HOW TO UPGRADE YOUR STANDARD DASH TO A LEATHER ONE

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circuitguy

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Special thanks for Moparman16 for all the help and confidence in getting me to do this upgrade myself. :)


Just upgraded my dash on my 2017 Ram Tradesman to a 2018 Ram Sport Leather Dash.

Should be the same for all 2013-2018 Ram and 2019 Ram Classic.

Not a hard job but it does have many steps to complete.

Here is the part number for the new Leather dash, was $485 plus shipping. You could also get one from a wreck yard for a bit less in price.

Mopar # 5MY12DX9AA

Purchased it here, they had the best delivered price online.

https://www.moparwholesaleparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-instrument-panel-5my12dx9aa

Now would also be a good time to add a cabin filter if you don't have one.

Please keep in mind that we are only removing the dash cover not the entire dash structure.

Here is the rundown on how to complete the dash removal and install. Removal time was about 1.5 hours with two people, installation time was about 2.5 hours wit two people.



HOW TO REMOVE AND REPLACE THE DASH COVER ON THE 2013-2018 RAM AND 2019 RAM CLASSIC.

1. DISCONNECT THE POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL FROM THE BATTERY USING A 10MIL WRENCH OR SOCKET.

2. PULL AND REMOVE LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER DASH SPEAKER GRILLS, UNPLUG PHOTO SENSOR.

3. REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS FROM EACH DASH SPEAKER, UNPLUG AND REMOVE SPEAKERS.

4. REMOVE BOLT TWO BOLT COVER AT FRONT OF DASH BELOW WINDSHIELD, REMOVE ONE 10MIL BOLT FROM EACH AND ONE 7MIL SCREW FROM THE LEFT SIDE.

5. REMOVE BOLT COVERS AND TWO 10MIL BOLTS FROM EACH LEFT AND RIGHT “A” PILLER COVERS.

6. PULL AND REMOVE LEFT AND RIGHT DASH END COVER, REMOVE THREE 7MIL SCREWS FROM EACH SIDE.

7. REMOVE TWO 10MIL BOLTS FROM CONSOLE BEZEL POCKET, REMOVE COMPLETE CONSOLE BEZEL.

8. REMOVE TWO 10MIL BOLTS FROM EACH SIDE OF CONSOLE, SLIDE CONSOLE BACK AWAY FROM THE DASH.

9. REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS FROM TOP OF CENTER DASH BEZEL AND ONE T20 TORX SCREW FROM POCKET ABOVE 114V PLUG, UNPLUG ALL AND REMOVE BEZEL.

10. REMOVE FOUR 7MIL SCREWS FROM RADIO, UNPLUG AND REMOVE RADIO.

11. REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS BELOW RADIO.

12. PULL AND REMOVE LOWER GLOVE BOX, REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS FROM GLOVE BOX LATCH, REMOVE LATCH.

13. PULL AND REMOVE UPPER DASH GLOVE BOX POCKET

14. REMOVE FOUR 7MIL SCREWS FROM UPPER GLOVE BOX DOOR, REMOVE DOOR.

15. REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS FROM UPPER GLOVE BOX STRIKER, REMOVE STRIKER.

16. PULL AND REMOVE LEFT AND RIGHT AIR VENT, PULL FROM TOP THEN OUT, UNPLUG HEADLIGHT SWITCH.

17. REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS FROM DRIVES LOWER DASH PANEL, REMOVE PANEL LAY ON FLOOR.

18. REMOVE FIVE 7MIL SCREWS FROM BEHIND LEFT LOWER DASH PANEL.

19. PULL AND REMOVE PLUG BELOW HEADLIGHT SWITCH.

20. REMOVE TWO 7MIL SCREWS FROM EMERGENCY NEUTRAL PULL. PULL IT DOWN AND AWAY TO THE REAR OF THE DASH.

21. REMOVE THREE T20 TORX SCREWS FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE STEERING COLUMN COVER, REMOVE UPPER AND LOWER STEERING COLUMN COVER.

22. UNPLUG AND REMOVE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH.

23. REMOVE FOUR 14MIL NUTS HOLDING STEERING COLUMN UP, DROP COLUMN SLOWLY AND LAY STEERING WHEEL ON SEAT WITH STEERING WHEEL TILTED UP.

24. REMOVE FOUR T20 TORX SCREWS FROM START BUTTON, UNPLUG AND REMOVE START BUTTON.

25. REMOVE TWO 8MIL BOLTS THAT MOUNT THE PASSENGER AIRBAG TO THE DASH FRAME.

26. PULL DASH UP AND AWAY FROM THE WINDSHIELD ABOUT TWO TO THREE INCHES.

27. LIFT UP RIGHT SIDE OF DASH, UNPLUG PASSENGER AIRBAG.

28. PUT A TOWEL OVER THE STEERING WHEEL TO PROTECT FROM DAMAGE WHILE REMOVING THE DASH.

29. WITH TWO PEOPLE CAREFULLY PULL THE DASH UP AND AWAY FROM THE WINDSHIELD, YOU WILL NEED TO TILT IT UP A BIT TO CLEAR THE CENTER AIR VENT DUCTING.

