Working on my setup

[Louisd75]

Well, after bouncing back and forth between an IC 7000 and Kenwood D710A, I've gone with the kenwood. I really liked all the features of the Icom, but I think for the kind of stuff I do, being able to monitor a 2nd freq turned out to be more important to me. That and I could nearly buy two Kenwoods for the price of the Icom


Now I'm working on installing the radio. It'll be through the roof of my Tacoma. The inside mounting of the radio and tranceiver will be a little tricker. I don't want the radio on the floor, and as anyone with a Tacoma will tell you, there's not really a whole lot of space inside. I did find an area that seems to be used a lot in Australia (thanks Australian 4wd Action!) but not so much up here, and I'm taking advantage of it. First, we begin with the mocking up. I had a large remnant sheet of masonite (guess it's not called that anymore?) leftover from another project, so I didn't feel bad cutting shapes out of it til I got things right. Here's the final iteration of the template cutting, along with the mockup of it in position in the cab of my truck being held in place by my lovely and understanding volunteer:

Up forward it will mount to existing holes for the front map lights. In back it will mount using the existing dome light holes. It does not block any of my view out the rearview mirror.

Now that I had the template, it was time to move on to the real deal. I used 1/8" hobby plywood from Hardware Sales up here in Bellingham. So far I've used two 12" x 24" sheets. I'll spare you the tedious process of fitting and gluing all of the parts and skip right to where it sits now:

Yes, it's upside down You can see the D710 head. Just ahead of that is the Scangauge. Aft of the head, the receiver will be mounted inside on the large flat region. I'm also planning on moving the rocker switches for my aux headlights, fog lights, and reverse lights onto the console, likely just sticking through ahead of the receiver. I've angled some of the corners on the sides so that when I ********** my head into it, it's not a 90* corner. The console is also sitting on top of the perforated metal I picked up to make a couple of panels out of. I don't want the receiver to be completely enclosed because of heat, so the aft end and the opening just aft of the radio head will be made with the metal. When it's all done I plan on covering the wood with vinyl cloth.

Here's how much space the receiver will have. I'll be using the factory mounting bracket to install it:

It's very likely that I'll need additional speakers in order to hear the radio. The one that is built into the receiver is small and is going to be fairly enclosed, even if I put a hole in the bottom of the console for it. I'm going to give it a shot without them, but when I do finally decide that I need extra speakers I've got room between the receiver and the rear dome light to install them.

That's about where it sits right now. I feel like I'm 90% done with 90% to go, but I'm getting there. I'll try to update more as it nears and reaches completion.

 

[85CUCV]

That is slick.

 

[xtatik]

Well, after bouncing back and forth between an IC 7000 and Kenwood D710A, I've gone with the kenwood. I really liked all the features of the Icom, but I think for the kind of stuff I do, being able to monitor a 2nd freq turned out to be more important to me. That and I could nearly buy two Kenwoods for the price of the Icom

Are you sure you meant to say an IC7000? This is kinda' like comparing apples to oranges, or better said...a Howitzer to a peashooter. However, if monitoring a second short range frequency is super-important to you, then it may make sense.
In any case, it looks like you've got some skills and your install looks pretty cool. I be checkin' in to see how it develops. Looks good so far!

 

[Louisd75]

Are you sure you meant to say an IC7000? This is kinda' like comparing apples to oranges, or better said...a Howitzer to a peashooter. However, if monitoring a second short range frequency is super-important to you, then it may make sense.
In any case, it looks like you've got some skills and your install looks pretty cool. I be checkin' in to see how it develops. Looks good so far!

Yep, IC 7000, the HF/VHF/UHF model. I liked the wider spectrum and all the neat built in functions, but I think that overall I'll use the APRS and dual bander features more. I can't tell you how many times I went back and forth over it though. I made sure that there would be enough room to go to the IC 7000 down the road if (when) I want to.

 

[Louisd75]

Almost done...

I had to change my plan of attack. Initially I was going to cover the console in vinyl, but after several increasingly frustrating attempts, I said screw it. Perhaps one day I'll decide to have it done by someone who works with it alot. Instead, I went with good 'ol rattle can. It's essentially finished. Just a couple of little minor things to wrap up, such as running wires, installing the antenna, etc. But there's not much more for the console. Here's how it sits now:

I might be able to get everything wired up and connected before heading down to Ellensburg for the overland rally, but I'm also not going to rush it since there's a lot of other work I need to get done too.

 

[gary in ohio]

Very nice, but I think I would have put the radio deck someplace else. How your venting the radio at 50watts is going to get hot up there.

 

[Mash5]

Wow that looks great. I am inspired. Maybe I'll give it a try.

 

[theksmith]

very nice!

my only thought was that as much work as you already put into this, why not grab some spot putty and fill in all those wood imperfections, sand it smooth, and then give it a final coat? also, a satin finish would show less imperfections than a gloss paint, but still be relatively cleanable (a "hammered" or "craqueled" finish might even work well here, though i'm not usually a fan).

anyway, just minor critique's - overall great craftsmanship!

one last thought - headliner or speaker box covering might be more forgiving to work with than vinyl if you still want to cover it.

