I
thought I would start a new thread on this issue. I have been following two threads both with good ideas and suggestions. What I hope to get out of this info re:

Some time back someone said they found a cup holder to fit into the hole once their console was removed. I think it was a Husky part but I can't find any Husky part that fits in the hole.

Has someone found a good alternative to the "Big hole"?

I have a dark grey interior and I would be interested in buying the dash parts to fill the hole in. If you have them or see them on Ebay how about posting the link so the rest of us can see it. I have found some parts on ebay but I think its been luck more then skill. Some of the search patterns I have used have been very convoluted. So, if you see seats, trim, dash parts etc. Please post them in this thread.

IF you want a seat or the dash parts post it here and maybe someone else near buy will make the trade. Earlier I had someone ask to trade parts and I am sure there are others. Use this thread for now.

Hope this will help. I haven’t started the conversion yet but I can see lots of problems. Among others how about these;

-Putting the amp on the firewall.
-Covering the air outlets.
-Piping the air to the rear seats after you put in the center seat. (One of the problems I would like a solution too).
-Making a mount for the RSE unit so it will still be usable after the center seat is put in.
-????

I hope this thread gets you guys posting ideas. The two threads I am following now and one from a long time ago have been very helpful. So much so that I am starting to think I have to be nuts t o do this. In any case, I am looking forward to your input. Thanks

It took about two hours to remove the driver and passenger seats then put in the third center seat. Tomorrow i will list the socket sizes to fit the torx bolts. I have read that others have put the amp on the fier wall by the gas pedal. I am going to look at putting it under the front seat. I also think that i will be able to remount the RSE unit on the back of the middle seat. The fun begins now. Time to build things

PS I didn't take any pictures because it was all very straight forward. Don't take the consule apart until the front seats are out. Then you will really see what needs to come apart.

redtail,

Where did you get your seat and how much did you have to pay (hope you don't mind my asking)? Does it match your stock seats? I would like to also change out my center console to a flip seat that would match my light grey leather LT seats. I was thinking I would have to get the flip seat and have it recovered in matching leather.

Thanks,

Glenn

i will be pulling out my center seat to install a full console next weekend, but the seat is light tan cloth, but if you are gonna re-cover it in grey leather that wouldnt matter. I will be putting it on ebay next weekend along with the glovebox/;lower dash part you will need, it would have to be painted grey to match your interior. If you are interested give me a pm, I would accept paypal for payment, i'll have to go look on ebay and see what they are selling for to establish the price.

If you can get all the parts from Larry it will make your conversion much easier. I am finding that GM parts are very expensive. For instance, the center filler and glove trim (lower dash) comes as one piece. IT has a power takeoff, ashtray and a useless little storage hole. CDN $500+.

The center seats go from $40 (what I lucked out with mine) up too a custom leather one for $300+ USD. And everything in between. I said earlier that I would post the results. I haven’t had a lot of spare time but I will do it before next weekend.

Hey red tail what color is your interior and year truck??? I am looking for the dashboard piece around the glove box for a center seat to console conversion (i.e. I have the fold down seat and am going to but the console in). If the color is correct I may be interested in taking it off your hands if the price is right.

The interior is called (sp) pewter? It is the darker grey colour. If you are interested I will be selling the center consul less the power plugs and the rear seat entertainment center. The hole left from that is about 2.5 x3.5 inches. Any idea what the consule is worth?

I just thought about this. You would have to find a lower dash piece to get the consul to fit. You have the pieces I wanted until i saw how little use they would be to me. I am planning on building my own piece to fit the hole. I hope to be able to add a couple of cup holders, power outlets, light switches and boost gauges.

If you go to a dealer and find a truck with the consul in it, then take the vin from the truck to the parts department they can tell you what the lower dash part is worth. I have heard that they come up on the internet once in a while but i have been watching fpr a couple of months and havnt seen one. But you never now.

