I am replacing my headliner in my 96 Ram 3500 15 passenger van, and there are 3 headliner board sections tha make up the headliner. My old headliner was drooping before I got the van and help up by random screws, but I also noticed each board has 4 holes and 4 screws that are drilled into the crossmembers of the interior roof of the van. Before I poke holes in my newly glued headliner fabric, I was wondering if anyone else who has a similar van can tell me if it is standard for these vans headliners to have 4 screws in each section holding them up, or if I should try installing the headliner sections without any screws. I figure I should know beforehand because it will be much easier to poke the holes before I put the headliner up.

Thanks!

 

I hope you know which board goes where for the holes may not be perfectly set on each board.

What I would do is poke from the back side through the new material. Might even use a permanent maker to make a small dot where the holes are. This will help you find them when reattaching to the van.

 

I can tell which board goes where based on the dome lights, thanks. I figured if I could find out for sure that these 4 screws on each board are part of stock mounting, I would poke the hols from the backside in advance, but if I didn't get confirmation in advance of installation, I figured I'd mark with painters tape before install, bt that's a little less exact since I don't want to jam my finger in the holes and stretch the material.

So, do you know if all these extended vans have screws mounting the boards to the ceiling or if this was just a little "customization" that the previous owner used to keep the headliner up?

 

I cannot speak to the extended vans, but for my 1500 I only have the headliner up front where the driver and passenger sit. For that one there are factory screw mounting holes.

Tip: To find the exact screw locations, Get some screws of the same size as the existing mounting screws, but a 1/2" longer. Cut the heads off and sharpen that same end to a point. Spin them into the screw holes a few threads with the sharp ends pointing down. Get the headliner into position and press around each screw location to pop the screws through the headliner. A socket with an extension on it and a hammer help with this part of the task, by attempting to get the socket around the screw and hammering it up to force the screw through the headliner. Now, while holding the headliner in place remove the pointy screw and replace it with the correct one.

 

Cool. Thanks.

My Ram Van headliner for a 2001 is drooping and sagging about 2 inches in cool weather. Strange thing is, when it gets warm out, the liner pulls snug and firm.

I've had the two rear sections taken off before. His extended van 3500 is very similar to my van. On the 1998 and newer vans, both screws and finish buttons hold the liner in. Our vans have the rear HVAC units, so the side vent tube along the C-pillar needs to be removed. It's a little PITA to put that back on right due to aligning the mid-screw and the two ends. haha

I had once taken the liner off to see if wiring a separate power line would help the very rear passengers with their own lighting switch locally. Found out that would be a pain. $5 for a localized 12-LED box works way better from Big Lots.

Here's some types of fasteners I've thought about to fix the drooping/sagging areas.





Our Vans have similar roof rails like a station wagon of the older years. These rails are ideal to drill holes into the flange areas and use the above fastener to lock into.

Here's a similar view of what the cross roof rails would look like ...



If you knew how to restore a headliner right, then the time and the patience needed would pay off. Some say a steaming gun helps too with the job. Not sure since I've never gone that far.

Also, I know of others who have ripping out the fabric and just cleaned off the base liner first then applied epoxy paint.

There are a few places that have replacement liners for our Ram Vans, however they only carry the front section. Mostly the driver area of the cargo Ram Vans.

 

I've only ordered side mirrors once from this place. They have connections into the Mopar warehouse out in CA. For your headliner "new", here's the details without shipping. 1994-1997

http://www.makeitdodgeparts.com/secc...0844/127/30844

For 1998-2003 ...
http://www.makeitdodgeparts.com/secc...0844/127/30844

Prior to ordering on-line, give the people a call first to ensure what is in stock and what will actually fit !

 

I replaced my headliner last year and it had the exposed screws at mid-panel. I pulled everything out and scraped off all the crap stuck to the boards. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some black canvas material (the only thing they had 60" wide) and glued it down with headliner glue. The glue cost more than the fabric! I repainted the plastic trim strips black to match. The front section is the worst to get in with the front seats in place but once past them, they helped support it while I installed it. Turned out pretty neat.