Dash replacement

[96-1500]

Very nice write up! Definitely gonna come back to this whenever I decide to take everything out for a cleaning and when I install my foot-well LEDs.

I learned how to tear apart the bottom half of the dash doing trial-n-error at a junk yard. Why break your own stuff? lol. Now I have this nifty tool to look back on!

Thanks, glad I can be of some help.

I was planning on doing a dash removal thread but u beat me to it... U did a great job at it... I vote this thread to be stickied...

Ah, awesome. Thanks bud!

 

[qukon 95]

yes a good right up did you hose the interior out before putting the dash back in lol.... do you like the 95 dash i did the 97 dash swap in my 95 with pass air bag
(not)being used also that was a good time to clean out your heater core with all that dust

 

[blueridgerobbie]

Good job. I also switched a blue 95 out of mine over to a tan 97. It is really easy. The only difference is that I left the wiring and ductwork on my dash till it was out and on my table. Glad you beat me to it on here...By the way, it has my vote for sticky as it is about the clearest explanation i have seen and this site is where I learned to do mine.

 

[96-1500]

yes a good right up did you hose the interior out before putting the dash back in lol.... do you like the 95 dash i did the 97 dash swap in my 95 with pass air bag
(not)being used also that was a good time to clean out your heater core with all that dust

Personally I prefer the 95-96 dash over the 97+ dash, but many like that style, too. I gave everything a very good cleaning before putting it back together.

Good job. I also switched a blue 95 out of mine over to a tan 97. It is really easy. The only difference is that I left the wiring and ductwork on my dash till it was out and on my table. Glad you beat me to it on here...By the way, it has my vote for sticky as it is about the clearest explanation i have seen and this site is where I learned to do mine.

Yeah I've never been a fan of the blue. That and maroon. The grey/beige are way better looking IMO. They also seem to age a lot better, at least from what I've seen (my blue was discoloured bad).

 

[Sumbitch]

Yeah I've never been a fan of the blue. That and maroon. The grey/beige are way better looking IMO. They also seem to age a lot better, at least from what I've seen (my blue was discoloured bad).

x47

Grey/beige are more.... homey feeling. You hop in and it just gives you this comforting feeling. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that or understands that feeling.
Maroon and blue are too dark for my taste and because of their darkness, they absorb more light from the sun beating down on them, thus leading to cracking and discoloration (discolouration, for my northern friends). Not to mention that, IMO, maroon is just downright ugly. I have no hard feelings against blue, just not my cup of tea.

 

[96-1500]

x47

Grey/beige are more.... homey feeling. You hop in and it just gives you this comforting feeling. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that or understands that feeling.
Maroon and blue are too dark for my taste and because of their darkness, they absorb more light from the sun beating down on them, thus leading to cracking and discoloration (discolouration, for my northern friends). Not to mention that, IMO, maroon is just downright ugly. I have no hard feelings against blue, just not my cup of tea.

Agreed. My old K1500 was beige, I liked it. I prefer the grey but I like either. Agree about maroon, at least in the 95+ trucks, is fugly. I think if my blue was brand new, it might not have been so bad.

And thank you for spelling correctly

 

[DR CHOP]

I find its alot easier if you pull the wiring out with the dash, just un bolt the 2 bolts on the firewall that hole the fusebox in and everything comes out in one piece, easier to swap the harness when its out the truck on the ground then in the truck

That's 100% correct

 

[LordFinesse]

Awesome, im getting a 97 dash for my 93 soon, and for free!

 

[96-1500]

Just to update. I'm going to recommend against pulling the wiring from the firewall. It's a PITA (I went out and did it on my parts truck), and I feel something could get damaged much more easily.

It isn't difficult to do it the way I did if you just pay attention. I'm definitely going to say pull the steering column completely. I can take some pictures on how to do this if anyone is interested, the only annoying part is removing the shift linkage.

 

[thunderstruck]

Just curious, why did you not swap the metal framework along with the plastic dash? That would have saved you from removing and replacing all of those rivets.

Just to update. I'm going to recommend against pulling the wiring from the firewall. It's a PITA (I went out and did it on my parts truck), and I feel something could get damaged much more easily.

I agree with this. It isn't difficult to remove the wiring from behind the dash while it's still in the truck. I'd rather do that than mess with that giant block on the firewall.

Also, when I did mine, I didn't completely remove the steering column, but I did unbolt the driver's seat and slid it back so the column could fall all the way to the floor. That gave me plenty of room.