How I mounted my XD Gear holster in my vehicle!

Mojoski · August 11th, 2006, 11:18 PM

I mentioned in a previous post here that I had found a good use for my crappy "XD Gear" holster: I mounted it under my dash as a secure place to store my gun while driving.

Photo Link

By secure I mean it won't fall on the floor if I have to stop suddenly. I do not mean that I would leave it there when parking the car, of course. That is what the small car safe is for. I can, however, more easily draw the weapon from this holster should I ever need to defend myself from behind the wheel of my Mazda 6.

Some folks asked if I could provide some more information on how I mounted it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I've attached a few here. As for the installation technique, I'll try to describe it.

First, I bought some rather small nuts and bolts at home depot along with those little grip tight washers that have the small prongs bent in opposite angles. When you buy the small bolts, make sure you get the length long enough to go through the belt loop, and through the dashboard, and still stick out enough on the back so that you can thread the washer and nut on. I had to find the spot on my dash I was going to mount it so that I would know how long the bolts needed to be.

The hardware I bought at Home Depot for a few bucks is as follows:

Nut and Bolt: 8-32 X 3/4 Combo Round W/Nut
Washers: #10 Internal Tooth Lock Washer (Thanks, 40XDSC4LIFE!)

Next, I found the 4 locations on the back of the belt loop where I wanted the bolts to go through. I put four small divets in the back of the belt loop with a sharp nail so that I had a small indention to start my drill bit in. Otherwise the drill bit slips all over the back of the belt loop when you start to drill. I found that out the hard way.

Also, you obviously have to be careful selecting the place for the holes so that you don't hit a part of the holster that will cause a problem when you put this hole through, like the tension screw, for example.

Anyway, once I had identified where I wanted the holes to go, and made my divets, I placed the holster on the workbench with the back of the belt loop facing up and then drilled the 4 holes with a small drill bit (just large enough for the bolt to go through), all the way through the holster. Yes, I said I drilled all the way through the holster. This might seem counter intuitive to go all the way through the holster, but there is a method to my madness. Read on!

The reason I drilled all the way through the holster is that there is otherwise a problem at this point. The problem is that you don't have enough room to put the bolt into the holes because the belt loop is only as wide as a belt. There simply isn't enough room. One corner would go in, but the other three would not fit. (For the record, I only ended up using 3 screws, but I didn't figure that out until much later in the process.)

So at this point I have 4 small holes, just large enough for the threaded neck of the bolt, drilled all the way through my holster. Next I took the holster and turned it over so that the back of the belt loop was flat on the workbench. I then took a metal file and slid it through the belt loop. This is the tricky part that you can mess up, so read carefully before proceeding. See the note below..

Anyway, I changed the drill bit so that it was larger than the head of the bolt, positioned the file to protect the hole in the back of the belt loop, and then drilled down through the main holster until I hit the file. The file is there to make sure that the larger holes (big enough for the head of the bolts) would only go down through the holster and NOT through the back of the belt loop. This allows me to easily place the bolt into the hole by pushing it through the holes in the holster, but still keep the hole on the back of the belt loop small enough so that the head of the bolt won't go through it. I hope this makes more sense when you see the pictures below because I'm not sure I am describing it very clearly.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is very easy for the file (or whatever flat metal object you use to protect the small holes) to slip out of the way and that will allow the momentum of the drill to force the bit down through the small holes in the back of the belt loop. Be careful not to let that happen or you'll be screwed as the bolts will no longer hold the holster to your dashboard!

The last step of modifying the holster was to get a small, sharp knife and trim all the ragged edges off where I had drilled. This left me with a holster with 4 holes, ready to be easily bolted to my dash. The big holes in the holster were large enough to simply slide the bolts through, but the holes in the back of the belt loop, which I protected with the file while drilling, were still smaller and only large enough for the threaded part of the bolt to go through.

So next I had to drill the small holes in my dash. I held the holster up on the dash, feeling behind the dash and trying to imagine where the bolts should come out. When I got it positioned properly I used the same sharp nail placed through the drilled holes to make small divets in the dash, removed the holster, and drilled holes on the divet marks. After cleaning these out with the sharp knife as well, I was able to easily put the nuts, bolts and washers to good use and secure the holster under the dash. I used washers under the bold head as well as under the nut. Over all I am very happpy with the results. It is remarkably solid and sturdy and it provides a great place to put my XD-9 SC while I'm driving.

