Dashboard cracked ...

[Ron C]

Hello,

maybe the TX heat was a little too much. My dashboard cracked, from the left front corner of the airbag, to the front, it's about an inche, inch and a half long. when pushed together you can't really see it, maybe it was already there, and just never noticed.

Is there a permanent and easy fix for that?

thanks,

Ron

 

[fiatdale]

They all do it. You can either buy the cover or replace the entire piece. Where in TX are you, I do these all the time

 

[Ron C]

They all do it. You can either buy the cover or replace the entire piece. Where in TX are you, I do these all the time

I was in TX, road trip visiting my sister. I am in NM .. but in TX every few months

Ron

BTW: it is not the front panel, that would just be too easy, it's the part that wraps around the whole darn dash.

 

[Ron C]

I found a youtube video .. that shows how to do it.

step 1: Take everything off the front that is not the dash board
step 2: .....

Ron

 

[2011SSVHOE]

Yep Ron, that's the video you plastic weld it. Just hope you don't get any squeak or rattles when you put it back together.

 

[Xray70]

My dashboard cracked a few years ago and I paid for a new one from the dealership....now today I have 2 new smaller cracks


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[992dr]

Yep Ron, that's the video you plastic weld it. Just hope you don't get any squeak or rattles when you put it back together.

That's what makes me weary to replace my dash. I cant stand squeaks.

 

[Ron C]

My dashboard cracked a few years ago and I paid for a new one from the dealership....now today I have 2 new smaller cracks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah that's why I am looking into maybe something "easier" but of course that never works and I don't feel like spending the price for the dash, and installation costs and have the problem 2 years from now again.

I think it is heat related.. because sometimes the gap wiil close, when it is warmer and the sun is on it

Ron

 

[2011SSVHOE]

Chalk it up to the aging process of any vehicle. Yes it sucks that the accountants got involved and told the engineers to reduce the amount of plastic that they could use. Just to save 3 cents on each vehicle, but from a bean counters standpoint that's a lot of money. Oh but wait how much did GM waste on warranty claims. In my book that translates to a bunch of dumb asses. Remember this, the guy that designed that dash didn't graduate at the top of his class, you get what you pay for. Low paid engineers, = low quality products.

 

[Rocket Man]

Super common problem on all the NNBS GM SUV’s and pickups. I tried the hot staple method on my 08 Silvy but the plastic was too brittle and it just kept cracking, as well as the flat piece in front of the dash that surrounds the vents by the windshield. That one broke when I was removing it to take the damn dash out. I replaced both pieces and they were over $700 together. I’m going to tint the windshield before next summer to keep the sun off it.

 

[iamdub]

Yeah that's why I am looking into maybe something "easier" but of course that never works and I don't feel like spending the price for the dash, and installation costs and have the problem 2 years from now again.

I think it is heat related.. because sometimes the gap wiil close, when it is warmer and the sun is on it

Ron

Heat triggers the problem by making the plastic brittle. But, the root problem is lack of support. That wide area between the cluster hump and passenger airbag doesn't have enough support ribs to keep the plastic from flexing. The left and right ~25% of the dash doesn't have enough area to flex so the cracks form where the flexing part meets the non-flexing part: On the left side of the gauge cluster and on the left front corner of the passenger airbag. Sure, more cracks develop elsewhere but these are pretty much guaranteed. I think the dash has been revised to include more ribs/webbing for the center area. It may or may not have a new part number.

 

[Rocket Man]

Heat triggers the problem by making the plastic brittle. But, the root problem is lack of support. That wide area between the cluster hump and passenger airbag doesn't have enough support ribs to keep the plastic from flexing. The left and right ~25% of the dash doesn't have enough area to flex so the cracks form where the flexing part meets the non-flexing part: On the left side of the gauge cluster and on the left front corner of the passenger airbag. Sure, more cracks develop elsewhere but these are pretty much guaranteed. I think the dash has been revised to include more ribs/webbing for the center area. It may or may not have a new part number.

My 02 has practically no support either but you never see them cracking, so IMO it’s more the quality of the plastic. I’m thinking they used a lot of recycled material in these. The stuff was so brittle it broke from just barely moving it where my 02 is 6 years older and when I was working on it, it felt more flexible and never cracked at all.

 

[iamdub]

My 02 has practically no support either but you never see them cracking, so IMO it’s more the quality of the plastic. I’m thinking they used a lot of recycled material in these. The stuff was so brittle it broke from just barely moving it where my 02 is 6 years older and when I was working on it, it felt more flexible and never cracked at all.

Hmmm... Looking at it from that perspective, I'd have to agree. It's incorrect to say that the root problem is the lack of support. The extra support is actually needed only because of the cheap plastic material. So, the root problem is the material used as it doesn't age well which is further exacerbated by heat (and/or UV?) exposure.

I'm looking at it in the sense that we can't change WHAT the dash is made of. We can only reinforce it so that what it IS made of doesn't bend.

When you got that new dash, did you notice if there was more webbing underneath it?

 

[Rocket Man]

Hmmm... Looking at it from that perspective, I'd have to agree. It's incorrect to say that the root problem is the lack of support. The extra support is actually needed only because of the cheap plastic material. So, the root problem is the material used as it doesn't age well which is further exacerbated by heat (and/or UV?) exposure.

I'm looking at it in the sense that we can't change WHAT the dash is made of. We can only reinforce it so that what it IS made of doesn't bend.

When you got that new dash, did you notice if there was more webbing underneath it?

There was a little bit extra in one area by the airbag I believe but IMO not enough of a change to help much but who knows, it might.

 

[RichardCranium]

The cracks don't bother me since this is my 2nd Tahoe of this body style (and I have both cracks listed in my sig ). I've been considering a soft dash cover though, not only to cover the cracks and prevent more.......but to cut out dashboard glare. My 35% windshield tint helped drastically with that, but it'd certainly help more. I'm just waiting for someone to post about getting one and them being completely happy with what product they purchased....

 

[Ron C]

would be interesting to see if one could glue something underneath to bridge the gap and hold it together. However I don't want to start messing with it if I get glue coming out that crack and also, if I strengthen that part, that there is another next weakest spot/link that might crack and would be more difficult to fix.

If anyone successfully mitigated the crack appearing on the front left corner, I'd like to hear (that is without taking the dash out)

thanks,

Ron

 

[Doubeleive]

I figure if I ever buy a replacement dash I am going to epoxy some of those red cheese sticks, popsicle sticks or something similar to all the weak spots underneath before it gets put in, mine has the center speaker and the edges around it are very thin and have broke primarily I figure because the center speaker has no support underneath it so it just bounces up and down, I pulled the speaker and put padding underneath it so it no longer moves at all.

 

[XEALOT]

Have any of you guys heard of dash flocking? If I was going to do anything to remedy cracks and glare, I think it would be something like this.

 

[992dr]

That looks good. Hey if its good enough for Rally drivers, its good enough for me, hah.
I just dread the task of removing the dash itself. Not going to be a fun project.

 

[Doubeleive]

looks like it would be impossible to keep clean dust would just settle in and stay

 

[Ron C]

looks like it would be impossible to keep clean dust would just settle in and stay

yeah.. and it looks like you have to fix the crack to begin with .. plus.. I don't see how it would prevent cracks and therefor even prevent them.

Ron