papaman
Member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2011
- Posts
- 66
- Reaction score
- 9
the entire center part of my dash had turned into it's own floppy piece that continually flapped going down the road for months, so i decided to try and repair it this weekend.
i don't feel like spending ~$500 to get the two dash pieces, so i opted to try and epoxy it all back together.
i used two packages of gorilla glue two part clear epoxy, and it seems to be holding up fine.
some things i wish i knew before i got started:
- i've never pulled an air bag before, and was not familiar with the harness. i had to pull the red "pin" from the top of the harness, and then you can unclip it like any other harness.
- there are many different style harnesses you have to unclip (i'm mainly used to the square/rectangular ones), so i had to take a break here and there to find out how to unclip some of them.
- i should have taken a piece of cardboard and put the screws into a map of sorts so that i would have been sure that i put all the screws back in. i may or may not have had extra screws when i was done..... :/
first thing i did was to put my truck in gear (d), but then i wasn't able to take the keys out. good thing i didn't need my keys during the process. then i pulled the negative cable off the battery.
i followed this video that i found through another post on this forum:
the rest is just screws and bolts - somewhat straightforward if you watch the video. i'm sure there's an easy way, but i had to manhandle the dash to get it out of the truck. i'm surprised it didn't break any more just trying to get it out. i wish there was a video tutorial showing how to take out the dash and put it back in. i finally was able to manage it though.
once i got part way in to the removal, i found out just how bad the cracks were.
top left part of passenger airbag:
top right part of passenger airbag:
right of gps antenna:
top left of center speaker:
above/behind instrument cluster:
lots of epoxy was used around the airbag hole. there was a lot of plastic missing:
the crack next to the gps antenna took a lot of epoxy - it never did cure just right. had to use zip ties to hold the dash in place while it cured:
again, this single piece is huge. glad my son was able to help me get it in and out of the truck:
for a diy'er, the inside can look a little intimidating once the dash is out:
all in all, i'm glad i tried it. it took me just over two hours to remove, a little over 2 hours to install, and a 2 hour break in the middle to apply epoxy, let it dry, and make lunch. i'm sure when i finally decide to spend the coin and replace it altogether that it will go a lot quicker. any competent tech should be able to do the swap in half a day if a novice like me can knock this out.
the end result is fine for me. there is some spots on the surface of the dash where the cracks don't line up perfectly, and some other spots where the clear epoxy came through. you'd only really notice if you know what to look for when it comes to cracked dashes.
i thought about hot stapling like the youtube video shows, but that's another $100+ to get a decent hot stapler. if i'm spending over $100 then i'd just buy the replacement dash parts. the good thing is with my el cheap-o method, the cracks no longer rattle of flap - which was my end goal.
i guess i should probably get some "after" photos as well. i'll do that in the next day or two.
i don't feel like spending ~$500 to get the two dash pieces, so i opted to try and epoxy it all back together.
i used two packages of gorilla glue two part clear epoxy, and it seems to be holding up fine.
some things i wish i knew before i got started:
- i've never pulled an air bag before, and was not familiar with the harness. i had to pull the red "pin" from the top of the harness, and then you can unclip it like any other harness.
- there are many different style harnesses you have to unclip (i'm mainly used to the square/rectangular ones), so i had to take a break here and there to find out how to unclip some of them.
- i should have taken a piece of cardboard and put the screws into a map of sorts so that i would have been sure that i put all the screws back in. i may or may not have had extra screws when i was done..... :/
first thing i did was to put my truck in gear (d), but then i wasn't able to take the keys out. good thing i didn't need my keys during the process. then i pulled the negative cable off the battery.
i followed this video that i found through another post on this forum:
the rest is just screws and bolts - somewhat straightforward if you watch the video. i'm sure there's an easy way, but i had to manhandle the dash to get it out of the truck. i'm surprised it didn't break any more just trying to get it out. i wish there was a video tutorial showing how to take out the dash and put it back in. i finally was able to manage it though.
once i got part way in to the removal, i found out just how bad the cracks were.
top left part of passenger airbag:
top right part of passenger airbag:
right of gps antenna:
top left of center speaker:
above/behind instrument cluster:
lots of epoxy was used around the airbag hole. there was a lot of plastic missing:
the crack next to the gps antenna took a lot of epoxy - it never did cure just right. had to use zip ties to hold the dash in place while it cured:
again, this single piece is huge. glad my son was able to help me get it in and out of the truck:
for a diy'er, the inside can look a little intimidating once the dash is out:
all in all, i'm glad i tried it. it took me just over two hours to remove, a little over 2 hours to install, and a 2 hour break in the middle to apply epoxy, let it dry, and make lunch. i'm sure when i finally decide to spend the coin and replace it altogether that it will go a lot quicker. any competent tech should be able to do the swap in half a day if a novice like me can knock this out.
the end result is fine for me. there is some spots on the surface of the dash where the cracks don't line up perfectly, and some other spots where the clear epoxy came through. you'd only really notice if you know what to look for when it comes to cracked dashes.
i thought about hot stapling like the youtube video shows, but that's another $100+ to get a decent hot stapler. if i'm spending over $100 then i'd just buy the replacement dash parts. the good thing is with my el cheap-o method, the cracks no longer rattle of flap - which was my end goal.
i guess i should probably get some "after" photos as well. i'll do that in the next day or two.
