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Can anyone help me out? I've got no clue what this part would be called, and google hasn't been too helpful either.
It's essentially the part that holds the radio, AC, and cigarette lighter in place behind the accessory panel.
It would be the part behind the wood grain board. I don't have any pictures of it because it's missing in my truck, and I can't seem to find any on google. No local pick-your-parts or wrecking yards near me seem to have any 1st gen Dakota's
Edit: I should probably add my truck is a 1993 Dodge Dakota LE 4x4 with a club cab
Also, unless it's an identical year, there's a fair chance you'll have to add swapping the wiring harness between the two (but good news, the dash itself is swappable 1987-1996!)
Bad news, most of the ones will have the vinyl and the padding cracked due to age; even if they're not, they will be brittle.
You can check car-parts.com to see if there's one local to you, or find one that will ship to you.
Hint: Since the lower half dash comes out either way, while the dash is out is a great time to do the heater core and blower motor. Also, the carpet swaps easier with the dash out; and while the carpet's out, that's a great time to Dynamat(tm) or generic equivalent the floor. However, those are not required.
(Also if you're going to add any extra items to the wiring - a fog light switch, drop for a CB radio power, extra 12V power outlets, etc.) this is a great time to add that wiring to the harness so it's nice and neat.
Before you pull it, find a copy of the 1994 Factory Service Manual (should be able to use almost any near-year manual for the dash!) and study up the instructions on how to pull and replace.
There is the bezel that is the wood grain piece, the instrument/gauge cluster, the radio. the heater controls and the dash which is what they mount to. I can't get my laptop to let me copy a picture of the thing from the PDF FSM I have.
No, although if I want to make mine look like it's supposed to, I should buy one of those as well. Previous owner spraypainted the bezel high gloss black! Although it atually doesn't look too bad I'd prefer the original look.
Originally Posted by RalphP
It's a bit of a pain, yes.
Also, unless it's an identical year, there's a fair chance you'll have to add swapping the wiring harness between the two (but good news, the dash itself is swappable 1987-1996!)
Bad news, most of the ones will have the vinyl and the padding cracked due to age; even if they're not, they will be brittle.
You can check car-parts.com to see if there's one local to you, or find one that will ship to you.
Hint: Since the lower half dash comes out either way, while the dash is out is a great time to do the heater core and blower motor. Also, the carpet swaps easier with the dash out; and while the carpet's out, that's a great time to Dynamat(tm) or generic equivalent the floor. However, those are not required.
(Also if you're going to add any extra items to the wiring - a fog light switch, drop for a CB radio power, extra 12V power outlets, etc.) this is a great time to add that wiring to the harness so it's nice and neat.
Before you pull it, find a copy of the 1994 Factory Service Manual (should be able to use almost any near-year manual for the dash!) and study up the instructions on how to pull and replace.
So I take it that would be a pain to replace? Whoever had this truck before myself butchered the dash
The best I remember the dashes came out in ONE giant piece. You may want to try and get some baby angle iron pieces and some piercing screws and fabricate a sort of "skeleton" by using whatever meat you have left.
The best I remember the dashes came out in ONE giant piece. You may want to try and get some baby angle iron pieces and some piercing screws and fabricate a sort of "skeleton" by using whatever meat you have left.
I'm probably going to do that until I get around to finding a similar Dakota in a wrecking yard and pulling the dash. I have more important things to fix on it anyways. I have a few check engine codes to fix as well as a transmission leak
On the Gen1's, the lower dash is separate from the upper dash; this won't help you much with your problem, however, since the lower comes out before you can pull the upper.
Again, the factory service manual has instructions on how to remove and replace; and I THINK it's in one of the stickies in this forum!
Help identifying interior parts
