Center console organizing ideas

There is a compressor that's hooked up to my rear air bags, plus other stuff

 

I'm confused on your question...How did I raise the console...or How did I raise the console, add the hidden compartment underneath, and keep it to myself for all these years?!?!

Raising the console was the easy part. The hidden gun, ammo, cash compartment was a bit more time consuming...





More pics to follow with the build that I came up with one morning around 2am when I should have been asleep.

 

Here is the build for my DIY raised center console with additional front cubby and hidden internal compartment for my 2001 tundra...

As a disclaimer, I decided that getting up at 2 am after working a 12 hour shift was the perfect time to crank up the ole bandsaw and start working on this absolutely essential project...in hindsight, I should have took some melatonin and waited till the morning. Also, this was never meant to be a slot for quick access, just an area to keep a firearm and some cash 24/7 without the thought that if someone broke in or even stole the vehicle, they would likely never find the items beneath.



Started by taking out all the crap from the center console, removing all the screws, and lifting out the whole unit to expose the metal floor below.



I then used various pieces of scrap wood to gauge how high I wanted the console to be when finished (I decided to keep it roughly the same height as the arm rests).



By flipping the console upside down on a work bench, I could measure out a base for the console to sit on, add wood scraps to level everything, add a box shaped "cubby" area in the front (to hold more crap). Once everything was put back together, and fit in place, I took it all apart again, used a makeshift template to measuring the inside of the console so I could cut out a hole in the base to create a hidden compartment. I meticulously measured several times both inside the assembled console and on top of the newly build base using the "eyeballing it" method, and started cutting...then remeasured and recut, about 4-6 times (this part may be optional for those with a decent nights sleep).



At this point, I had finished the pot of coffee, so time travel was now possible and I somehow ended up with a crude inner chamber that housed a mounted holster, extra mag clip, and small childhood craft box. Looking back, however, I have no memory of how I was able to fit all of this together...and without injuring myself in the process.





Upon reassembling the unit for the final time, I added some foam spacing between the base housing the hidden compartment and bottom of the original console so that the firearm/clip combo would not poke through the false bottom of the original black console carpet piece.



I also added some metal pieces to give it some rigidity as well as glued some thin wooden strips to the original black console carpet piece to give it a firm base for all my crap to sit on top without it sagging and giving away that anything could possibly be hidden underneath. Attached a few magnets to keep it snug fitting, and covered it up with some junk so that no one would look at too closely.



Final view after assembly.



On a personal note, this was a fun build, cost practically nothing (except precious sleep) and in hindsight I would do all over again...but perhaps, I would have waited till morning!

 

Genius!!!

 

Lube, Duct tape, Firearm and Cash. Haha What more do you need for a night on the town.

 

This is a boring answer to the OP's question, but since nobody has mentioned it: so far my best solution so far is to use a combination of small plastic storage boxes - Tupperware, basically - in a configuration that fits inside, with a small open tray in the front for stuff I access more frequently (tire gauge, small tape measure, etc.)

One little box has electronics stuff that would go in a cigarette lighter port (USB plugs, cables, chargers). Another small plastic box has all the stupid loyalty cards for gas stations and grocery stores. Another has an old prescription bottle full of quarters for the ancient car washes out in the desert towns that still don't take credit cards, a spare tire gauge, my OBD reader, and other stuff I rarely access. Then another little container of first-aid stuff.

Basically that big cavity is full of about five small boxes to keep stuff neat, plus that open tray. Also my general policy with stuff in my truck is to put it in plastic tote boxes of some kind just in general, since I tend to coat everything with a layer of fine red / white dust, depending on which sedimentary layers I'm spending time exploring.

Side note: a piece of foam or felt from the cheapo art section at wally world, cut to fit, makes a huge difference for crap rattling around on the large flat tray under the cigarette lighter ports. I also made a sleeve of foam for the thin pockets on the sides, helps keep the Altoids tin from rattling.

My wife thinks I have some weird storage fetish (she's probably right) and so I was pretty happy with that big center console, the secret compartment under the cigarette ports, and the four cup holders large enough for 1L nalgenes. But...one of my recurring daydreams is to take it all out and build my own custom center console.

I'd be interested in seeing more of those builds like @Crazy_Layla's, especially ones that completely replace the console with something custom. (Although, I hadn't even thought about doing what he did and just lifting the existing console... need to keep that idea in mind!)

 

I also like to use cheap, sturdy boxes like the one below to store stuff under the front seats...seems to do the job well.


I use foam for most of my organization, since I think it keeps things well organized and looks sharp (unless you have the tracing skills of a 4 year old like me), plus I seem to see it all over the place when I started looking out for it...


Seems to keep things from rattling around...

 

Great write up. Thanks for sharing!