2018+ Jeep JL grab bar 1" RAM ball mount

Design goals:

• Support phone and tablet mounting as close as possible to the windshield without obstructing the driver's outside field of view.
• Compatibility with 1 inch RAM ball products

To install, remove the decorative hex bolt on the left side of the grab bar and use a 7mm x 40mm bolt from Home Depot to secure. The bolt head needs to be 11mm face-to-face or less and I recommend blue loc-tite (242) to help it stand up to off-road forces. Finish by sanding and press fitting in the cutout plug.

The thread Jeep uses for this hole is "fine" and the bolt I found was "course". The receptacle is just plastic though so I just cross-threaded it in there with loc-tite and reasoned that the new threads it cut are probably more secure than if I had used the correct bolt. Be aware that if you do this you will limit your ability to switch in the future to another mounting solution using this hole if that’s important to you (replacing the decorative hex bolt will probably work fine though). I also used a dremel to cut a flat head screwdriver slot in the head of the bolt to assist with securing it but that's not strictly necessary.

Unfortunately using a RAM arm pointed directly at the driver results in a moment arm that wants to loosen the bolt holding the ball in place. I use a 3 inch arm for my phone and a 2 inch arm for my Galaxy S3 tablet (using this mount) without issues but I try to orient the RAM arm so it's in line with the bolt.