3rd Gen Center Console Square Pocket Mods : Updated 5/18/2017

After some trial and error, I finally got a base design for the square pocket located between the gear selector and cup holder in the center console.

What made this more difficult to work with is that its not a Square, its actually a trapezoid. Figuring out the dimensions was very challenging.

This 'square' pocket has bugged me and many others for some time. One of the biggest issues is the cutout that bleeds into the cup holder behind it, rendering it useless for most things we would like to store there.

This base design is essentially a square cup that blocks off the cutout leading to the cup holder. As you can see from the pics below, now you can store tall items without worrying about them falling into the cup holder itself.

I plan to keep building on this accommodate a variety of uses. Here is a list of what I have planned.

1. Enclosed version featuring a lid
2. Coin organizer
3. phone holder
4. Key Fob holder
5. Switch Panel

Here is a list of proven designs I've made so far:

1. Basic Bin ; Just an empty bin that encloses the console tray
2. Split Bin ; Empty bin with Horizontal and vertical dividers
   
3. Coin Organizer ; Open top, holds Quarters, Dimes, Nickels, Pennies and business cards
4. Stealth Organizer 1; Coin organizer with hinged lid, holds Quarters, Dimes, Nickels, Pennies and Dollar coins
5. Stealth Organizer 2; Coin organizer with hinged lid, holds (2) Quarters, Dimes, Nickels and Dollar coins

These are in the works:

1. Switch Panel
2. Basic Bin with Hinged Lid
3. Coin Organizers for Canadian currency
4. E-Cig holder

If you have any other ideas shoot them my way and I'll try my best to build it.

I'm still working on a number of other things Toyota forgot to do for this truck, so stay tuned.

Here is a CAD rendering and some pics of the 3D printed prototype.






Update: 10/2/2016

Here is a concept of a coin holder. Its designed to hold a stack of Quarters, Dimes, Nickels and Pennies. I also added a small slot sized to hold business cards or folded cash. The design leaves an empty space in the center where you can reach in with your finger to pick the coins out of the stack slots.

I am also going to make one of these that leaves the pennies out and includes (2) Quarter stacks, (1) Dime stack and (1) Nickel stack.

Let me know what you all think



Update: 10/8/2016

Here is my first prototype of the coin holder. As you can see, it stacks allot of coins, maybe more than one should carry. If you need to hide the coins, the holder comes out easily while safely holding the coins in place. I need to make some minor tweaks to the design, but if anyone wants to buy this working example please PM me. Also, still working on the lid version.







Update: 10/11/2016

I'm finally done with the coin organizer. I've increased the open space in the center so other things can be stored there. Now that this is done I can continue working on the lid version.





I've also made a new revision to the base cup by adding a center divider.



Someone asked if their e-cig would fit in the empty space, so I stopped by a vape shop to find out.



Update:10/13/2016

Using some small samples, I made progress on the Hinge design. I'm now printing a full size prototype of the bin with the hinged lid. It should be done tomorrow.

Meanwhile, while fresh in my mind, I was able to draw up another variant.

Below is a an idea by @PvilleJohn which incorporates some accessory switches. The design allows you to install (3) Toyota style switches. The bottom is opened so you can drill a hole in the center console to run your wiring through. Due to the size of the switches, I had to make this one 10mm taller to accommodate the switch housing and wire harness.

This design may require the use of some double-sided tape to hold the box to the base of the console.

Once I finalize my hing design I will move on to other variants of this trapazoid cup mod.



Got up early today excited about them hinges.

After some failed attempts at making a plastic hinges in plastic this small on the 3d Printer, I decided a durable approach. The hinge is secured with a metal rod I had to cut and grind then install.

This first attempt was a slight fail since using my cordless drill. The hole on the cup side went through a bit crooked thus having a gap on the lid side. I'm going build a jig that will allow me throw the cup on a drill press for hopefully more accurate results.

Cup w/ Hinged Lid Prototype #1:





Installed



Update: 10/14/2016

I printed another hinge prototype. I was able to get the lid to align better with the cup, but there are still some issues I need to fix for it to work properly.




I printed a sample of the switch panel version overnight. The switch clipped in and works perfectly.



Update : 10/17/2016

The cupholder is 99% ready. Why 99%? Well, I hoping some of you can give me feedback on it after testing them out.

The new hinge and Lid seem to be working fine. I had to make some small changes in order to maintain the original designs overall dimensions. I've removed the penny stack and added a 2nd quarter stack, more quarters. Since we can't fit a business card inside it with the Lid closed, I've replaced it with a wider but shorter slot that can accommodate (4) $1 coins.

This new "Stealth" coin holder should do the trick to protect your windows and prized metal rounds.

Anyone interested in the new coin holder w/ lid, please PM me.

On a side note, I wen wheeling this past weekend with the original coin holder design. I'm happy to report that not a single coin fell out during my bumpy adventure.




Update: 10/21/2016 : New PETG Plastic

I got around to testing a different type of plastic on my printer last night. Happy to report that I've successfully printed the 'Stealth' Coin organizer in PETG. Visually, it looks identical to the pics I've posted earlier with PLA.

For those scratching their heads, here is a comparison/explanation as to whyI switched plastics for this project.

PLA (Polylactic Acid) is easy to work with, which is why I used it initially for prototyping. Generally PLA is great for most applications, but its drawbacks for this project are mainly heat related. For the coin holders, this normally would not affect you if you live in a region of cooler average annual temps or if you regularly deploy a windshield shade. But for those in warmer climates or let the sun beat down the interiors of your trucks regularly, this could be an issue.

