Hi all,
Ever hear the saying "no good deed goes unpunished"? A couple weekends ago I started working on my daughter's 2dr single cab to repair the passenger's front floor area and front cab mount. Finally finished welding in the lower firewall area while up on the lift only to see an eerie orange glow through a hole. Long story short I managed to save my garage and didn't have another heart attack, but sure did waste a bunch of plastic and let lots of smoke out.

After moving it outside that night and unhooking the battery so it didn't reignite I went to bed. In the morning at least my garage upstairs had aired out but the truck cab looked like crap. The fire started between the floor, firewall, and side panel weatherproof sealing junk and quickly went upward. Once that stuff is ignited you have a very, VERY short time to either put it out or call 911. Wife was watching TV in the house so I found a hose and did what I had to do.

Here's my question for anyone that has done this, swapping dashes. I will need the dash, heater/A/C housing, wiring harness, headliner, and right door inner panel. The cabs are the same from '97 to '04 but dash layout changes somewhat (layout of heat/fan controls). Does anyone know if this is a plug n play swap for the dash components?

Any ideas are welcome before I waste time tomorrow pulling a 2000 dash for this 2003. Be safe replacing those crappy front cab mounts either way!

 

Out of curiosity what state id the truck from? Is the mount issue snow/rain related?

 

Sorry, guess I should fill out the info. This is a VT truck, same as any other New England truck, subjected to either salt or worse yet brine. It's the cost of living here unfortunately. If I could take heat and humidity we'd all be driving 40 year old vehicles that aren't rotten to the core.

 

But man those trees in the fall!!

 

If the HVAC controls are in the same place (horizontal), everything behind the dash will be the same.

And you know this now, but it would have been wise to have pulled the carpet back where you were welding, and poured a little bit of water on the floor pre-welding to pull some heat out.

 

That's what I needed to know and now I know the older dash won't work for me. As for the carpet, it was out of the way. The goopy seam seal crap is what caught on fire which is like liquid fire once it's going. And there was water from a leak on the floor, didn't help much at all. Sure would have made life easier if that were the case though. Thank you for replying.

Guess I'll keep my eyes out for a cab or just crush the old girl. Something will come along.

 

Check the local junkyard. I've seen alot of 00/01's around here. Also, engine doesn't matter, dash is all the same. You can also use a Durango dash for most of it I believe? (I think the airbox itself might be different, not sure). Might as well replace the heater core and AC evaporator while you're in there, as both are prone to rust out. Door panels are the same for standard and quad cab (and durango), extended cab has a 3" longer door IIRC.

Headliner will be the hardest part.

 

Great idea on the Durango parts, hadn't thought of those being the same.

 

Yep. 2001 to 2003 Durango and 2001-2004 Dakota should be the same interior.

 

May be the same interior but the HVAC controls change. I would imagine that swapping the whole dash, steel and all along with the heater box will solve the problem. Having said that I'm guessing a cab swap will be less involved and less costly since it needs a windshield also.

The upside is I think there is money to be made replacing cab mounts up here in VT but they are going on a carousel and stripped of interior first. Then again that takes up way too much real estate in my garage and the bikes have to stay outside...maybe in the summer only.

Thanks again guys, much appreciated.