cracked dash

The dash in our 2003 Ram 3500 has quite a few cracks in it. I am wondering how well an OEM Mopar dash will hold up. This isn't a cover I'm looking at but the actual dash. Geno's sells them.

Has anyone had issues with a replacement OEM Mopar dash cracking? If yes, how long before it happened?

If you've replaced yours with an OEM Mopar dash and it is still in good shape, how long has it been in your truck?

Thank you for any help,
Paul Lohr

 

I have an 03 that cracked probably by 2006 and still is cracked I want to replace it just haven't bit the bullet. I had and 04 that never cracked sold it in February. I was told the 03 cracked because I used armor all on it so I never used it any more on the 04. They both spent probably 70% of the life outside in NE Arkansas.

 

When I had my 03, the dash was CRUMBLING. I purchased the plastic cover from Genos and used lots of RTV on the remaining dash material. Looks good, my neice has the truck now.

Cheers, Ron

 

04.5, not the slightest cracks or distortions.

 

I bought my '03 new, and the dash is still in perfect shape. Seems that dash condition is a real hit and miss kind of thing for people. Out of curiosity, what was your method of protecting it? I abide by a four step plan: dash mat, windshield sun screen, park in the shade as much as possible and--perhaps most importantly, not a drop of Armor All has touched anything on the truck.

 

Thanks for your help, gentlemen.

How have I protected the dash over the years? I have one of those custom fit sun visors. About 97% of the time I keep the sun visor up. I do park in the shade when possible. Never have used Armor All or anything similar.

One thing that surely hasn’t helped is the truck has always been out in the weather. Never have had room for it in the garage.

Thank you, guys.

 

Gonna show my age. Back in the 70's Chrysler came out and stated not to use Armor all as it dried out and would crack. I immediately switched to food grade silicone which was one of the recommendations. To this day the 70 road runner plastic has no cracks and the original vinyl top.

 

Dave,

We didn't get the memo... Armor All every two weeks for 10 years ruined the dash on both the 02 and 03 trucks. Now, just been dusting with damp rag. Right now, I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to treat seats with leather cream lightly on a rag... Ram says just moist rag, leather treatment products not required. As an old telephone pole climber, treating our leather climbing belts and leather tie fasteners on the spikes was recurring maintenance to keep from cracking.

Anyhoo, good info on the Armor All for any unsuspecting owners.

Cheers, Ron

 

Ron, I have been using this for years now on leather, vinyl and plastic. It actually saved my 20 year old steering wheel. It's more work than spray on wipe off but it works which is what I want.
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I find nothing wrong with using armor all

 

It's hard to figure how folks get different results using the same thing. I'm in Texas where it's hot and lots of sun, trucks sat outside during the day when we were still working, used sun shades on the windows. A friend who did his MBA thesis on Armor All, a Created Market, found in his research that in high heat, the Armor All acted like cooking oil, transfering heat to the plastic. Anyway, it was on the 80s when he did the thesis, but I didn't pay any attention.

It could have been we left too much on the dash and interior; sure was purty, all shiney.

Glad you have good results, I know lots of folks who do and who don't.

Cheers, Ron

 

I had read that Armor All was very high in Alcohol content which caused the drying out and cracking but changed their formula. I don't know but I am not the experiment either. I will continue using what I am using now.

 

My '03 dash cracked the only time it Death Wobbled on me. Where is the best place to get replacement?

 

Can't find the end result, at some point the records were sealed by the court as part of trade secret's or something, but add to the conspiracy theory bucket....... plus being the mid 90's it's all paper records, there are some LA Times articles I ran across.

https://www.tirebusiness.com/articl...armor-all-researcher-at-odds-over-test-claims

 

I learned my lesson about ArmorAll the hard way too with motorcylce seats. At least I learned it before slathering that stuff on my trucks dash, which is still pristeen. Seems like it's most damaging when some sun is involved. When I lived in the midwest, everyone knew about it.
I have always used a CoverKing dash cover and a Mopar winshield cover to keep the sun off it even more.
Plus I live in W. Washington...

 

I never used armor all on my dash, but it still cracked. It has spent 100% of its lifetime outside in the southwest and southern sun. I have glued all the big pieces together with JB Weld and put a cover fabric cover I picked up along the way. I stopped using a windshield cover as my rear view mirror has fallen off the windshield three times now. It is now glued to the windshield with JB Weld as well...

One of these days I'm going to replace it and do my recirc, blend and mode doors as well. The (second set) are failing now too.

 

I just replaced the front dash portion over speakers/air ducts on my 2003 Laramie and regional warehouse had in stock no problem,......for $270ish though!

 

Never used Armor All, dash is in pieces in my '03...

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My 03 had almost completely crumbled. I installed this years ago, still looks good. I screwed and glued it. My neice has the truck now and it's still working.

https://www.genosgarage.com/product/dashtop-999/interior-replacement-parts

Cheers, Ron

 

The stuff's too shiny. It reminds me of model car tires and the guys who crave the shine. I've had a Dashmat on mine and along with a sunshield neither of my Rams has cracked.
I'm in San Diego where the sun shines 90% of the year.
Our Honda Pilot's never had one on it. 14 years old now. There's a way to spec them out to where they don't crack.