Overhead console

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:20 am

I have the 'bug' to do a little mod-ing..

Actually its something I have been wanting to do since last year, but havent gotten around to looking into it, and am really wanting to explore the possibilities..

I have the Yaesu ham radio (same as HenryJ) with the remote mounting control panel. Currently I have it on a custom braket mounted right under my Pioneer XM radio, where the factory radio was..
What I want to do, is move the control head up to the overhead console!
My old 1-ton GMC I had an overhead shelf that went across the front, had the ham radio and a CB I used when rv-ing with friends both mounted across the top.
There is a prefect spot just above the mirror

hanging down below the compass/temp display. The angle will even be right for the display to be viewable straight-on.
I have figured out the wiring (its a single phone-cord type cable), I plan to run it back under the column, then fish it over the headliner to the door post and down behind the trim.
What I havent figured out is how to mount to the console without drilling ugly holes in it

I thought about fabricating a bracket that would go under the front console screw and come around to mount it, but that screw is not flat on the back side of the console, it appears to be stuck way up into the headliner?
Anyone have any ideas.. Worst case I may just break down and drill two small holes in the console up close to the top where it wont be readily visible if the radio is ever removed.
The radio control needs to be pretty solid in place due to the push-button volume knobs that turn it on/off and change bands.. Plus the mic connects to the faceplate, so there will be a negligable pulling pressure on it when you are using the mic. I considered actually mounting the control unit to the top of the mirror itself, but the slight weight/presure over time would probably cause the mirror to get loose.

I'm hoping to do this before the weekend of July 4th.. I am part of a CDF fire patrol every year for wildfires started by illegal fireworks in the outlying areas.. I would like to move the control panel before then, that will make it easier to operate the radio control with my APRS/Laptop computer installed.. When I carry a spotter and have the laptop installed turned around for him to work the mapping/tracking, the laptop always winds up right in front of the current control panel and you have to swing the laptop out of the way to adjust the volume, then swing it back to use the laptop. Not to mention the laptop always seems to bump the control and either turn the radio off or wind up changing it to the NWS weather broadcast channel

jeff024 · Post by **jeff024** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:49 am

I will have to look for it but im fairly sure they make an overhead shelf for our trucks

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:00 pm

Not to change the subject but speaking of overhead console, Scott, is there an easy way to remove the console? Like you and Brule I'm about to [cringe] drill holes in my roof to mount a couple of antennas. After having my mag mount antenna land in my truck's bed three times on the trip to Williamsburg last week, I've decided permanent mounting is the only way. Hopefully I won't have to drop the headliner too.

Post by **Walt** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:03 pm

Removing the console is fairly easy.

1. Unscrew philips-head screw at the front of the console.
2. Take flat head screwdriver and pry off the dome light cover (the big one, not the small circular lights).
3. Remove two (I think it's two) philips-head screws from inside the dome light area.
4. Pull down gently to release several snaps/clamps/whatever they're called.

Just don't pull too hard because the console will still be connected by several wires. You can either let it hang, which wont hurt anything, or you can disconnect the wiring harnesses and get it out of the way.

I used some CAT5 cable to extend and mount my CB's controls inside the garage door opener compartment, so when I open that, my CB's faceplate swings down with it. I put the rest of the CB (everything besides the faceplate) behind the glovebox. Then I extended the Mic plug to come out on the side of my center console close to the floor so I can plug a mic in there.

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:29 pm

Rusty wrote:Not to change the subject but speaking of overhead console, Scott, is there an easy way to remove the console? Like you and Brule I'm about to [cringe] drill holes in my roof to mount a couple of antennas. After having my mag mount antenna land in my truck's bed three times on the trip to Williamsburg last week, I've decided permanent mounting is the only way. Hopefully I won't have to drop the headliner too.

