Adding electronics to 2016 Tahoe 215 Xi

[jwaz73]

Hello boating friends! After several years away from family boating we decided to dive headfirst into it again and purchased a 2016 Tahoe 215 Xi Deckboat. I'm wanting to add some electronics to the vessel and find myself stumped as to how to access the area behind the instrument panel. I'm so far impressed with the ease at which I'm able to access voids in the sides to run wires for a GPS antenna and the sonar transponder but the tiny access hole under the helm is proving to be a challenge to work with. There are obvious seams where the fiberglass mold for the helm would separate from the interior mold of the vessel but the manufacturer has done a fantastic job of hiding the fasteners...

Any suggestions on how to either remove the instrument panel or loosen the helm assembly? Or, is it less effort to just work with the limited space already available?

Thanks for any input!

-James

 

[tpenfield]

Welcome to iBoats.

:welcome:

After 3 posts, you can post pictures (of a reduced size of course). If you can post a few pictures of your instrument panel, that may help. Usually the instrument cluster is mounted on a panel that unscrews, but it sounds like yours may be different, or perhaps the screws are hidden under a trim piece.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I can't help in accessing the panel on that model but I am surprised the new GPS doesn't have a built in antenna. Duh, it could be an older model. If so sorry mate and again welcome to iboats. You need not go anywhere else for answers for all you boating needs. We even get the answers right once in a while!!!

 

[jwaz73]

Thanks tpenfield! I'll see if I can get some pictures posted...

 

[jwaz73]

Yeah, the chart-plotter/ff I'm installing (Lowrance Elite 9Ti) does have a built-in GPS antenna but since I have to run the wires for the sonar transponder I figured I would put in a more precise GPS antenna at the same time. Compared to the chart-plotter it was a minor expense.

 

[tpenfield]

Is this it ?



Not much area to put anything extra . . . Don't see any fasteners, so I am wondering if the wood grain panels are held in with blind snaps of some sort, or possibly are fastened from the back side. Is there a panel underneath that can be removed?

 

[jwaz73]

Yes, that is the helm design. The instrument panel is slightly different in the 2016/2017 models but that is the basic design. Looking inside the door that is visible in this photo I can see some overly long wood screws protruding into the area but, as you can see, the operating end of the fastener is well hidden. I'm going to carefully try to remove the instrument panel hoping it's held in place by some sort of friction fastener. I'll post what I find here.