Broken dash cover

[bileo4]

Hello folks,
I bought my 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 in the fall of 2000,with 18n miles on the odometer . My dash starting cracking after 4 1/2 years,so I went to the dealership were I bought the truck. They said they would replace the dash, but I had to pay $100.00 labor,stupidly I said ok. It was 7 years after that my dash starting cracking.My biggest concern was that i had two parallel cracks right the passenger air bag. They ran all the way from front to back. I researched on line to see how i could fix it,so,so many ideas. The one that struck me best was the use of ABS glue for the repair. although there was no pictures it seemed logical . After conferring with a very smart friend we decided PVC glue and PVC primer(purple) would work. I cleaned each edge waited 10 minutes applied the glue to both sides.Doing one crack at a time with a thin coat and let to dry 10 hours it proved to hold. I then added 3 additional layers ,one at a time over the next few days.On completion my dash is as strong as it was new. I have since glued all the other cracks following the same procedure. The best part is I only spent $14:00 for both cans. I already had a dash cover,reinstalled that ,good as new.Thank god for the internet.

[Chris Stewart]

Good post, thanks for the info.
I use a reflective fold out window shade to keep the hot sun off my dash.
It had two 1" cracks I fixed when I replaced the heater core a coupla years ago.

[Stale Trooper]

My wife used to do upholstery on motorhomes, both old & new. She uses petroleum jelly (IE: Vaseline-type stuff) on all of the hard plastic interior pieces, and especially the dash board top. This rejuvenates the plastic giving it back some of the original oils that the sun bakes out of them. Dash boards should get a rub down each spring & fall, while the rest of the parts get it in the fall only. This is because they aren't as exposed as the dash. We had a '74 Plymouth Satellite, which she bought new, that still didn't have a crack in it when we sold it in 1999.
OH, It's good for vinyl seats too; just be sure to rub it in very well, and then wipe it dry with a towel to get the slickness off (applies to all parts you treat)