Need aux switches with your full center console?

[BarryG]

Well I did as my truck did not come with the factory aux switches. At first I was wondering where I was going to put them but there is not a good place on the dash or the center console for them unless you want one here and one there and to make it worse I really like these carling switches a bit large but nonetheless like the look of them. They also light up both the legend and when turned "on" the bottom bar lights as well. One day driving down the road I thought why not use that cubby hole in the front of the center console? So I did. I pulled the rubber inlay out it is about 2 inches deep, the sides angle in, the center stack is rounded, the sides also angle in some as well. Dug around the garage found a small piece of Lexan and went to cutting, grinding and filing and sanding to get it to fit. I then applied some sticky black vinyl to it to make it black instead of the clear Lexan. I then had some poly leftover from an old battery hold down project and cut a couple small pieces from it shaped them to fit the angles in the cubby. Screwed them to the sides of the cubby for something to screw the faceplate into. Then drilled a large enough hole in the bottom of the cubby to route my wires in. If I ever want to put it back to original all I have to do is remove the switch assembly and put the rubber insert back in.

It turned out ok I may very well redo the faceplate as I would prefer to get some black screws and counter sink them but this piece of Lexan was to thin for that. The dimples in the faceplate must be from when I had it in the vice for filing it kept slipping down when I applied pressure to the file so I tightened up the vice looks like bit too much.

There was plenty of room under the center console for my painless wiring fuse block etc. Only takes the four screws to remove the faceplate and switch assembly, left enough wire so I can pull the switch assembly out of the way for when I need to get under the console without having to undo everything. The first switch is just to turn the legend lights on for the other switches ( did not want to try messing with trying to tie into the dash panel lights as I am sceered to mess with the computer driven lights) I will probably need one more switch in the future for another set of good fog lights so it is really just a place holder until then.
#ad

 

[Lynx0849]

Nice.

Where did the switches and labels come from?

 

[mwilson]

I like it!!! Nice job!!

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Nice.

Where did the switches and labels come from?

https://otrattw.net

https://rockerswitchpros.com

 

[BarryG]

You can get the switches from a variety of places they are Carling rocker switches contura series (there are like 10-15 contura styles though. Be prepared for a wide array of choices in styles as well as functionality, can get a bit confusing. The switch is separate from the actuator. As jhawes cited Rocker Switch Pros is where I got most of it. I got the switch mount from digikey as it was only a few bucks though Rocker Switch Pros had them as well but they were more than double the cost on it. The switches I got from Rocker Switch Pros as well as the actuators. You can get the actuators with legends also from a variety of places but I could not find all the legends I wanted though Carling, Eaton etc who make the switches all have stock legends I just couldnt find all that I wanted even in their extensive list. RSP does custom actuators as well as has there own somewhat limited list of stock ones at least compared to Carling or Eaton. In their list of stock ones I was able to find what I wanted and they allow you to add text to the legend. Certainly not the cheapest switches around but they are very nice switches.

 

[DonR]

Nice job Barry. I can see where black countersunk screws would add to the neatness but it really looks good as is.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Nice job!

I have the switches but so far have not used even one!