Console layout

The center console layout is shown at right. The speaker is one for a cellular phone. The mic clip is simply trapped between the rubber boot for the t-case shifter and the Durabak bed-lining. Friction-fit, as they say, and more than adequate for this purpose. The gray box is an in-cab winch control, explained in detail below.

Dash switches

I've added a switch or two to the left side of the dash. Compare this with the old layout, pictured below. The first was a genuine Suzuki fog lamp switch I got out of a wreck one day. A bonus was it having all the stock components (switch, harness and relay) and I already had some fog lamps. Fogs are a must where I live, as the altitude is sufficient to put me into the cloud deck on the way home in bad weather.

The second addition was the red switch for the door switches. It was in the dash (in a different location) when the '86 body was dropped on, and I used it, suitably wired in, to defeat the door-open buzzer. One quick flip when I take the doors off, and things are all set. I wasn't worried about the interior overhead courtesy light, I just reach up and turn it off.

Next added were the controls for the RS-9000 shocks. I also wired the lamp for the RS-9000 gauge into the same circuit that dims the dash lights. About the only thing I wish I'd done differently with these controls was to have come up with a more visible location for the gauge. It's blocked by the steering wheel spoke.

Next were the remote CB power switch and the switch for the rear utility light. Both are inexpensive, illuminated switches available from auto parts or electronics parts shops. The CB switch has proved especially handy, as I can leave the volume control set to where I usually like it, and simply turn the CB on or off as desired without having to screw around resetting the volume. The backup light switch is handy for giving the occasional idiot a not-so-subtle "back off" hint.

Hand Throttle

The hand throttle is a Suntour bicycle shifter mounted at the base of the transmission shift lever using its built-in clamp. The cable goes up, jacketed, between the lower dash-panel cover and the dash itself, where it passes through a barrel-type tensioner (off a dead Samurai carb assembly). The tensioner is mounted in a hole drilled in the driver's side inboard lower dash support. From there, the cable runs, unjacketed, in almost a straight shot to the top of the throttle pedal.

I drilled a small hole in the top of the throttle pedal's actuator arm and connected the cable to it using a factory-drilled-through bicycle shift-cable clamp. The cable passes through the clamp's center pin, and a pair of washers are pinched against either side of the cable by a nut and the head on the pin.

The shifter itself has adjustable friction-lock which is strong enough to easily hold the throttle's position. THe resulting hand-throttle is adjustable through almost the entire throttle range, and has proved one of the best mods I've ever made to Suzushi. No more of the two-feet-on-three-pedals dance when trying to get moving up a steep pitch after a stall.

In-cab winch control

This little winch control box turned out to be a lot more trouble than I had expected (more expensive, too). I thought I'd found the smallest available aluminum "project" box that would hold all the parts, only to find out when I got it almost all together that I hadn't allowed for the length of the spade connectors that I was gonna use to make this easily serviced, should the need arise. Found some right-angle crimp-type spade connectors at Radio Shack and bent the lugs on the switch over a bit and it just fit. The control box is mounted to the transmission tunnel with two sheet-metal screws through its bottom before placing the top on with the screws provided.

The lugs on the switch were also drilled (below where the connectors fit on) with a fine bit to provide a firm anchor-point for the soldered-in wiring to power the lamps.

The lamps came from an electronics parts place nearby and can have the bulbs replaced by unscrewing the colored lenses without removing the lamp assembly from the box. The switch is a single-pole, double-throw, normally-open momentary-contact type. It must be held in the desired position to operate the winch. Wiring is three conductor routed to the appropriate points on the winch relays and to ground in the standard Warn controller mounted on my front bumper.

Both lamps and the winch relays are wired through the switch such that the appropriate lamp lights when the switch is moved in the direction you want the winch to go. Forward (or up) to pay out cable and light the yellow lamp. Back (or down) to reel in cable and light the red lamp.

The whole thing ended up costing me about $25. Far more than I intended, but I (admittedly) got a bit perfectionist about it.

Utility backup light

I bought this for about $10 at a NAPA auto parts store. It's your typical rubber-housed small sealed beam light. I ran the wire parallel to the wiring harness for the stock tail, turn, backup and marker lights under the truck. It's switched on manually (at present) via an illuminated rocker switch on the dash (see dash shot below). Mounting was simple, for me anyway, as I used the existing center bolt on the bumper. There's some interference with the tailgate, but I never open the tailgate, anyway.