Finally got around to doing this. It was tedious for sure but not too difficult. Figured I’ll share a BASIC rundown since I couldn’t really find any guidance on a 5th gen and if nothing else you can use this to decide whether you wanna try it yourself or not! I do recommend getting Alldata, TechAuthority or some other version of the factory service manual either way.
Part number for level 2 with HUD and grey stitching: 7TH161D3AA
Price is under $500. I had it shipped to a local dealer and picked it up on a pallet. Took a long time to get and RamCares had to help me out! Seems to be on permanent backorder. Wonder why?
Tools I used:
7mm, 8mm, 10mm, 13mm sockets with various extensions, swivels, etc. A really stubby 1/4” ratchet was a life saver on the stuff near the windshield and pass airbag. Electric ratchet, drill. Definitely don’t want to do all 70+ screws and bolts by hand.
Tips:
Overall it’s surprisingly straightforward, and the dash is light enough to be easily handled by yourself.
Obviously EVERYTHING attached to the dash has to come out as well as the A-pillar trim and console which can just slide back and get propped up on the back seat. But overall it’s just peeling an onion and removing stuff in order.
I tried to avoid dropping the column and maybe you could with a second set of hands but I decided to just get it out of the way. That also entails dropping the interior fuse panel down so the column can fall (3x 10mm nuts).
Column is 4x 13mm nuts. Once dropped it can rest on the seat. Try not to rotate the column or do anything crazy with it once unbolted.
Speaking of seats. You want to disconnect the battery for this job but that means you will want to plan out how you work. The console has two bolts on the back that require the seats all the way forward to reach. Once those were out I moved both seats all the way back and then killed the power and did the rest of the job like that.
There are 3 “fence line” bolts along the windshield. Two under the defroster grill and one under the HUD panel. I found these a little tricky to reach. Took a long time to spin them out by hand with a stubby 1/4” ratchet. The other bolts I didn’t enjoy were for the airbag frame. The one nearest the passenger door is easy enough but the other one is totally fouled up by the heater box. You can really only get one finger on it. A real fight, both out and back in. I could see some techs just skipping it!
Otherwise the vast majority of the screws are the same ubiquitous 7mm variety so I didn’t find it necessary to label anything.
Wiring also isn’t too confusing since everything can only go one way. The wiring is clipped to the dash in 4-5 places so before pulling it, make sure everything is removed.
Passenger airbag stays with the dash when you pull it and gets transferred over on the bench along with the ductwork, for which it has 18 screws alone. Good grief. Also, don’t forget to move over your ambient lighting boards and the diffuser rod above the glovebox!
6 of the snap-in nuts from the old dash also need to get moved over. They hold in the radio module and center channel speaker. Additionally there are two nuts on the new dash which do not actually hold anything but need screws installed into them or they will rattle.
All told I was around 2.5 hours getting it out and closer to 3.5 more in. And with good reason. I wasn’t doing this job to make the truck WORSE (or make a new part look worse than the old one). I used towels and moving blankets on everything. I protected all the surrounding areas of the new dash where I was working with painters tape and methodically installed every damn screw and clip exactly as they were.
THIS is why I did this myself though. It would be so disappointing to have a new dash that’s scratched up, missing screws, rattling etc. Just be aware the techs are really trying to hurry because the warranty book time on this job is all of 2.6 HOURS total! I don’t care how many times a guy does this job, it’s gonna take a lot more.
Finished photos:
In addition to the nicer, more even texture and matte finish, I noticed the dash has the “airbag “ script painted onto it instead of embossed. Don’t have a preference, just something I noticed.
I believe the new one will hold up much better but regardless I want to keep this one out of the sun since all my trouble started in the summer heat last year. May not go full grandpa mode with a dash cover but a windshield shade is being used all the time now.
Part number for level 2 with HUD and grey stitching: 7TH161D3AA
Price is under $500. I had it shipped to a local dealer and picked it up on a pallet. Took a long time to get and RamCares had to help me out! Seems to be on permanent backorder. Wonder why?
Tools I used:
7mm, 8mm, 10mm, 13mm sockets with various extensions, swivels, etc. A really stubby 1/4” ratchet was a life saver on the stuff near the windshield and pass airbag. Electric ratchet, drill. Definitely don’t want to do all 70+ screws and bolts by hand.
Tips:
Overall it’s surprisingly straightforward, and the dash is light enough to be easily handled by yourself.
Obviously EVERYTHING attached to the dash has to come out as well as the A-pillar trim and console which can just slide back and get propped up on the back seat. But overall it’s just peeling an onion and removing stuff in order.
I tried to avoid dropping the column and maybe you could with a second set of hands but I decided to just get it out of the way. That also entails dropping the interior fuse panel down so the column can fall (3x 10mm nuts).
Column is 4x 13mm nuts. Once dropped it can rest on the seat. Try not to rotate the column or do anything crazy with it once unbolted.
Speaking of seats. You want to disconnect the battery for this job but that means you will want to plan out how you work. The console has two bolts on the back that require the seats all the way forward to reach. Once those were out I moved both seats all the way back and then killed the power and did the rest of the job like that.
There are 3 “fence line” bolts along the windshield. Two under the defroster grill and one under the HUD panel. I found these a little tricky to reach. Took a long time to spin them out by hand with a stubby 1/4” ratchet. The other bolts I didn’t enjoy were for the airbag frame. The one nearest the passenger door is easy enough but the other one is totally fouled up by the heater box. You can really only get one finger on it. A real fight, both out and back in. I could see some techs just skipping it!
Otherwise the vast majority of the screws are the same ubiquitous 7mm variety so I didn’t find it necessary to label anything.
Wiring also isn’t too confusing since everything can only go one way. The wiring is clipped to the dash in 4-5 places so before pulling it, make sure everything is removed.
Passenger airbag stays with the dash when you pull it and gets transferred over on the bench along with the ductwork, for which it has 18 screws alone. Good grief. Also, don’t forget to move over your ambient lighting boards and the diffuser rod above the glovebox!
6 of the snap-in nuts from the old dash also need to get moved over. They hold in the radio module and center channel speaker. Additionally there are two nuts on the new dash which do not actually hold anything but need screws installed into them or they will rattle.
All told I was around 2.5 hours getting it out and closer to 3.5 more in. And with good reason. I wasn’t doing this job to make the truck WORSE (or make a new part look worse than the old one). I used towels and moving blankets on everything. I protected all the surrounding areas of the new dash where I was working with painters tape and methodically installed every damn screw and clip exactly as they were.
THIS is why I did this myself though. It would be so disappointing to have a new dash that’s scratched up, missing screws, rattling etc. Just be aware the techs are really trying to hurry because the warranty book time on this job is all of 2.6 HOURS total! I don’t care how many times a guy does this job, it’s gonna take a lot more.
Finished photos:
In addition to the nicer, more even texture and matte finish, I noticed the dash has the “airbag “ script painted onto it instead of embossed. Don’t have a preference, just something I noticed.
I believe the new one will hold up much better but regardless I want to keep this one out of the sun since all my trouble started in the summer heat last year. May not go full grandpa mode with a dash cover but a windshield shade is being used all the time now.