Even easier way to mount them.. THe ones on my roof didnt take anything apart inside.. Check with your local PD or sherriff and ask their shop where they have the radios done by.. Locally it is AirMobile Communications.. They have all the tricks to mount the antennas on the car roofs

Here they have a special hole drill that holds the cut-out piece in the drill instead of dropping it inside your headliner, then the connections they have are a 90-deg angle with a clip like piece built on it (for NMO mount antennas like mine, so there is very little clearance under the mount needed.. I prefer NMO for roof mount.. large load bearing part of base, never had one leak yet with the o-ring seals).. They fished the coas in through the holes, and out the side of the headliner/down the pillar, then screw the other piece of the antenna mount on..
Took him no more than 30 minutes for 3 antennas, no shavings/debris in the truck, and nothing inside on the headliner was taken off.. Just one piece of trim by the door pillar.. I got the antennas, mounted, with coax run to my radio location behind the back seat, for $45 each.. The antennas I use are Larson single band (exact same one as the 'undercover' PD cars use.. very thin, black, with black base, cut to the length of the band you them have on).. I run 3, one for 2m, one for 440mhz, and one for my APRS, all in a straight line down the center of the cab roof.. From a distance if you dont look right at them, you dont see my antenna whips at all (long ones are about 13", short one about 4 or 5"). And I can still get into most (not all, but most) parking structures here.. I slightly drag on the one by the hospital, but not enough to hurt the antenna.. If the Larsen whip ever gets bent/procken offroad in the trees or something, the metal whip is about $5 to $10, and the whole thing with the NMO plastic base is about $15 to $20.

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:32 pm

wamason wrote:Removing the console is fairly easy.

1. Unscrew philips-head screw at the front of the console.
2. Take flat head screwdriver and pry off the dome light cover (the big one, not the small circular lights).
3. Remove two (I think it's two) philips-head screws from inside the dome light area.
4. Pull down gently to release several snaps/clamps/whatever they're called.

Just don't pull too hard because the console will still be connected by several wires. You can either let it hang, which wont hurt anything, or you can disconnect the wiring harnesses and get it out of the way.

I'll check that out.. doesnt sound too hard

wamason wrote: I used some CAT5 cable to extend and mount my CB's controls inside the garage door opener compartment, so when I open that, my CB's faceplate swings down with it. I put the rest of the CB (everything besides the faceplate) behind the glovebox. Then I extended the Mic plug to come out on the side of my center console close to the floor so I can plug a mic in there.

My old CB (only used it on rv trips) is a Midland Grant XL SSB.. Even if the face came off, its WAY to big to fit there

Its almost as wide as the floor console tray under the dash! I've got a heavy duty mag mount for it in case I ever go on a trip and need CB to other 4x4ers, but I dont, at this time anyway, have any plans to permanantly mount that one in the truck.. That might change though

I do get the 'itch' to play with radio mounting/wiring/etc (I have a not too cheap antenna analyser.. gotta get some use out of that thing

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:35 pm

jeff024 wrote:I will have to look for it but im fairly sure they make an overhead shelf for our trucks

Really??
I hadnt seen one, I thought with the console they probably didnt make one to fit.. I kind of miss the tray I had in the 1-ton.. It was high enough to not be in the way, you couldt even see it from outside, and extra junk storage is always good

Post by **Walt** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:12 pm

I used to have a really nice galaxy, but it died on me. So I bought a cheapie Maxon CB from Wallyworld. It's a smaller CB. Extending the faceplate was VERY difficult, and took several hours to make it work right. It put my soldering skills to the test

But now, you can look in my cab and see absolutely nothing aftermarket, except my head unit. That's the look I've been going for

Hide everything!!!

jeff024 · Post by **jeff024** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:24 pm

I will have to start searching sites again to find it but I had thought about 1

barch97 · Post by **barch97** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:37 pm

kf6kmx wrote:
jeff024 wrote:I will have to look for it but im fairly sure they make an overhead shelf for our trucks
Really??
I hadnt seen one, I thought with the console they probably didnt make one to fit.. I kind of miss the tray I had in the 1-ton.. It was high enough to not be in the way, you couldt even see it from outside, and extra junk storage is always good

Pace Edwards makes one that they say fits 01-03 s-10 crewcab.

Looks like it spans across under the OEM console.

