Havis Shields 2004 Durango Console Problems

JohnWayne · Post by **JohnWayne** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 8:14 pm

Has anyone installed the Havis Shields C-VS-3011-DUR and C-TM-DUR combo in a 2004 Dodge Durango? My kit arrived Thursday from Havis, and I spent all Friday afternoon and night trying to get it to work right, but it simply does not work. There are three major problems:

1. The rear bracket is about 1.25" too short, which results in the front of the console box being tilted up, which results in it covering about 1/2" of the HVAC knobs. I am only guessing that the bracket is too short since that seems like the easiest way to fix it - by adding some height to it. The box should be level and not angled, correct? It is level if "add" the 1.25" to the rear bracket.

2. The console box is about 2" too wide to fit between the lumbar levers on the seats. Yes, the lumbar levers on the 2004 Durango are on the inboard sides of the seats. The only solution I have found is to remove them or roate them 90 degrees, but then the keyways on the shaft don't like up quite right with the keys in the knobs.

3. The console is not centered. I can't tell if it's supposed to be like this or not, but if the console did fit under the HVAC knobs and between the lumbar levers, then it would sit about 1.5" offset to the driver side of the vehicle.

All of this is on top of Havis sending me one defective bracket and one completely wrong bracket.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has installed this particular setup or knows anything about it.

Thanks,
Jeff
(pi$$ed off Havis Shields currently)

JohnWayne · Post by **JohnWayne** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 8:43 pm

Well I spoke to Havis today. I am lucky Guinea Pig #2 for the 04/05 Durango Console setup. Only one other person has ever bought one.

The only fix they had for the console sitting too high and blocking the HVAC controls was to scoot it back about 1.5". I did that and it seems to help a little. The gap between the front of the console and dash isn't the smartest looking thing in the world, but that's the only way to do it.

They told me to remove the passenger side lumbar lever. Upon doing so, the console box barely fit between the seats, but it does fit now. I guess the passenger will have to do without lumbar control. This also helped problem #3 a bit by being able to move the console to the passenger side a little. It is still about 0.5" to the driver side, but I can live with that.

The armrest/storage lid hangs over the back of the console by about 0.75". This isn't right according to them, so their fix was to drill new holes and scoot it up. Only problem is the lid is 14" long and the top of the storage box is about 13.25" long!

They are going to take my suggestions and photos I sent them to make a new model of the console supposedly. Maybe they'll give me one once they get it right.

Anyone else ever have this much trouble with their products? The the fit and finish of the console itself seems pretty good, just not when you actually put it in the vehicle.

Jeff

thebigphish · Post by **thebigphish** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:22 pm

I sure hope that they give you one, now that you've done all their beta work for them. Lets see how much customer appreciation they have for you in the long run.

ESDA20 · Post by **ESDA20** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:45 am

I can't seriously believe that you're only the second person to ever purchase one (Well, I take that back. I can't believe they'd tell you that!

). That's just... wow. Talk about a half-assed design. You'd think they'd notice something like that when they designed the console. Don't these manufacturs find a vehicle its supposed to go in, and test it? Even just once? Wow.

JottoDesk forever, baaaaby. :>

thebigphish · Post by **thebigphish** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:38 am

my guess is they just went and found out what the changes were on the specs of the vehicle, and modded what they had before to fit it. If it's not a radically new design of the interior, they might have just thought that the changed dimentions would make the difference. sounds like laziness to me.

apco25 · Post by **apco25** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:07 am

A couple years ago we got one of the first in dash Stewart Products consoles for the imapala. This is their 2 unit model that fits in the ash tray rails.

We had to do the same thing and give them feedback about the fit and setup since they had only just started making them.

part of the business I guess.

JohnWayne · Post by **JohnWayne** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:54 pm

Well, the story I got from them is that the console was designed as a one-off deal for a local fire chief. Havis then decided to sell them since they had the design already. They do have a design, just not a very good one.

The 04/05 Durangos are kind of tricky since you can't use the seat bracket bolts since the passenger seat brackets are tied in with some sort of load cell setup for the occupant classification module. Basically, if you mess with the passenger seat frame, it throws a code in the computer and the passenger airbag won't work correctly. So, to get around that problem, they made some brackets to mount one of their track mounts to the floorboard where the OEM console used to mounts. It's not a bad idea, except for the fact that the holes are offset about 2" to the driver side and Havis did not account for this. That is just one of about half a dozen design flaws on this thing.

I am guessing that they did some custom fabbing and modifications to the first console, and those revision didn't make it to engineering. The pictures they sent me of the installed console do not match what my console looks like. Once I get everything installed I will post their pics and my pics to show the difference.

If I had to do it all over again I probably would have gotten the Jotto Desk with an 18" console and the 8" arm rest/storage compartment combo. I really was hoping that for my $600 I would have gotten something a little better, but I guess that's the price I pay for buying a newly designed Dodge and not an older design Chevy or Ford. Oh well, I am pretty sure that it will be OK in the end.