Ok, I saw that everyone else was having cracked dash issues and thought WOW, I must have gotten a good year! WRONG!!!! Now I have so many other issues with this damn truck, whats one more right??? 2 cracks...one dead center and the other in the tray on the driver side. A buddy of mine has a 2002 and his was cracked too! He called Dodge and they told him that if he paid the deductible that they would put in the new dash. So, for $200 you can have a new dash put into the truck...but you can't have the option of it being the right color I guess. The dealer installed it after having it for a full day and didn't tell him that his once all black dash now is GREY but only where the cracks formed. He now has a grey top and all black interior...
I had this truck maintained fairly routinely and meticulously. Just the other day, I went out to do my weekly look-over and a crack appeared from the front of the dash directly over the steering wheel, all the way to the windshield.
Has anyone had any luck in getting Dodge to cough up the repair for this one?
Like so many others on this site, I have noticed within the past week that I have HUGE cracks developing on either side of my dash! The truck has always had exceptional care and I am always getting comments that it looks like a much newer truck. UNBELIEVABLE!! This is my second Dodge diesel truck, and although I love the Cummings engine, I have had interior and trim problems on both!... With that in mind (and considering the current finacial crisis of Dodge), this will almost certainly be the last Chrysler product I purchase! Once I have estimates for repair casts I will post those.
Update from Jul 14, 2009: Well, the first estimate I received indicated that the part alone was in excess of $1100.00! Estimated labor was from $600.00 to $700.00! The body shop owner showed me on the exploded diagram that the dash cap and the instrument panel were a one piece part. This means that everything has to come of of the old instrument panel (gauge cluster, radio. AC vents, on-and-on!) and then be reinstalled on the new dash/instrument panel! This is even a far greater problem than I originally assumed!... You can, however, purchase plastic dash covers (overlays) that match the dash and glue over the cracked top part. They appear (in the photos) to look like a new dash. Price on these runs $100 to $300. This may be an option. The links for a couple of these companies are:
http://www.partspros.com/7002305.html
http://www.partspros.com/7002307.html
http://www.carandtruckupholstery.com/p-3876-2003-2005-dodge-ram-pickup-front-dash-cap.aspx
http://www.stockinteriors.com/DashCaps.asp?ItemId=11149
Check into them!
It is so nice that here over how many years has dodge had cracked dashes and yet it is still happening.. I bought this truck from dodge as a certified used truck in 2005 and have had nothing but trouble with it and now the all mighty dash cracking problem and the damn truck is barely 6 years old.. THIS IS A BIG LOAD OF CRAP AND I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER DODGE AGAIN!! THE ONLY THING THE RAM HAS EVER HAD GOING FOR IT IS THE CUMMINS MOTOR!!!!!!
- evaughn,
Fordland, MO, US
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The dashboard in my Ram 3500 is cracked. This is the second Dodge Ram that had this problem not worth fixing with all of the other problems with the truck.
Update from Sep 14, 2009: started with a little crack then became many big ones. i feel this is a safety problem when sharp pieces of dash come flying through the cab. if i was in an accident the air bags would throw these in my passengers face. After careful thought i used window sealant and it stopped cracking.
This being the first Dodge I have ever owned I must say that I am not at all thrilled with how the interior has held up. I am starting to feel like I am riding around in a big plastic Tonka truck that is 5 Christmases old. I love the Cummings motor. But until they let us know that they have corrected the problem (which they most likely won't because that would be to admit there was a problem in the first place and open themselves up to a class action lawsuit) buyer be ware
I have a 2003 3500 crew cab with about 55K miles on it. This weekend it started Cracking in the dashboard. Not only am I still paying on the $40K+ vehicle but I also have the extended warranty. So far the dealership is giving us the run around about one it being covered and two telling us that they don't know if their will be a cost or not. If you go on line tons of 1500 owners are reporting this as a problem in the 01 and my truck is newer.... can you imagine what it will look like in 2 more years. Plus I've read that Dodge don't want to issue a recall because it isn't a big enough problem. WHAT? My dashboard is cracking that's a big problem. If anyone else has heard of this or have found a way to get Dodge of their A## and do what they need to be doing please let me know. This should and NEEDS to be a recall at no cost the the customers.
OK, I thought I was one of the few with this Cracked Dash problem.
I'm very supprised to see this problem from the 01 Ram 1500 up through my 03 Ram 3500. They must make this hard dash out of some
cheap crap! I have the extended warranty and it appears this is not
covered based on the complaints I read on this site. My Dash cracked in 2 places last week, I mean all the way across. If this
is not covered and they think I'm paying 400.00 for another
defective piece of crap to put in place of this one they are wrong. I really like my truck but I sold my Ford truck to buy
this Dodge and my Ford had 235000 mi with 12 years of exposure to the dash and guess what? NO CRACKS! I know my Dodge is assembled
in Mexico, maybe the dash is made of Tortilla shells! Hello?
This sucks, it's inferior and they should do something about it!
jwb063
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Constant issue with dodge. they need to fix it. A cracked dash poses problems with accidents and passenger safety.
- Brandon M., Oakdale, CA, US