 

[Louisd75]

very nice!

my only thought was that as much work as you already put into this, why not grab some spot putty and fill in all those wood imperfections, sand it smooth, and then give it a final coat? also, a satin finish would show less imperfections than a gloss paint,

I'll have to go with something that's less shiny regardless. I've been driving around with it and it does reflect bright things shining through the windows. It's not a huge deal, just kind of annoying. I think I will cover it, I just have to try out a couple of ideas til I find one that works.

Very nice, but I think I would have put the radio deck someplace else. How your venting the radio at 50watts is going to get hot up there.

As of now, I'm relying on the vents built into the console (you can see them in the pics, a small one just forward of the speakers and a large one just aft of the head unit). The radio has a small fan built into it. If it turns out that this is inadequate, there's plenty of room to mount a small CPU fan to either push or pull air over the radio. Most CPU fans seem to come in right around 50 cubic feet per minute. Should it come right down to it, there's still plenty of real estate on the sides of the console for adding more ventilation. I say I'm finished, but I realize that there is going to be some ongoing fine tuning as I get things dialed in

 

[Martinjmpr]

How does that attach to the ceiling of the truck?

 

[Louisd75]

How does that attach to the ceiling of the truck?

Up forward it attaches to two of the map-light/rear view mirror screws. There is a 90* bracket that's bolted on the inboard of each side of the console using T-nuts. I was able to re-use the original map-light screws, though I think I might replace them with longer ones just to be safe. It attaches on the aft end using the existing holes for the dome light. I replaced the two short screws with two longer SS screws. The dome light also has two additional holes molded into the fixture. I drilled them and some corresponding holes to add two more long SS screws. I didn't take any pics because I was starting to hurry to finish before the WA Overland Rally :smiley_drive:. I'm going to pull it down in the next few days to see how things fared so I'll grab some pictures.

 

[Louisd75]

How does that attach to the ceiling of the truck?

Finally some pictures

Here's the map light, sans map lights. The wiring, switches, and lamp holders were all riveted in. I drilled out the rivets and removed it all to make a little more space and prevent unwanted electrical contacts. I also drilled out two holes to pass wires through to try to keep it all tucked up into the headliner. Unfortunately, I'll have to actually pull the headliner down if I want to do this; there some additional sheet metal that I'll need to drill through. As of now, all of the wires for the radio and scan gauge are taped together and tucked under the forward edge of the headliner. They pop out just forward of the rear view mirror and disappear into the console. I used the existing holes with the red arrows pointing at them for mounting the console. The screws pass through and into the body of the truck.

Here you can see the brackets up forward. The screws pass through these and into the map light shown in the previous pic. The brackets are each supported by a t-nut and loc-tite'd SS screw. There is a small hole drilled in the bottom of the console (just visible at the corner of the fiberglass) that allows the screw to be installed. I've got some plugs for the holes once I'm satisfied with things.

Here's the dome-light portion. I replaced the stock dome light screws with longer SS and added two more. The original holes are part of the circuit, the additional ones do not touch the circuit. I probably could have gotten away with just two screws but I feel better with four.

Here you can see the four holes that I use to mount the console, two of which I had to drill. You can also see two smaller holes. I believe these are so that you can install the dome light with the switch facing the driver's side or flip it so that the switch is on the passenger side. I used an NMO drill to first drill from the inside and to mark where I would need to drill on the outside. I had to enlarge the hole a bit towards the passenger side with a dremel to make room for the coax. Yes, the hole is a little off of the centerline of the truck, by about 1/2". There was an existing slot that prevented me from starting the hole saw dead center.

I extended the mic cable down the driver's pillar, behind the pedals and into the back of the center console. I ran it out between a gap and installed the mic mount on the radio surround.

The console was finished enough for the O'land Rally in Washington, and it worked great. No problems with heat, though I never really talked for more than a few minutes at a time at 50w. I only knocked my head on it a few times, always while kneeling in the front seat trying to dig around in the jump seat area. I still want to cover it but it I have to put it on hold for a few months due to work and wedding planning.

 

[TangoBlue]

This looks outstanding! You did a terrific job and could probably market these overhead consoles.

I agree with you... wrapping the surface with batting and then covering the wood with a fabric material like the headliner, cordura, or vinyl will soften it's appearance and mask any imperfections in the wood.

 

[GlennA]

That's one slick install. Props!!!

 

[Louisd75]

Just wanted to post a quick update on how things have been working. The console has been great. The radio has not had any issues with overheating, even while ragchewing and beaconing APRS at the same time. I did have an issue with the greenlight labs GPS antenna. Apparently it is always on, so if you have your truck parked long enough it will run the battery down. I intended on installing a switch to secure power when I wasn't using it. As a temporary measure I just pulled the fuse between trips.

There was an unauthorized change made to the setup this past weekend:





While the setup was sturdy enough to handle all the bumpy roads I threw at it, it wasn't sturdy enough to handle some ****************** breaking into the truck in my driveway. They literally ripped the console off of the ceiling. All of the wires were cut and the whole shebang was stolen. Radio, speakers, Scangauge. They didn't bother disconnecting the mic cable, they just cut the mic off and took that too. There's a bunch of other stuff gone as well. Guess I missed my window on making a set of molds for a fiberglass version. Fortunately I still have the template I used when making the sides but I'm not planning on a replacement any time soon.

I hate thieves.