Hear me out, but Console to Column shifter?

[amschind]

Console to Rotary Shifter 2023 Lightning Platinum

Hey guys, I tried to be thorough here but if anyone has any questions or if I forgot to mention something let me know I’d be happy to explain further. I saw this mentioned a bunch of places but didn’t see it done anywhere so I thought I’d post.

$90 Brand New on eBay

Ford Escape 2020-2022 Shifter - Part # PZ1P-7P55-AC

$50 for all 3 parts

Main Console Tray - ML3Z1513530AA

Console Rubber Mat - ML3Z15045G34JA

Console Plastic Insert - ML3Z15045G34EA

The shifter dial finish is almost an exact match to the dial on the 15” screen and is illuminated. The blue light matches the rest of the interior lights. The dial functions exactly as it should and is very smooth. If the car is in drive and you shut the power l, or you open the door, it will immediately shift into park for you without the dial physically rotating. Additionally, the L button in the center functions exactly like the N button for the 30 min neutral mode.

After pulling out the screen, the trailer brake has a few small tabs holding it that just snap right out. You can either throw it behind somewhere, since there’s plenty of space, or if you plan to use it, you can cut out a space for it somewhere else or possibly mount it in the compartment with the USB ports. I don’t ever plan on towing anything so I tucked it behind out of the way

The round part of the dial is exactly 3 inches in diameter. I used a 3 inch hole saw to drill out the trim and then a dremel to make the notch for the bottom part. I cut it out on cardboard first to get the exact size then I traced it in its final place before cutting.

The plastic mounting holes on top and bottom of the shifter need to be cut off to allow it to fit snugly and stick out like it’s supposed to. I used a hacksaw to get a smooth clean cut. I also needed to cut some plastic behind the hole to allow it to fit. After fitting the shifter into the trim, I tried pushing the screen back in and was able to see which plastic pieces were interfering. I used a utility knife and dremel for most of the plastic cutting. At the end the shifter was held snug and almost squeezed exactly into place so that it doesn’t need any fasteners. The screen is still snapped in and very sturdy. I was afraid it might be shaking after cutting the plastic but it’s totally fine.

Removing the old console shifter is really simple. The side trim pieces, left and right of the cup holders, pull right out by hand. Then the top of the cup holders plastic trim piece pops up. You can take it off without removing the screen but there are two tabs that are tough to squeeze out. If the screen is off the top plastic trim of the cup holders pulls right up. It’s all connected with plastic tabs so by hand or with a trim tools it’s really easy to take out. After you remove the plastic there are 4 10mm bolts holding the shifter housing. One is underneath the small plastic door in the front, and the other 3 are easily visible. Once you remove them you can slide out the shifter and disconnect the wires. In its place you can put the Console Tray for an OEM finish.

You may want to keep the shifter inside the tray which is as easy as making a small hole for the wire and securing it down and then getting some sort of trim to go over it. I think it’s a total waste of space which is why I put it next to the screen. It does fit inside the tray deep enough to open the workspace for anyone interested.


At this point, all I need is to get the wire in the right place. I’ve followed the wire back and it looks like it comes from somewhere underneath the center console. I’m not sure where it goes after that but if anyone is able to find a wiring diagram or if anyone knows a way I can get it to reach let me know. I would even make my own harness to just extend it a little so that I don’t have to touch the factory wiring or sheathing. Ideally, I’d really like to avoid cutting and splicing any factory wiring so if anyone has any suggestions I’m all ears.

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Awesome write up. I think many of us don't have the dash real estate that you do on the lightning, but the setup that you wound up with is exactly what I want.

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[vakatack]

If I put in that amount of labor and money, I would want a dash mounted knob like the Ram has. The knob in the Ram feels cheap (note that it is indistinguishable from the F150 4WD shifter), but it does the job perfectly and takes up no more room than it absolutely must.

Vehicles today have a ton of user interface decisions made based upon mechanical dictates that have not been true for 10 years. Is a steering wheel the best way to tell an automobile which direction to point its wheels? If you have a shaft geared to the rack and pinion gear, then absolutely, and the bigger the wheel the better, because Grandma isn't getting any younger but she still needs that leverage to pilot her 1974 Oldsmobile to church. If your steering input is purely electric signals to an EPS motor, then maybe a 2' diameter steering wheel that looks like the borrowed it off the USS Missouri isn't ideal any longer.

