Introduction
I needed a Center Console Upgrade for the Suburbalanche, which is really a just 1999 K2500 Suburban. Some time ago, I switched the OBS seats from a 60/40 split bench into true bucket seats, but I could never find a console from a similar year truck, so it was time to look elsewhere for an upgrade. Turns out several year of GM console are a viable candidate, but the true upgrade I wanted was from a 1999-2002 Silverado. Its not a direct bolt in, as you do need to fabricate a bracket, but its really not that bad. I bought the console from eBay, but you can find em at junk yards throughout the country, as they are such a common truck.
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Content
Alrighty so today we're going to be working on the suburban lunch, which is actually a 99k, 2500, suburban and the reason I call it.
The suburban lance is because of what I'm going to be doing to the back end of the truck here later on this year.
Now I might hate it, I might love it, I'm not sure, but we're gonna give it a try.
But anyway, like I said that's later on this year, the project for today involves that big, empty space in between the two front seats.
So I've got something that we're going to use to fill that space.
It might be a little different from what you've expected, but first we're gonna head to the store, because I need a couple of nuts and bolts.
So you probably figured out we're going to be installing a center console and the logical thing to do would have been to go to a junkyard and find just a stock console from a full-size truck, whether that would have been just a pickup truck a suburban, a tahoe, a two-door blazer.
They put them in.
You know practically everything they probably made millions of them, but they're a little bit hard to find in good condition and I'll admit.
I didn't really look that hard, because I don't really love how they look in there and I don't like the functionality mainly of that front little cubby, slash kind of cup holder.
I hate that it has the lid that you have to flip up and down and on a lot of them that I've seen they're actually broken off.
So instead I'm going to be updating to the next body style of the gmt-800.
Now the full-size gmt-800 trucks ran from 99 to 07 and they had sort of like a mid uh not a mid year, but like a mid body style update in 2003.
So there's two styles of interiors there's the 99 to o2 and then the 03 to 07s the 03 to 07s have a full length one piece center console.
Then it goes from the back of the front seats all the way up and it flows into the dashboard and there's really no good way to adapt that into a gmt-400 truck I've seen a couple.
People try and just it doesn't look right, so that's not the route that we're going to go now.
Instead, I grabbed a console from a 99 to o2 because it is a full-length console, but they made them in two pieces and if you use the back, half it'll actually work and fit pretty good and it looks almost natural so on the back here, there's a couple different options: if you're searching for one of these, some of them had a rear, entertainment control here.
So I wanted to get one without that and also some had vents for rear heat and ac, which I also wanted to make sure I did not get, but it does have two little cup holders on the back here and then on the top.
It's got kind of this armrest slash little area to set stuff.
It's got two cup holders a nice little pocket.
The only drawback is up front.
Is it has this big opening here, which doesn't really look all that great, but it does have a nice little uh, recessed area here.
So I could easily take a flat piece of plastic or something- and you know epoxy it in there and paint everything to match, because this color doesn't exactly match the gray.
That's on the inside of the truck.
This is the style of console.
That's actually an ugly truck normally up front here.
There's another piece: that kind of flows up into the dashboard with another pocket, a cd player, a couple other options that they had.
But I really like how this looks and I think it's going to fit great in the truck.
So the first thing I got to do is just build a bracket, so I can attach it to the floor birthday uh.
So so this is not fun.
So I definitely don't recommend doing what I just did.
But really.
The challenge here is just making sure we line up the holes in the floor with the holes in the bracket, and I really just didn't see a good way to do that outside on the bench so welded in the truck just make sure you cover everything up, there's a little bit of splatter, but I don't think anything is permanently damaged.
That's going to be actually seen just make sure you cover everything up and quick tack.
Welds do so so so so it took me probably three to four hours in total to get that bracket built and everything kind of bolted in wait for the paint to dry, and then I've got it bolted into the truck and as far as I'm concerned it more or less looks like a factory installation I mean other than the color.
Obviously we're gonna have to change that I'll grab some of that duplicolor vinyl paint dye stuff and I can probably match it pretty darn close to the gray that's in there, but other than that I mean it's.
The right height, that's the right length and the best part is now.
I've got a cup holder.
That's actually solidly mounted instead of these guys up here, which I mean any little bump.
You go over, they just rattle and shake around and obviously they've spilled, quite a few drinks in their lifetime and the console just kind of rounds out.
The interior upgrades that we've done.
We went from a 60 40 split bench to bucket seats in the floor console now, we've got the ceiling console up there as well, and it just looks complete like a little bit more deluxe version of a truck.
So there's two things that I don't love and one.
I can easily fix first because of the floor notch on the new body style trucks.
There's this little cutout right here, it's actually not on the other side, and so that does have kind of an odd look.
It's not that big of a deal, because I mean when you're normally looking at it it's way down there.
The other thing that I can fix is that big opening right there I'll just have to come up with a piece of flat plastic and I'll epoxy it in there.
Probably, when I do the painting on the console and it'll just kind of disappear in there- and I could even maybe put like a switch panel in there or something if I have any other- I don't know lights or any other accessories.
I want to run power to that'll, be a perfect spot to mount some switches.
Alrighty, quick update on that big, gaping hole on the front side of the console.
Now I was pretty sure that I remember back in the day.
Some of these trucks had just the short console, so I did a little bit of digging and it turns out.
I was right.
They actually did make just the short consoles in certain trucks.
I think more like base model, suburbans, I'm not sure exactly which, but I did see a picture online of a short console with a factory block off plate up front.
So I looked online and gm actually still lists the part numbers on their website.
There's two different ones: there's like a dark gray and there's kind of this light tan color that I have, but I called around to a couple different dealerships and that little block off piece, even though they list it as a 30 part.
It's pretty much sold out everywhere, it's discontinued and the dealerships that I called they all did their little national inventory tracking thing.
They all say that there's none left anywhere in the country, but I would almost bet money that there's one of these somewhere in the junkyard somewhere in the united states.
So if, in your travels, keep keep your eyes open, let me know if you happen to find one of those plastic block off plates.
I don't know if you'd have to buy the whole thing or maybe, if it's like a pick and pull, you could just pop out that little cover, but if you have seen one or if you'd be willing to grab one, let me know I'd be willing to buy it from you block off plate.
It goes right there.
I want to say thank you guys for watching.
I appreciate each and every one of you next time on the suburban.
I think I'm going to start the o411 swap that's pretty high on my priority list, because once I get the different computer in there, then I can really start to play with some of the hard parts inside the engine and a cam swap is probably one of the next parts after that, so stay tuned, you're not going to want to miss it like and subscribe I'll catch.
You next time you.