Those caps or covers are merely a band-aid that doesn't fix the problem, just covers it up.

 

i love my, knock on wood, uncracked early style dash....

 

The reason you are supposed to remove the dash to replace is because of the defrost vent screws that are screwed under the dash. Also the air vent screws for the sides are a little pain too. Pulling the dash itself out is not that big of a deal at all, it is all the damn wiring back there. In the end, it is worth it...

from this (and the other pic i posted earlier),



to this,

 

Looking at the FSM it shows the dash as being on a pivot so it can be easily rotated down as a complete assembly once the steering column is removed and all the connectors/fasteners undone (page 2680). Is this not accurate? I really don't want to introduce any new problems with undoing a bunch of 10 year old connectors and plastic parts. I've already experienced how brittle and delicate some of this crap is when I was putting in my stereo system and insulating the truck with Dynamat. The dash isn't the only thing on these trucks that breaks easily.

 

It does piviot, but you will be limited to the length of the wiring / hvac vacume lines etc.. It would be a mega pita to replace those screws with the dash installed in the truck... (and that is why i decided not too ) So yes if you want to shortcut, then yes you can install the dash pad with it still in the truck. If you want to be 100% back to mopar original, then you need to pull the dash.

 

Are you saying I'll have to undo the A/C lines? That's a deal breaker. I'm not going to go through having to vacuum out the system and recharge it and worry that something might leak once the seal is disturbed. The cap is starting to look like a better alternative.

 

im talking about the hvac controls. the top dial is vacume operated and has plastic tubes connected to it. h/o ill find a pic in the dash led diy and edit in a sec

EDIT


the multi colored lines. In the led diy, he says not to remove those lines. I just did the led conversion this weekend and really wish there was a way to pull the hvac control because... it would be 10x easier to do outside the truck than inside. A flip through the fsm turns up empty handed. It mentions removing the electrical connections but not the vacume tubes. I personally don't know where they run to, but I know when the dash was removed from the junkyard we took a pair of side cutters through them since it didn't matter.

 

Why not just use those wire marker stickers on the lines so you can disconnect and reconnect them properly? If that's the hardest part of the process then I can do that no problem. Keep the pics coming. They are more helpful than the FSM. Does the steering column have to come out or just be loosened?

 

I didn't pull my whole dash when I did my dash pad, so I was just alluding to the wiring and vacume tubes (the stuff we cut at the junkyard). My concern with those tubes would be that if you did remove them, you have to make sure they re-seal (obviously). But it is hard plastic on hard plastic so idk how they are held in. Like i said the other week, none of my diy's have been put in the diy section so I never bother anymore to make a diy. I just keep the pic's on reserve for when people ask. I also have a trans cooler install (stock secondary) for those who didn't come with them. Also bluebeast2 is supposed to post the dash diy so I didn't want to overstep my territory expecially since he gave me guidence with mine.

 

Just post your diy for the dash as a thread on this board, we all could use it. If the mods object then they'll move it to the DIY board. You or bluebeast should post it here so we can stop asking you questions and get it from your new thread.

I appreciate it, thanks.