Little Rascal

Yep, we all are disappointed. I clearly complained to the dealer that sold the truck to me. If someone has an email or place to voice our dissatisfaction to GM, posting that here might be helpful in sending a message to GM.

I will give a summary of what I did. Not being mechanical at all, it wasn't easy but very doable. The first step was to take the plastic side panels off the console. Right off the bat, I cracked the passenger side panel and one of tabs on the inside of the panel broke also. I don't think the clips that GMC uses needs to be so retentive. The next step is to remove the bolt and screw on the passenger side of the console. I used star bits to do this. After this is done, the console is loose on the passenger side. Moving to the drivers side, I thought an offset wrench would remove the seat belt bolt...but as I screwed it out, it was too long to come out with the seat rail in the way. So, I loosened all four of the seat bolts. Removed the forward and rear bolt on the right side. Then lifted the seat and slid the seat forward. The rail moved forward and out of the way. Next the seat belt bolt came out. It seemed like the seat belt metal end was pressed into a silver fitting and it did not come out easy. When I put the new console back in, I could not get the new belt end to fit into that sleeve correctly...so I just tightened down that bolt very tightly and it's not going anywhere. Besides, I doubt if that seat belt will ever be used because I have back seats. To finish removing the old console (middle seat), these bolts were removed and the seat release was detached. The seat release was a challenge...I tried to pull the right angle black plastic piece out of the hole first. That wasn't working. So lower on the cable, the round black piece slipped off much more easily. Now the old console pulled out On the new console, I had to remove the two bolts and detach the seat release and remove that piece that was left in the truck. Once the new console was slid into place, all the bolts were put back and the side panels replaced. I reused some of the old clips that held the side panels in place because the old clips held on the broken tabs better than the new ones I purchased. Thanks GM for placing a cheap center seat/console with no storage to save a couple of bucks....and not informing your dealers service departments on how to install this upgrade....really appreciate that. Hope this might be helpful to some who haven't done the replacement yet. Joel

If someone can find the part number for me, I would really appreciate it.....

Has anyone cracked the plastic side panels during installation? I cracked the one on the rider side. Can a new one be ordered?

Finally got mine shipped from sdparts.com. I will report on installation after I get it.

I haven't heard a word from sdparts.com. Ordered in December. Could you post a link to where you bought yours from? Thanks

sdparts.com says they have no idea when they will get it....sigh

I ordered from sdparts.com in October.....have heard nothing. Glad you guys are getting on with your project. Just wondering if there is a place (email or web site) that we could give our dissatisfaction to GM about this situation....

I ordered the upgrade to the center console on October 17 from sdparts.com. Here was the reply to the order that they sent to me: This part is currently not available and does have to be special order. Due to UAW strike against GM we do not have an ETA on when this part will be available. I also contacted my local dealer hoping they could get the part sooner....no luck there. I will post again when I get the upgrade.....

Let us know how it went. Especially if you were able to use an offset wrench (and not loosen the drivers seat) and the size would be helpful. I have contacted sdparts and they told me they don't have it in stock so I have held off on ordering it....but I hope they will get it soon so I can get it ordered... Are there other good places to order from?

Some mentioned that you must loosen the bolts holding in the drivers seat. What is the reason for that? If it's to access the bolt holding on the seat belt, it looks like to me that you could use an offset wrench to access that bolt head. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks....that is very helpful...

I have contacted my local dealer and they won't replace my lid. Could someone provide step by step instructions on how to do this or the best would be a video?