This showed up today 

 

 

Anybody replace one of these, just inquiring any tips of tricks to make this go smoothly, Ive watched a couple YouTube videos that remove the whole dash from vehicle and install it out of the truck, I would be fine with that but being winter time it’s kind of tight in the garage with not a lot of room to pull a dash frame out 

I have one from LMC  stored in my trailer that will be install when the rest of the stereo parts get here next week.

I did this dash in my 2000, and it’s the last time. Not because it’s difficult, but because it’s time consuming I don’t have the patience or right personality to deal very well with a lot of small parts (screws and bolts etc). Only advice, replace everything you can while you’re in there (heater core, evap, blend door, actuator, and clean out the drain port going through the fire wall) 

I put the LMC in mine 4 years or so back and it has well. I did not remove the whole dash. Just took the passenger side loose and hung it from the grab handle. It worked just fine though there are 3 screws on the drivers side that are to get to. I also rebuilt the hvac box. Used all the old parts except for the heater core and evaporator. I also put new foam an the doors and a Heater Treater connector for the blend. It has worked fine until the blend door actuator failed a couple months ago.. Used this for a guide.

The only other part that failed was the main vacuum line where it passes thru the fire wall. It would be wise to replace that line. My thinking is that the line is right above the turbo and I believe off of it made the plastic brittle and it broke. Since it failed about 4 years after I did the box I just a new line thru the firewall on the drivers side to the hvac selector. Never understood why Dodge ran the oe line across the fire wall just bring it back to the drivers side.

Edited January 12, 20214 yr by dripley

I did this ^^^ a few years ago too, I may take a peak at things while I have the dash apart,  really not planning on doing heater core and evaporater again, but will see what things look like when it’s apart even though it’s all operating fine. I busted up my dash a little more than it already was when I was doing the heater core last time.  

On 1/11/2021 at 10:22 PM, dripley said:

Since it failed about 4 years after I did the box I just a new line thru the firewall on the drivers side to the hvac selector. Never understood why Dodge ran the oe line across the fire wall just bring it back to the drivers side.

Ditto. Made no sense to me either. Could have saved a penny or more per truck, surprising the difference that makes. I think 13 cents is what saved the LH platform. (intrepids and such)

 

 

 

I don't see why you can't just undo all the top bolts/screws and just roll the dash back on its pivots. Is more room needed than that allows?

 

Dash is honestly not hard to remove once the seats are out which takes all of 15 minutes, unbolting the center console helps significantly. I made all of my extra wiring so it will be disconnectable at near the factory collections for easy future service.

I put the Geno's version in my truck. I did not remove complete dash nor the seats. Just laid the column down, then the dash rolled forward.

7 hours ago, That Guy said:

I don't see why you can't just undo all the top bolts/screws and just roll the dash back on its pivots. Is more room needed than that allows?

The screws that attach the dash pad to the dash were the hard one for me. I dont think you can roll it back far enough to get to them. You would have to reach over and back to the dash to loosen them. I took off after removing the HVAC box. Between that and the dash being busted it was easy to remove. Getting them back was not hard until you get near the drivers side. I left the dash hanging on the drivers pivot so it was pretty tight for the last 2 or 3 screws.

1 hour ago, LorenS said:

I put the Geno's version in my truck. I did not remove complete dash nor the seats. Just laid the column down, then the dash rolled forward.

Did it roll forward enough to remove and replace the screws at the dash? Did not look like it would on mine. But that was a good while ago when I did mine.

13 hours ago, dripley said:

Did it roll forward enough to remove and replace the screws at the dash?

I guess it did, all the screws are in. All I really remember is that it didn't get removed from the truck and replaced the heater core over the dash, from the passenger seat. Of course the core was replaced after busting out the test of the broken dash and before the new went in!

15 hours ago, LorenS said:

I guess it did, all the screws are in. All I really remember is that it didn't get removed from the truck and replaced the heater core over the dash, from the passenger seat. Of course the core was replaced after busting out the test of the broken dash and before the new went in!

I did not remove the dash either but did take the passenger side loose to remove the HVAC box from the truck. It has been a while since I did it but I cant for the life of me figure out how the dash would roll back far enough to attach the dash pad to it then roll it back into place and attach it to the windshield. But it has been a while since I was in there. If I ever have do it again that would make the dash replacement much easier.

I’m on the putting back together stage, and by just rolling the dash forward and letting it pivot on both sides and letting Steering column rest on the seat seems to be sufficient

I also found it easier to just remove the crossover defroster ducts from the HVAC assembly, it’s only 3 screws and then fasten it to the underside of new dash before installing it n the truck, it’s a lot easier to get all 16 screws in that hold the vents to the dash

Like I said its been 6 or 7 years since l did mine. I remember having to install a lot of the screws from the backside. But if this works who am l to say it wont. Good job both if you.