Update - Lead on "HighLiner" headliner

[stickshift_or_walk]

Hey ya'll, several have asked about this headliner with speakers molded in that I showed in a recent post:



I thought they were out of production, but my son found an ad in the back of the May '05 issue of Classic Trucks. It's from an outfit called Palco, which apparently produces all kinds of plastic interior parts.

The ad shows a pic of the HighLiner in a truck, and it lists applications including "Chevy/GMC 1967, 1998. That certainly implies that they are still under production for our trucks.

The ad reads: "The Highliner replaces or adds a dynamic custom headliner to your standard cab pick-up truck, turning the cab into music center featuring four 4-inch air suspension speakers".

Their website is www.dashtop.com. I checked it out, but could find no mention of the Highliner, so maybe it hasn't been added to the catalogs. I downloaded the .PDF's, but no luck.

They do list a phone number, though. It's 800-349-3274.

If anyone checks it out, please post what you find - availability and pricing.

SSOW

[TomShilling]

Palco is the manufacturer. They distribute to several suppliers: they do not sell direct to consumers. You can call Palco at 800-349-3274 for the closest supplier to you. The headliner set up for 1968-72 GMC/Chevy trucks is called Highliner, has 4 speakers (10watts each) already installed, and includes space for a CD changer or stereo in the overhead console. Or you can use it for storage, CD's, etc. Comes in Black, but can be painted depending on your wants.

It is one single piece of injection molded ABS. It has 2 panels, one that attaches to the front curve where the sunvisors attach, and the other side attaches below the line of the interior dome light. The speakers are suspended. You will not lose the dome light or sunvisors.

Production was suspended for about 2 years by the original company, but Palco has purchased the molds and equipment and just started producing them again.
The price is $249.95 and shipping will run $30+ depending on your location. Palco suggested Bannister Supply (David) at 800-234-9254. I am waiting on a call back from them! If others are interested, perhaps we could negotiate a reduced rate for a volume purchase? Let me know if you are interested in pooling orders to see if we can knock that pricing down to $200 or so!

[70c10]

Good information Tom!

[shifty]

They used to sell through JC Whitney, but jcwhitney.com doesn't list this product at their website. That might be a good lead to start with.

[70 shorty]

I wonder if they would sell it without the speaker, because I'm sure they put some FINE speakers in there!

[stickshift_or_walk]

Thanks for filling in the blanks, Tom. Now we know the "rest of the story".

I'm pretty sure I paid $149 plus shipping at JCW about 8 years ago. For that price increase, there should be some pretty good speakers, but I suspect that's not the case. The speakers in mine were air suspension (coated cloth, not foam or poly) with a voice coil. If you just want to make noise you can hear, they are adequate, since it doesn't take much volume when the speaker is that close to your ear. But, as you can imagine, there's no bass and you sure can't crank it. They're a pretty good match for the amps built into the head units these days.

We upgraded to Pioneer coaxials, not to go crazy, but to improve. The imaging is just great - you would swear the sound is coming from the side windows. When wiring, I recommend matching the "front" set of wires with the driver left/right speakers, then the "rear" wires with the passenger left/right. We played with it, and that seems to work the best. Add a subwoofer, and you have an entirely adequate (my opinion) system. We added the kick panels to even things out, a little extra kick for the teenager.

The kit was complete, with foam padding for the liner and speaker cavities, and caps to cover the screw heads. It's a tight fit against the dome light housing, but it works.

SSOW

[67cst]

they dont make them for the 67? im sure it would be the same as a 68-72?

[70short/step]

Originally Posted by 67cst

they dont make them for the 67? im sure it would be the same as a 68-72?

It list Chevy/GMC 1967 through 1972 in their catalog. So it will fit.