I had to buy a complete replacement dash to repair some collision damage so I have one of the console transition pieces that comes out of the dash. I would be willing to sell it cheap to somebody who wants it. (My truck is an 01)

Somebody also asked about the air duct work to the back seat.... the only difference between the two seating arangements is that there is a blocker plate over the hole for the rear air if there is no center console. I believe the rear heat ducts (under the front seats) are still there with the console. The blocker plate could be easily fabricated if you are removing the console.

FYI. If your planning on putting in the third front seat this may help. Otherwise it’s an awful lot of typing.

I have almost completed this conversion. The outstanding issues are the hole in the front dash, the rear seat heat and air conditioning, the woofer speaker and the rear seat entertainment center (RSE). Of the things I have done the hardest was mounting the amp. It wasn’t hard to do just time consuming. I didn’t take pictures because I found everything to be very straightforward. I will lay this out best I can from start to finish with an explanation on how I plan on finishing off the outstanding issues.

Getting the consul out and the new seat in was easy. On a scale of one too ten I would rate it at about 5. Take out the passenger seat first only because it has no wiring and is easier. The front bolts can be removed with a 15 mm socket and the rears with a 7/16 socket. Sounds weird but those are the two that worked without having to find or buy a torx socket. Once you have taken the passenger seat out take out the drivers seat. You have to leave the power connection attached until you have unbolted all four bolts. The reason is that you will need to move the power seat back for the front bolts and forward to get at the rear mounting bolts out.

Once the two seats are out you can start on removing the consul. At this stage my brother in law was helping and I think the only mounting bolts were the four seat bolts and two into the front dash. These two are behind the two power points in the front area. To get to them you need to take a fair amount of the consul apart. The big ugly hole is the best place to start. There are a number of Phillips screws to remove and some of them are under the rubber pieces that GMC puts into the storage areas. I would suggest you pull them all out before starting. Just find the little tabs on the sides and they lift out. Everything comes apart after undoing the screws or for the dash parts, getting your fingers behind things and pulling. At times I thought I was going to break something but it all gives way eventually. Once you have taken the consul apart far enough to reach the two front mounting bolts the consul will lift right out. However, before doing this disconnect the wiring.

After the consul was out we measured the wiring to see where the amp could go. Other guys have put the amp above the gas/go/throttle pedal. I looked at that and decided I liked under the seat more. This also gives me the ability to mount the RSE somewhere in the back seat. I put the passenger seat upside down on a bench and made two cross members to mount on the seats light metal framework. Doing this kept the amp well off the floor and well away from the seats foam. (I should have taken a picture of this)

At this time my brother in law removed the amp and the woofer speaker from the center consul. There was lots of swearing and even a cut or two. I think I would have done better but……… I gather there were lots of little screws and pulling the wiring harness actually took two of us. You need to wiggle and tug at it to get it through some of the tighter spots. No big deal.

Before we fed the large, driver’s side, wire harness through to the rear we did three things. I cleaned up the wiring by removing the pigtails for the power outlets. I just cut them off and taped them up. I will probable rewire them somewhere in the center section when I figure out how to fill the center hole. I want a couple of power outlets up front so t hey will get reused up there. We also pulled a piece of string through under the carpet to the very rear of the cab. I think this will be the eventual location of the woofer. The wire connections for the woofer are part of the big wire harness and I will have to tap into it later for a woofer if I end up putting one behind the rear seat. The other thing I did was to cover the big harness in a black plastic harness tube. You can get this stuff at any automotive store. I think it was the 1-inch stuff. We then fed the harness under the carpet along the driver’s side of the center hump to a place under where the new seat will go. It has to be along the top edge. After this was in place you can hardly tell there is anything under there. I did have some concern about someone sitting in the center seat stepping on the harness or pushing it down but I will have to wait and see if that becomes a problem. At this time the harness is well protected with the plastic cover and has enough slack under the seats to be ok.

