Not a problem. Fast ship is better than a label

Got the heated seat switches from your other post, too.

Best,

Charles

 

My buddy has the rhino hide vinyl seats and his switch cluster has the connections for heated seats. I have leather and mine does too. I think all disco 2s have them.

 

having the connection and having the heating elements are two different things, all leather seat have heating elements. Vinyl seats not so much, but if it is a rhino model that would be the exception.

 

Ah I didn't know that. And he is not the original owner so they could be replacement covers.

 

Consider this a review.

Mine came today so I immediately ripped open the box. It was well packaged. It got here fast. Good job on shipping. The part was well protected with little foam tubes. I'm very happy with all aspects of the shipping.

Then I looked at the contents. I was expecting something different. Somehow, in my mind, I pictured about an eighth to three sixteenth of aluminum. It is thinner than that. But it is cut with real precision. The logo is laid at perfect angles for OCD people. No scratches. A tiny little bag of tiny little parts.

Instructions fit on one page. They look well written. Toss.

Pull off my gear shifter, the plastic thing around it, the 4 hi/lo ****, the boot. Remove drink holders. PEEL OFF my rubber mat that is so disgusting underneath I won't even describe it to save the squeamish from throwing up. I know how to do all of this--I broke two of the tabs doing this in 2003.

Found six dollars in change and my original key. Yay.

Removed the switch cover. Removed the switches. This is not pretty since I have zero tabs. I had to think about this awhile. All you really need is something to hold the included speed nuts so I cut some plastic I found and put it all together. Cleaned everything and reassembled. Rolled up the rubber mat because I'm not going to use that and because I never, ever throw anything away.

Tested the switches. All good.

My initial concern that the aluminum was thin was absolutely wrong. It works perfectly. Very nice product. It solved a problem I have had since 2003 when my tabs were broken.

If you have tabs this job is a snap. If you don't, it is almost a snap. The only tool I used was a Phillips screwdriver to remove my cup holders.

Two thumbs up!

Best,

Charlie V

 

I got mine installed last week and did a little adjusting to get the switches to clear. You want to make sure to note the 2 shorter screws and shorter spaces go at the bottom and longer at the top. Once screws are in with modest tightening, I just loosened screws and moved it a bit here and there until all was well. I pushed down on the plate on the flat center console portion near the switch bezel which pulled the angle portion down a bit and that seemed to be the best way to hold it where I wanted it to tighten the screws.

I too was expecting something thicker when thinking billet aluminum for support when I opened the package, but this is very sturdy and I am not sure anything any thicker would work correctly around the switches. I had already broken and fabricated tabs top and bottom in the past, but I was getting some breakage on the lower center console plastic near the switches. I think my dog hopping in the front and paws on the switches over the years had taken a toll. All in all, very nice product delivered promptly! I put the mat back in for now, to see how I like it. I have not been able to get the Hi-Lo CDL boot to snap in with the new piece and the mat, but not a big issue, it sits in place and worked fine on trail rides this weekend. Mat may come back out, will have to see what I like.

 

Thank you both for the candid reviews.

I don't really see any negatives in them other than not supplying an option for broken upper tabs (working on it - may alter the design now after these reviews).

Older boots had a plastic surround with a taller snap hook. It was made to accommodate the thick wood on D1's and Classics - I'll have to verify but we may need to note that on our product page, that fit varies and retention of rubber mat may require additional parts or fitment.

As for the boot snapping in place with rubber mat, it does work on ours but this may an issue we can't get around. I can't go any thinner on the plate and there are options for fitment.

For clarity, we never stated its a billet aluminum center plate, we always stated its an 18GA 50 series aluminum plate. As for the thickness, yes, we agree that it "looks" thin. In all honesty, when they were first cut, before anodize, I was afraid they were too thin and would need to be scrapped. But the heat treat and surface finish helped rigidity and once installed, MORE than sufficient. Our dogs, two 70 pounders, tromp all over the thing and so far no issues. In fact, due to the tight tolerance fitment, I suspect that this protects the console and tabs better than I ever expected/planned.

Thank you again for your help!!

 

It really is a nice solution. I am very happy with it. The part about the tabs... I had a hard time envisioning what you meant about an easy fix for that. When I took my switches out is was immediately apparent that it was a super easy fix and I didn't consider it a problem at all. I literally looked for something to make it work for about fifteen seconds, including the walk to the garage.

It is so nice to be able to push my switches without them sinking in. But more than that, the aluminum surface looks so much better than my rubber mat.

Two more thumbs up!!!

Best,

Charlie V

 

UPDATE:
Money has been pretty tight due to an unfortunate incident with my SSN and my 2014 tax return. Whatever.

So many people have asked about the kit in case the upper tabs are broken too. Well, I have a temporary solution. I have not been able to order the kits for the reason mentioned above but in previous posts, you can see that others have used an alternative solution.

It's very easy and we decided that we would do one ourselves. In fact, it's so easy, we may not order the kits and just make a kit from scratch, like this.

Using a corner brace and a hammer, I made a tab that will work perfectly from a 3/4" 90° corner brace

Simply hammer it to ~45° and attach the speed nut. This now acts as the tab and clamps the switch plate and center console plate to the center console.See pics for reference of this "tab" solution. It's basically how the others posting above fixed theirs I imagine, and its a simpler version of what we were going to order.

I'm going to look into a bulk purchase of "tabs" and tape. If I can find something, I will update ALL kits at no additional price increase AND will send the hardware to ANY current customer that wants one.

For reference, I paid $2.39 (after tax) for 4 corner braces in a package at the hardware store. Very cheap if I can get a bulk supply.

 

That is basically what I did with plastic, but I like yours better. I'm going to try it out after my next trip to home depot.

Thanks for the tip!