Front Dash Crack

[Boyd]

My 09 Tahoe LTZ dash has not cracked, but I may know why. I'm the second owner, at some point the first owner had the dash apart. The clip in the middle of the dash, by the center speaker, broke off (it clips to the smaller part of the dash for the defroster vents. So since that part of the wasn't clipped, the 2 parts move separately. I added a foam block under the broken clip just forward of the center speaker, because it just flexed up and down so bad. I've had it like this for well over a year and so far, no cracks. I believe the clips that hold the smaller part to the large part of the dash is what causes the cracks to start in the first place, because that small part doesn't flex much because it's small, and it pushes down on the large, mostly unsupported parts of the dash, and it just flops up and down and wears out like a credit card does when you fold and flex them. This is just a theory of mine.

Mike, that makes perfect sense to me. I more or less came to that same conclusion about a year ago on my Yukon. I was changing out my center speaker and I could not believe the lack of support under a dash that size. I'm off for the day so I think I do just what you did. Thank you for sharing!

 

[09 L9H]

My 09 Tahoe LTZ dash has not cracked, but I may know why. I'm the second owner, at some point the first owner had the dash apart. The clip in the middle of the dash, by the center speaker, broke off (it clips to the smaller part of the dash for the defroster vents. So since that part of the wasn't clipped, the 2 parts move separately. I added a foam block under the broken clip just forward of the center speaker, because it just flexed up and down so bad. I've had it like this for well over a year and so far, no cracks. I believe the clips that hold the smaller part to the large part of the dash is what causes the cracks to start in the first place, because that small part doesn't flex much because it's small, and it pushes down on the large, mostly unsupported parts of the dash, and it just flops up and down and wears out like a credit card does when you fold and flex them. This is just a theory of mine.

This is a good idea... My dash is cracked in like three different places and it was like that when I bought it (I'm the 3rd owner). Salesman told me "it's only a $300 part." Yeah right. Dealership quote was about $1100 to fix it. Still haven't done anything about it, but might see if I can get GM to cover part of the cost. I don't know if anyone has had success recently, but I might as well try.

 

[Meccanoble]

So I went and purchased a second car (09 Lexus RX350 second gen) and they had an infamous dash cracking issue as well. Safety wasnt as much of an issue but the cracks were hideous and I guess harder to hide than on the GMC's. Regardless, they had an extended warranty for their dash and have been honoring and supporting their customers way better than GMC has. In fact, my just purchased car from Lexus has a few small cracks (not as bad as others I've seen) but they already agreed to have me bring my car in and get some pictures taken so they can get it replaced. I assume the rest of the process will go smoothly but regardless, I'm seeing a much better effort from them and this generation of car is from 04-09, older than our GMC's. Shame on you GMC!

 

[Rocket Man]

So I went and purchased a second car (09 Lexus RX350 second gen) and they had an infamous dash cracking issue as well. Safety wasnt as much of an issue but the cracks were hideous and I guess harder to hide than on the GMC's. Regardless, they had an extended warranty for their dash and have been honoring and supporting their customers way better than GMC has. In fact, my just purchased car from Lexus has a few small cracks (not as bad as others I've seen) but they already agreed to have me bring my car in and get some pictures taken so they can get it replaced. I assume the rest of the process will go smoothly but regardless, I'm seeing a much better effort from them and this generation of car is from 04-09, older than our GMC's. Shame on you GMC!

Lexus is a luxury car that you pay more for up front. If this was happening to the Escalades I think GM would be more likely to fix it but I haven’t heard of the dash cracks happening to them.

 

[dnt1010]

New member here. Hello Everyone. I have a High mileage 2009 Tahoe with 2 dash cracks one at left of pass airbag and one at base of cowl drivers side. Seems to be the most common spots. I saw an older post from a mattjones (2015 I think?) on using a permatex plastic weld product for dash cracks. I was really curious if it had been tried by others and what the long term results were? My Tahoe is almost 10 yrs old and with a lot of miles so I am sure the dealership would only laugh at the request of a replacement dash. I would like to make the crack stay together and not spread too much more. If anyone has tried the permatex and had success please post a reply. I pulled the permatex pic from mattjones post. I added a couple of pics of the existing cracks.