30. WITH TWO PEOPLE CAREFULLY REMOVE THE DASH AND TAKE IT OUT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH THE STEERING WHEEL OR THE CORNERS OF THE DASH ON THE RAW METAL ON THE “A” PILLARS.

31. DASH SHOULD NOW BE OUT OF THE TRUCK.

32. TRANSFER ALL CLIPS FROM THE OLD DASH TO THE NEW ONE.

33. TRANSFER PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG FROM THE OLD DASH TO THE NEW ONE.

34. BEFORE INSTALLING THE NEW DASH MAKE SURE TO POSITION ALL THE WIRES FOR THE DASH SPEAKERS, PHOTO SENSOR, AIRBAG, GAUGE CLUSTER ECT SO YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THESE WIRES ONCE THE NEW DASH IS IN PLACE. ALSO KEEP THAT TOWEL OVER THE STEERING WHEEL SO NOT TO DAMAGE IT DURING INSTALL.

35. INSTALL NEW DASH IN REVERSE ORDER AS REMOVED.

36. RECONNECT POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL THEN START THE TRUCK AND TEST ALL ELECTRICAL INCLUDING BRAKE LIGHTS TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS ARE PLUGGED IN CORRECTLY.

CONGRATS! YOU JUST SAVED $700 IN LABOR DOING THIS INSTALL YOURSELF!

More pics on the next post.

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Last edited:

KC Cryptkeeper

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Side note, the blue "tray" on the back of the pad is the PAB (passenger air bag) chute. It has a laser score under it to give the pad an easy breakaway when the bag deploys, This chute is vibrate welded into position.
 
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circuitguy

circuitguy

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Awesome write-up sir!
Curious though, in the link it doesn't show it fits 2013 or 14... It should be the same Dash right?

Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk

Yes, I believe 2013-2018 Ram and 2019 Ram Classic are all the same.
 
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circuitguy

circuitguy

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Side note, the blue "tray" on the back of the pad is the PAB (passenger air bag) chute. It has a laser score under it to give the pad an easy breakaway when the bag deploys, This chute is vibrate welded into position.

The new dash comes with this welded onto it. You just unclip the airbag from this chute then snap it into the new one. Easy to do with a panel popper tool.
 

michael harpe

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Awesome write up. Love the detailed steps.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
 

Canadian Mopar

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Nice write up, did the same upgrade to my 2011. Took the whole dash out though, was easier/faster since I had the seats out already.
 
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circuitguy

circuitguy

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Rather than go through all of that crap, I simply bought a Sport, it comes with the dash...:D

View attachment 181944

Beautiful truck! I just could not see paying over $45k for a new regular cab RT sport so I purchased my basic tradesman new for $22k out the door and did all the mods myself. I figured I saved over $15k doing it this way and I really enjoyed doing all the work. Only two mods left to do, the sport hood and the 3:92 gears. I will do the gears but not the hood, I like to have something look a bit different then the others out there. :)
 

Runaround

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In step #1, a person should be removing the negative battery cable, not the positive. Removing the positive you still have the risk of grounding a hot wire causing an arc, which could cause an electrical problem. By removing the negative cable this eliminates any chance of shorting a hot wire to ground.
 
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circuitguy

circuitguy

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In step #1, a person should be removing the negative battery cable, not the positive. Removing the positive you still have the risk of grounding a hot wire causing an arc, which could cause an electrical problem. By removing the negative cable this eliminates any chance of shorting a hot wire to ground.

You can remove the neg or the pos terminal is this case, we are just doing this to keep the airbags from being deployed.
 

Jimmy07

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In step #1, a person should be removing the negative battery cable, not the positive. Removing the positive you still have the risk of grounding a hot wire causing an arc, which could cause an electrical problem. By removing the negative cable this eliminates any chance of shorting a hot wire to ground.
This is not the reason the negative is removed first. If the positive is removed first, there are no hot wires anymore, just like if the negative is removed first. The reason you don’t want to remove the positive first is because you’re most likely going to be using a metal wrench to do it. If you’re turning the metal wrench on the positive lug, anything metal on the truck nearby that could accidentally get hit by the end of the wrench will complete the circuit.
 
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circuitguy

circuitguy

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Finally finished my sport interior upgrade, here are a few pics of the progress.

IMG_1860.JPG

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IMG_0295(1).JPG

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tomb

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nice work-not for me though- I would have to rent a truck for a year untill I finished that job!!
 
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