There was never enough media coverage. Local television will never get this corrected by all affected. There are so many out there that do not even know that it was defective in the first place. 60 Minutes, not local should help. Just because you have mileage and it is out of warranty is no reason for Dodge to not step up and do something positive out of a negative situation. Speak up, this is not right. No matter what is said this is a safety hazard. Sharp edges, what if someone does have a wreck and it has affected the air bags.

What if someone has a wreck and alot of bodily damage could have been prevented if someone had only spoken up. I am not concerned about the cosmetics of the vehicle, it is a hazard and yes, an eye sore as well.

Well for starters, I have been noticing a global warming effect on my dash. It looks like a ice cube on a hot day, cracks everywere. Such an eye sore. Dodge dealer wanted close to 1,200 to fix both de-frost grille plate and the upper dash-board. Did tons of research, and cannot find any cheap or cheaper replacements. It is so annyoing. I love this truck, but as for the piece of sh*t dash, thats another story. I have put up sunshades and dash carpeted caps to protect it and nothing. Just cracking like a MoFo. But Dodge needs to own up on there mess and fix that ABS plastic know as a dash board.

We noticed the crack starting Nov 2011. It has now progressed from front to back on the dashboard. I notified Chrysler at their 800 number and was turned away because I am the fourth owner of this truck. This truck was very well taken care of Laramie package and I decided to buy it because of its condition and low mileage (61,000 in 2010). I guess I should consider myself lucky that this happened 10 years into the life of the truck unlike many others that found themselves having to fight with Chrysler even when it should have been covered under warranty. After extensive research I have found this is obviously a material defect or flaw in their ABS plastic manufacturing for many years of truck and should have been addressed by Chrysler. Unlike a lawyer that works for Chrysler I would argue that this is a major safety issue. If the dashboard cracks and disintegrates under normal conditions, good sense would show it will be worse in the event of an accident and cause schrapnel that could be propelled by the airbags causing more injuries than it should.

Dealer was not interested in helping. Fortunately they lost there dealership when Dodge downsized. I hated them. The Chrysler Dealer that is now the Dodge Dealer is better and empathetic, but still no repair. I have also had shatter valve springs and recently a failed abs differential sensor. I had check engine warning light that a Good Year dealer finally fixed after giving two Dodge dealers $250 with no results. it was a vacuum leak. Both dealers knew what it was but the mechanics were too lazy to look for it. all they do is easter egg hunt for problems. not ability to trouble shoot. If the computer code wasn't there the dealer could not fix anything.

I found out about the many owners who have this problem just as I was considering a new Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn. Now I am looking at Toyota.

Update from Mar 5, 2012: After my call to Dodge, they promised to try to help, but I must first have an estimate done at a local Dodge dealer. To fix it they want $2,129.87 which is $1,257.87 for the part and $109.00 per hour for 8 hours. By the way the 3 different people I talk with all agreed the part is still thew same one...defective. It makes absolutely no sense to spend any money on something that will brake again.

An update will follow when and if they offer any financial assistance by way of a reduction of the part price and/or the labor cost. I will also call NHTSA just to voice my displeasure.

Update from Mar 13, 2012: My case # with Dodge Ram is 21938921 and the guy handling it is Simon 866 726-4636 ext 4718177. That's the longest extension I have ever seen, but it works...sometimes.

Simon offered to have the dash fixed for $300, but admitted after I pressed him that the replacement parts are still the same defective ones. They may crack just like the originals. It appears Chrysler just refuses to accept responsibility for this problem and are hoping it just goes away.

After checking the alternatives with suppliers that claim their dashes have a chemical added to keep them from cracking, I decided to agree to have the Dodge people fix it for $300, since the others would be a lot more expensive and I would have to do the job myself. I'm an "old fart" on Social Security so these repairs is not within my skill level.

Well Simon was supposed to call me back with a date for the repairs by that afternoon. My conversation with Simon was about a week ago and I have heard nothing from him. I smell a rat here and they may have changed their mind and hope I just go away. I did a parts search on partsvoice.com and found that no one had both parts needed. To be fair to Simon and Dodge that could be the problem. We'll see!

