2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Dash Finally Cracked on 99

[DavidC]

Cleaning the windshield this morning and removed the dash cover to reveal the passenger side cracked and drivers side from vin plate to the first defroster vent cracked. First it was the 53 block and now the dash. Looking at Geno's full dash replacement as I do not really like the idea of a patch when a replacement is available. Just hope it is better than the original. Has anyone done the full replacement?. Any tips of what I am getting into. The heater core and AC are original and not quite sure if replacement is warranted which will drive the cost up further. The truck has 74k miles. If heater core and AC is recommended where to get parts from.



Dave

 

[JohnBoy5]

i have done bother the genos cover and replaced several complete dash's. take the seats out to do it easy but its not needed. then the 2 bolts that hols the steering column up and just let it lay straight down. there will also be 2 bolts at the bottom on each side where the kick panel covers are just loosen those. then you will almost be ready to lay the dash down. pull the black bezel cover off and take the glove box out. this will expose a BUNCH of screws. you will need to take them all out. O passenger air bag will also need to come out and that will expose more screws. once you have all the screws out there will be 5 screws up by the windshield. take them out leaving the middle one for last. when you take that last one out the dash will lean back towards you. there will be screws holding the defrost vents on the bottom side and you will need something small to get in there to take them out. after they are out you should be able to pull it off.





i vote for the genos repair. its pretty easy and painless. if you can find a full dash replacement it will take you about 5 hrs maybe 4. also if you do the fill replacement take your time these things need lots of love and time.



i think they have a new multi piece replacement to help prevent the cracking. and dont over tighten anything it need to be able to move a bit but dont leave it so loose that it will squeak.

 

[DavidC]

Thanks for all the tips Johnboy5. Doesn't sound to bad. The last dash I had completely out was the 70 roadrunner but it did not have air conditioning. At least this one sounds like it only needs to pivot and the defrost vents to mess with along with a lot of screws.



Dave

 

[JohnBoy5]

you got it. the last time i was looking for a replacement dash for my truck dodge told me they could not get them any more. i am not sure if its cause my dealer didnt want to order it or if they really cant... .

i have put 5 or 6 of them in for friends, i can do one in a few hrs now. shoot i did an entire interior in a half day i have had these apart enough

 

[CumminsPower98]

I have been thinking I was a lucky one until yesterday when I noticed my '98 cracked on the driver side in a couple places. This just happened in the last month or less. It lasted quite a while I suppose considering it sits in the hot Utah sun all the time and has 406k miles on it.

 

[DavidC]

I'm pretty sure mine was parked in the garage at least on the driver's side crack. I had just applied a coat of 303 protectant 2 weeks ago and no cracks then. No ryhm or reason just cheap plastic I guess. Now I know first hand how all those guy's over the years felt when they posted their cracked dash posts.



Dave

 

[BK]

I did one of those full plastic overlays on a yota that had a badly cracked dash. .
The fit and trim was great, and it was easy to do.

my 99 dash cracked a couple of years ago, and I've toyed with doing the overlay.

But my AC isn't happy again, wondering if have to pull the dash apart , again, to do the condenser... if so, I guess at that point I'd do the replacement... but the overlay is much cheaper... so it's tempting, more so since the yota one came out well...
just my 2cents

 

[DavidC]

Full replacement on the way along with paint. Expected delivery 10/5/10. Replacement doesn't sound bad, I will find out.



Dave

 

[Joe Mc]

Dave, Good luck with the install. My 99's fine - knock on head - so far. I've owned it since 5/01, purchased w/75k, now has 190k. Reason I mention this - I "never" put anything on the dash except a clean moist cloth to remove dust. My buddy's 01, w/80k caved a big piece into the void - he used some type of treatment on it every time he cleaned the interior - he details on the side and uses all Ardex products. His truck is "always" super sweet clean and it's white . . .

Moral of this story (at least in Joe Mc's book) Keep it clean and free of treatments and it'll not crack up on you. . .

I've heard that the treatments used to make it look nice have chemicals that absorb into the plastic that weaken the makeup (if you will) of the plastic and cause it to become brittle when it dries out - then hot or cold hits it and contraction/expansion = "crack".

I hope this note doesn't jinx me . . .

 

[DavidC]

Thanks for the info Joe. Thought I was doing good with the 303 protectant, maybe not. I know when we head to mid/northern AZ. in the winter the alarm system has a sensor for glass break and it would sound the alarm every night when the temps dropped. My thinking on this was the dash contracting enough to sound like a glass break thus triggering the alarm. I have read somewhere that the dash may not have enough clearances for expansion/contraction and maybe that was the cause of these two cracks. The week I think this happened the truck was in the garage (still hot) and the day temps were 105 to 110. The night temps dipped down to a balmy 75 to 80. It may have been enough to cause the cracks with a 11 year old plastic dash. Of course where you live the temps get much lower which I would think would cause more problems with expansion/contraction. With 11 years and the AZ. summers not only does the dash dry out and get brittle but I think the same goes for me:-laf.

The replacement has a lifetime warranty and UV protection so we shall see. I do not know how soon I will do this as it is still to hot to paint a dash. The paint spray will be dry before it gets 1" from the nozzle.



Dave

 

[Joe Mc]

Dave,

I hear ya on the painting part and the high temp up swings that you have in AZ as far as the crack. Yes, we have swings here but not as high on as much of a consistent basis as you do.

I'm guessing since you mentioned the temps and painting when it's too hot, you know "prep, prep, prep" = the best results. I used denatured alcohol and a magic cloth to prep my plastic before applying the paint. Are you using the Dodge spray bombs from Geno's? The color match was outstanding when I did my gage pod 9 years back and still looks just as good as the original dash. Enjoy.

 

[Mike Ellis]

I never put any treatments on my dash, kept it clean, it still cracked at about the 200K mile point. I had the full dash replacement done, it cost a bundle due to the time involved. If I had it to do all over I'd probably just get a nice dash cover and say "To heck with it. "



My dash just had a crack in it, but I work with a guy who has a 1500 and one day his cracked in the middle section and a chunk dropped down into the void that was big enough to drop a football in. I thought he was joking until I saw it myself. He had his replaced at the Dodge dealership and it cost on the order of $1500 :{



Dash cover? Hmmmm next time I might just get a can of spray adhesive and put some astroturf on the dash :-laf :-laf