We then put the center seat in to see if the wiring would reach and not be damaged when the seats are moved around. Everything looks good. We put in the center seat, the passenger and drivers seat, tested all ranges of motion and everything works fine.

Now to the problems. Easiest to hardest. In the hole, newly created from the consul, there is a mounting plate. If you want more area in that hole you can take the plate out. To do so you have to undo four screws, take the glove compartment out or at least loosen it until it’s almost out, loosen the upper dash by pulling on the clips and it will eventually come out. If you have purchased a lower dash from a truck with the third seat you could easily take these pieces out all together since your new ones will be going into the hole. The new lower dash pieces cover the center hole and wrap around the glove compartment.

Some guys have had to make a cover for the air vent that used to feed air to the rear seat. I think they had a valve that moved and needed to create a rounded pocket. In my case I have a 3”x3” square opening at floor level. I could take a square piece of plastic and seal this off. I am going to leave it for now and maybe mould some plastic so I can redirect or turn that vent off when I want to. It blasts lots of air so I am reluctant to block it off.

For the RSE unit I think you have two options. Number one is to leave it out. In which case you need to find out which two wires to jumper so the rear speakers will work. When I first did this the rear speakers worked so I didn’t look into the jumpers. However, they only put out a small amount of sound. When I plugged the RSES unit in the sound became much better. So, jumper them or go to option number two. (I don’t know which two wires you would have to jumper) Option number two is to remount the RSE unit somewhere. I think I am going to build an aluminum or plastic case to be mounted on the floor behind the new third seat. I looked at mounting it as part of the seat but the wiring harness wont be long enough and I don’t think it will work very well. I also have to worry about the kids getting in and out with ski boots on so the mounting has to be strong.

To woofer or not to woofer? That is the question. Can you really tell the difference? I think so. In one posting the member said he couldn’t tell the difference with the woofer working or not. If you get a bomb blast on a DVD the truck shakes with the woofer in. Without it the truck doesn’t shake. Music wise I don’t really hear the difference but my brother in law says you have to have the woofer. Not just for the DVD movies but he says the sound is way better with it in. So, I am going to a speaker shop to see what the have for a rear woofer mount.

And the last problem is the hole in the dash. I found a truck with the third seat option and copied the VIN. When you take it to the parts department they will be able to find the parts you need. However, the lower dash costs around $500 cdn. This wouldn’t include the ashtray, power outlet and lighter. In any case I don’t think the lower dash is any more useful than the consul was. I think I am going to buy a couple of gauges and a cup holder from a 99-2001 gmc. I may be off on the years but the cup holder lifts up and out from the dash. They are on ebay for $40 cdn but the local wreckers will sell them for $20cdn. When I have the parts together I will design and fit these things together. In the mean time I am going to drive around with a big hole in the dash. If anyone finds a better solution or an aftermarket filler for the center dash please let me know. If I don’t have to build something I don’t want too.

Sorry, one more problem I had is very annoying and interesting. I have a big rattle in the upper drivers side dash. It only started after I took the consul out. It is also 18” to 24” away from the consul but it has to be something that loosened from what we did. I took the lower left trim off yesterday and I am going to stick a small foam block up there until I find it but it’s a wicked rattle. It sounds like a mettle mount that wobbles. If I hit a bump its loud then slowly wobbles down to nothing. Hit a bump and it starts over. Just another trial of life.

In conclusion I would say having the third seat is well worth it. I find the front area to be bigger, the new consul in the seat back works great. The two-cup holders work better if the seat is in the upright position. That is why I want two more cup holders in the dash. The rattle will go away when I find it. The RSE will get mounted up in a bulletproof, ski boot proof floor mounted box. And all is well in the world. Sort of.