$62.95 at JCWhitney or 3 bucks more at summit

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:56 pm

barch97 wrote:
kf6kmx wrote:
jeff024 wrote:I will have to look for it but im fairly sure they make an overhead shelf for our trucks
Really??
I hadnt seen one, I thought with the console they probably didnt make one to fit.. I kind of miss the tray I had in the 1-ton.. It was high enough to not be in the way, you couldt even see it from outside, and extra junk storage is always good
Pace Edwards makes one that they say fits 01-03 s-10 crewcab.

Looks like it spans across under the OEM console.

$62.95 at JCWhitney or 3 bucks more at summit

Looks good! But I wonder if it covers the outside temp display..

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:07 pm

Ok.. Got busy tonight and did some mounting

Did my usual.. 3m Super foam tape

Go ahead, laugh.. most of my radio/gps setup is mounted with 3m.. Only had ONE speaker fall off one time, and I think that was due to the surface the tape was on.. And best of all.. NO HOLES

Anyway.. using a homebrew bracket (the reflector bracket from a Radio Shack door 'invisible beam' door chime kit) to give it a tilt angle adjustment. I have the head unit mounted under the console up between the mirror and the temp display. Bottom of the head unit just BARELY make it into the mirror view.. From the outside front of the truck, you only see it if you look RIGHT at it, then it looks like something is on the mirror (like the older Ford mirrors that had the temp displays on top). Might be a little interesting to put my sunshade in the window around this

but oh well, the sacrafices we make for our mods

.

I still have to fish the control cable to it over the headliner somehow (right now its just hanging down from the back), but that will come tomorrow night or this weekend (am going to the coast on Saturday, kinda like to have it up and out of the view by then, so probably tomorrow night).
Once its all fished into place and done, I'll take some photos in the daylight and post them.
My only concern is that the tape gets hot and drops the control before the tape can cure to the surfaces.. but we have a forecast of under 80 deg for the next two days so I think it will have time to cure completely. There is one other type of the tape, the thinner dark grey that they use mostly for the outside (the 70mph tape thats on some window deflectors and bug shields) if the white wont hold, but the control head weighs VERY little and there is negligable tension on the mic cable coming out of it, even with the mic all the way to the drivers side window.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:12 am

i have one in my ford and i love it!

Pauleo · Post by **Pauleo** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:28 am

Once its all fished into place and done, I'll take some photos in the daylight and post them.

Yes! Please do! I think I smell another mod coming on for my CC!

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:38 am

Pauleo wrote:
Once its all fished into place and done, I'll take some photos in the daylight and post them.
Yes! Please do! I think I smell another mod coming on for my CC!

Will do.. I'll take one of the in-progress tonight, even with the cable hanging down

Pauleo · Post by **Pauleo** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:49 am

Cool beans!

Pauleo · Post by **Pauleo** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:09 pm

wamason wrote:...I used some CAT5 cable to extend and mount my CB's controls inside the garage door opener compartment, so when I open that, my CB's faceplate swings down with it... I extended the Mic plug to come out on the side of my center console close to the floor so I can plug a mic in there.

Any pics????

I'd like to see that setup!

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:53 pm

Pauleo wrote:
wamason wrote:...I used some CAT5 cable to extend and mount my CB's controls inside the garage door opener compartment, so when I open that, my CB's faceplate swings down with it... I extended the Mic plug to come out on the side of my center console close to the floor so I can plug a mic in there.
Any pics???? I'd like to see that setup!

Just got in.. Took two pics tonight.. Like I said, work in progress, the cables are still hanging down, and the photos arent very good:

http://www.s-10crewcab.com/coppermine/a ... C01033.JPG

http://www.s-10crewcab.com/coppermine/a ... C01035.JPG

i made them links. the size of your photos were 350k. if you are going to post them, try to keep them around 50k. thanks -hobie

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:01 pm

On the contrary....your photos are excellent!

If they exceed the Photo Gestapos requirements we will bo soon enough but, I like your install

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:16 pm

f9k9 wrote:On the contrary....your photos are excellent!

