Fix for dangling maplight?

[rumblefish]

Both my 91 and my Ramcharger have the dangling maplight syndrome. Most of the 81-93 trucks I have seen have the same problem. The tabs on the bottom side of the dash that the maplight gets screwed to gets chewed up over the years. I'm sure somebody out there has come up with a solution. Anyone care to share it?

 

[tugboatphil]

If there is a solution other than replacing (or my own solution which is ignoring it), I haven't heard it yet. Both of mine were broke when I got them. I thought that was the way they came from the factory. :-laf

 

[CLiberty]

http://dodgeram. info/tsb/1989/08-05-89.htm
The bracket is probably NLA but maybe you can make something?

 

[Greenleaf]

Remove it. Out of sight... out of mind.

 

[Sri Ram]

Yes, Tugboat, in fact they do come that way from the factory. At least, both of mine came that way, too. :-laf :-laf :-laf



Seriously, though, on one of them I was able to glue the various pieces of the dash together, glue the bracket to that, and then glue the screws in. It's delicate, but it holds. The guy I sold my 93 to said he rigged something up. I'll try to get ahold of him. Besides, I need to remind him of the way water pours in under the rear window seals all winter. :-laf :-laf :-laf

 

[MWehmeyer]

The repair kit is still available from Dodge - or at least was last spring. Turned out I didn't need it after all :| Sri Ram - pm me with your address and you can have mine for the cost of shipping it up to you.



Mike

 

[Philip]

I never used the map light. The first time I took the dash apart it went into the bottom of my console. :-laf

 

[bgilbert]

CLiberty, sweet find there. Neat. I think it's the dummies over the years removing the dash bezels and not knowing/seeing the two screws that hold the lamp there. All the Dodge's I've been in prior to this 91. 5 have been broken. Not to say I've used it, but I like it when I open the door at night and you have both lamps (map and dome light) come on. And to think me snagging up these unique Dodge parts at the junkyard was a waste of time with all you guys tossing them out the window or in the console:-laf.

 

[tugboatphil]

The repair kit is still available from Dodge - or at least was last spring. Turned out I didn't need it after all :| Sri Ram - pm me with your address and you can have mine for the cost of shipping it up to you.



Mike

Mike, do you have a part number??

 

[rumblefish]

PN 4439009



List price was around $19. I jewed my parts manager down to $15 and told him to order me two. He told me that they were no longer in production, and there were like 5 dealers out there that still had some in stock. If you want one you better hurry, cuz when they're gone, they're gone.

 

[DVolk]

fix for map light

how about 2 sided tape or big gob of silicone ,i need to do it to mine too ,its a pain in the >>>

 

[dpuckett]

Ok, can someone put up a pic of what you guys are talking about? the one from my 91 (which I kept when I sold the truck) has a small metal strip off each side, and it was screwed into the bezel. No tabs or anything to break that I can see. The metal strip goes above the hole in the bezel, then you drive the screws in from the bottom and it holds and it holds it all together.



Daniel

 

[Sri Ram]

be pretty hard to get a pic without taking the bezel out. But, I think you get the idea. The screws go through two plastic mounts that are a part of the dash, not the bezel, and then thread into a single metal bracket. It's those plastic parts that brake. Then the bracket has nothing to mount to.



Edit: DVolk, tape or silicone might do it, but when you want to take the bezel off to work inside the dash, you need to be able to swing the map light out of the way. A better quick fix might be velcro or plastic press-on anchor, as long as it don' melt!

 

[MWehmeyer]

Daniel,



That's what the repair kit looks like.



Mike