I have a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 standard cab, and I've been stunned by how much the interior plastics have seriously started falling apart over the last year. I live in the south (SC) and maybe the heat of summers and direct sunlight play a role, but it's pretty bad. The entire dash cowl is split in half and breaking along several crack lines. This has progressed to the point where the cup holder won't work anymore because the plastic where it's screwed in-- well that's broken too. The black plastic trim piece for the dash surround is broken in half. The plastic housing overhead (with lights and storage bin) is cracked to the point where the lights weren't working (I fixed it now, but the parts that were failing weren't even exposed to sunlight).

Overall, the truck interior is simply falling apart. I considered the option of buying a new dash cowl from a U-Pull-It junk yard, if I could find a similar year. Unfortunately I'm coming to realize that Dodge's designs don't accomodate disassembly all that well.

I thought this may have been just my problem, butI have seen another local Ram with its dash cowl split in half. Is this a common problem others have seen? Has anyone gone about trying to repair or replace their parts?

 

yeah man the 2nd gens are brutal for that. if you get one from a you pull it, you risk breakin it on the way out or in. and it will most likely crack intime lol. search around on here. they make hard covers for the dashes over the fabric ones that im not to keen on. fingers crossed mine hasnt cracked. i treat it like a baby now. i armourall and silicone it weekely. mabye the 5% tint will help in the summer.

 

May I ask how you cleaned it and what with? Something in the back of my brain remembers that one of the Armor-all, or treatments like it actually dried out the plastic it was supposed to protect. I bet you can buy a new one from the dealer. It may be cheaper than you think.

 

> I bet you can buy a new one from the dealer. It may be cheaper than you think.

I've thought about it, but dang... I have yet to see any parts from a dealer to be inexpensive. And I just threw down several hundred to have the ball joints replaced, so I'm not in the mood to put serious cash into this truck right now.

By the way, what year is the Grand Prix in your avatar? Looks like a 74 or 75?

 

i use the these two products. the first is armour all ultra shine. and the second is trim shine which is just like a silicone spray. they work amazing for me. you can just spray the trim shine on the dash and walk away, it stays looking wet for a long time.



edit- sorry for the size difference in the pics :S anyway i work at a dealer and this trim spray is the same quaility of the stuff we use to clean cars. the stuff we use is called quick detail but in essence its just silicone that makes it look wet and super shiney.