Overhead shelf from LMC

[richingalveston]

I will have pics on here tomorrow

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Indeed expensive for what is, for the most part, a board.

It's not a board.

It's a custom fit to a particular vehicle, no messing with drilling holes, works the first time, required some engineering and development $$, incurs some degree of liability $$$$, won't look like some sloppy home-built piece of junk, anybody with no special skills can install it and have it look good, off the shelf commercial product.

It's a very fair price for what it is.

Yes, people who have the right skills and tools can do as well or better, but probably won't save much money in the process. Count the value of your time into it, and you'll spend probably 10 or 20 times as much to do it yourself, IF you are good at this kind of thing.

And if you are good, you'll have something that is just what you wanted, custom made for YOU, which makes it worth while for some folks.

And if you aren't as good as you think you are, you'll have that sloppy home-built piece of junk I mentioned.

In most areas you have 3/4 to an inch between the inner and outer roof sheets. Near the windshield there are actually 3 sheets of metal.
The gap tapers down a bit as you get closer to the windshield.

Actually, it gets pretty close up there. It's a good place to be VERY careful, and you'd better know the distances if you are going to drill in that area, and use a depth stop.

For the most part though, as long as you're somewhat carefull you can drill and mount all over the roof. Just use short screws/fasteners and stop drilling when you get through the first sheet.

This is a great place for a threaded insert, like a pop nut or a well nut, like these:

http://www.aboveboardelectronics.com/popmain.htm


Sheet metal screws will work, but they won't be nearly as solid and reliable. They have a tendency to vibrate out, or strip out. They are putting all the weight on a MUCH smaller area than a threaded insert. Plus, with threads, you can take something off and put it back if you need to, and it won't lose ANY strength. That doesn't work with sheet metal screws.

 

[richingalveston]

I installed the shelf today, It was easy to install and every thing was great until I installed the sunvisors. What they dont tell you is that the new location of the sunvisor mount requires that you fold the visors up toward the windshield instead of toward the back of the vehicle. Thus the new normal side of the visor when folded up is the back side. You can fold them toward you but they are really close to you and it is uncomfortable for me. The real problem is that the stock sunvisors are just to big to be mounted this low. When folded toward the windshield they wont fold up completely because they hit the windshield. I am only 5' 10" so they dont block my view but if I were any taller there would be an issue.
The second biggest problem with the visors is that the mounting tab is not stiff enough. The visors are going to shake and bounce really bad no matter what possition they are in. there needs to be some additional suports that screw to the old mounting locations, the tab is just bent and has support on only one side allowing the visors to move to much. I also do not like the exposed screws and visor spring at the top of the shelf, some type of trim piece or a cap should be sold with the unit in order to keep someone from cutting their hand on the screws. Alo they send silver screws instead of black, the screws stick out like a soar thumb. One other issue is with the rear view mirror, if it is not centered right which mine was not, one of the visors will hit the mirror, in my case the passenger visor overlaps the mirror by an inch.

Because of the visor issues, I have to give the shelf a thumbs down. If you do not install the visors then the shelf by its self is a quality shelf and sturdy enough for a lot of items but once the visors are attached it does not work.

I am considering trying to return it, not sure if i can.
If I keep it, it is going to take some serious modifation and most likely I will have to find some smaller visors to mount to it.
Hope this helps others from not wasting their money. If you do not care to have visors then it is a good product and if it is in a different vehicle that has different visors then the product may work better. For an 80's model Chevy truck it is not a good design only because of the visor issues.

 

[richingalveston]

does not look like the last attachment is working, it is a video showing how easy and how much the visors will shake and bounce.
Sorry if it is not viewable

 

[cpf240]

Rich - the video worked for me, just clicked the link and it opened in Windows Media Player. Thank you for posting your review and the pictures. I had no idea the visors would be that much of an issue. I already have problems with them hitting the review mirror, as my truck was missing the mirror, and I installed one of the bigger ones. I had hoped the shelf would mitigate this problem. I still like the idea of the shelf for radios, etc, but now will give it some serious thought before I buy.

