The original positioning of the radio and hvac controller have miserable ergonomics. The lower row of buttons are behind the shifter and the reach is awkward for a touchscreen. And I disliked having to remove multiple panels and a pile of screws just to access the radio.
So I got to work and moved things around.
First pic is with the stack all lit up.
Second is a bit more finished. Just above the 4wd switch is a switch to turn on the radio without needing a key. Also, if you look to the left you can see the cut, where I made the big one piece instrument and radio plastic into two. It's now much easier to remove and I don't have to have the drivers side disassembled to work on the radio stack.
The third pic shows where to split the plastic panel trim.
The radio stack is also angled upward and to the left to match the radius of a finger moved along the touchscreen. The lower HVAC buttons are completely above the shifter and access is easy.
I'm still working on getting the steering wheel radio controls to work. For now there is an incompatibility - the radio makes the temp go to 90 and pressing the volume down makes the radio volume go to zero. I'll still have to study that problem - the removable radio trim plastic makes frequent removal easy. The radio is positioned so much more conveniently than before that I probably can live without the SWC for it.
So I got to work and moved things around.
First pic is with the stack all lit up.
Second is a bit more finished. Just above the 4wd switch is a switch to turn on the radio without needing a key. Also, if you look to the left you can see the cut, where I made the big one piece instrument and radio plastic into two. It's now much easier to remove and I don't have to have the drivers side disassembled to work on the radio stack.
The third pic shows where to split the plastic panel trim.
The radio stack is also angled upward and to the left to match the radius of a finger moved along the touchscreen. The lower HVAC buttons are completely above the shifter and access is easy.
I'm still working on getting the steering wheel radio controls to work. For now there is an incompatibility - the radio makes the temp go to 90 and pressing the volume down makes the radio volume go to zero. I'll still have to study that problem - the removable radio trim plastic makes frequent removal easy. The radio is positioned so much more conveniently than before that I probably can live without the SWC for it.