Finished the job yesterday. I think it came out really good and I’m pleased with the results. I believe I mentioned already that I went with the Geno’s aftermarket dash for about $250. It did need to be painted and I’ll admit I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to do a decent job and it would end up looking like a diy job gone wrong. Turned out to be no issue at all. Just follow the directions with the paint kit and most importantly do multiple thin coats. I did at least four, waiting 10 minutes between each and it came out great.
As far as fit is concerned, they mention that it is not an exact fit and some trimming is required. I found that all the screw holes lined up fine and no trimming was needed along the sides or back. The only place I needed to trim was along the front where the trim bezel snaps into place and the passenger air bag unit goes. It was pretty minor and quickly accomplished with a Dremel tool. Once you snap everything into place, these areas are all hidden behind trim.
Final verdict on it depends on what’s more important to you. Geno’s sells the Mopar part for $399 and it would save you time. Exact fit, no painting, no trimming. But will it crack again or was it redesigned? Who knows. The aftermarket is $259 but you do need to buy the paint kit. In the end you save maybe $100 going aftermarket. I’m hoping that as they say this is made of a plastic that won’t be so susceptible to cracking.
The new dash cover can be installed with the dash still in the truck, just pulled aft. Personally I decided to take it out completely and do it on the bench. Once you get it pulled back, it just isn’t that much harder to remove it from the truck in my opinion.
While I had the dash out, this was a great time to remove the A/C plenum and rebuild it. In my case the heater core was leaking, so I replaced it. Also proactively replaced the evaporator. Cleaned it all up removing 20 years of dirt, pine needles and who knows what else, all of which was severely restricting air flow. All the foam on the blend/mode doors was disintegrating, so I removed it and attached weather stripping where the doors seat.
It is a big project and took me four days total but could probably be done in 2 without interruptions. Maybe even one if you have a helper or work really fast. I preferred to take my time and go slow. I spent the better part of a day just working on the plenum.
Hope this helps anyone contemplating this project. I’m subscribed to the thread, so if anyone has questions, I’d be happy to answer.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
My 2001 had been sitting for about six years and as you can see was taken over by mice, so I took all of the ductwork out of it ( easy to do as they are screwed to the dash top anyway) and cleaned all of those out as well. Some of the screws for the dash top go through ears on the defrost duct and are tough to get to with the dash just leaning forward, but its doable. I think most of the screws are 7mm so a magnetic nutdriver is handy. They have phillips heads also so it can be done that way. I would check all the acutators and couplers for the doors as well since you have it out. I put new doors and couplers in from Heater Treater I believe, acutators were ok. The plastic subframe of the dash in my truck was EXTREMELY brittle, so handle with care. I got the Mopar dash top from Genos, as it came color matched. Fit well and supposedly is a better material than the original.