If they exceed the Photo Gestapos requirements we will bo soon enough but, I like your install

Can you believe those photos are from tonight? In Central Calif.. cloudy and 71deg, in JUNE?!?!

I like it!

The longer hte triple-digit temps stay away, the better!

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:18 pm

f9k9 wrote:On the contrary....your photos are excellent!

If they exceed the Photo Gestapos requirements we will bo soon enough but, I like your install

Still in progress.. the control cable is going to run behind the headliner and down to the radio behind the back seat.. The mic is currently hanging from the passenger visor clip using a 'truckers mic clip' I've had for years.. The final mounting for the mic will be an actaul mic mount on the side of the overhead console.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:19 pm

So is the killer 3M tape on the windshield?

The wife's ventshades on her Cavalier went belly up and I used the taped to reapply them but my thumbs went raw removing the old tape

Pauleo · Post by **Pauleo** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:47 am

kf6kmx wrote:... Took two pics tonight...

Lookin' Good! I would like to find a cool way to mount a CB in my truck. I don't want to remove the ashtray & mount it there because I smoke & I use the lighter all the time.

HEY WAMASON!
Snap some pics of YOUR setup for us! It really sounds cool!

barch97 · Post by **barch97** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:17 am

It's too bad that tape doesn't come in black

There's gotta be a way to maybe hook two mount rails up/in between the console and the ceiling w/out drilling into the console. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you could slip a strip of that universal bracket stock straight across from one side to the other between the console and the ceiling and then just bend down each end to meet the unit hung below.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:58 am

barch97 wrote:It's too bad that tape doesn't come in black .............

The 3M tape I use for exterior is a very, very dark gray so it might as well be black. The peel off paper is red. I've used it to mount a USB hub and part of my USB headset under my laptop mount.

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:38 pm

f9k9 wrote:
barch97 wrote:It's too bad that tape doesn't come in black .............
The 3M tape I use for exterior is a very, very dark gray so it might as well be black. The peel off paper is red. I've used it to mount a USB hub and part of my USB headset under my laptop mount.

The white tape in the 'rough draft' photo is just to position it.. it lets go pretty easy without marking up the surface, until I find the final location. I added a swivel bracket to adjust the tilt for better viewing.
The final mount is with 5lb exterior grey 3m tape.

Heres a photo of the final mount.. the cable still shows, but after I took the picture I ran the cable down the driversside post and under the carpet to trhe back.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:51 pm

Looks pretty good.
What about drilling one hole in the center to mount it to the console , so that it will swivel side to side as well?

I have to say that I am extremely pleased with where I mounted mine. It is nice to rest my arm and access the buttons. I wouldn't have it anywhere else- My install

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:00 pm

HenryJ wrote:Looks pretty good.
What about drilling one hole in the center to mount it to the console , so that it will swivel side to side as well?

I have to say that I am extremely pleased with where I mounted mine. It is nice to rest my arm and access the buttons. I wouldn't have it anywhere else- My install

I tried that, but for some reason I kept hitting it

Its a little harder to operate overhead and reach up to it, but for the most part I use the on-mic buttons (not as good as the HOTAS [hands-on-throttle-and-stick] in the jet, but more convienent than having to reach for the radio

)

Plus my JottoDesk laptop mount swing in a little closer to the console that the mount you have.

So, how was the trip? I couldnt get the time off to head up that way while you were down here

Were you in the area to feel any of the quakes?

I did manage to get as far as Morro Bay yesterday.. Took about 99 photos
Morro Bay photos

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:13 pm

kf6kmx wrote:...Were you in the area to feel any of the quakes?

Oh yeah!

It rocked

kf6kmx · Post by **kf6kmx** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 9:14 pm

HenryJ wrote:
kf6kmx wrote:...Were you in the area to feel any of the quakes?
Oh yeah!
It rocked

Welcome to California

We didnt get anything here.. Maybe the one near Kettleman City that was about 4:30am the one day.. I was up getting ready to head to the air base,I didnt feel anything, but my dog was unhappy that morning..