ptgarcia

I have my Sirius in that little cubby and my Prodigy under the dash to the left:

htgreen3

In an emergency you would have to reach down to hit the manual lever. May have to take your eyes off the road ahead. Since your's is a stick, the best way to handle the shifter boots, is to remove the center cap of the shifters with a very sharp knife and remove the nut under it and unscrew the *****, boots and then be lifted over the shafts. The shifter boots will pop out of the plastic base at (I beleive) it was the end toward the seats. Don't have a camera, so no pictures.

53 willys

reaching down would be even WORSE if you mount it by your feet

I went out and tried to take the stuff off but i realized that I could not get to the screw where the 4wheel drive lever would be.(i don't have my 1/4" ratchet at home) so I fed the harness through the hole with a piece of weed wacker line!! worked perfect but I need to make a separate hole for the harness right behind the BC to make it fit right in the cubby.

getting the BC in this spot is a PITA but I think it will be well worth it!!

I will post pics when I'm done.

53

ptgarcia

I can reach mine just fine. I guess I have short legs and long arms, kinda like a gorilla!

53 willys

thats funny!

XLR8R

I have long everything, and I don't have any trouble reaching anything I need to - emergency or otherwise...

wcjp

I mounted my Prodigy without removing the plastic trim piece in question. I taped the wires together and snaked them through the existing hole. Controller is very easy to reach in case of emergency.

Dragginbutt

Not sure what the big deal is all about if you need to slam it for braking. If you are in a panic situation, I doubt anyone will have enough wits about them to go reaching for a brake controller anyway... When my knuckles are pasty white and twisting the steering wheel off it's mounts, I can think of other things to do than worry about where is that dang controller switch.

I have mine over on the left just below the E-brake pedal. (Check your clearance, as it is tight) It is easy to get to, and out of the way of the feet. It gets adjusted maybe a couple times when towing, and for the most part, it is just forgotten.

In my other truck, I had it mounted on the side of the dash hump above the gas pedal. It looked like it would be in the way, but I can't say I ever kicked it. Even the wife had zero problems too when using the adjustable pedals to their max high position.

XLR8R

Good point, DragginButt - that's like how many drivers actually use the emergency brake during an emergency?

billindenver

I would respectfully disagree. I've had a couple of emergency situations over the years, mostly having to do with the truck brakes overheating in the mountains and basically going away. In a situation like that, having the brake controller in easy reach is recommended. Perhaps its because I race cars or I'm a pilot but in an emergency...my brain keeps functioning and having brakes within easy reach if the truck's go away sure does help. I've had it the other way (down at bottom of dash) and will not be doing so again. Also, having been part of crash testing at chrysler.....do yourself the favor of keeping it out from in front of your legs.

Bill

billindenver

Very good point. It is true that most drivers in America have seriously poor safety training, no accident avoidance training, and couldn't care less that they are a danger to themselves and others. But with some training that can all be cured, and in an emergency a good driver doesn't just put both feet on the brake pedal and pray. PCA track schools as well as many others can help train your mind to keep thinking when things go wrong or you get in over your head. I think it should be part of every teenagers driver training.

Bill

XLR8R

Because of semantics, "easy reach" means different things to all of us... all vehicle controls should be within easy reach of the operator. But is that limited to the audio and speed controls located on the steering wheel? Or does it include the emergency brake release handle, the brake controller mounted within the same distance, and the NO2 arming switch on the center console? Naturally, it's understandable if smaller people have difficulty reaching far enough, quickly enough.
I've raced cars and been a pilot as well, but don't forget that if most people's brains continued to function in an emergency, we wouldn't have wonderful inventions such as ABS systems driving up the cost of our vehicles.

P.S. Does that make you a Crash Test Dummy?

AkitaSumo

53,

If I remember right,

1. you first pull up on the rubber pieces that are in your cup holder, the group of three holders, and the rectangular one on the left.
2. remove the screws (3?) that are under these pieces.
3. the cup holder tray then pulls back and lifts up to remove it.
4. remove the screws (2?) that hold that center piece you are after, and the remove the portion you are after.

It is a bottom up dis-assembly and a top down re-assembly.

Hope this helps.

bighornram

Only quoted this for the photo but I have a draw-tite contoller and mounted it inside the cubby below the climate controls. I drilled thru the back on the left side (carefully) and set the controller in there on the rubber insert. It is an almost exact fit and I used the instruction booklet to wedge on top of the controller which holds it firmly in place. Sounds like a rig (and it is) but it works great. Controller is out of the way and easy to reach. Looks good because there are no wires showing and no bracket so it doesn't have quite an "Add-on" look. Hope this helps.

53 willys

before I bought my 93 CTD I pulled my Jeep with a 79 J-10 jeep pickup 1/2 ton.
there was a couple times where I used the Brake controller to stop my trailer from fish tailing!!

you know "tail wagging the dog"

never happened with the bigger trucks, but it's nice the have it in reach just in case.

I have been to lazy to snap pics of mine it has been installed for a couple days now.

Taking the dash pieces off was actually very very simple once you know how it comes apart. I did not want to bust any plastic clips and have a squeaking dash, so thanks to all the guys at DTR for helping me out. cheers!

53