5 Cool New 3D Printer Projects That Can Upgrade Your Car

Arguably, one of the main purposes of new technology is to provide means of improving your life in ways large and small. As an example of this, there are all manner of 3D printed gadgets that could be helpful in your daily life, like portable chairs and self-watering planters. If you want to narrow the scope a bit, you can use a 3D printer to make clever upgrades and additions for your car like a trash can, bag hooks, or a phone holder.

Using a 3D printer to craft gadgets and simple upgrades for your car can not only save you some cash on purchasing similar things online, but since you're the one printing them, you can ensure they're perfectly sized and shaped for the cabin's dimensions. With a little creativity and some plastic filament, there are any number of additions you can make to your seats, dashboard, cup holders, and more. If you're looking for some jumping-off points, try these interesting projects.

It's generally a good policy not to keep trash in your car, as it can attract bugs and pests and leave unpleasant, sticky residues. Of course, this can lead to a catch-22 situation where you've got some trash from a mid-drive snack, and you have nowhere to put it. Rather than leaving it on your seat or in a cup holder, just drop the trash in this convenient 3D-printed trash can.

Created by Printables user Tridense, this compact, 2-liter trash can consists of a thick body with a pair of clips on the back, as well as a top with a spinning lid. You can clip it onto a ledge in your cabin, such as the side pocket on one of your doors or onto the back of one of the seats. 

If you've got loose trash like wrappers or receipts, just drop them in the bin, and empty it out when you get home. You can add a liner to the inside like an old shopping bag for easy disposal, which also helps to ensure no crumbs or sticky substances get stuck to either your cabin or the inside of the can.

It's annoying to go on a major store run, only to run out of space to place your bags in the trunk. You may be able to fit a few more on the floors of your cabin, but it's not a good idea to place them on the seats, as they could topple over. If you need a little extra bag real estate for your vehicle, add a couple of car headrest bag hooks to the backs of your seats. Printables user GeekToyBox designed these hooks after several other 3D-printed hook designs fell short of expectations. 

They have simple shapes and only require a few screws to assemble, but are sturdy enough to suspend a bag from the back of your seat. While they're ostensibly designed to hold up a large trash bag for road trips, they can hold up other bags like a personal handbag or shopping bags. GeekToyBox has included two alternative hook models in the files, so you can try them all and see which works best for you.

There are few things as existentially frustrating as dropping something important into that narrow gap between the seat and center console in your car. It's bad enough to drop something like money or food in there, but dropping your keys or phone means you might be stuck for a bit. To block off that infamous dead zone, and get some extra storage space in the bargain, try 3D printing a car seat gap organizer.

This clever organizer was designed by Printables user Mocodroid, who combined a gap blocker bar with a space organizer. It comes in two lengths, 200mm and 250mm, and drops right into your seat gap, secured in place with included slots for nuts and bolts. The bin is large enough to store odds and ends, and there's even a small hole in the bottom to snake a phone car charger through. The bin by itself is pretty helpful, but for added fun, Mocodroid added an optional cupholder you can mount to the body for storing your bottled drinks.

As phone-to-car connection systems like Apple CarPlay — with all its hidden features — have become the norm, there's been a natural increase in the need for sturdy phone holders. While there are plenty of highly-rated dashboard accessories you could buy in stores or online, including phone holders, it's a bit of a toss-up as to whether your device will sit firmly in place until you test it out. If you want a more adaptable phone holder for your car, try this 3D print-in-place phone holder.

Cults user SunShine developed this novel phone holder to grip devices in zero-gravity settings like the International Space Station, opting for a design simple enough that it can be printed right onto the bed of a 3D printer without elevation. It's made using a series of weight-sensitive interlocking gears; when you place your phone into the holder, the side clamps automatically engage with a proportional level of force to the phone's weight. With a hook on the back, you can latch it onto one of the AC vents in your car for easy, hands-free access while driving.

Over the years, the cup holders in a car's center console have grown larger to handle the varying sizes and shapes of cups, cans, and bottles drivers tote around with them. Even if you have especially large cup holders, though, they may not be able to fit particularly large containers like heavy-duty tumblers. Fortunately, if your cup holder needs just a little more clearance, you can add it with a bottle adapter.

Designed by Printables user roblpetty, this clever gadget has a bottom section that's small enough to fit into most cup holder slots, with a large, walled section on top of it. Just insert the adapter into a cup holder, place your large beverage within, and the walls hold it steady. Roblpetty notes that the adapter should fit cup holders up to 3.2 inches, having confirmed it on both a 2015 Camry and 2019 Kia Sorento. If your holders are bigger, though, they suggest adding foam tape on the outside of the adapter's bottom half to ensure a snug fit.