I hope this was helpful and made sense. Please let me know if you guys have any questions.

Mojoski

PS - Don't worry! I put shoes on when I'm driving! I may be from the South, but not THAT far south!

40XDSC4LIFE · August 11th, 2006, 11:35 PM

#10 internal tooth lock washers

berettaguy · August 11th, 2006, 11:35 PM

nice write up on how you installed it.

Mojoski · August 11th, 2006, 11:54 PM

Learn something new every day, I always say! Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 40XDSC4LIFE

#10 internal tooth lock washers

P95Carry · August 11th, 2006, 11:58 PM

Thx for the writeup - it will I am sure give good food for thought for anyone wanting to do similar.

p8riot · August 12th, 2006, 12:00 AM

Thanks for posting this. You just gave me the incentive to do the same with the two Fobus holsters I have hanging around.

IndianaJones · August 12th, 2006, 01:00 AM

Argh........... Just what the world needs............. ANOTHER RIGHT HANDED HOLSTER..........

Seriously tho, Good job. :)

rocky · August 12th, 2006, 01:12 AM

Nice job. To others , be careful drilling holes in your car/truck panel. Wires, harnesses and modules could be behind the panel.

Mojoski · August 12th, 2006, 01:20 AM

Good point, rocky! That was why I got down in the floor and felt up under the dash to imagine exactly where the drill was going to come out the back!

INTJ · August 12th, 2006, 11:44 AM

I'm not the least bit mechanically inclined. I think I can tackle this though.

August 11th, 2006, 11:35 PM	#3
berettaguy Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 89	nice write up on how you installed it. __________________ S&W-SW40VE molon labe "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" --Sigmund Freud

August 11th, 2006, 11:58 PM	#5
P95Carry Assistant Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: South West PA Posts: 25,468	Thx for the writeup - it will I am sure give good food for thought for anyone wanting to do similar. __________________ Chris - P95 NRA Certified Instructor & NRA Life Member. "To own a gun and assume that you are armed is like owning a piano and assuming that you are a musician!." If a BG dies as the result of pointing a gun at me, then he has merely succumbed to an occupational hazard of being a thug

August 12th, 2006, 12:00 AM	#6
p8riot Distinguished Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Chesterfield, VA Posts: 1,950	Thanks for posting this. You just gave me the incentive to do the same with the two Fobus holsters I have hanging around. __________________ "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone." - Al Capone The second amendment is the reset button of our Constitution.

August 12th, 2006, 01:00 AM	#7
IndianaJones Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 24	Argh........... Just what the world needs............. ANOTHER RIGHT HANDED HOLSTER.......... Seriously tho, Good job. :) __________________ http://www.freedomtofascism.com/imag...rty_468x60.jpg

August 12th, 2006, 01:12 AM	#8
rocky Senior Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: MI Posts: 13,074	Nice job. To others , be careful drilling holes in your car/truck panel. Wires, harnesses and modules could be behind the panel. __________________ "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." Thomas Jefferson Nemo Me Impune Lacesset Link to my kydex builds:http://rocknloadkydex.blogspot.com/

