Open the center console storage area compartment door. Take out the four screws that hold the black plastic storage bin in place. Pull the storage bin straight up and out, it will just slide past the compartment door hinge. Take out the four screws that hold the center console storage area compartment door hinge to the center console. This step is not absolutely necessary but may make dealing with the center console a little easier.
Three screws hold the center console end cap in place. One screw is on top and the other two screws are inside the compartment that is just under the rear seat radio controls. The end cap will pull away and you can disconnect the five wiring harness plugs. Be careful what the plugs that go to the rear seat heater control, a very small screwdriver can be used to lift the retainer while you pull out the plug.
The shift lever has an allen screw that needs to be loosened to remove the knob. Note that the allen screw is not set very tightly. To remove the cupholder tray you must grasp it firmly and pull it straight up. I used a screwdriver along the edge at the place where the three mounting tabs hold the cupholder tray in place. Be sure to put down thick tape or a rag to keep the screwdriver from scratching the console. As you can see in my picture the three red arrows show the locations of the cupholder tray mounting tabs. The other two pictures show what the bottom of the cupholder tray looks like and what the clips look like. My pinkie is just touching the tab on the bottom of the cupholder tray that slides into the slots wear the red arrows are. The metal clips are to be pushed onto those three tabs before the cupholder tray is put back in place. If you look closely at the metal tabs you will see that they each have four sets of opposing fingers. The outer to sets have sharp barbs that dig into the plastic tabs. If they are not taking a very good bite you can use a small pair of needle nose pliers and beed the barbs inward a little so they take it better bite into the plastic. Or you can just stop by the dealer and pick up new clips before you start this project. Please note in the picture where my pinkie is just touching the plastic tab, on the left side of the picture, there is a another plastic tab and metal clip shown. This you do not need to take apart. This holds the chromed trim piece to the cupholder tray. Anyway, it is gives a good idea what these clips look like and how they work. When I pulled my cupholder tray out from the console most of the clips fell down inside the console and did not stay on the plastic tabs.
To loosen the center console you now have to remove the bolts shown by the white arrows. If your goal is to get to the radio head unit in the dash then you do not really have to take the center console out. You can just slide it backward towards the rear of the truck about an inch. Now when you take the really long allen head bolts out of the center dash trim piece it can be taken completely off.
Good luck. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail.
Cheers
[ formerly known as wannabe and wannabeinit ]
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Cheers
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