Cracked Dash DIY Repair

[Costal_Cat]

First post but I should thank the forum for all the info to date. I to have the typical cracked dash and me to not wanting to spend $500-$1200 decided to fix it myself. I did things a little different than most folks thanks to this youtube video

One tool that was used in this video is a Hot Staple Gun Kit for Plastic Repair which is a pretty unusual device. You can find it here for under $100

https://www.amazon.com/Astro-7600-Staple-Plastic-Repair/dp/B0096PGOOQ

This gun melt plastic staples into the dash so that when it cools, you have some metal reinforcement around the crack. Here is a couple of pictures of my repair





After putting in a bunch of these staples I then used a plastic epoxy for additional reinforcement over the staples.





Here is what they looked like afterward.


This is over the driver dash pod




and this is the passenger airbag

I also fixed and reinforced some additional cracks around mounting points. Used rubber washers when reinstalling. Added some foam under the dash pod and around the center speaker for additional support. I only have a couple of days driving now but it feels very solid and in putting it back in there was enough flex to get it back in and everything held fine.....

On the plus side since I had the trim out I polished all the wood with some plastic headlight restorer and that got rid of a lot of the scratches.

I have a couple of 5 hour drives coming up so I will post if this fails....

 

[Meccanoble]

Can you take any pics after install with everything put together? How hard would you say this job was? I wish I had the courage to take that all apart. How much did you spend to fix and how long did it take?

Congrats btw, thats an awesome first post

 

[Costal_Cat]

Can you take any pics after install with everything put together? How hard would you say this job was? I wish I had the courage to take that all apart. How much did you spend to fix and how long did it take?

Congrats btw, thats an awesome first post

Thanks!

Sure here are three pics


Above driver dash pod crack



Here is the airbag crack



The full dash here.


Overall this is very easy to remove. I'm pretty handy but there was nothing complicated. The video is key as he goes through it in the order you need to remove things. You also get confidence in how hard he is yanking to get pieces out. All you need is

=> 07 mm socket
=> 10 mm socket
=> t15
=> Phillips
=> Small flat blade screwdriver

I have a trim removal tool I got at autozone for $10 for the pack and that helps with not scratching anything. The plastic staple gun was under $100 and the JB Weld plastic epoxy was $4.99. If I had to take it out again I could do it in 45mins tops. First time took about 2 hours because I went slow and stopped the video along the way. I let the epoxy sit overnight but it only needs one hour to set up. Putting it in was about 1.5 hours but I also cleaned all the trim pieces before putting it back in.

If you have a power rachet like this it helps a great deal but it is not necessary



Definitely, disconnect the battery first there are a lot of connectors to pull apart, that is what the small flat blade is for. You can move the shifter with the key in after disconnecting the battery.

If you take your time it is an easy 1 job and it is under $150 with the plastic staple gun and supplies. If you get the power rachet it is an additional $150.

 

[Meccanoble]

As described in video, you only see hair lines. Looking at mine, thats a big improvement. Definitely looking forward to your feedback to see how well it takes over time

 

[2011SSVHOE]

How do you know how far to imbed the staple?

What if you heat it up and you go to deep?

Just asking. Great job.

 

[Costal_Cat]

As described in video, you only see hair lines. Looking at mine, thats a big improvement. Definitely looking forward to your feedback to see how well it takes over time

Yep exactly much better than it was. If it holds it works and is cheaper then a replacement. Plus I find now that I have done this anything I need to do in the dash area I'm comfortable with. I will post an update after 1,000 miles...

 

[Costal_Cat]

How do you know how far to imbed the staple?

What if you heat it up and you go to deep?

Just asking. Great job.

Thanks! I see your in NC I'm down on the coast in EI

Yea that was the tricky part. I first tested with some other material to get a feel for how fast this heated up. It does have a heat adjustment dial so you can tweak it a little with that. What I found is that if you lay the staple on the surface pull the trigger to start the heat as soon as it starts to melt let off the trigger and then wait 10-15 secs for it to cool and that worked fine. This was at the 1/2 mark on the heat dial. Once you get a couple done you kinda get a feel for it and can move pretty quickly.. My wife actually brought me a shelf from the fridge and I was able to repair that so I have wife approval of the tool purchase which is always a good thing!

Oh, and the tool comes with several staple types for flat and curved surfaces so you have a lot of choices.

 

[Unit171]

I’ve been looking at doing this on my wife’s Tahoe. Thanks for the posts

 

[2011SSVHOE]

I'm down on the coast in EI

EI, might that be Emerald Isle?

