Overhead console crew cab install, how I did it.

[Bronze Knight]

There is a lot of talk about putting the 89-91 Suburban overhead console into a crew cab, and there are a few pictures out there of it done but no guides or pictures of how to do it. At least none that I could find. So this is a guide of how I went about doing it. I’m not saying that this is the best way to do it, just that this is what I came up with and it works.

In my case, I have a bare-bones Custom Delux K30 so I had to run the wiring harness first. to be honest this was probably the most frustrating part of this project.




The method I found that worked the best used a bit of hard steel brake line and an inspection camera taped to it that I used to get a piece of wire from a hole I cut where the dome light would be. Down the B pillar to the access plates at the bottom.



If you already have a dome light this part will be easy as you can just either modify the wires already there or tie a wire/string to the wires there and pull the overhead console harness through that way. While I was doing that I also ran the wires to the door switches (front and rear) so the lights would come on when the door opens.

Next was fabrication. I had the black metal bracket that the overhead console mounts to but the ribs in the crew cab roof are in different locations than on the Suburban (where the metal plate is riveted to the ribs directly) So I came up with this…









Just a piece of scrap steel I cut and bent to fit. I then welded (yes I know my welds are shoot its on there well enough) a washer and nut to it so that I don’t have to worry about trying to get a wrench inside the roof (and then dropping it and having it rattle around inside there forever). I cut them so they fit, at 90 degrees, inside the hole I made in the roof. The rear one was just slightly wider than the black metal support the way the roof is molded there, there isn’t much space.

Don’t forget to chase the threads after welding, or just be a better welder than I am and not need to do that.



Next was getting the brackets into the roof, I used these airbags (I got them from Home Depo, seen them a harbor freight as well) between the inner cab roof and the roof ribs so that my brackets could fit under the ribs. in retrospect, I would have tried to make them go OVER the ribs as they the brackets would pull on the ribs and not the sheet metal (witch is attached to the ribs via 8 small 8mm self-tapping bolts but still) but then my nut and washing would be contacting the outside sheet metal of the roof, perhaps and bracket that slips over the ribs? I’m not sure what would be best, short of just cutting the interior roof out and going from there. Anyhow…











Once at this point the trick is getting your bolt holes lined up. You may also need to pray that you got everything square. And lined up…



Here I am using a punch to hold one end in place while I use another punch to scoot the plate around to line up the middle one.



Repeat that process for the other side and the rear, for the rear one I cut another hole for the wiring harness plug, then I shoved my hand in the other hole and guided the rear plate back with my hand and punch/long poking tool. Then I put my bolts in, I was using some 1’’ 9/16th for the front and middle bolts, the rear two were 1/2’’ 9/16ths

And then just put the 4 10mm(CHEVY, WHY, just pick one, standard or metric I don’t care which just pick ONE.) bolts that hold the console to the black frame in and you are done!

[VileZambonie]

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