What’s the difference between this and the Ram setup?

 

[Captain Dirty Beard]

If I put in that amount of labor and money, I would want a dash mounted knob like the Ram has. The knob in the Ram feels cheap (note that it is indistinguishable from the F150 4WD shifter), but it does the job perfectly and takes up no more room than it absolutely must.

Vehicles today have a ton of user interface decisions made based upon mechanical dictates that have not been true for 10 years. Is a steering wheel the best way to tell an automobile which direction to point its wheels? If you have a shaft geared to the rack and pinion gear, then absolutely, and the bigger the wheel the better, because Grandma isn't getting any younger but she still needs that leverage to pilot her 1974 Oldsmobile to church. If your steering input is purely electric signals to an EPS motor, then maybe a 2' diameter steering wheel that looks like the borrowed it off the USS Missouri isn't ideal any longer.

I must say, the console shifter in my 23 Powerboost feels like something borrowed from a kids toy truck. The slop and looseness of it is totally unacceptable in a 75k dollar truck. I'd happily convert to a dial selector if it were possible

 

[amschind]

What’s the difference between this and the Ram setup?

Very little, except that the one you installed looks a lot nicer.

 

[Snakedoctor]

Having been given an STX as a loaner truck, really has made me wish I had the column shifter. It’s so much easier to use and the space you gain in the center console is crazy.

Might have to give the expedition knob a try if it can be mounted in the console area that way it’s at least out of the way.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

Having been given an STX as a loaner truck, really has made me wish I had the column shifter. It’s so much easier to use and the space you gain in the center console is crazy.

Might have to give the expedition knob a try if it can be mounted in the console area that way it’s at least out of the way.

Some very good points. I test drove a truck with the console shifter. It felt extremely cheap and just wasn’t up to Ford quality.

I passed on two or three nice trucks because of that console shifter. The column shifter was the only seriously considered option for me

 

[BMCGC]

My 2020 STX had the console shifter and I really disliked it. My 2023 Powerboost has the column shifter and I love it. The Ram still has the better console/shifter than the F150, but the 2023 is way ahead of the 2020 in usefulness and appearance.

I really like the Laramie Limited interior, had I found one with the new turbo 3.0 that didn't cost more than my house, I probably would have bought that. The Kings throne room is not as luxurious as the interior of a Laramie Limited.

 

[Popplemer]

Some very good points. I test drove a truck with the console shifter. It felt extremely cheap and just wasn’t up to Ford quality.

I passed on two or three nice trucks because of that console shifter. The column shifter was the only seriously considered option for me

I custom ordered my truck and was wed to the chrome package in order to avoid the console shifter. My guess is the cost of paint matching bumpers, changing the grille and wheels will still be cheaper than converting console to column shifter. But who really knows.

 

[Snakedoctor]

Console to Rotary Shifter 2023 Lightning Platinum ~$200

Hey guys, I tried to be thorough here but if anyone has any questions or if I forgot to mention something let me know I’d be happy to explain further. I saw this mentioned a bunch of places but didn’t see it done anywhere so I thought I’d post.

$90 Brand New on eBay

Ford Escape 2020-2022 Shifter - Part # PZ1P-7P55-AC

$50 for all 3 parts

Main Console Tray - ML3Z1513530AA

Console Rubber Mat - ML3Z15045G34JA

Console Plastic Insert - ML3Z15045G34EA

Harness Connectors and Wire - $50

Female Socket Part # 1326133-1 - 2 Pcs

Female Socket Shield Assembly Part # 1326132-1 - 2 Pcs

Male Pin PCB Connector Part # 1438543-1 - 1 Pcs

Receptacle Terminals 1326028-1 - 22 Pcs (order a few extra in case you damage any)

20 Gauge Wire - You can use any wire but I chose to get all different colors. You need 11 wires and about 2 ft of each.

The shifter dial finish is almost an exact match to the dial on the 15” screen and is illuminated. The blue light matches the rest of the interior lights. The dial functions exactly as it should and is very smooth. If the car is in drive and you shut the power, or you open the door, it will immediately shift into park for you without the dial physically rotating. Additionally, the L button in the center functions exactly like the N button for the 30 min neutral mode.

