this may vary between 05-07 08+and Raiders in styling but i would assume the principals are the same..

remove the side trim between door and dash. it just pops off with a little bit of force, you made need a flat screwdriver to push in the clips to get them to release.
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you will see four screws two that hold the bottom trim on and two that hold the dash face on. all four need to be removed.

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remove front face around stereo this just pulls off. make sure to disconnect wires from the back of the heat controls. this will also expose two screws that need to be removed for the dash face to come off.
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remove bottom trim under dash the two screws from the side and two on the on the bottom one in each corner here im pointing at one. also you will have to disconnect the Ebrake release handle. just lift up and you will see a little plastic swing clip.
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next release the tab on side of dash face. and and pull gently from bottom under light switch. (enough to get the clips to release) repeat for other bottom corner. (if you have an auto you may want to drop the little peice that cover the gear selector. and drop it all the way down to first)
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grasp top corners firmly and pull towards you.. (any one who has removed there tail lights same thing) itll take some delicate force. again drop gear selector and wheel to gain clearance.. itll take some maneuvering.
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disconnect light switch and face is free
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now you can see the cluster four screws is all thats holding it in there remove screws. three connections on back side disconnect and and cluster is free..
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there is 22 or 23 torx head screw that hold back plate on all need to be removed to remove back plate. *** TOP TWO AND BOTTOM TWO ALSO HOLD CLEAR FACE PLATE ON AS WELL*** (just a heads up so you dont drop it )
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this peice here goes to....
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the glow behind it no buld no LEDs so now im looking for a blue glow piece

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at least if any was wondering how to remove it there you go

 

That's cool, but I don't understand this sentence
"the glow behind it no buld no LEDs"
Also, is it easier to get the clear plastic gauge cover off with the whole thing out? I have one of those aluminum dash pieces to install but I don't want to have to melt things...

 

the glow thingy I don't quite understand it but my neighbor is all about shiney stuff and low s10.. he knowa more about it. but basically its a sheet of plastic cut to fit the cluster. that has an electrical current run through it and it is what lights up the dash there is no bulbs or leds. and yeah to get the clear lense off you need to go through all that bs lol

 

Now is it the Electro-Luminescent material used to light up the gauges that give the gauges the green light or is it a separate gauge face that is green that makes the gauges glow green. I am just wondering because i want to change mine to blue and i have been doing some research into trying to find a way to do it.

 

the electro luminescent would be my guess as to what makes the gauges glow green i shoulda hooked it up and turned the lights on to be sure.. but my disappointment to find this kinda put the rpoject to a halt... i know there is a company here in canada i beleive http://www.blackcatcustom.ca/ they do custom gauges i havent gotten around to emailing them yet but hopefully i have time this weekend. maybe they will have an answer for me

 

I email blackcatcustoms the other day and this is the email they sent back to me.

Thank you for contacting us. We are working on a project for another
vehicle that uses a similar lighting setup that should be adaptable to
the Dakota. We will be getting a Dakota gauge cluster to see if it
will work. In the meantime, some lighting colors may be possible to
do using the existing lighting. Once we have a gauge cluster to work
with we will be able to give you more details. Give us a few weeks to
look into it and we will see what we can do.
Thank you.

 

Dude, I don't mean to bust your *****. That was a very informative and detailed description, but...

I know English is your 'second language' or whatever but every time I log on and see that subject line I can't help but laugh. Sorry man...hahahahaha

Keep up the informative posts though...

 

thanks for getting that email out. did they mention what is possible for us to do to change our colour..

1. not all canadians are french/bilingual (English is my first language)
2. it was a TYPO!!!!!!!! im sure you've done it to... (if a mod would be so kind as to correct it.. i would appreciate it)
3. i was more concerned about getting the pics in the right order so you may attempt it if you wish. (rushed through the subject line)
jeez you think we all just dance around and sing french musicals north of the boarder. pull your head dude

p.s. your welcome

 

you know what should be emailed to them? asking them if they would come up with something like the mustangs have! you know where you can change it from yellow, organge, blue, green, red, purple etc now that would be tight

 

I said I wasn't busting *****...ok, maybe I was a little. Haha

And I have nothing against our 'brothers to the north'. Some of my best friends are Canadian (only certain ppl here will get that hahaha). Seriously though, keep it up with the informative DIY posts. Was just having a little fun at your expense. Don't get your panties all in a wad...