Phesoj65

Hey guys, I have a question for the guys who swapped their jump seat for the Raptor flow through console. I just completed the swap thanks to mamonti for all the help that he's been to others on this swap. And of course I have to give a BIG THANKS to Wanna Ride for his very simple walkthrough. It's because of this walkthrough that I actually went through with the swap. Now the question. How do I make a storage compartment in the shifter hole area? I went to a local stereo installer who said that they could make a fiberglass cubby for me, but the guy that I spoke with said that it would be about $300.00. I can't see paying that for a cubby hole!

gDMJoe

Why not fabricate one from a sheet of aluminum and line it with (say) Line-X or some other liner material of your choosing? *Easier to work with.
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Phesoj65

I never thought about aluminum. I'll have to do some research on that, being I have no experience on doing such a thing.

mastercct1

I used a console insert from an older f150 console. This was the deep insert like the cassette insert that comes with the current console. I cut the bottom 2 inches off the insert and the shortened it to 8 inches long. It worked out very good I put switches on a panel in the front of the opening and a front camera monitor in the front where the upfitter switches were. You can see images of the results on my profile.

Phesoj65

Thanks mastercct1, do you remember what year f150 console insert that you used?

Wanna Ride

Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad that helped you out. I traded my '11 in on my new '14 back in July, and never finished the fiberglass tray that I was going to build for the Raptor console. My new truck has the regular console, and I'm more than happy with that, so I don't have any plans to add a Raptor console to this truck.

But don't be scared to build the tray yourself. It's pretty easy, and you can buy everything you need at Home Depot for about $30! I was going to just take a piece of 2x6 and cut it to the correct width and length, sand it down smooth and cover it with a few good coats of wax. Next part is to lay the fiberglass matting (not cloth) over the 2x6 (once the size is determined), and cover it with resin. When you cover the block with the matting, be sure to leave enough material around the block to create a flange, about an inch or so around the entire perimeter of the 2x4 block. Let that sit up until it's cured. Don't worry about it looking pretty and fancy at this point; that can all be addressed later.

Once the resin has dried and cured, then pop the wood block out of the fiberglass. This is where many coats of wax applied before the matting will pay off. You almost can't have too much wax on the board. After the board is pulled out, the remaining piece of fiberglass/resin will be the foundation for your new tray. You can then mix up a little bit of bondo, and apply it to the inside of the tray, to fill in any imperfections in the matting and resin. Don't use globs of it, because most of it is just going to be sanded away, to create the smooth surface of the tray interior.

I say to use a 2x6, and that would make your tray about 1.5" deep, but you can make it as deep as you want by just adding more blocks (2x = 1.5", 1x = 3/4", etc). I can't recall exactly, but the tray will be less than the 2x6 in width, and you'll determine the length needed for the tray also.

Now for that fiberglass flange you built around the block of wood; you'll have to do some experimenting with how much of that to trim back, but you need that flange to secure your tray, to the underside of the top console panel, that the tray will be attached to. I never built this for my '11, so I didnt experiment with what resin or glue would work best to secure the tray to the underside of the plastic console lid.

Don't be afraid of fiberglass, it's really easy! You can check out some videos on youtube that will easily teach you the fundamentals of working with resin and fiberglass. And what's the absolute worst that can happen? You have to scrap it, and start over... no big deal. It's not hard, back-breaking work, and you can experiment and learn all need to do in a good afternoon. If you build one, be sure to post up some pics!

As for the shop that said they'd make you one for $300... screw that. In the course of a little time spent watching some youtube vids, and experimenting on a Saturday afternoon, you could easily build whatever kind of tray you'd like. I was actually going to build mine and incorporate an iPhone interface/charging dock into mine. Once you build the basic tray, and learn the fundamentals, your imagination will kick in! Not nearly as difficult as some would have you think.

Hope this helps!

Phesoj65

Thank you so much Wanna Ride for ALL of your help, people like you, mastercct1, and gDMjoe is what make sites like this worth while, Thanks Guys.

mastercct1

Sorry no. I worked for a dealer and the clean up guys that prepped the used vehicles had removed it from a used truck and threw it in the trash. It was probably a 08 or 09 f150 with the flow thru console. The '13 consoles have a area in the compartment at the front where the USB ports and 12 volt socket goes, so this insert won't work with later year consoles as its too deep. This insert was about 8 inches deep and 5 inches wide at the top. The newer consoles come with what is referred to as the cassette tray. Which sets in a groove in the front and back of the compartment opening. These grooves are referred to as hanging folder grooves as used in file cabinets. The literature referred to these as contractor consoles. The final size you want is 8"x4", I used a hot glue gun to bond it to the console opening. This bonds very well and is removeable if yo need to reposition. I found that by scuffing the surface of the insert in the glue areas gave the glue a very good bond.

gt408r

Look into kydex. It's a moldable plastic when heated. Has a kind of oem look to it as well

gt408r

It's much easier then fiber glass. Where are you located?