After looking through everyone's installs on the forum for inspiration I finally put all of my ideas together and finished “I use the finish term lightly” the install in my 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD. I posted pictures of my initial install back in November 2016 however, I have made MANY changes since then.
https://forums.radioreference.com/p...5718-2002-chevy-silverado-2500hd-install.html
I have to give credit where credit is due. After looking over WX4EMT's install, it motivated me to upgrade mine to where it is today. However, I have a lot of catching up to do to even be in the same league as his install.
We installed the NMO mounts in the roof back in February during a snowstorm in my brothers driveway. That my friends was a sight to see. We just got done pulling the headliner out when we looked at each other with blank stares on our faces as the snowflakes started to fly and said “Soooo, which one of us forgot to check the weather???”. That was a LONG night to say the least, but it finally got done as the 12” of snow continued to fly.
I built the custom console to meet my needs as they were very specific. My main goal was to keep my stock cup holders in place as well as the stock locking console as it is a very secure place to store my firearm when I am not carrying it.
With that criteria in mind I went to the drawing board and came up with a sketch of my initial install. After staring at it for many months and changing it probably two dozen times to satisfy my OCD, I met up with a buddy of mine who is a fellow Firefighter/Paramedic and also a ham that builds custom cabinets for a living to recruit his assistance on the project. After discussing it over a few cold ones on a nice summer afternoon we went ripping and tearing on the interior to start the project. I started by removing the upper console section that originally housed the CD organizer slot and the cassette deck as I have absolutely zero need for either of them due to using my phone for music while driving. As he started mock up of the console, I started running wires to where we decided to put the guts of the install underneath the backseat. While running the wires, I ran four runs of wire to the rear of the truck for future installation of work lights as well as blue hide-a-ways and power for accessories on my backrack, that I haven't finished welding together yet. I swear, I'm pretty sure I've run at least a mile of wire in this thing.
After running wires we finally decided where the radios were going to be placed in the console and started the layout of the face plate. After some very long thinking and changing my mind probably a dozen times on what I wanted, The final install entails the following:
Uniden Bearcat BCT15
Yaesu 7900R
400 Watt 120 Volt inverter
Yaesu FTM-400
Air horn and PA siren module “Mounted inside of the console”
Streamlight Strion charger
3- Motorola external speakers
The Yaesu FTM-400 was a graduation gift from my fiance when I graduated from college in the spring or I would have just stuck with the 8800 I had before. It is a fantastic radio that has more features than I will ever use however the price tag isn't exactly wallet friendly. While doing a final check of the face plate layout, I found that the only feasible place to put switches where they wouldn't be accidentally bumped is in the overhead console where the controls for a sunroof would be. When everything was finally constructed, I removed my glove box and took it to Lowes where I got them to mix paint for the console to match the rest of the interior.
For some reason in the pictures the console looks a few shades off of what the actual interior is however, in person it is a spot on match. Not pictured below is where I mounted my flashlight charger, on the passenger side bottom, right below the glove box. Since the pictures were taken I have installed another mic hanger for the 7900 as well.
My apologies for being long winded with my post, this has been an ongoing project for the past year.
https://forums.radioreference.com/p...5718-2002-chevy-silverado-2500hd-install.html
I have to give credit where credit is due. After looking over WX4EMT's install, it motivated me to upgrade mine to where it is today. However, I have a lot of catching up to do to even be in the same league as his install.
We installed the NMO mounts in the roof back in February during a snowstorm in my brothers driveway. That my friends was a sight to see. We just got done pulling the headliner out when we looked at each other with blank stares on our faces as the snowflakes started to fly and said “Soooo, which one of us forgot to check the weather???”. That was a LONG night to say the least, but it finally got done as the 12” of snow continued to fly.
I built the custom console to meet my needs as they were very specific. My main goal was to keep my stock cup holders in place as well as the stock locking console as it is a very secure place to store my firearm when I am not carrying it.
With that criteria in mind I went to the drawing board and came up with a sketch of my initial install. After staring at it for many months and changing it probably two dozen times to satisfy my OCD, I met up with a buddy of mine who is a fellow Firefighter/Paramedic and also a ham that builds custom cabinets for a living to recruit his assistance on the project. After discussing it over a few cold ones on a nice summer afternoon we went ripping and tearing on the interior to start the project. I started by removing the upper console section that originally housed the CD organizer slot and the cassette deck as I have absolutely zero need for either of them due to using my phone for music while driving. As he started mock up of the console, I started running wires to where we decided to put the guts of the install underneath the backseat. While running the wires, I ran four runs of wire to the rear of the truck for future installation of work lights as well as blue hide-a-ways and power for accessories on my backrack, that I haven't finished welding together yet. I swear, I'm pretty sure I've run at least a mile of wire in this thing.
After running wires we finally decided where the radios were going to be placed in the console and started the layout of the face plate. After some very long thinking and changing my mind probably a dozen times on what I wanted, The final install entails the following:
Uniden Bearcat BCT15
Yaesu 7900R
400 Watt 120 Volt inverter
Yaesu FTM-400
Air horn and PA siren module “Mounted inside of the console”
Streamlight Strion charger
3- Motorola external speakers
The Yaesu FTM-400 was a graduation gift from my fiance when I graduated from college in the spring or I would have just stuck with the 8800 I had before. It is a fantastic radio that has more features than I will ever use however the price tag isn't exactly wallet friendly. While doing a final check of the face plate layout, I found that the only feasible place to put switches where they wouldn't be accidentally bumped is in the overhead console where the controls for a sunroof would be. When everything was finally constructed, I removed my glove box and took it to Lowes where I got them to mix paint for the console to match the rest of the interior.
For some reason in the pictures the console looks a few shades off of what the actual interior is however, in person it is a spot on match. Not pictured below is where I mounted my flashlight charger, on the passenger side bottom, right below the glove box. Since the pictures were taken I have installed another mic hanger for the 7900 as well.
My apologies for being long winded with my post, this has been an ongoing project for the past year.
