2004 SR5 Overhead headliner area

This is a pic of my 2004 Taco SR5, interior shot of the dead/open space on the headliner that is angled and appears to have space behind it. I will be installing three switches mounted on a three switch mounting plate from OTRATTW.
My question is, has anyone ever mounted switches in this location? I have looked everywhere to find pics of other people who have mounted stuff there or if there was a factory overhead console that went there, but no luck.
Please give me your feedback/ideas and thoughts on this. I have never removed the head liner but it looks easy enough.

 

You have to remove a lot of the inrerior trim panels to get to the headliner. Try getting the oh-shit bars off before you attempt anything. I recommend using an impact driver or impact gun. Everything else Bordering the headliner is held on by retainers. except the rearview mirror and its lights. But those are easy.

 

It is possible to remove the headliner without removing the A-pillar covers, though like he said, most of the interior panels need to come out. Including the side panels. Though for your purpose of running wires, you will need to remove the A-pillars, which mean removing the oh-shit handles. These are not philips head screws, they are JIS screws. Look for an impact screwdriver to remove these.

 

A small socket should fit those bolts too. Like a 10mm iirc.I removed my headliner once. It was a pain . The a pillar panels came off, pretty easy. Then I removed the seat belts in the rear side panel. Just a single bolt I think for each side. Then I unsnapped as much of the side panelas I could, did not remove, but angled them in towards the center and let them hang. Can't remember if I had to remove the backrest panel in the rear. Think I did. Then you gotta wiggle and remove the headliner carefully. I think I angled it down in the front, and slid it out the passenger side. It seemed like it wasn't gonna come out. But I finally got it.

Not very detailed but hope it helps. Good luck.

 

The side panels come out easier if you remove the rear backrest, the rear backrest comes out only after you remove the back panels.

IIRC, all i used was a panel wedge, philips screwbits, and a 10, 12, 14mm socket. I did not remove the A-pillars as i didnt have JIS bits at the time.

Unlike any German ive taken apart, you dont need internal/external torx, internal hex, tripple square, and mm sockets in .5 increments. Such a great truck to work on.

 

Not sure what you're referring to with the jis bits. Don't know what those are. Ha. The bolts that hold on the oh shit handles should just be like a 10mm... (Unless you mean it's a special bit that looks like a Philips, but not needed as it has a hex head as well) And the a pillar panels just pop out. Unless you're talking about something else with the a pillars? I just removed the handles and popped out the panels to remove the headliner.

 

Oh and as far as mounting switches in that, it is a cool idea. I thought about this before. That headliner is pretty thin. And may be prone to caving in when you press a switch. I might suggest making some kinda of panel in front of the headliner. Such as a thin metal sheet with cutouts for the switches like the ones they make for the cig tray or pocket tray. You'll probably have barely enough room for the switches to fit in behind before they press against the roof though so it shouldn't be much of an issue as far as it being flimsy or caving in. I'd still make that plate if it were me though. Would look cleaner to. And help keep the edges of the headliner around the switches from deteriorating from use possibly causing the switches to become very loose. Which I think they would be anyways installing directly into the headliner. Idk, that's my suspicion anyways.

 

Thank you everyone for your input and great ideas. I think I will make a backing plate for the back side of the headliner and a front plate to match fir stability. then make brackets/feet that I will bond to the roof and reach to the backing plate for stability.
Once I get started, I will take lots of pics and maybe try my hand at a video for posting later.

 

A JIS screw, or screwbit, it just like a philips but instead of tapering to a point, the tip is flat. A philips would not fully engage into the screw. I guess the external hex with philips screws your talking about vary their application. I did see those throughout my truck, but on the ohshit handles on mine, they are standard button head screws.