Custom Auxiliary Switch or Guage Panel - LOTS OF PICS
10-22-2012, 08:48 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Custom Auxiliary Switch or Guage Panel - LOTS OF PICS
Hey guys & gals, after searching around for various options for auxiliary switch mounting and panels I decided that nothing really fit what I was looking for. I’ve noticed that a lot of people drill their switches into the small panel below the radio/head unit, or drilled switches into their dash to the bottom left of the headlight control switch. I wanted to have the switches mounted in a way that it didn’t destroy a factory panel and could be reverted back to stock easily.
The custom auxiliary switch panel that I came up with would fit into the storage tray location in front of the cup holders in the flow through center console. The panel could be made to fit as many switches as required, and can even have gauges or anything else you could need. For my needs I wanted to be able to have 6 on/off switches for various off road lights, ambient lighting, bed lighting, etc. and a clean location for a hide-away strobe kit controller.
So here’s what I did:
1) Clean out your cup holders and the storage tray
2) Take out the small panel above the center console cover, this is just below the radio head unit. It is held on with 2 tabs, use a clean screwdriver and carefully pop it out. Just to repeat, be careful not to scratch the panels.
3) Next is to take the center console cover off. To do this you pull up from the back of the console closes to the latch to open the console. Lift each side at the back, don’t be afraid to give a little pressure, it should pop right up.
4) To remove the center console cover completely you will need to put the truck in neutral or drive, be sure to have the truck off with the e-brake on. Just pull the cover back then lift it off. Don’t forget to put the truck in park so it doesn’t roll on you by accident just in case the e-brake doesn’t hold.
5) Now that the cover is off, you can see where you are going to fish your wires to this area, there is plenty of room for wiring and items to recess into the area depending on the panel you make.
6) When you flip the cover you will notice that the cup holders and the storage tray is held on by screws. Remove the 4 screws holding on the storage tray and remove it. Later on the original storage tray will be used to hold the new auxiliary switch panel in place
7) Next, use the storage tray to trace the exact outline of the new panel to fill in the space onto a piece of cardboard. When you trace out the panel, be sure to hug the tray tight but make sure there is slight overlap, but not too much otherwise the panel won’t fit between the screw mounts.
8) After you trace out the storage tray, you want to mark the side that will be the top and the side that will face the cup holders. Also, draw in tabs to the new panel that will be cut out, this gives the new panel a tight fit between the screw mounts so it won’t move and will fit tightly.
9) Cutout the cardboard that you just traced out, and this will be your template. Keep the template as it can be used to make as many panels as you want/need. Be sure to test fit the cutout template into the storage tray location and ensure that there are no gaps and all the edges are covered.
10) Using the template, trace it onto whatever material you will be making your panel out of. I decided to make my panel out of ¼” polycarbonate, because it is strong, can be painted, and will not be a conducting surface once live wires are under it. Then, cut the panel to the traced out shape, with polycarb you can use a jigsaw or a cutwheel grinder.
11) After you cut the panel, you will then mark the locations of the switches or any other items that you will be putting into the panel. Be sure to test fit the cut panel as you did with the template
a. As you can see in the photo above, this panel happened to be slightly too small, so I had to make another one.
12) After you test fit and have you layout of switches confirmed, drill out the required holes. After all of the holes are drilled out, sand all sharp edges. Now it’s time to give you panel it’s finish, I decided to plasti-dip mine, and mount your switches.
13) Now put your panel in place on the console cover. As you can see, plasti-dip is matte black on the painted side, but when looking through the polycarb it is shiny and scratch resistant. I am going to put the plasti-dip’ed side face up since I prefer matte black.
14) On either side of the center console there are small trim pieces held on by tabs. Pull these out and slide them back towards the rear of the truck to remove them. This is how to run the wiring into the center console area. You can see how I fished the wires though and how there is plenty of room. Install the wiring to your switches and devices.
a. Leave plenty of slack in the wiring, you will need at least 1’ extra, in order to put the center console cover back in place over the shifter
15) This is where you reuse the original storage tray to hold the panel in place. Put the storage stray in place over the panel as if there was no panel to begin with and install the 4 screws, sandwiching the panel in placed and holding it tightly. Be sure to test the switches.
a. One thing that I would change from what I did was to run the wires back towards the center console as there is more room for the wires, instead of running them towards the head unit where they were a very tight fit.
16) Put all the stock panels back on as they were and you’re done.
I hope this helps anyone looking to add in a switch panel or a gauge panel. With a little creativity you can make this work to whatever your needs are. Just take your time and be patient.
Happy modding!
The custom auxiliary switch panel that I came up with would fit into the storage tray location in front of the cup holders in the flow through center console. The panel could be made to fit as many switches as required, and can even have gauges or anything else you could need. For my needs I wanted to be able to have 6 on/off switches for various off road lights, ambient lighting, bed lighting, etc. and a clean location for a hide-away strobe kit controller.
So here’s what I did:
1) Clean out your cup holders and the storage tray
2) Take out the small panel above the center console cover, this is just below the radio head unit. It is held on with 2 tabs, use a clean screwdriver and carefully pop it out. Just to repeat, be careful not to scratch the panels.
3) Next is to take the center console cover off. To do this you pull up from the back of the console closes to the latch to open the console. Lift each side at the back, don’t be afraid to give a little pressure, it should pop right up.
4) To remove the center console cover completely you will need to put the truck in neutral or drive, be sure to have the truck off with the e-brake on. Just pull the cover back then lift it off. Don’t forget to put the truck in park so it doesn’t roll on you by accident just in case the e-brake doesn’t hold.
5) Now that the cover is off, you can see where you are going to fish your wires to this area, there is plenty of room for wiring and items to recess into the area depending on the panel you make.
6) When you flip the cover you will notice that the cup holders and the storage tray is held on by screws. Remove the 4 screws holding on the storage tray and remove it. Later on the original storage tray will be used to hold the new auxiliary switch panel in place
7) Next, use the storage tray to trace the exact outline of the new panel to fill in the space onto a piece of cardboard. When you trace out the panel, be sure to hug the tray tight but make sure there is slight overlap, but not too much otherwise the panel won’t fit between the screw mounts.
8) After you trace out the storage tray, you want to mark the side that will be the top and the side that will face the cup holders. Also, draw in tabs to the new panel that will be cut out, this gives the new panel a tight fit between the screw mounts so it won’t move and will fit tightly.
9) Cutout the cardboard that you just traced out, and this will be your template. Keep the template as it can be used to make as many panels as you want/need. Be sure to test fit the cutout template into the storage tray location and ensure that there are no gaps and all the edges are covered.
10) Using the template, trace it onto whatever material you will be making your panel out of. I decided to make my panel out of ¼” polycarbonate, because it is strong, can be painted, and will not be a conducting surface once live wires are under it. Then, cut the panel to the traced out shape, with polycarb you can use a jigsaw or a cutwheel grinder.
11) After you cut the panel, you will then mark the locations of the switches or any other items that you will be putting into the panel. Be sure to test fit the cut panel as you did with the template
a. As you can see in the photo above, this panel happened to be slightly too small, so I had to make another one.
12) After you test fit and have you layout of switches confirmed, drill out the required holes. After all of the holes are drilled out, sand all sharp edges. Now it’s time to give you panel it’s finish, I decided to plasti-dip mine, and mount your switches.
13) Now put your panel in place on the console cover. As you can see, plasti-dip is matte black on the painted side, but when looking through the polycarb it is shiny and scratch resistant. I am going to put the plasti-dip’ed side face up since I prefer matte black.
14) On either side of the center console there are small trim pieces held on by tabs. Pull these out and slide them back towards the rear of the truck to remove them. This is how to run the wiring into the center console area. You can see how I fished the wires though and how there is plenty of room. Install the wiring to your switches and devices.
a. Leave plenty of slack in the wiring, you will need at least 1’ extra, in order to put the center console cover back in place over the shifter
15) This is where you reuse the original storage tray to hold the panel in place. Put the storage stray in place over the panel as if there was no panel to begin with and install the 4 screws, sandwiching the panel in placed and holding it tightly. Be sure to test the switches.
a. One thing that I would change from what I did was to run the wires back towards the center console as there is more room for the wires, instead of running them towards the head unit where they were a very tight fit.
16) Put all the stock panels back on as they were and you’re done.
I hope this helps anyone looking to add in a switch panel or a gauge panel. With a little creativity you can make this work to whatever your needs are. Just take your time and be patient.
Happy modding!
The following 4 users liked this post by Italianbuca:
ejblakeley (07-23-2015),
Fx4 Stealth (01-12-2014),
Ksbowtech (03-26-2014),
Texas4x4Truck (01-20-2014)
The following users liked this post:
bobkyle2 (10-25-2012)
10-25-2012, 01:47 PM
#4
Moved and Approved 
11-06-2012, 10:31 AM
#7
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I use a grinder w/ a metal cutting wheel to cut the polycarb, but you can use a jigsaw.
After you make your cuts, just sand down the edges with a file or sand paper on a block, thats what I did.
After you make your cuts, just sand down the edges with a file or sand paper on a block, thats what I did.
Trending Topics
11-06-2012, 10:34 AM
#8
Originally Posted by Italianbuca
I use a grinder w/ a metal cutting wheel to cut the polycarb, but you can use a jigsaw.
After you make your cuts, just sand down the edges with a file or sand paper on a block, thats what I did.
After you make your cuts, just sand down the edges with a file or sand paper on a block, thats what I did.
11-06-2012, 10:40 AM
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Homedepot and Lowes carries it, you can get small 12" x 12" pieces or you can get large sheets (4'x8').
Make sure that you you don't get polycarb thicker than 1/4" or your going to have to get longer screws to re-install that ash tray to use as clamp to hold the panel in place. (hopefully this makes sense lol).
Also, as far as finish goes, you can do anything you want. If you decide to plasti-dip like I did then just take the film off the polycarb and spray away lol. If you decide to paint. then your going to have to sand the polycarb a bit to give a rough surfance for the paint to adhere to, use a fine grit sandpaper.
You could honestly use anything for the panel, doesn't have to be polycarb, but remember that these are electrical switches, so try not to use something conductive that may end up shorting the circuit or even worse shock you :p
Make sure that you you don't get polycarb thicker than 1/4" or your going to have to get longer screws to re-install that ash tray to use as clamp to hold the panel in place. (hopefully this makes sense lol).
Also, as far as finish goes, you can do anything you want. If you decide to plasti-dip like I did then just take the film off the polycarb and spray away lol. If you decide to paint. then your going to have to sand the polycarb a bit to give a rough surfance for the paint to adhere to, use a fine grit sandpaper.
You could honestly use anything for the panel, doesn't have to be polycarb, but remember that these are electrical switches, so try not to use something conductive that may end up shorting the circuit or even worse shock you :p
