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Old 11-11-2016, 03:48 PM   #1
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F-150 Custom Console Build

This post is to document the building of a custom front center console for my 2013 F-150 XTR Supercrew Ecoboost. While I love the truck, something that has bothered me since I got it is the center jump seat. I never have six passengers in the truck, the storage that it offers is very lacking, and let's face it, it's kind of ugly.

I looked around the internet for solutions and discovered that people were swapping out the jump seat for a console. The procedures seemed simple enough, but if I could find one, they started around $500 and went up from there. My wife offered a one word answer: "No." And for once, I agreed with her. Then I stumbled across someone who built their own. I know custom car modders do this all the time, so I figured, why can't I? I'm not a modder by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know which end of a hammer to use, and I still have most of my fingers. So I set to work.

A lifetime ago I worked as a draftsman on projects ranging from sewage treatment plants to grain elevators. A downturn in the economy had forced me to change careers, but I still retain a lot of those skills. I found the dimensions of the stock Ford console online and used this as a starting point, and I drew out some plans at 1/4 scale. I based my design on the stock Ford console. I also did a search online to see what other people had done and got some ideas from them.



I decided what features I wanted: cup holders for both the front and back seats, a tray or two for cell phones and other stuff, lots of storage, a padded armrest, 12 volt outlets, a USB outlet, and a removable inside tray that will give access to more storage underneath. Maybe a light that comes on when the lid is opened. There were a few revisions along the way but I ended up with something that I was happy with.

I chose 1/2" MDF for the construction. It's cheap enough, easy to work with, comes with a nice smooth surface, and is more stable with changes in temperature and humidity than plywood of a similar thickness. I bought four pieces of 1/2" x 24" x 48" which cost a few dollars more than a full 48" x 96", but it's much easier to handle. And if I mess up and need to buy some more, I can just buy more 24" x 48" pieces as needed. I also wanted the top to be padded, and some padding on the sides. This will be done with upholstery foam and fabric. I'll try to get some fabric that matches the light grey seats of the truck. The rest of the outside of the console will be painted black and clear coated. I just didn't want it to look like a plywood box nailed together and covered in carpet.

The inside of the console will be left uncovered; no one will see it and it's simply just easier. But the entire exterior will either be upholstered or painted. I needed four cup holder inserts, two 12 volt outlets and one USB outlet. I looked around locally but couldn't find much, and what I could find was pretty expensive. But I did find what I needed on Amazon and ordered them, but they are literally on the slow boat from China. The rest of the stuff I need -- hardware, fasteners, paint, etc -- I know I can find at the big box store.

I transferred the plans to cardboard and made a full-sized mock-up. It fits and looks pretty good. I removed the jump seat which pretty easy since it's just bolted in with four bolts that are easy to get at, and revealed the bracket underneath. In the middle of this square bracket is the restraint system module, something I have no desire to mess around with. I was originally hoping that I could just remove the bracket and bolt the console to the floor using the same holes, but it looks like the bracket also goes under the front seats and they have to be removed to remove the bracket, and that's more work than I'm willing to take on. Since I would have to build something around the restraint module, it's not much more work to to take into account the bracket, too. I modified my plans slightly. I'll be losing a few inches of storage, but not much.



I used hidden fasteners where ever possible: L brackets with #6 x 3/8" screws on the inside, and 1" finishing nails on the outside. I used #8 x 1-1/4" scews in a few places as well. The joints are glued, making for a solid construction, and filled with putty and sanded. I tend to "overbuild" when I'm making something, and since glue and screws are cheap, I used a lot of each. Some of the edges are routered to a 1/4" radius to make a nice finished edge. I had to fabricate some shelf edges for the storage areas, using 1/8" hardboard. The storage areas and trays will be lined with rubber drawer liner material from the Dollar Store, and attached with spray adhesive.





...Continued
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Old 11-11-2016, 03:50 PM   #2
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After cutting out the pieces and assembling them, I discovered that the tray was going to sit too low on the inside of the console -- and this would severely limit the interior storage space. I figured this was the best time to modify it, when I could still take it apart without too much difficulty and before the finishes were done. I had support cleats to hold the tray in place, so I simply moved them where I wanted, and cut down the height of the tray.





I painted everything with flat black rust paint -- it says it works on wood and is durable enough -- and cut out the drawer liner and glued it in place with the spray adhesive. Looks pretty good, IMHO. The power outlets arrived first, so I started wiring them in with a feeble attempt to keep the wiring neat and tidy. Just as long as it's out of the way, I'm happy. The cup holders arrived next. I bought the biggest ones I could find, and they seem okay. I'm thinking of putting a small disk of the drawer liner material on the bottom of them.





A trip down to the fabric store got me some medium gray upholstery fabric from the roll-ends bin, and some 1/2" thick foam. The fabric is the same general shade of gray as the rest of the upholstery in the truck, maybe a shade or two darker, but it's close enough. Different pattern, though, and at least it doesn't look out of place. The foam went on the sides under the fabric, and I used three layers of it on the top of the lid for the armrest. Just the right thickness. The underside of the lid will be covered with painted 1/8" hardboard, screwed into place. I'm contemplating putting a small cargo net made out of elastic shock cord there, just to give a little bit more storage. For the time being I'll just cover it in fabric.





