took my 2002 ram 5.9 to dealer ..to get looked at .first thing that started THIS was horn kept going nuts and headlights where flashing like nuts. and inter lights stayed on all the time,..so i figer it was my remote start .acting up.becuase the red led light come on my dash..and nothing else..sometime if i cleared it by crossing the battery cables unhooked .witch i read on here it cleared it for awhile.now nothing just horn and flashing lights .so i took it to the damn dealer of a cost of $400 to get nothing done they removed the remote start and add new ignition switch for some reason..just had replaced last year MMMMMMM...THER SAYING NOW I NEED NEW CLUSTER..AND NOW MY HEADLIGHTS STAY ON ALL THE TIME ALL MY DOORS LOCKS DONT WORK NOW.NO TURN SIGNELS DOME LIGHT STAYS ON. BRAKE LIGHTS DONT WORK..DOES ANYONE THINK IT COULD BE THE FCM OR PCM ..I DONT KNOW WHAT ALL THE FCM CONTROLS OR PCM .I JUST DONT KNOW WHY THE CLUSTER WOULD CAUSE AL THIS .BUT I DONT REALY KNOW WHAT IT ALL DOES ..NEED HELP ON THIS ONE AM LAYED OFF AND OUT OF $$$$...I JUST GAVE THE DEALER MY DAMN RENT MONEY..LOL

 

I love it when Dealers play the guess and check game with the customers money. It should be illegal. That stuff does go through the cluster, but if I were you, I would take it out myself and verify that the contacts are in good condition and not starting to corrode. Also, make sure the harness isn't "falling out" or becoming loose. The cluster is not a difficult job at all. You can for your truck buy a used cluster off ebay, plug it in and be good. The mileage is however is stored in the cluster so it'll be whatever mileage the truck was it came from.
Only the newer trucks have issue's installing used clusters, but you should be fine with your '02. I;ve seen them on Ebay for $100 shipped. Reman'd ones are $240
The one for my 2008 from the dealer was only $300. It's a plug'n'play install and you don't need the dealer to put one in!