while driving so don’t plan to use it with a GPS app.
Consider the iKross Cup Holder Mount for Tablets and Phones. This mount includes two different cradles. One for a phone and another for a tablet. The mount is adjustable and solidly made to easily handle the weight of your tablet. You will see a lot of mounts on the market for tablets or cell phones. This is the only car mount kit known of that offers two different cradles, one for the phone, the other for the tablet. The tablet cradle will hold devices from 7 to 10.2 inches. To reiterate, this is good for apps that don’t need to be referenced while driving. Not good for a GPS app for example.
So in summary, the For Explorer supports several good spots for a phone or GPS. We like the windshield and air vent the best. For a tablet, the cup holder is a good spot. The seat bolt and CD Player aren’t available. While the windshield can be used, we don’t like it because of the extended middle console display.