It has to be one of the most overlooked storage spaces in your vehicle, the roof. We’re not talking the roof on the outside here, we’re talking the interior roof. A place that goes largely unused by a lot of 4X4-owners. That’s where the humble roof console comes in. Only these days, ‘humble’ may be the wrong word because they’re chock full of practicality and technological inclusions.
Gone are the days of a couple of bits of plywood screwed together and glued to the roof of your Grandad’s old farm ute. These modern roof consoles, like the ones from 4WD Interiors for example, not only make great use for otherwise wasted space, but actually have a heap of modern conveniences built in too.
Reasons you should install a roof console
While this is fairly subjective – maybe you need somewhere to stash your darts or simply hate having to turn on every interior light whenever your passenger decides to rummage through the glovebox. There are a lot of solid reasons to fit a roof console.
The big one is storage. The 4WD Interiors console compartment measures in at 288x166x48mm which is more than enough for a heap of devices or personal effects that would otherwise be clogging up cupholders. Ideal spot for your phone and wallet at the very least.
From there you have the single DIN radio slot. Not only is this an ideal mount for the UHF, keeping it up and out of the way, but there are a bunch of options to tailor it to your needs. Your UHF is smaller-than-single-DIN-sized? No probs, 4WD Interiors have mounting fascia kits for a range of radios (and the brilliant mic-cable holder will keep it from dangling in your field of vision too).
Or maybe you don’t want a radio, or have already mounted it elsewhere? Not to worry, they have you covered there as well with an optional switch housing that can be ordered with your radio as an alternative to the radio mount.
The roof consoles even have inbuilt speakers that connect to your vehicle’s Bluetooth system so you hear your phone convos with crystal clarity. There’s also full LED lighting to replace the stock halogen “suggestions” of interior lighting and the units are supplied with a full mounting kit and instructions.
Vehicles they fit
Broadly speaking the 4WD Interiors’ roof consoles fit pretty much all of the popular utes (single, extra and dual-cab models) and wagons on the market. If you’re unsure, then a quick call or email to the guys at 4WD Interiors will get you an answer quicker than it’d take you to lick your own elbow…
…Did you just try to lick your elbow? Please tell me you did. Anyway, moving on…
…How difficult is installation?
Put simply: not that hard at all really. As long as you’re handy with a screwdriver and capable of undoing a couple of electrical connectors (as well as wiring up and running the cabling for a radio should then you choose to fit one in the console), then you’re golden. We’d rate installing these roof consoles as a ‘two beers on a Saturday arvo’ level of difficult.
Who are 4WD Interiors?
The story behind this company is actually a pretty amazing yarn. The condensed version is that Gary Plant, the founder of the company, was working in the remote Northwest of Australia in the late 1970s and wasn’t exactly stoked with the ergos of his 40 Series Land Cruiser. After he built a storage shelf, a second overhead shelf for the CB Radio and an overhead rear rack for sleeping gear, towels and jackets, his mates took one look and soon enough he was building similar items for everyone.
He started doing it full-time based on word of mouth, and soon enough he had developed the very first roller-drawer system in the country, taking the 4WD aftermarket by storm.
From there, the company has continued to expand over the last few decades to the point where they opened a state-of-the-art facility in Melbourne a couple years back to deal with distribution and quality control – which remains a top priority for the company.
You can check out their top-shelf (geddit?) roof consoles and the rest of their gear at the following link:
