No, There was more than enough surface area from the ram mount to be able to sustain the load. It doesn't flex the dash or anything. My major concern with just using screws was the lack of overall material for the screws to bite into. Plus the weight of this unit and mount is substantial. I played around with other locations but I liked this one the best. It is the one thing I stare at most of the time so I figured I wanted it in an exact location. Most of the time at the helm is spent in split mode running my maps and sonar. I fish some areas that require you to be on a certain path or risk losing a prop or two!