4 Wheeler electronics setup

I plan on mounting my Lowrance elite 5 hdi to the front dash of my 4 wheeler. Thinking about ways to power it/connect it. Will most likely splice my extra power chord to some female adapters for a Vex battery and find a place somewhere to secure the battery. Any ideas or pictures of other peoples setup is appreciated!

I bought the RAM mount kit for my Humminbird. It came with a cigarette lighter adapter plug that works perfect with my Polaris. Not all quads have one though.

On my 2014 Polaris Sportsman, I mounted a RAM mount on the front rack lid and reinforced the backside with a piece of aluminum. For the power cable, I used a stock HDS cord and put female terminals on the leads that hook right on to a Marcum/Vexilar style battery.

I drilled a small hole to feed the cord through the rack box next to the RAM base. I got a grommet with rubber skirt (keeps most of the snow/moisture out) and epoxied that in the hole for the cable. The battery fit real nice in the front rack storage box and a guy could go several trips without a recharge.

I’ll try to find a pic to describe this but it worked really nice and looked clean.

I use a larger RAM ball(1.25″?) mounted to the handle bar. I power it using the cig. lighter on the Polaris. I like having the unit on the handle bar so I can easily read and adjust settings while on the move.

@Francis K where did you get the Cig. lighter adapter? Did it come with the Ram mount?

This was my setup.

For my 2015 Sportsman 570 SP, I’ve mounted my Lowrance to the handle bar with a Ram Mount and then using an extra supply cord, I ran the power to a Flasher battery I mounted inside the front storage compartment.

I have a tendency to leave the GPS running, so this way I don’t drain my starting battery and leave myself stranded on the lake.

RAM Elite connector with extra power cord directly to the battery. I only use it for gps to my spots, then shut it off.

Good point in not wanting to drain the starting battery, that would be a bad ending to the day!!

All great input guys! Appreciate it. I will definitely use some sort of RAM mount. There is no cigarette lighter adapter on my wheeler so I will be connecting it to the vex battery. Possibly will place the battery in a small space underneath the seat so it’s out of the way. Would I need to connect some sort of breaker to the power chord along with the female attachments?

Chance R. wrote:

@Francis K where did you get the Cig. lighter adapter? Did it come with the Ram mount?

It’s a Lowrance accessory. Picked it up at Fish-Lectronics.

If you mount directly to a battery, any battery you should use an inline fuse on the positive wire. Its a small fuse, I believe something like 2 AMP maybe 5.

Andy Fiolka wrote:

This was my setup.

Ever get frustrated you can’t zoom in/out our pan while on the move? That would drive me nuts.

i mounted my elite 4 with a ram mount. Just ordered the Cig lighter adapter to power it up. I made the mistake of having it on the right side on my snowmobile (that really sucked when trying to mess around with the map while driving)
Also for backup i have my Garmin GPSmap 62s mounted with a ram mount as well from my windshield.

Use a 3 amp fuse inline for your power from the battery.

Question for you guys mounting your graphs on the handlebars. Where are you getting your ram mounts at? I have been looking for one to use with my elite 7 this winter and everything I find are 1″ or smaller for handlebar mounts.

I have my x26 mounted on both the atv and snowmobile. They are wired directly to the starting battery. Both rigs have a pull start if the battery drains down. After 10 years of having them rigged this way, I have never had to pull start either rig. I do leave the unit on most days so I don’t have to wait for it to boot up all the time when moving. I use a Jonny ray mount to mount on both the atv and snowmobile.

dbright wrote:

Question for you guys mounting your graphs on the handlebars. Where are you getting your ram mounts at? I have been looking for one to use with my elite 7 this winter and everything I find are 1″ or smaller for handlebar mounts.

I went to http://www.rammount.com and found which ones i wanted then ordered them off amazon. Did not want to pay the crazy shipping cost from rammount.

dbright wrote:

Question for you guys mounting your graphs on the handlebars. Where are you getting your ram mounts at? I have been looking for one to use with my elite 7 this winter and everything I find are 1″ or smaller for handlebar mounts.

I installed the ram mount on the back bar of the front rack, that way it’s always stationary vs moving back & forth with the handlebars.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I installed the ram mount on the back bar of the front rack, that way it’s always stationary vs moving back & forth with the handlebars.

I sure missed out on this idea…. putting it on the left side so I can keep throttle hand in use, and on the rack bar will be my next adjustment.

Bringing this thread back up. Anyone have any recent setups that they are willing to share? I just bought a wheeler and I am looking for ideas on hot to mount a graph. It’s a sportsman 570 so I think mounting it to the handle bars is the best way to keep it out of the way of the headlight.

Greg Perz wrote:

Bringing this thread back up. Anyone have any recent setups that they are willing to share? I just bought a wheeler and I am looking for ideas on hot to mount a graph. It’s a sportsman 570 so I think mounting it to the handle bars is the best way to keep it out of the way of the headlight.

I just installed my garmin 73 to my handle bars and run my power right to the power plug right there. I used a ram mount and it worked slick on my 21 Honda

I have my Helix 7 handle bar mounted with a ram mount. I then have a power cord run under the plastics back into my otter box where I have a battery mounted. Its nice not having to worry about your starting battery being drained..

I guess I’m not worried about my starting battery. I charges as I ride and the garmin is off when I start fishing. Then if all hell breaks loose ill pull start it.

bfishn wrote:

I have my Helix 7 handle bar mounted with a ram mount. I then have a power cord run under the plastics back into my otter box where I have a battery mounted. Its nice not having to worry about your starting battery being drained..

smart move!

The new 570’s are supposed to have a bigger battery but I’m not sure I want to risk it. I already have a power chord that I use in my truck that runs off a vex battery.

What are the pros/cons of wiring directly to the battery vs using a vex battery?

Also, just ordered this to attach to the bars.

That’s what I used to mount my Helix 5 to my handlebars last season. Worked slick. I only use mine for navigation and wired it directly to the battery. When I finally settle down in a spot, I just shut it off.

I do carry a booster pack in my Otter Box on my ATV as a backup though for either cold temps or should I forgot to turn the graph off. Cheap insurance in my mind.

I still have my old Hummbird 798 GPS DI SI which I planned to mount on the front of my 4-wheeler. Last year, I just got in the habit of keeping the Hummingbird Helix 7 ICE up front where I can see it.

Just got the bar mount and put it on the wheeler. Looks like it will work pretty good.