Shelf it storage shelf

[SirRobyn0]

I'm talking about these overhead storage things.

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If you have or have had one I'd like your thoughts on what you did and didn't like about it. Obviously the increased storage area is what appeals to me.

I'm not going to buy one. I think $100+ shipping is to much, especially for something I may or may not like, so I'm thinking about building one. I'd probably use a wood board for the shelf part, if it's a nice enough board I might stain it or oil it, if not I'll do a carpet wrap, or maybe just paint it.

So from searching the internet the main complaints people seem to have is with stuff sliding off the shelf onto the floor during hard acceleration or up steep hills, which we have plenty of here. So to mitigate that issue I plan to make it with a short up raised lip on the inside, maybe only a 1/4 or 1/2 inch lip. I don't wanna restrict getting stuff on and off the shelf. Carpet would also help act to hold stuff in place to some degree.

The other complaint I've read is stuff sliding from one side to the other on corners, so to mitigate that I'll either do a lip or build a divider in the center. What I might do is a divider at the center point and a lip in the center of the two sections.

Next complaint is either with the sun visors being folded forward, no center clips and various other sun visor malfunctions. I'm not a big user of sun visors so they will be removed.

Some people don't like that the shelf affects upper windshield vision particularly with traffic lights. I don't really have a solution to that, but since I'll be making this I have the ability to change the dimensions a little if it looks like it'll be a problem. Also these trucks have a relatively tall windshield IMO to a lot of modern vehicles, so it might not be a problem and I'm not super tall either. So to that end if you happen to have a commercially produced version of one of these on a square and can tell me how deep the the shelf is and how far the shelf comes down from the ceiling that would be great.

Any input welcome, thanks.

 

[bucket]

I've never driven a square with one, not that I remember anyway. But a bunch of vans and GMT400 trucks with them. I had no complaints in the vans. The visors were not much of an issue since you sit so far away from the windshields. I'm talking about the older Econolines and G-vans. They kind of sucked in the trucks though. The visors were in the way and folding them down blocked too much of the window. If you don't use visors, just omit them and call it good.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I've never driven a square with one, not that I remember anyway. But a bunch of vans and GMT400 trucks with them. I had no complaints in the vans. The visors were not much of an issue since you sit so far away from the windshields. I'm talking about the older Econolines and G-vans. They kind of sucked in the trucks though. The visors were in the way and folding them down blocked too much of the window. If you don't use visors, just omit them and call it good.

I've seen them in customer rigs before, but never in a square. I do really like the idea of a little overhead storage area, so we'll see.

 

[Corvette Ed]

I think you’ll regret removing the visors when you need them and don’t have them.

 

[WebMonkey]

i had one in a dakota.
91/92

loved it.
didn't like that the visors mounted 'flipped' but got used to it.

i've been considering one for my 85 super double xtra heavy duty k20.

no worries about vision obstruction i think.

good luck and let me/us know how it goes.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@Corvette Ed You maybe entirely correct. I don't plan to throw the visors way or sell them, so I can always reinstall them if I find that I can't do without them. Here's the reason I think I can get along ok without them. I manage a shop and often need to carry paperwork for it, and on my feed runs for the farm I have to have paperwork for that. So if I don't have a passenger I could put the paperwork on the seat, but I'm often afraid I'll set something on it so I'll office clip it to the upper part of the visor. Can't really use it at that point, but of course I don't always have them holding paper work either.

@WebMonkey That's my other truck. 1992 Dakota. It was my main truck until I got the square 3 or so years ago, now the Dakota only does a few dedicated farm tasks, a couple times a year. I really needed a bigger truck for the farm and the square is great for that, in general the square is a much, much better fit for my hauling an towing needs, than the Dakota ever was, but the Dakota was an extended cab and I got use to being able to put stuff in that little area they call a "back seat". So I see the idea of a shelf, (while not replacing that little back seat area) as somewhere I can put my interior towel, paper work ect.

@bucket You wouldn't by chance have access to any of those vans or GMT400's with one in the next few days? The thing is I'm leaning towards building my own, it seems like a simple enough thing to fabricate to me, but I'd really like to know how far they hang down from the roof and how far they come out from the windshield, and a GMT or van maybe the closest measurement I can get. I'm not saying I'm going make my dimensions the same, but it would help me with a starting point anyway. I can certainly get along without the measurement to if needed, so no need to go out of your way.

