I have an 03 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 Laramie SRW
I bought it new for my 50th birthday and it has been great truck.
In 2020 I had a friend pull the batteries for me and install new ones...sold them to him for scrap price...he put them in a friends F450 that needed batteries and they are still going strong...They are the Originals my truck came with...
Think about that for a minute...17 year old batteries that started cold or hot every time I needed them too.
I have Muscular Dystrophy so things are Challenging for me and I have to be careful how I do things..
I have done everything I can to keep it looking like new willing to go the extra mile in order do that...
Literally walking them every day so that I don't get door dings...lol
I was Hijacking a thread so I am posting here to answer their questions.
This is my response to them...

Global Warming is everywhere...
Summers have gotten very hot in British Columbia Canada.
I live in Surrey..park outside in sunlight, use windshield dash shade most times...
My 03's dash was perfect and I didn't use Armor All on it.
I was so concerned that the slight buzz of resonance would create rattles and squeaks in the truck I didn't drive it till I got the Twister installed.
Never occurred to me my dash would crack...
It still had a buzz that could occur at light throttle at low rpm..
Bought another larger Twister...just arrived.
I had gone out to visit a friend who had a life altering accident and went beck a few days later to go for a drive to compare his interior sounds to mine.
His 4th Gen was loud and buzzing.
When we went for a drive in mine he noticed the crack.
Geno's told me that their dash is the OEM for my model year and after shipping, duties and exchange it will be a few hundred less than the local dealer.
Dealer wants $1550 cdn plus taxes (If I find something wrong with Geno's it will be harder to return)
I am going to be talking to another dealer I had bought from, in the past.
See if they can get me a better price.
I am an Owner Operator of a 1995 International day cab and the Heavy Equipment shop has been doing more and more little jobs on my 03 Dodge.
I know I won't be doing the re and re but I do have friends and business associates that will help me out...I hope..lol


Thread being Hyjacked..
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...to-repair.html

 

Welcome to DF!

 

Thank You HeyYou!
I don't know for certain how my dash cracked but I do plan on replacing it.
It had actually gotten lighter in colour and I had noticed that awhile back so now I have more of a reason.
Like many other things it is on my to do list.

 

There are many theories but no one knows for sure. Whet we ask know for sure is that heat and uv destroy them. They not only got heat from the sun but heat from the heater core. It getting lighter is a sign it was getting damaged.

 

I hear ya!
I guess I should be thankful to the crack to help me justify fixing it...
I will definitely have to do a colour check before it gets installed