The cup holders came yesterday, so I fit them into place. The holes I cut out were a little small (better than being too big!), so I sanded them until the cup holders fit. I tapped them into place with a rubber mallet.





I then put it on the truck, connected the wiring, bolted it down, and opened a beer.

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Old 11-11-2016, 04:07 PM   #3
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Very nice. You could never buy one that nice.
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Old 11-11-2016, 04:12 PM   #4
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Very nice. You could never buy one that nice.
Thanks. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. I think I ended up with a nicer console than what the original would have been, and it cost me about half as much.
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Old 11-11-2016, 04:19 PM   #5
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Looks great!
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Old 11-11-2016, 04:28 PM   #6
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REAL NICE JOB!!!

I have the standard one....

Don
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Old 11-11-2016, 04:44 PM   #7
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REAL NICE JOB!!!

I have the standard one....

Don
Thanks. I would have been happy with the standard one, but even on Ebay I couldn't find one less than $500 US. And since I'm in Canada, the exchange rate adds 30% on to that. I wasn't keeping track of the expense I put into this, but I would say somewhere around $200.
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Old 11-11-2016, 04:46 PM   #8
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Excellent job!
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Old 11-11-2016, 04:55 PM   #9
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Here's some more photos:


Close-up of the front shelves. The utility knife shows the scale. Big enough that they're useful, but not so big that they get in the way.



Close-up of the cubby-hole in the back. The tape measure shows scale.



Close-up of the lid fastener. A few bucks at the big-box store. The lid is a pretty tight fit with the upholstery anyway, but this will help keep it closed.



USB charging port. These are for charging only, and not connected to the truck stereo. They're always live and glow the same blue color as the rest of the knobs in the truck, so it sort of matches.



View from the rear seat. I put another 12-volt outlet here.




View from the driver's seat. Everything is in easy reach.
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Old 11-11-2016, 05:08 PM   #10
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Very nice addition.

It seems that most vehicles anymore are short on storage space that can be reached from the front seats.
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Old 11-11-2016, 05:39 PM   #11
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Beautiful custom work! Much nicer than what you could buy for $500+ USD.

Happy RVing,
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Old 11-12-2016, 09:24 AM   #12
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Beautiful custom work! Much nicer than what you could buy for $500+ USD.

Happy RVing,
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Thanks, Jeff. There's a few things I would do differently if I had to do it again, but for a first time effort, I'm quite proud of it.
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Old 12-20-2016, 04:32 AM   #13
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Nice!

You're a much better woodworker than most guys with a few fingers... Beautiful and I wish I had it in my F150!
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Old 12-20-2016, 08:27 AM   #14
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You're a much better woodworker than most guys with a few fingers... Beautiful and I wish I had it in my F150!
Thanks. It's been in the truck for a while now and it's serving the purpose well. There's a lot of stuff, stuff like a tow strap, jumper cables and tie-down straps that every truck owner needs, that I now have room for.
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Old 12-20-2016, 01:02 PM   #15
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That is awesome! I can weld / metal fab, do plumbing and electrical but have zero ability to work with wood!!
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Old 12-20-2016, 01:15 PM   #16
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That is awesome! I can weld / metal fab, do plumbing and electrical but have zero ability to work with wood!!
I agree on both statements. That is a beautiful piece of work.

I was a machinist for 33 years. Give me the metal and a milling machine and tooling, and I could build that from steel, aluminum, many types of engineering plastic.... but wood is not my medium.
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Old 12-20-2016, 05:59 PM   #17
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Nice job. More functionality than the factory console on my 2016.
The only thing I noticed is the Carge ports. That model has one 2.5a port and one 1a port. As you've probably discovered by now that 1a port won't charge anything much newer than an iPhone 4.
If it does charge, 1a won't keep up with the current used by WAZE or other navigation apps.
There are chargers out there with two 2.5a ports but they are harder to find.


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Old 12-20-2016, 06:14 PM   #18
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Funny you mentioned Waze. I upgraded by charger so I could continue to use Waze. Best app ever.

Great work on the console.


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Old 12-20-2016, 09:39 PM   #19
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Funny... I'm more comfortable working with wood than metal. I couldn't weld to save my life, and I have tried. This project was actually pretty easy for me. As a draftsman in my former life, I find it difficult to "just build something." I have to draw out plans and get a good visualization of what it is I'm trying to build. Then, when I'm happy with what's on paper, I start the fabrication, tweaking things as I go along. Make a plan and stick with it. Even so, it still took about a month to complete. When I started making mistakes, that was enough to tell me it was time to quit for the evening.

As for the charge ports, this is the exact one I bought:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

...And I rarely use it. I have an iPhone SE and it actually does charge at 1 amp, albeit slowly; that's the output of the 12 volt car charger that I regularly use. If I'm in a hurry, I'll dig out the Lightning cable and use the 2.1 amp port. But it's there more for convenience, and for DW to charge her BlackBerry when we're on long trips. My Nikon also uses a USB-based charger, so it'll come in handy I ever need it.
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