To all of you, assuming I move forward with building my own, I'll take pictures of it as I build it and post them as I go to this thread. And then of course let you all know if I like it.

 

[73c20jim]

Have one installed. Visors reattach to tray with no issue. Easy to installinto oem visor screw holes.

CONS: No partitions. Things slide side to side on turns.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@73c20jim Hey Jim, if you have the truck handy and can measure the depth of the shelf, and how far it hangs down from the celling that would be really helpful for my build, but no need to go out of your weigh if it's inconvenient. Thanks.

 

[Muddybuddy]

Have one installed. Visors reattach to tray with no issue. Easy to installinto oem visor screw holes.

CONS: No partitions. Things slide side to side on turns.

I had one as well in my k5. My partition in the center was a cb radio; helped keep things on both sides from sliding side to side.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I got a small start on the shelf today and have a working plan in place, but we have forecast calling for negative temps early next week so I've got to get the farm prepped for the cold so only had so much time.

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So that'll be the shelf part. I cut this board and a slightly wider board and held them up to the roof about where I want it. There is a picture of a square on the web with one and the wider board, while it would made a better shelf it would probably be a little to wide. So I went with this one. I haven't measure it's width but it looks like a 5" wide board and it's cedar.

I think I've figured out how to hang it. I'm going to cut two pieces of wood, one for each side, screw them to the top of the shelf board in a horizontal position and use metal L - brackets and screws to the existing holes that use to hold the visors. Everything is going to get carpet wrapped. I'm not sure that all makes sense written out but I'll take pictures once it's done.

I gotta get back to work on the farm, and of course tomorrow is Christmas so not really thinking I'll have time to work on it then, so probably looking at Sunday for completion day.

 

[Camar068]

no pics of an elf lol?

 

[Raider L]

Hmmm.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Sorry @Camar068 I can't help you with the Elf pictures.

So We had a sudden cold snap, so I've been busy making sure everything on the farm makes it though the cold ok, but in 11F weather I did make some progress today on it. Honestly this is what I don't like about these kind of projects, this is really pretty simple, but because of my lack of free time it's dragging out. Anyhow. Pictures:

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Above: The blocks of wood will serve as the hangers. It took a few trial and error cuts to get the angle just right, and then I discovered that I had built the shelf about 1" to long so had to cut it off.

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Well you can see in the above photo how I have the carpet stapled down. I'm a little disappointed that the staples are so obvious, but it'll be the top of the shelf so it's not like they will be visible.

Below shot of the end. I'm not really great at doing carpet wraps, and I'm sure do it in this cold weather doesn't help, but it's done now I just need to hang it!

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[SirRobyn0]

Ok I got it up, but no pics. I'll take some in the tomorrow or Friday. I was working in the dark so I couldn't get any decent pics, but I will and I'll post them. I have not carpet wrapped the wood that holds the shelf, because I was afraid they might be to long. Well they are just about right I think, but I wanna drive it for a little bit before I decide on that for sure. And then if I decide I'm keeping it I'll need to build my dividers. One mistake I've just realized, apparently the typical carpet wrap installation I was suppose to glue the carpet on not staple it. Well you can't see any of the staples when your sitting in the seat so I think I'm good there, but when I pop it down to wrap the wood holders I'll probably pull the staples at the seam (which I have put against the windshield) so I can glue the carpet to the bottom of the wood so I won't have any concerns with it drooping in the future.

I'm starting to think about mounting an outside thermometer up there, and possibly some map lights. If I didn't already have a tach & trans temp gauge wired in a mounted near the ash tray I'd put those up there, but unlikely that I go though the work to move them when they are already installed.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Snapped some pics today. Due to being buried in snow I have not driven it but here are some pics!

Below: Taken standing outside the truck door open.

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Below: taken sitting in the drivers seat, as you can see by my hands in the rearview mirror, I'm holding the camera above my head. I should have taken a shot at eye level but did not think to. Bottom of the shelf is a tiny bit above the bottom of the blue strip.

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Below: A couple random items in the shelf. I'll let you know what I think after the first drive!

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