92 - 96 Econoline center console?

[dbhosttexas]

I understand Ford changed up the doghouse for 97, my van is a 93 and they did NOT include any real functional cup holders.

Does anyone know of a readily available aftermarket wooden bolt on console like used to be super common on conversion vans of the 80s and, well to the late 90s when the van MFGs started throwing cupholders into the dog house?

I have the capability of deisgning and building my own, but I was looking for a labor saving already built option...

[joefromsf]

Do mean something like this? Sorry for the tease but this is something I made for my 1992 E-150 about 20 years ago. When I bought my current van, I actually tried to give it away on Craigslist and ADVrider but got no takers so I tossed it. That was before I knew about this forum where I'm sure it would have found a new home.


Anyway, perhaps the design will be useful. It worked great for me. The RAM ball was for a GPS mount.


--Joe

[dbhosttexas]

Joe,

Not counting the mount, not sure what it is for but yeah, that is pretty much what I am looking for. So I guess I am not the only one to notice Ford kind of forgot to put cup holders in these vans...

Mind you, I CAN make my own. I just kind of don't want to.

If it comes down to the choice of getting up off my butt and doing it, or not having cup holders, I guess I need to get off my can and get busy...

I am curious though. Why the, boxes for lack of a better term at the bottom, instead of just having the base up higher? It actually looks like your design just slides into the pocket thing there,

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I think I might have to get not lazy, which means a trip to a hardwood dealer as I don't want to use Walnut for this and it is all I have left...

Originally Posted by joefromsf

Do mean something like this? Sorry for the tease but this is something I made for my 1992 E-150 about 20 years ago. When I bought my current van, I actually tried to give it away on Craigslist and ADVrider but got no takers so I tossed it. That was before I knew about this forum where I'm sure it would have found a new home.


Anyway, perhaps the design will be useful. It worked great for me. The RAM ball was for a GPS mount.


--Joe

[joefromsf]

I installed the mount in the center to mount a GPS. It's a standard RAM ball and could be used to mount other items. See: https://rammount.com/


You're right, I could have designed the unit to sit on the lip of the console bucket and attached the bottom higher to support the cups. That would have been a simpler design. For some reason at the time, my first thought was to support the unit from the bottom of the console bucket and kept going with it.

[basssears]

Originally Posted by dbhosttexas

I understand Ford changed up the doghouse for 97, my van is a 93 and they did NOT include any real functional cup holders.

Does anyone know of a readily available aftermarket wooden bolt on console like used to be super common on conversion vans of the 80s and, well to the late 90s when the van MFGs started throwing cupholders into the dog house?

I have the capability of deisgning and building my own, but I was looking for a labor saving already built option...

I have a '94 and includes two cup holders in the pop out section of the dog house, does yours not have them? They're not great, granted, but better than nothing. Maybe they were an option, in which case maybe you could find that style option in a junkyard van?

I eventually just mounted two cup holders on the milk crate that rides between our seats with all our maps, water bottles etc in it.

-- Bass

[dbhosttexas]

Yeah I just got the van and have been going through the doo dads. I would like to mark this thread as a moot point. There is a pop out on the front of the Dog House that has 2 cup holders, and a slide out cup holder / ash tray that pops out of the bottom of the dashboard... I have what I need.