Thank you sir!

 

[marchplumber]

Thanks for the review. Mods to shelf would help, but dang, it's BRAND NEW! Making me think again about purchase. Video worked for me also.
God bless,
Tony

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Excellent review, Rich! That's the kind of info people need.



I have looked at those things in catalogs and wondered about the visibility issue. I'm 6 foot, and one of my boys is 6'3", so this is a real problem in our house.

But the visor business a show stopper, I think.

 

[1ton cucv k5 turbo]

IMHO....... Even though I dont DD mine... Installed my shelf without the visors... and with a Strip of windows tint and the shelf... needing the visors hasnt been an issue... ( im home today and will post some pics shortly...)

 

[1ton cucv k5 turbo]

Again... Sorry for the delay....

 

[richingalveston]

Determination

After much deliberation and thought, I decided I could fix it.

I used some #8 all-thread, #8 nylon lock nuts, #10 body nuts, small piece of wood,drill, grinder, dremel with cut off blade.
I am going to take my visors to the apholstry shop to have 3 inches cut off of the bottom and one inch from the end. I will also re-center my mirror.
basic steps:
replace two of the three body nuts that the old visors were attached with because the #8 all thread needs #10 body nuts because of the fine threads.
Take a 4 to 5 inch piece of the all thread. Lock two nuts togather on one end to use as a nut head for turning the all thread. Drill out the first hole through the visor mount and shelf mount angled toward the body nut, so that the all-thread will slip through the hole, put a nut on the other end prior to grinding into a point. Grind to a point so that it will feed into the #10 body mount. Once it is ground to a point remove the nut so that it cleans up the threads at the ground end. Slip through the hole and put a lock nut on (use a drill with socket where the two nuts are locked togather to run the nut down the all thread) then put a second nut on prior to screwing it into the body nut. Once installed into the body nut, tighten the top nut to lock the top mount into place. then tighten the bottom nut to the top of the visor mount. after top two nuts are in place, put bottom nut on and tighten to fasten the visor to the mount. As you tighten the body nut, the all-thread will bend into place, adjustments to the two top nuts may be needed.
The second rod does not go trough the visor mount, just through the shelf tab. in order to hold the visor in place while working, put the two screws into the visor that will not be replaced with all-thread.
The second piece of all-thread just goes to the visor mount at the bottom edge of the tab. leave enough room for the nut but get the hole as close to the visor mount as possible. Install the second rod the same as the first. Final step is a small wooden wedge between the end of the tab and the shelf, when installed you cannot see the wood.

This made the visors much stiffer, almost as stiff as stock, there is still some bounce but it is tollerable. When I get the visors cut down, It will take some of the weight out and make them bounce even less.

It was not difficult to fix, I decided I really wanted the shelf and the visors also. The cost of the parts needed was less than $10. It will probably cost me another $40 to get the visors made smaller.

Thanks to all for your comments and support. attached are pics of the work, feel free to ask questions if needed.

 

[hodgeb]

Wow - for the cost, I'm actually kinda surprised how much you don't get with that shelf, from my eyes. Great for convenience but it doesn't really look like a long term solution to me.

 

[richingalveston]

Not sure what you mean by not a long term solution. It will hold my CB, Scanner, and stereo unit plus extra storage. The only thing you do not get with the shelf is visor mounts that are any good. This I was able to fix. I still need to clean up the mods by painting the scres, putting something to cover the all thread, install window tint to cover the top of the windshield and make my visors smaller. Making the visors smaller and the window tint would be required for any shelf.

It is a long term solution for not having all of this stuff mounted under the dash or cutting additional holes in the dash. Yes it was more expensive than it should be, but it saved a lot of time for me trying to build what they were selling off the shelf.

The size of the shelf is ok, you would not want it any closer to your face but there is a little room so that it could have been wider toward the windshield. The strength of the shelf is good. you cant do chin ups on it but it will hold the weight of todays electronics.