Rare overhead conosle?

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lester622

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I was in pullapart yesterday and I ran across a 99 obs Tahoe with 60/40 bench seat and I looked up and noticed it had a small overhead console. Ive never seen another one and ive looked in a ton of obs trucks and suvs. I switched out the a/c switch for the rear air that was in it for a blank one I found in a truck. Anybody else ever see one of these?

Id like to find another one also since I want to use it for my airbag gauges, since I am not a fan of the long overhead consoles.

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BoxerPitMix

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I swear I thought my buddy's NBS rcsb Silverado had one like that... But the only thing I can find is one with map lights like the one pictured, so maybe I'm wrong..
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lester622

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The nbs ones all have the map lights. I was thinking of getting one of those but I didn't like the map lights and I think they fit the headliner differently. This one is a factory obs one and I have not ran across one before and couldn't find any online. Idk if they are rare or if just nobody wants them lol
 

SixSpeedSS

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This 'short' console was in any Suburban that had rear a/c and IIRC a bench seat. Seem like an odd mix. I have one in my 454SS to house the radio display (Pioneer DEX-M400). I'll post a pic when I get a chance.

I first saw it in a buddy's 1996/7 suburban that he specifically ordered with a bench seat (older guy - likes to have his sweetie by his side). It was white with a blue interior. I didn't want the long console in my Reg Cab truck (looks out of place to me), and thought this would be great for me. I ordered a brand new one from the local dealer. I kind of remember it was about $42ish.
 

skylark

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I have seen them in low optioned Suburbans. Every one that I have seen has the AC control in it.
 

lester622

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This 'short' console was in any Suburban that had rear a/c and IIRC a bench seat. Seem like an odd mix. I have one in my 454SS to house the radio display (Pioneer DEX-M400). I'll post a pic when I get a chance.

I first saw it in a buddy's 1996/7 suburban that he specifically ordered with a bench seat (older guy - likes to have his sweetie by his side). It was white with a blue interior. I didn't want the long console in my Reg Cab truck (looks out of place to me), and thought this would be great for me. I ordered a brand new one from the local dealer. I kind of remember it was about $42ish.

Id like to see what you did with yours. I want to put my air gauges in this one since I just don't need all the useless compartments the long ones have.

I have seen them in low optioned Suburbans. Every one that I have seen has the AC control in it.

This one had the a/c control I swapped it out since pullapart charges extra for an a/c switch. I kind of figured maybe they only came with the bench seat equipped tahoes and suburbans, Ive never ran across one with the bench seat before.
 

SixSpeedSS

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Id like to see what you did with yours. I want to put my air gauges in this one since I just don't need all the useless compartments the long ones have.

Sorry I was running out the door when I posted that and thought I had a photo on my PC, but didn't. I just took this one. The maroon color is different in the later trucks than it was in my SS. I later had the headliner/visors redone to match the console. As you can see I also put a Homelink in the driver's side visor before having it covered. IIRC it is a later Suburban visor because it was thicker than the OEM 1990 visor. Unfortunately it is an early Homelink and is not able to work with my new rolling code garage doors. I may pull it and put the original visor back in (recovered of course), as I never liked the difference between the L & R visor. I may put a Homelink rearview mirror in instead.

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88GMCtruck

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I know a fair amount about the OH consoles - I've probably played with just about every single one.

Lets start with the console you have: Those are in Tahoes, Yukons and Suburbans with rear air and bench seats up front. If you've never noticed, trucks with a bench seat do not ever come with overhead consoles. Those short consoles are a rare because most SUVs came with buckets up front. Just like the OH console in pickups are also rare, as they needed to have the option checked.

Information on overhead consoles:

GMT400 trucks/SUVs used three styles of overhead consoles; A really short SUV style with only rear HVAC controls, and more commonly the longer console, in truck and an suv style. The truck style has a smaller opening in the front (same as the S-10s) and is much harder to find. The SUVs had a larger opening for HVAC contols. There are no options nor provisions for an OH console in a regular cab.

GMT800 trucks/SUVs used two consoles as well; a short console with only a pocket/HVAC and maplights, and an extremely simlar long console as the GMT400 SUV console. The short console is the most common, and is available in all models. The long console is not available in regular cabs.


GMT400 Truck console
The red console is in my 88 Sierra. It's the smaller opening style (shared with the S-10s). It has the compass/temp unit from an S-10 installed in it. The grey console came in my 99 from the factory, and I have since put homelink and a compass temp unit in it.
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GMT400 SUV console / GMT800 long console.
This is the console in my 02 Sierra. It's the large opening style, and is actually from a GMT400 SUV. The only difference is there is a small gap on the back where it meets the headliner (which you can't see in the regular cab). I have a Denali Driver Information Center custom mounted in mine.
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GMT800 Short console variants (first is for a sunroof, second is standard)
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Color breakdowns:
GMT400 colors range 92-94 and 95-98 (00c). The 92-94 consoles also had a lighter metallic silver color for the plastic, as opposed to the grey color more commonly seen in 95-98 (00c) trucks. See the difference in the door on the blue console? Both of these were 92-94 consoles from suburbans.
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GM800 colors range 99-02 and 03-06 (07c). Some 99-02 colors are interchangeable with 95-98 (00c) such as the medium grey in my 02.


Other Consoles:
S-Series & Astro/Savana consoles will not fit without modification to them, the rooflines are different. There are short, long (similar to a GMT400 truck console, but with a domelight at the back), and super long consoles from these vehicles.
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The S-series also had 2 styles of computers available, a basic compass temp unit (with on/off and us/metric buttons) and an advanced one which does mileage (with mode and us/metric buttons). Both will fit in the GMT400 truck console. To use the mileage computer, the vehicle needs to be OBDII. I am unsure what vehicles they will work on, however know they are not compatible with 6.5L diesels and 7.4L gas motors.
 

Chris Rogers

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Good write up!!

I have seen the shorter ones and didnt know what they came from.

I remember reading somewhere about the displays in these giving instant fuel economy. what year did that start?
 
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