Dash pad

[Hobie]

Alright, well my dash has been cracked since mid to late 2000's, and now that I'm out of college, and have some spare money to start fixing the little issues that bug me.

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Now it may be hard to see, but there are two 'major's cracks around the instrument pannel trim, but also all three screw boss places have broke as well, so the top of the dash kind flops around. I've seen some dash reinforcement kits on LMC, but they are out of stock for now.

Would you guys recommend a dash replacement? (I'm having a hard time finding a replacement red dash) or fab up some reinforcement tabs, and throw a dash cover on?

 

[east302]

Here is a Tahoe with a dash cap, they didn’t paint it to match:

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eBay usually has dash assemblies, I see one for a 95-96 and they want big bucks for it.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-1999-...51d3086:g:h~oAAOSwWKVdhSwL&LH_ItemCondition=4

A 97-98/9 would work as well, but you’d just swap over your wiring harness and use a delete kit for the passenger airbag. Maybe a few other things? Others here have swapped those in and could elaborate.

eBay dashes were going for around $500 shipped when I bought mine five years ago. A salvage yard is another option, but I’d be real tempted to try to pull it myself to rule out damage by a careless yard worker.

The crack by the driver vent, by the way, probably results from the dash bezel clip stretching or expanding the dash housing area circled in red below. Best thing to do is remove the clip or flatten it down so it isn’t putting pressure on the dash.

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[kennythewelder]

Your dash is just painted. They are all black under the paint. So you can get any color you want,a paint it to match, if you replace it. I made my own clips for mine and installed them. Then put a cover mat. It looks decent. As for the cracks, you can plastic weld them, to fix them, but that is kind of sloppy. MEK does work to melt the plastic back together, but you need to put a backer piece of plastic ender the crack, and this needs to be the same kind of plastic. The cover lay looks the best without replacing the dash, and then, it can be hard to find a good dash in the junk yard. That about the only place you can find a dash any more. Here is a pic of mine.

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[98chevy2500SS]

I agree with @east302 on the driver's side part of the dash. My 98's dash cracked in that exact spot due do the pressure from the bezel clip.

I would personally stick with the 95/96 dash, I think they look better.

 

[Hobie]

Thank you for the truckload of info @east302, and I think I'll be sticking with the 95/96 dash, as the truck is a conversion, and has custom trim by the cupholders on the RH side. But a new dash is around $200 shipped to my door, and I havent found a decent dash around me at the local pull a part, or even all of the gmt400 trucks being parted out.

I think I'll stop by lowes while I'm in town tomorrow, and see what I can find to make some reinforcements.

I'm not too fond of the plastic dash covers, they look to be too bulky, and the one my friend has rattles... A LOT! But I'm sure not every cover makes that amount of noise, and either way I go to try and cover this dash up, or replace it, it will get reinforcements, and a carpet style cover