What do SMART people do about their broken dashboards?

[jpilk99]

My '97's dashboard was already cracked/broken about 6 or 7 places. I thought I'd try and remove it, glue/fiberglass it or something... But it is SOOO brittle, it seems foolish to muck with it at all. Covers seem to have ...less than stellar reviews. If I buy one from a donor truck, i risk the same brittle condition and it looks like quite the job to take the old one out (better to remove whole dash).

New ones look to be around $450 (which seems insane for 4' of molded plastic).

So, what do smart folks do?

Thank you,

Jay

 

[Joe w.]

I just replaced mine with a dash from LMC. It's not as bad as a job as it seems. I gave a little over $250 for it but that was 4 years ago.

 

[MADDOG]

^^^This^^^

Did the same thing with my '99 1500.

No mucking about with piecemeal fixes that wouldn't last,

@DodgeLady just did hers and it looks fantastic.

 

[Stox5225]

Be careful removing it, however. The “core”, or lower dash may be just a brittle. If this turns to garbage, you’re pretty much SOL. Your best option from there is to find a good one in a junk yard, or spend half a grand on one from some dude on EBay.


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[jpilk99]

Thanks all!!! Appreciate it.

 

[Stox5225]

I found one for about $100 bucks. It broke while we were removing it, but I plastic welded some pieces back on. It worked, but the surrounding plastic is still brittle. It just broke in other places. Honestly, we ALL need someone to remake the lower dash in a better plastic (UV resistant). I wish I had the time!!


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[DodgeLady]

My '97's dashboard was already cracked/broken about 6 or 7 places. I thought I'd try and remove it, glue/fiberglass it or something... But it is SOOO brittle, it seems foolish to muck with it at all. Covers seem to have ...less than stellar reviews. If I buy one from a donor truck, i risk the same brittle condition and it looks like quite the job to take the old one out (better to remove whole dash).

New ones look to be around $450 (which seems insane for 4' of molded plastic).

So, what do smart folks do?

Thank you,

Jay

I purchased a used “under dash” ( what I call everything that’s plastic and not the top of the dash) on eBay. I tried gluing and epoxying and finally decided that if I want o keep the truck I’ll have to fork over big bucks for the under dash. I think I paid $720 for one that included shipping.

You have to remove the entire dash assy. The under dash is rivited onto the metallic dash frame. You’ll have to drill those out. I installed my new dash with screws and lock nuts. I didn’t have a rivet tool so the screws worked well.

I bought a new dash top and bezel from LMC Truck.

It was an expensive project but really changed my truck for the better...
I also painted the used dash and dash top with Colorbond paint (LMC Truck)
Finished product:





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[MAC830203]

My 96 is brittle. Revisiting this post to ask if anyone has seen a pony new Dash Assy mfg? I might try a full Alum fab dash. Blend the two. 14ga might be nice for welding and finishing. That’s a later project.

 

[BoiseRam]

are there newer years that can be used "old to newer" Mines completely trashed.

 

[Stox5225]

So the sheet metal is the same from ‘94-‘01. The only difference is the ‘98 and up used a different dash design and new wiring harnesses. It would require some wire tracing and splicing to make work.


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[MAC830203]

I might try that. Dodge lady has a nice finished project. Maybe after gets cold I’ll fab one up. Almost to the point of annoying plastic rattling.

 

[Sirriggs]

My under dash it bad as well. I may try to just make the pieces to fab in the missing ones and just cover with new top and bezel. The parts are getting harder to find and incredibly expensive anymore.

 

[GTyankee]

The dashboards that are OEM, were made of plastic that can't withstand the Sun

There are a couple of companies that make them out of ABS & the reviews seem to be fairly good
1994 - 2008

Video about removing & replacing the dash
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYHl3ARV-fY

dashcover ABS plastic. Accu-Form dash covers

I know that if my dash was falling apart & my Climate Control system did not function well, i would go the extra step & pull the whole dash, so that i could remove the Climate Control system complately & replace all of the DOORS, BLEND, Recirculate, etc.

 

[CanRebel]

ABS is plastic. You don't want dashboard made from ABS. You want ASA or PC/ABS
Unless it's painted with UV resistant paint, ABS will degrade from the Sun. If the paint is marked/scratched at all. It will degrade.
ASA will not.

 

[PaPitt]

I thought we could now get them .. New from E-BAY now . . Mine is trashed also .. But some one gave me a dash cap & I have it on mine . It's stuck on with double sided tape..
I have been planning on buying a new replacement for mine . When I have my AC fixed again.

 

[seanclark1503]

I bought a skin for my 99 mist gray dash and it looks great, cant even tell it’s there. I did have to repair the cracks in the original dashboard prior to covering. But with my 08 diesel I would have to do it right and just replace it with an oem dash . Ill be keeping this truck for a much longer time than the gasser.