August 11th, 2006, 11:18 PM	#1
Mojoski Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Atlanta Area Posts: 212	How I mounted my XD Gear holster in my vehicle! I mentioned in a previous post here that I had found a good use for my crappy "XD Gear" holster: I mounted it under my dash as a secure place to store my gun while driving. Photo Link By secure I mean it won't fall on the floor if I have to stop suddenly. I do not mean that I would leave it there when parking the car, of course. That is what the small car safe is for. I can, however, more easily draw the weapon from this holster should I ever need to defend myself from behind the wheel of my Mazda 6. Some folks asked if I could provide some more information on how I mounted it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I've attached a few here. As for the installation technique, I'll try to describe it. First, I bought some rather small nuts and bolts at home depot along with those little grip tight washers that have the small prongs bent in opposite angles. When you buy the small bolts, make sure you get the length long enough to go through the belt loop, and through the dashboard, and still stick out enough on the back so that you can thread the washer and nut on. I had to find the spot on my dash I was going to mount it so that I would know how long the bolts needed to be. The hardware I bought at Home Depot for a few bucks is as follows: Nut and Bolt: 8-32 X 3/4 Combo Round W/Nut Washers: #10 Internal Tooth Lock Washer (Thanks, 40XDSC4LIFE!) Next, I found the 4 locations on the back of the belt loop where I wanted the bolts to go through. I put four small divets in the back of the belt loop with a sharp nail so that I had a small indention to start my drill bit in. Otherwise the drill bit slips all over the back of the belt loop when you start to drill. I found that out the hard way. Also, you obviously have to be careful selecting the place for the holes so that you don't hit a part of the holster that will cause a problem when you put this hole through, like the tension screw, for example. Anyway, once I had identified where I wanted the holes to go, and made my divets, I placed the holster on the workbench with the back of the belt loop facing up and then drilled the 4 holes with a small drill bit (just large enough for the bolt to go through), all the way through the holster. Yes, I said I drilled all the way through the holster. This might seem counter intuitive to go all the way through the holster, but there is a method to my madness. Read on! The reason I drilled all the way through the holster is that there is otherwise a problem at this point. The problem is that you don't have enough room to put the bolt into the holes because the belt loop is only as wide as a belt. There simply isn't enough room. One corner would go in, but the other three would not fit. (For the record, I only ended up using 3 screws, but I didn't figure that out until much later in the process.) So at this point I have 4 small holes, just large enough for the threaded neck of the bolt, drilled all the way through my holster. Next I took the holster and turned it over so that the back of the belt loop was flat on the workbench. I then took a metal file and slid it through the belt loop. This is the tricky part that you can mess up, so read carefully before proceeding. See the note below.. Anyway, I changed the drill bit so that it was larger than the head of the bolt, positioned the file to protect the hole in the back of the belt loop, and then drilled down through the main holster until I hit the file. The file is there to make sure that the larger holes (big enough for the head of the bolts) would only go down through the holster and NOT through the back of the belt loop. This allows me to easily place the bolt into the hole by pushing it through the holes in the holster, but still keep the hole on the back of the belt loop small enough so that the head of the bolt won't go through it. I hope this makes more sense when you see the pictures below because I'm not sure I am describing it very clearly. IMPORTANT NOTE: It is very easy for the file (or whatever flat metal object you use to protect the small holes) to slip out of the way and that will allow the momentum of the drill to force the bit down through the small holes in the back of the belt loop. Be careful not to let that happen or you'll be screwed as the bolts will no longer hold the holster to your dashboard! The last step of modifying the holster was to get a small, sharp knife and trim all the ragged edges off where I had drilled. This left me with a holster with 4 holes, ready to be easily bolted to my dash. The big holes in the holster were large enough to simply slide the bolts through, but the holes in the back of the belt loop, which I protected with the file while drilling, were still smaller and only large enough for the threaded part of the bolt to go through. So next I had to drill the small holes in my dash. I held the holster up on the dash, feeling behind the dash and trying to imagine where the bolts should come out. When I got it positioned properly I used the same sharp nail placed through the drilled holes to make small divets in the dash, removed the holster, and drilled holes on the divet marks. After cleaning these out with the sharp knife as well, I was able to easily put the nuts, bolts and washers to good use and secure the holster under the dash. I used washers under the bold head as well as under the nut. Over all I am very happpy with the results. It is remarkably solid and sturdy and it provides a great place to put my XD-9 SC while I'm driving. I hope this was helpful and made sense. Please let me know if you guys have any questions. Mojoski PS - Don't worry! I put shoes on when I'm driving! I may be from the South, but not THAT far south! __________________ Proud Georgia Firearms Licensee Springfield Armory XD-9 Subcompact Seecamp LWS32 Browning Buckmark Walther P22 Bersa Thunder 380 Last edited by Mojoski; August 12th, 2006 at 12:55 AM..

August 11th, 2006, 11:35 PM	#2
40XDSC4LIFE New Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: PA Posts: 6	#10 internal tooth lock washers

August 12th, 2006, 01:20 AM	#9
Mojoski Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Atlanta Area Posts: 212	Good point, rocky! That was why I got down in the floor and felt up under the dash to imagine exactly where the drill was going to come out the back! __________________ Proud Georgia Firearms Licensee Springfield Armory XD-9 Subcompact Seecamp LWS32 Browning Buckmark Walther P22 Bersa Thunder 380

August 12th, 2006, 11:44 AM	#10
INTJ Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Middle Tennessee Posts: 596	I'm not the least bit mechanically inclined. I think I can tackle this though.

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