Have an '03 Sierra crew cab SLT w/bucket seats & want to add the third seat in front. Has anyone removed the center console & replaced with a seat?? Called my dealer, they said it can be done (the normal bench seat is now a 40/20/40) by removing the console & adding the "20" seat, but they said they would not do it for liability reasons & I'd have to find a conversion place (someone who does handicap van conversions, etc.). Anyone have any experience with removing the console & adding a seat?? If so, did you do it yourself or have someone else do it for you??

There here was a thread that kinda covered what you're asking. I have not done it though. Welcome to the Diesel Place.


http://dieselplace.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3845&PN=1


Edited by: Voodoo

Has anyone removed the center seat and replaced it with the console that comes with the bucket seats?


I have no use for the center seat but would sure like to have the center counsole if it could be done. Mine is charcoal in color

Leather of fabric??

I've made the switch. I'll try to capture everything I remember here.

The history is that I just can't stand the console. I want the space. But my wife just had to have heated seats. And of course GM is soooo... smart that they know if you want heated seats you must want a console, Bose system, and OnStar. So I spent a over a thousnd dollars for stuff I didn't want, then spent more to get rid of a lot of it. But to add insult to injury, it can get pretty complicated to replace the console. If I had it to do over again I would have said NO to the heated seats, or gotten a Dodge where they will let you buy what you want in this area,

I got a center seat from a 2002 Tahoe off of eBay. My interior is dark pewter leather, and the center seat is dark grey fabric. The combination doesn't look bad at all. I believe that all of the center seats between the Silverado, Sierra, Yukon, Tahoe, and Suburban are mechanically interchangable, but I'm not the expert here and don't know how many years this goes back. Do your research before you buy. Also be aware that there are 2 types of center seats. Don't get the non-folding model by accident. I wasn't aware of the non-folding seat when I priced it at the dealer. The non-folding model was over $600.

To get the center seat and/or console in or out you need to pull both bucket seats first. This isn't too bad a job. I'd recommed not attempting this job without a service manual. It isn't perfect, but it sure helps a lot. A major complication is that the Bose amp and subwoofer are in the console. You can solve this problem by throwing more money down the drain and dumping that Bose system you paid for, or by relocating the Bose amp. Niether it or the subwoofer will fit under the center seat. Sometime while agonizing over this I decided to see how much good the subwoofer did. My finding was that unless the bass was full up I couldn't tell whether or not the subwoofer was connected. So it was easy to say goodbye to the subwoofer. I finally relocated the amp against the driver side firewall, approximately above the accelerator pedal. It's a very tight fit. On my first try it was too close to the heater box and was in the way of one of the moving heater parts. My next problem was that I had this huge, long console wiring harness to do something with. My first thought was to just buy replacement connectors and build a shorter version. Alas, you can buy the connector shells, but not the pins, from the parts counter. I reduced the bulk of the harness by pulling the subwoofer wires out, and just bundled up the rest. Another harness problem is that the rear seat speaker signals are routed through the Rear Seat Audio controller, which I eliminated. You have to bridge these signals at the RSA connector or lose the rear speakers. Another reason to have the service manual.

Your next major headache will be the feed to the console air duct that you removed. I wanted the maximum floor space, so I wasn't willing to leave the elbow on the bottom of the heater box and cap it off where it was easy. Unfortunately, when you remove the elbow there is a moving flap that protrudes, and you can't just fasten it in the shut position, which jams one of the heater mechanisms. I built a half-cylinder cap out of cut plastic pipe ends and connectors, added some metal mounting ears, painted it black, and fastened it to the holes used to hold the elbow on the bottom of the heater box.

And there are other smaller problems you will encounter. For instance, getting the lighter and power sockets out of the console without breaking things is fairly difficult.

The only thing I haven't done yet is cover over the big open space in the center bottom dashboard where the console was. The factory panel is over $200 and I haven't been willing to fork over even more money yet.

I really like the improvement with the center seat. I hated the truck when it had the console. But I really question that this was the

T.P.N. My seat is fabric NOT Leather


Wayne, Got any pictures?

The history is that I just can't stand the console. I want the space. But my wife just had to have heated seats.

You could have ordered it the way you wanted less the heated seats and added the heated seats in after. I am considering putting in heated seats in the rear seats.

You could have ordered it the way you wanted less the heated seats and added the heated seats in after.* I am considering putting in heated seats in the rear seats.

I totally agree. But I didn't know any of this a year ago when I ordered the truck. It used to be easy to remove things, but everything is so darn integrated and interdependent now that it's hard to change anything. You can't even change the dang radio without major headaches!Edited by: Wayne Dohnal

Does anyone know if the front airbags (drivers side or passenger side)will affect/protect the center console seat??

................
The only thing I haven't done yet is cover over the big open space in the center bottom dashboard where the console was. The factory panel is over $200 and I haven't been willing to fork over even more money yet.


....


$200 !! you jest??? I spent $38 and install a Suburban dropdown cup holder there.





On Edit ~ for $100 you can have my tan panel I removed off my 02 http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Evil Smile.gifEdited by: ShumDit

ShumDit,


Where would I be able to find one of those cup holders? Do you have a part number for it? My truck has the bench seat and it just came with a gaping hole in the bottom of the dash.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Angry.gif Can't even store anything in there. I saw a picture of tomac's truck(I think it was his) with the cup holder installed there. IMHO, GM should have put something in that hole.

IIRC when ordering my GMC trucks u could get the SLT w/ leather bench but had to give up the Bose.


Chevy wouldn't let u do it.

I replaced mine. sure changed the look of the front. Got the center seat off ebay for 20$. got to get ducting to help route air to the back. my seat is fabric, the rest are leather. really like it in there though. it came with the bracket,seat belt and all. just had to buy the socket to pull the original seats up to mount the center one. next install is a center cup holder, CB, Brake controller and a CD changer. or just find a way to hang the cassett deck again. AkDually61

One other thing, Mine is an '02, so I didn't have to worry about the amp and speaker. Only thing in the fwd center console was the cassett deck. planning on changing this all anyway so no big deal. on the '02 the duct screws to the main outlet behind the center fwd console and I just removed it. now all the air dumps right there so I need to adjust that. probly buy another duct and "modify" it. I bought the center cup holder off a member on this site. you guys are an awsome bunch. Almost like being back in the Corps. when dealing with any one of you.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif now to find out where to get a manual that I wont have to pimp the "boss" for. Thanx again guys, your great.... AkDually61

flhrciblueice


IIRC, got the p/n for a graphite color one from member 56Nomad. Had to work w/ www.partsonline.com to get the p/n for the tan (still had to repaint it). To ans your question, the p/n and everything else went when the HD dumped last summer. Perhaps 56 Nomad may still have a p/n to start research with. I contacted the partsonline by telephone & email. It worked out nicely on my 02' but uncertain re the 03/04s tho. Perhaps their dashboards are different?


I find it tuff to believe the replacement panel would cost so much when the coffee holder is so affordable ~ and useful. I might add that I plan on removing the coffee holders mounted close to the floor when I can stand on my head to figure out how.


Edited by: ShumDit