 

[PatDTN]

I really need to do this repair. My concern is my Dash is so broken it may not come out whole.

 

[Costal_Cat]

EI, might that be Emerald Isle?

That would be the one...

 

[Costal_Cat]

I really need to do this repair. My concern is my Dash is so broken it may not come out whole.

You know the things are pretty tough I was concerned that I would make mine worse getting it out but it didn't. I will say recruiting someone to help with the removal is a good idea. That way you can have some support on the passenger side while you wrestle it around the steering wheel and shifter.

 

[Costal_Cat]

Quick update...

I found that my clock on the head unit kept saying 12:00 and I could not adjust the day when I went to the menu. I never use the NAV but I finally checked that screen and there was a GPS Symbol with a red line thru it. So I checked my connections under the front dash cover, which goes up to the windshield and very easy to pop off no bolts, everything was fine. So I pulled the head unit back out, again very easy remove the trim and then a few of the 7mm bolts. I noticed that the blue antenna connector which is the GPS came off very easy as if maybe it did not click in so I inserted again until I felt the click. Turned on the unit and still had the GPS with the redline. Yet I noticed that the map knew exactly where I was located. So I went into the menu selected points of interest (POI) and selected the first gas station on the list. Once I did that the time appeared on the unit (not adj for DST) and when I got back to the main nav screen the GPS symbol was gone. I was then able to set the date and time correctly. I turned off the vehicle and back on and the time kept and all was fine.

So just an FYI if you try this and get a GPS error.

 

[Kirth Gersen]

What's causing these cracks on relatively new vehicles? Sunlight? Would a dash cover have prevented this?

 

[gmtk]

Great post, thanks. Doing this next month.

 

[iamdub]

Quick update...

I found that my clock on the head unit kept saying 12:00 and I could not adjust the day when I went to the menu. I never use the NAV but I finally checked that screen and there was a GPS Symbol with a red line thru it. So I checked my connections under the front dash cover, which goes up to the windshield and very easy to pop off no bolts, everything was fine. So I pulled the head unit back out, again very easy remove the trim and then a few of the 7mm bolts. I noticed that the blue antenna connector which is the GPS came off very easy as if maybe it did not click in so I inserted again until I felt the click. Turned on the unit and still had the GPS with the redline. Yet I noticed that the map knew exactly where I was located. So I went into the menu selected points of interest (POI) and selected the first gas station on the list. Once I did that the time appeared on the unit (not adj for DST) and when I got back to the main nav screen the GPS symbol was gone. I was then able to set the date and time correctly. I turned off the vehicle and back on and the time kept and all was fine.

So just an FYI if you try this and get a GPS error.

Yup. If there is no GPS signal, the clock will always reset to 12:00. I upgraded my OEM radio to an OEM Nav unit. I didn't care for the OEM Nav function, but I bought an antenna just so the clock would work. I didn't do any POI or nav functions when I first hooked mine up. I just drove for a couple of minutes until it established a signal.

 

[iamdub]

What's causing these cracks on relatively new vehicles? Sunlight? Would a dash cover have prevented this?

Large, unsupported area. The plastic being made brittle with age and/or exposure to UV and/or extreme temps exacerbates the issue. A dash cover may make it worse by holding heat under it. I've always told myself that if I had a dash that hadn't cracked yet, I'd slip a couple of gallon-sized or maybe 3 or 4 quart-sized Ziploc bags inside the middle of the dash under that big unsupported area and squirt some expanding foam sealant into them.

 

[Costal_Cat]

Large, unsupported area. The plastic being made brittle with age and/or exposure to UV and/or extreme temps exacerbates the issue. A dash cover may make it worse by holding heat under it. I've always told myself that if I had a dash that hadn't cracked yet, I'd slip a couple of gallon-sized or maybe 3 or 4 quart-sized Ziploc bags inside the middle of the dash under that big unsupported area and squirt some expanding foam sealant into them.

You know that would not be a bad idea really. There is so much empty space in there. I added some foam and such that only helps so much...

 

[iamdub]

You know that would not be a bad idea really. There is so much empty space in there. I added some foam and such that only helps so much...

Your foam is probably doing just as well if it's placed in the right areas and if it stays put.

My thoughts with the expanding foam is that it would fill in and take the shape of the surrounding areas, securing it into place while forming a "custom-shaped support". Putting it in bags keeps it from sticking to everything (especially wire harnesses) should the dash ever need to be disassembled.

 

[PatDTN]

Expanding foam could too easily go too far and destroy your dash.

Pat in Tennessee