The Best Ways to Mount a GoPro in Your Truck or Car (Dash, Roll Bar & No-Drill Options)
A GoPro is built to be mounted almost anywhere. Inside a vehicle, "almost anywhere" turns out to be a short list.
Windshield glare. Dash vibration. Adhesive that cooks in the sun. A suction cup that lets go on the highway. Everybody who has tried to film a drive has a story about at least one of these.
The good news is that a GoPro car mount is a solved problem once you match the mount to what you're filming. So that's where we'll start.
First, What Are You Filming?
The right mount depends on the shot.
Dash-cam style
Camera high on the windshield or dash, pointed forward. You want it out of your sightline & rock steady
Driver POV
Camera behind or beside the driver, catching hands, wheel & road. Usually needs some reach
Interior vlog
Camera on the dash facing the cab. Needs a stable platform close to eye level
Exterior & off-road
Camera on a roll bar, hood or fender. Needs a clamp or a mount that shrugs off vibration & weather
Most people end up wanting two of these, which is the argument for a mount system rather than a single-purpose bracket.
GoPro Car Mount Types, Compared
| Mount type | Hold | Drill? | Vibration | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adhesive (curved/flat) | Good until heat | No | Low | $ | One position, one-time use, hard to remove cleanly |
| Press-on suction cup | Poor | No | Medium | $ | The one that falls off. Fine for a quick clip, not a road trip |
| Vacuum suction cup (pump) | Excellent | No | Low | $$ | Real holding force on glass, paint or fiberglass. Removable |
| Dash mount + 1" ball arm | Excellent | No (factory bolts) | Lowest | $$$ | Permanent, repositionable, shares the platform with your phone |
| Roll bar / handlebar clamp | Excellent | No | Low | $$ | Jeeps, side-by-sides, cage-equipped rigs |
If you own the vehicle, the dash mount route is the one you'll stop thinking about. If you don't, or you move the camera between vehicles, the vacuum cup is the mount we'd put our own camera on.
Vibration & Safety: Why a 1-Inch Ball Beats a Gooseneck
The GoPro's stabilization is excellent, but it can't fix a mount that resonates.
Flexible goosenecks & long plastic arms have their own frequency. Hit the right road surface & the camera hums, & HyperSmooth turns that hum into a smeared, wobbling frame. The shorter & stiffer the path from the vehicle to the camera, the cleaner the footage.
That is why we build our Action Camera/GoPro Mount on the same 1-inch ball & SpinLok arm we use for phones. The ball locks mechanically, the arm is billet aluminum, & the whole stack is short. There is nothing in it to flex.
Two Ways to Build It
No-Drill Setups for Daily Drivers
For a car or truck you don't want to modify, the setup is two parts.
The Heavy Duty Vacuum Cup Mount goes on the windshield, a rear window, or a smooth painted panel like the hood. A few pump strokes pulls a vacuum that holds far beyond what a press-on cup can. It comes with a 1-inch ball on top.
The Mountech Action Camera/GoPro Mount clamps onto that ball, or onto a short arm off it, & gives you the standard three-prong GoPro interface. Your camera, your case, your existing GoPro buckles all work.
Done in under a minute. Comes off without a mark.
Bolted Setups for Off-Road Rigs
If you already run a BuiltRight dash mount for your phone (see the vehicle kits), you already have a GoPro platform.
The dash mounts for the Jeep Wrangler & Gladiator & Ford Bronco have room for more than one ball. Add a second ball mount, a medium arm & the GoPro mount, & the camera lives on the dash pointed wherever you want it, phone right next to it. Nothing to remove before the trail & nothing to re-stick afterward.
For an exterior or cage-mounted shot, a roll bar clamp with a 1-inch ball drops into the same system, so the arm & camera mount you use inside work outside too. Jeep owners: our Wrangler & Gladiator guide covers where the dash bracket sits.
Step by Step: GoPro on a 1-Inch Ball Arm
- Start with a ball. Either the vacuum cup or a ball mount bolted to your dash mount
- Clamp a short or medium arm onto it. Shortest arm that reaches the angle you want
- Attach the Mountech GoPro mount to the arm's top ball
- Click your GoPro (in its frame or case) into the three-prong mount & tighten the thumbscrew
- Aim it, tighten the arm knob until the SpinLok locks, & shoot a 10-second test clip
Watch the test clip on your phone before you drive. It is a lot easier to fix a tilted horizon in the driveway.
Mountech Action Camera / GoPro Mount
Standard three-prong GoPro interface on one end, 1-inch ball on the other. Works with any Mountech arm or the vacuum cup.
View the GoPro mount
Angles & Settings That Work From Inside a Cab
A few things we've learned filming from trucks.
- Mount high on the windshield for the dash-cam shot & use a wide or SuperView field of view so the hood & the road both stay in frame.
- Pull the camera back from the glass by an inch or two. Cameras pressed against the windshield pick up more reflection from the dash.
- Turn HyperSmooth on but keep the mount rigid anyway. Stabilization hides small shakes, not a resonating arm.
- For interior shots, angle the camera slightly downward from above the center display. It flatters the cab & keeps the sun visor out of frame.
If you've wondered why the GoPro three-prong system became the standard in the first place, we covered the history in The GoPro Mounting System. This post is the part where you put it in your truck.
Put the camera where the footage is
$18 GoPro mount, a 1-inch ball arm, and either a vacuum cup or your dash mount. That's the whole kit.