View attachment 211656 View attachment 211656

 

[Rocket Man]

New member here. Hello Everyone. I have a High mileage 2009 Tahoe with 2 dash cracks one at left of pass airbag and one at base of cowl drivers side. Seems to be the most common spots. I saw an older post from a mattjones (2015 I think?) on using a permatex plastic weld product for dash cracks. I was really curious if it had been tried by others and what the long term results were? My Tahoe is almost 10 yrs old and with a lot of miles so I am sure the dealership would only laugh at the request of a replacement dash. I would like to make the crack stay together and not spread too much more. If anyone has tried the permatex and had success please post a reply. I pulled the permatex pic from mattjones post. I added a couple of pics of the existing cracks.

View attachment 211655 View attachment 211656 View attachment 211656

Personally I don’t see that working based on my experience. I used a plastic stapler that melts staples into it from the backside, topped off with epoxy similar to that as well as reinforcing steel rods. The cracks were still barely visible but I would have been ok with them. But a week later a new crack appeared. The plastic had just gotten brittle. I mean, you can always try it but keep in mind it’s a ***** to pull the dash out and put it back in. Check out this guys video on the repair but keep in mind he makes it look super easy. It’s not lol.

 

[shreksbrother]

Personally I don’t see that working based on my experience. I used a plastic stapler that melts staples into it from the backside, topped off with epoxy similar to that as well as reinforcing steel rods. The cracks were still barely visible but I would have been ok with them. But a week later a new crack appeared. The plastic had just gotten brittle. I mean, you can always try it but keep in mind it’s a ***** to pull the dash out and put it back in. Check out this guys video on the repair but keep in mind he makes it look super easy. It’s not lol.

I would be infinitely pissed if I plastic stapled it all together only to have a new crack appear a short time later. I think I'm going to try one of those plastic dash caps... Has anyone actually tried one?

Sent from my Galaxy Note9 using Tapatalk

 

[Rocket Man]

I would be infinitely pissed if I plastic stapled it all together only to have a new crack appear a short time later. I think I'm going to try one of those plastic dash caps.

Sent from my Galaxy Note9 using Tapatalk

Hell yes I was pissed. And on my Silverado I had to drop the steering column to get the dash in and out. Plus the first time I removed the flat panel that goes between the windshield and dash, half the clips broke off as well as a whole corner of it. That part is another $250-300. I also tried to repair it. No way. It kept breaking. Brittle as hell. All told it cost me $600-700 plus days of work. I returned the plastic stapler otherwise that would have been another $100. It was my Silvy which is more of a show truck than a daily so I put new parts in, and the windshield is getting tinted to keep the UV to a minimum.

 

[dnt1010]

Great video I think that guy has done a few of these before. I have pulled the dash out of a grand cherokee once and said never again LOL. to the poeple that would want to do this, that video is invaluable. I think that I am going to try the glue wihtout pulling the dash. If I painters tape off the area maybe it will come out 1/2 way neat LOL it has to look better than the piece sticking up and out of alignment. That is what bothers me. Worst case if it really turns out bad THEN I will replace with a new dash piece but I doubt that it will EVER bother me that much (maybe)

 

[wjoutlaw]

New member here. Hello Everyone. I have a High mileage 2009 Tahoe with 2 dash cracks one at left of pass airbag and one at base of cowl drivers side. Seems to be the most common spots. I saw an older post from a mattjones (2015 I think?) on using a permatex plastic weld product for dash cracks. I was really curious if it had been tried by others and what the long term results were? My Tahoe is almost 10 yrs old and with a lot of miles so I am sure the dealership would only laugh at the request of a replacement dash. I would like to make the crack stay together and not spread too much more. If anyone has tried the permatex and had success please post a reply. I pulled the permatex pic from mattjones post. I added a couple of pics of the existing cracks.

View attachment 211655 View attachment 211656 View attachment 211656

Yeah, I tried the plastic weld Permatex stuff and it just cracked again along the same crack. I just said screw it and got a dash mat of Amazon. Not gonna pour money into a 10 going on 11 year old vehicle.