• Glass Transition Temp. (Transition from Hard Glassy to Soft Rubbery): 60-65c
• Melting Point (Transitions from Soft Rubbery to Liquid): 173-178c

PETG (Glycol-Modified Polyethylene Terephthalate) is similar to the plastic used to make bottles for water or soft drinks. It has many other benefits over PLA. It can be as easy to use as PLA, however depending on the design you are printing, it may required some fine tuning for the 3D printer. Compared to PLA and ABS, PETG is considered the best of both worlds. PETG is easy to work with like PLA, but also has durability characteristics similar to ABS. More importantly it has a higher glass transition and melting point temps when compared to PLA. These temperature characteristics make it a more suitable plastic for the coin holder application.

• Glass Transition Temp. (Transition from Hard Glassy to Soft Rubbery): 75-80c
• Melting Point (Transitions from Soft Rubbery to Liquid): >200c

Why not ABS? More difficult to work with, toxic fumes and mainly my printer is not setup for it. Regardless of the technical issues, PETG is durable enough for this type of application.

Going forward, I will be printing prototypes in PLA and production builds in PETG. If I get an overwhelming demand for a specific design, I will build a mold and cast in resin.

For those few who have received the PLA versions, If there are any issues caused by heat, I will replace them with a PETG build so long as you cover the shipping costs.

Pics of the 'Stealth' Coin Holder installed. As you can see it blends in fairly well.



Update : 11/1/2016

Been super busy building many of these for Forum members. Also working on ways to streamline production and finish other designs. Hoping to accelerate this before end of the year.

For now, here is revision I made. With @cheuer recommendation, I enlarged the business card slot to hold credit card sized cards. Although most of you won't do this, this will be a good spot for holding discount cards or gas cards.

Going forward, this will be the standard design for the open top coin holder.



Update: 11/3/2016

Made some progress on the empty bin w/ Lid, should be finished tonight. New prototype below.

Also for those waiting, molds are in the works. Fingers crossed, Shipping should commence in the coming week. New material will be a higher durability resin. The resin will allow those interested to sand and re-paint if desired.

For those early supporters of this project who purchased the early PLA and PETG versions, I will do something special to get you an upgraded Resin build.

Here is the latest empty bin / Lid prototype. Its hard to tell, but there is a revision to hinge. When closed it will look flush like the current 'Stealth' coin holder.


Update: 11/4/2016

Empty bin with hinged lid is complete. Gonna be working on the molds all weekend, hoping to start shipping cast resin ones this week.




Update: 11/20/2016

Molds are finally coming together. There's been allot of trial an error in the process, but I'm finally getting some good traction. I've learned allot in the last few weeks and I finally have something to show for it.

Here is a picture of the standard coin holder in its mold.



Here is the first cast copy of the standard coin holder. Please note, I have enlarged the business card slot allowing you to store credit cards, cash or a variety of different things. This revision was suggested by @oldman52 and I ended up liking it. So special thanks to @oldman52 for the input.

Improvements include:
- Higher temperature resistance +200 F
- Solid more durable
- Ability to sand and refinish

Standard coin holder will start shipping this week.



Molds for the 'Stealth', hollow cup and hollow cup w/ lid should be finished this week. 'Stealth' holder with double quarters will also get started this week.

For those waiting for the switch panel, its still in the works and I plan on making it with a clear / transparent lid to prevent accidents.

Update: 12/12/2016

I finally made some real progress with the Lid / Stealth version. Took more than a few try's to get the mold working, but I was able to put one together last night that I'm happy with. The unfortunate issue with the lid is that due to its overall thickness, I have to give the cast pieces an extra day outside the mold to allow the resin to fully cure. Once cured I can remove any flashing, drill out the hinges, wet sand and assemble.

For those of you still waiting, I have some more Lid's that were cast last night and I will be finishing tonight.

There are 2 ways I can make one.

v1 has the textured surface
v2 is the textured surface after wet sanding

Both of these have a textured underside.

I would imagine most of you want the wet sanded version below. So unless you specifically request the textured version I will be sending you the wet sanded one.

The one here is the final product after wet sanding. This one is shipping out today to a member who's been waiting patiently like many of you.


Here is the textured lid installed


Update: 5/18/2016

The empty Bin with lid is finally available. Here it is below.

For those interested in purchasing, please look at my other thread here

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...er-for-sale-ongoing-updated-5-18-2017.487307/

 

Wow, that is cool. Great work.

Makes me wonder ... what the heck is supposed to go in that square hole anyways?

 

Thank you,

I've been wondering the same, every time I tried putting stuff in there it would fall into the cup holder. Not sure what its intent was originally, but soon we will have some options to pick for ourselves.

 

Shut up and take my money!

 

Nice! I would love one that could hold my e-cig upright.

 

That's where my current loose change is

Or you can use it as cup holder #45 for a pure leaf ice tea. Or maybe a juice box or something lol

 

Just realized my manual transmission truck has two cup holders and a much smaller square pocket there, never noticed the auto only had one cup holder and a larger pocket. Neat idea though, this bugs me too.

 

I want one!

 

Round peg

Nice work op

 

Yeah me too, with the manual my cell phone fits perfect in the smaller pocket and my wife can also have her cup of coffee along with mine! Much more practical the manual is.

 

The auto has 2 cup holders infront of the shifter and that square pocket and other cup holder

 

Looks great! Nice work. A hinged lid would be awesome.

A warning about "storing tall items" in that spot: you will hit those tall items with the shifter when you put the truck in reverse. I've made the mistake of putting full coffee cups there several times.

 

Nice work.

 

Manual problems

 

How much shipped?

 

I believe that lil cubby is where you put your keyless remote if you have push start but I could be wrong. I usually just keep mine in my pocket anyhow...LOL!

 

It doesn't have to be there. Just needs to be writhing a few feet of the push button switch

 

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone. I'm working on pricing options.

 

PM me some details on your rig and I can custom make one for you.