Update from Apr 5, 2013: I made the mistake of trusting the Dodge Ram people to fix this dash problem and now I find out they created another one. They agreed to charge me $300 to replace the two dash pieces and they did the work on April 17, 2012. All seemed fine until my wife used the truck in late March. She is 5 feet tall and weighs about 115 lbs and she does not like to drive the truck.

To ease entry into the truck she grabbed the A-pillar handle to pull herself into the cab. It came completely off and she fell to the curb and injured her rib when she landed on her side. We got 5 x-rays and there is no broken ribs fortunately.

I never use the grab handle because I am 6' 2" and have no trouble stepping into the cab. An examination of the A-pillar trim piece shows the bracket through which two bolts attach it to the A-pillar broke off. There is nothing but a couple of flimsy alignment clips holding this in place. Even a child could have caused it to come off.

The question is who is responsible for this defective safety issue? My logical first guess is the Dodge dealer who installed the new dash somehow broke it during the installation process. Their quote for labor to install the dash was 8 hours @ $109/hr so that tells me this is not an easy job. The other possibility is that it came from the factory that way. It looks like someone put some glue on the pieces to try to re-attached them.

Dodge says they won't pay anything. When I asked if they would pay for the doctors bill and x-rays, they said someone will call me about that the next week. Two weeks have past and no call has been received.

The new part is cheap, but the fix will require someone to get one of the two bolts out because it is just spinning and will not come out.

I went to the local dealership here in San Antonio Texas and he told me that the cracked dashes have been a problem everywhere from about the 1999 model on up to the 2004. I have never used amour all on my dash, I use sparingly, a cleaner with UV protection due to the heat here in Texas, I also use a fold windshield UV reflector to keep the sun off the dash. It started with a small crack right in the middle, which eventually went all the way across the front panel. As of recently the dash has developed several more cracks even in the thicker portions of the dash that is the piece closest to the passengers, a major concern of mine is the if the air bag were to go off on the passenger side the possibility of large pieces of the dash could go right into the face of my passenger. This issue could be a very dangerous liability for Dodge, If it were to happen you can sure bet I will be calling a lawyer, especially due to the number of complaints on this issue.

It is a shame that I own a 1997 Ford F-150 and have to this day never had a single crack on my dashboard. You would think with 235,000 miles on it it would look like crap...but it doesn't. I bought this truck because of the size and to replace my dearly departed Ford Expedition. I thought because of the room, horse power, and versatility I was doing great.Put a Fiberglass top on it and a fishing me and four other would go with the gear all nice and dry in my 6.5 foot bed. It has been well taken care of, and because I have multiple vehicles there aren't that many miles on it. Now my fishing buddies are laughing at me. They are Ford lovers. And maybe rightly so. This hurts a whole lot. My wallet still has a hole in it from paying for this truck.Now what...Pay for a ...DASHBOARD !!!!! THIS IS NOT NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR!!! THIS IS A JUST PLAIN WRONG!!!

My Raving is over...for now...I will do some more later!!!

I take great pride in my truck. I keep it WELL maintained inside and out. The first crack appeared on the passenger side of the dash in June 2009.WELL within warranty. At the time, Dodge said this model year is not having "any issues or complaints about the dash boards". I called again in 2010 and got the same response. There is a problem in the manufacturing.It is not due to "armor all" as they try to tell us to make it our fault. FIX YOUR ISSUES DODGE!!!!! Why put inferior workmanship in an otherwise great vehicle!!! I had a 1999 Dodge Ram that the dash broke apart completely..It cost me $1000 to have Dodge replace it. THIS IS A BUNCH OF CRAP!!!!

beautiful truck in excellent condition. paid a pretty penny for it and expect to have the quality i paid for. could not get $$$ for what it's because dodge made a mistake. My wife won't buy a dodge because of the dashboard and tells everyone about it.

Update from Feb 15, 2012: had to tear down the dash to replace heater mode 2 door so i called chrysler corp service rep to complain about cracked dash and they refunded ,in whole, the amount of the cracked dash pad! could not believe it. thanks chrysler