If you have any suggestions to help solve some of the small problems pm me or better yet, post it here. Hope this helps you to make the decision for or against getting the third seat. If anyone knows what the consul is worth or is interested it is pewter/dark grey and will be missing the RSE panel from the rear and the cigarette/power outlets.

the conversion from center seat to center console is much smoother, in fact, I moved my edge attitude from the overhead console to the center console where it is very easy to read..........could not read it in the overhead console from a glance during the day. I'll post photos later today. I will be listing my old center seat console on ebay later today, i'll post the ebay number in the for sale section here if anybody is interested.

I have been looking for a truck that has a DVD but no consul. I am wondering where they put the woofer,amp and more important, the rear seat entertainment unit. My guess is that if you have a DVD you also have the consul. has anyone seen a truck like this or know where they put these items? IF you have one could you send me the vin so I can go to a dealer and look at the locations and parts.

Thanks

If the center seat console is the same as my 01, I would be interested (I have a broken hinge on the lid)

It might to pretty expensive to buy the whole consul to replace the lid. But I bet GM wants $350 for the lid. How close am I? I have asked them about the lower dash piece and they wanted $500. What a joke.

Any ways, the consul is pewter, dark grey, and is missing three power outlets, the RSE unit and the amp. It also includes two rocker switches mounted in the front section. They have LED indicator lights and are good quality. I used them for my forward and reverse lights.

I have only had the truck for four months so its in good shape. I have been told that the consul should go for $300 - $400 usd. With the parts missing and your need to cover shipping I'll let it go for $275 usd. Paypal preferred if you want it quicker.

IF you want to know what the shipping is worth send me your postal code and I can find out through canada post or a carrier if you want me to.

They want to sell me the whole seat back to replace the lid ($250 IIRC). I might have to build my own hinge system. Sometimes time is cheaper than money.
I was wondering why you guys are talking about replacing the trim around the glove box and the cig. lighters to swap between consule and seats? I know the 01 and 02's are the same except for the transition piece/cover piece that snaps right out.

I'll look into that. I thought you were looking for a full consul lid. It sounds to me like you are looking for a third seat lid. Let me know. There have been some coming through a company that reconfigures police vehicals. I may be able to find you one. In the meantime you could call your local municipality/state works yard and find out who does the conversions on their police and ambulance vehicals. You may luck out. Sometimes a bottle of scotch goes a long ways.

Yes, I am looking for the center seat lid. I don't care which interior color the cloth is because the part I need is the plastic that snaps around the cloth.

Yes, I am looking for the center seat lid. I don't care which interior color the cloth is because the part I need is the plastic that snaps around the cloth.

Yes, I am looking for the center seat lid. I don't care which interior color the cloth is because the part I need is the plastic that snaps around the cloth.

HAd to laph at your tripple reply. I will be keeping my eyes out here for any seats that come up. But do check out your local law enforcment people.:)

No Stuuuuudering...just a stupid computer that locked up and acted like it wasn't posting.
BTW What is a "Crew Cad"? I thought we all had Cab's :joke:

:) Some people stutter and some of us dyslexic.

I thought I would put this in here and in the add section. Just in case someone is watching this string and might be interested. I have been told that $275 USD is too much for the consul since it will not have a few parts. Check the lower paragraphs for the add.


Consul for sale from a 2004 Chevy Sierra Crew Cab Duramax 4x4. The consul is pewter, dark grey, and is missing three power outlets, the RSE unit, woofer and the amp. It includes two rocker switches mounted in the front section. They have LED indicator lights and are good quality. I used them for my forward and reverse lights. If you want the woofer I will include it but I didn’t think it would be worth the extra shipping cost.

I have only had the truck for five months so its in good shape. I have been told that the consul should go for $300 - $400 USD. With the parts missing and your need to cover shipping I'll let it go for $200 USD. Paypal preferred.

I live in the Vancouver area of BC Canada. The carton weighs about 60lb and is approx 45” x 23” x 23”. If your interested send me your postal code or Zip code and I can get a ballpark cost for shipping from Canada Post.

For those of you that emailed looking to buy my consul sorry but its gone. Bubba bought it.

Now, back to my next problem the lower dash filler. Keep tuned.