This isn't a 12-step program.

 

I want a new dash cover for freeeeee!!!!! Lol.

 

I believe this to be true also. My dash has been absolutely perfect until I pulled it for the EVAP change. I think alot of the issue is the expansion and contraction of the plastic itself. It was about 85-90 when I did the repair and things were fine till winter and the plastic shrank an wallah cracks.

 

I Lol'd ...

 

I first posted on this thread in Aug. 2005. I got a Coverlay dash overlay. It installed easily and as an update, it has held up perfectly.

To the dealers that lie and say "we've never seen this", I would say ,"then why is this thread over 30 pages long and nearly 5 years old?" And to the few people on here that say it's big deal, "yes it is!" Thousands of these trucks are having this problem. It is a defective manufacturing issue.

Dodge has been known for years for building shoddy interiors. This just proves the point. They make a good engine, but their finish work is trash - they use cheaper interior parts than their competitors. I've now owned trucks from four different companies. Hands down, the Dodge is by far the worst.

 

My 2000 dash has a piece about the size of a baseball fall through near the RH pillar. I figure the rest will start going if it gets hit in anyway. My 92 W250 dash is still in top shape and has been outside most of it's life. It appears the way the dash is installed on the newer trucks puts load into the panel and overtime the cheap plastic falls apart with the flexing, heat and loading. I haven't contacted the dealer about as I figured since the warranty is gone (I have 176K miles) they would say tough luck.

 

I published the following reply to this forum a couple of years ago. This will fix it permanently and cost you only pennies to do.

First let me say that I love my Red 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 and have no intention of selling or trading it. This past year I started seeing cracks appearing at several places on my dash board top and a couple of cracks starting down around the instrument panel which were basically continuations of the dash cracks. Then I Googled the problem and discovered that many others were having this same problem mostly with the 2001 model year. This is obviously a manufacturing defect but Dodge is denying that.

Ok here's a fix that works and what I have done:

1. Clean the dashboard around the full length of the cracks with a solvent. Make sure it's dry before continuing.
2. Use a medium grit sandpaper (about 80 grit or so) and rough up the surface over and around the full length of the cracks.
3. Go to your local hardware store (ACE carries this) and get the PC11 Marine Epoxy. It comes in 2 cans, (PC-11A) white paste and (PC-11B) green hardener. I got the small cans (12 oz).
4. Also get a can of Krylon Black Metallic Hammered (#2915) spray paint. For those dashes that are a dark or medium gray this is a near perfect match.
5. Using 2 separate sticks (I broke a wooden paint stir stick in half) and a piece of cardboard, scoop out an equal glob of the 2 parts of the epoxy onto the cardboard and then mix them together stirring until it is all white with no bits of green showing.
6. Then using a small spatula (no more than 1" wide), trowel the epoxy over the cracks. Using the flat side of the spatula, make sure that you apply enough pressure to squeeze some epoxy into the crack as well as covering the crack (about an inch wide). Do not cover the cracks with a thick coating of epoxy. Keep it thin. If the the crack is not even, i.e., doesn't line up, use something to hold it in place like masking tape or a weight, etc. Trowel around the tape or weight. You can always go back and finish after the epoxy is dried and hard.
7. When finished, let it dry over night. In the morning it will be hard as a rock. Use sandpaper to smooth it out and remove any rough edges of epoxy. By the way, it will be white when it dries.
8. Finally, tape newspaper to the inside of the windshield and any areas you do not want paint (like over lettering, nearby *****, etc.) Then shake the paint and spray over all the epoxied surfaces. Let it dry. The paint blends very close to the dash color.
9. You can leave it like this OR you can get one of the hard molded dash covers to cover the dash. The epoxy stops all cracking in the damaged areas and the dash will now be stronger than before. The dash cover will only be cosmetic now as the original dash after epoxied will be extremely solid. I found the paint to be such a close match that I did not get any cover for the dash.

By the way. Those who chose to buy one of those dash rugs to cover the cracks ... don't waste your money. They will not stop the cracking and it will only get worse.

That's it! It works and will prevent your dashing from crashing and collapsing. It took me less than an hour to fix mine. This is a lot better than paying the "big bucks" to replace the dash.

 

No thanks on that so-called fix. All you will do is keep chasing cracks, trust me been there, done that. My question is if you go the dash cover route can you still take the dash apart to work on stuff like the heater core?

 

I bought my 01 last month. It had not just cracks in the dash, but huge holes from missing chunks! It had a cheapie carpet cover that I ditched soon after buying and replaced with a color matched cap from eBay for just under $200 shipped. Fit is great and looks oem. I will have to post pics of before and after but they are not on this computer.

Degoins to answer your question, you glue the new cover to your old dash, so you can't really go back once you do it.

Rob

 

Yeah I am getting a new dash cover and a new front bezel too! thats after my grille, hids, and new headlights go in soon! OH YEAH, and my new leveling kit too! (: Then dash and bezel. Then rust on inside of doors! Not to bad so that can wait.