After pulling out the screen, the trailer brake has a few small tabs holding it that just snap right out. You can either throw it behind somewhere, since there’s plenty of space, or if you plan to use it, you can cut out a space for it somewhere else. It seems like under the Power button for the car there is a good space for it. I don’t ever plan on towing anything so I tucked it behind out of the way

The round part of the dial is exactly 3 inches in diameter. I used a 3 inch hole saw to drill out the trim and then a dremel to make the notch for the bottom part. I cut it out on cardboard first to get the exact size then I traced it in its final place before cutting.

The plastic mounting holes on top and bottom of the shifter need to be cut off to allow it to fit snugly and stick out like it’s supposed to. I used a hacksaw to get a clean cut. I also needed to cut some plastic behind the hole to allow it to fit. After fitting the shifter into the trim, I tried pushing the screen back in and was able to see which plastic pieces were interfering. I used a utility knife and dremel for most of the plastic cutting. At the end the shifter was held snug and almost squeezed exactly into place so that it doesn’t need any fasteners. The screen is still snapped in and very sturdy. I was afraid it might be shaking after cutting the plastic but it’s totally fine.

Removing the old console shifter is really simple. The side trim pieces, left and right of the cup holders, pull right out by hand. Then the top of the cup holders plastic trim piece pops up. You can take it off without removing the screen but there are two tabs that are tough to squeeze out. If the screen is off the top plastic trim of the cup holders pulls right up. It’s all connected with plastic tabs so by hand or with a trim tools it’s really easy to take out. After you remove the plastic there are 4 10mm bolts holding the shifter housing. One is underneath the small plastic door in the front, and the other 3 are easily visible. Once you remove them you can slide out the shifter and disconnect the wires. In its place you can put the Console Tray for an OEM finish.

You may want to keep the shifter inside the tray which is as easy as making a small hole for the wire and securing it down and then getting some sort of trim to go over it. I think it’s a total waste of space which is why I put it next to the screen. It does fit inside the tray deep enough to open the workspace for anyone interested.

You need a harness about 24" minimum to extend the cable to reach the new location. After about 2 weeks of searching for a harness or for someone to make me one, I finally decided to make it myself. I was able to find all of the plastic connectors from Digi-Key (linked below). Making the harness was pretty easy. The only tricky part was that they don't sell a straight male connector that you can connect with metal pins. The male connector is meant to be soldered to a circuit board (which I don't really know how to do). Instead I was able to straighten the pins out in order to connect the existing cable in the car to the extension harness. I've added pictures of all of the connections. You need 1 Male Pin Connector and then 2 Female Sockets, and 2 female socket shields to lock the sockets in place. Essentially you are making a female to female cable and then the male connector fits snug into the original female cable. There is no way to lock this connection in place so I used a zip tie to secure it and then zip tied that entire connection down onto an anchor point so that it doesn't move around. You also need the metal terminals that the wire gets attached to. I'm not sure the proper way to connect these but I stripped a bit of wire and squeezed the first metal tabs down onto the bare wire and the lower tab onto the jacket to hold the cable in well. There are 11 wires used out of the 18 sockets. I copied the existing wiring to make the harness and I used 20 gauge wire with a silicone jacket from Amazon. I think the existing wiring is 22 gauge but the 20 worked fine for me. The silicone jacket makes it very flexible. After I put all of the pins in and the connectors on, I just wrapped the cable in a nylon braided sleeve to keep it protected. I ran it along the driver side trim and up behind the screen.

Female Socket Part # 1326133-1

Female Socket Shield Assembly Part # 1326132-1

Male Pin PCB Connector Part # 1438543-1

Receptacle Terminals 1326028-1

Where did you find the part numbers for the connectors?

 

[vakatack]

Where did you find the part numbers for the connectors?

I may have gotten one of the numbers off of the OEM connector and then I found a website company Digikey which has amazing customer service. I sent some pictures and the guy found all the different pieces for me in a few minutes

 

[Snakedoctor]

I may have gotten one of the numbers off of the OEM connector and then I found a website company Digikey which has amazing customer service. I sent some pictures and the guy found all the different pieces for me in a few minutes

Thank you. I was able to identify the connectors and terminals needed for a harness I’m building.

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