Hey I'm digging into my '96 dash because I think an arm for one of the blend doors broke off. there are two vacuum solenoids down there, one horizontal by the floor and one vertical, above the throttle pedal. the one I'm working on is the vertical one. the little white plastic elbow that goes inside the box and hooks up to the door pulled right out.

so I started removing a few of the dash panels and found that the center dash piece goes pretty much the entire width of the cab and is pop-riveted on around the glove box

I don't see any other way to get to the A/C blower than to pull the entire dash out, is this true? I also don't see any way to fix that elbow as I think it's broken off inside the A/C vent box.

If anyone's taken the dash out or chased down A/C-heat blend door problems I'd REEEEAAALY appreciate some feedback.
thanks.

 

It's been a few years Jon, 5-6 I guess but I think you are thinking right. I remember doing a few dash removals on the ram trucks but I think they were later models, 98-99 and I am not sure how close they really are as far as ease of removal. I know the ones I did had two large bolts on either side near the doors, maybe some across the top(?) not to sure. We would drop the steering column and put the seat all the way back and push the steering wheel down. The ones I did had maybe 2 or 3 large connectors that were for your dash harness. Several more screws and bolts and you could pull out the whole dash as one unit. I remember I could get the dash out of one in a little over an hour. Then once it is out of the way you'd have to evac the a/c disconnect the heater hoses and then unbolt the A/C heater module and put it on the floor and take it apart to fix what you need to.

It was not really a bad job and no problem getting it done in a day but usually less. But please remember....it has been quite a while and I have slept a lot since my last dash removal on a ram truck and I am not to sure how similar your 96' dash is with the 98-99's I think I have done this on.

 

thanks for the reply. sounds like as much fun as I thought it would be. I gave up on taking it apart yesterday, mostly due to lack of motivation... I have the '56 and bike to drive instead. so one of these days I'll get back on it...

 

wow. i hate my life right now. well, not really; but this dash is um...pretty ridiculous to pull out. found the two bolts by either kick panel and pulled the steering wheel nuts off. so no I budge the dash a little and chase wires around to disconnect or un-fasten. not gonna lie, I'm a little frustrated that I have to go through all this just to fix a stupid little arm for the A/C duct door actuator.

anyone else have any tips for dash removal? other than have someone else do it...seriously, sometimes it's a curse to be a wrench and know how to work on my own stuff.

 

got the dash completely out and sitting in the bed of the truck, didn't even break anything...though I don't think the plastic push-lock fasteners will be holding things as tightly in round 2.
got pretty easy access to the A/C doors now. I'll post some pictures some other time, when I'm not angry at my truck and in a sleep deprived, wide-eyed empty stare.

 

I would give some serious consideration to replacing the heater core as well while you have the dash removed. Preventative maintenance that could keep you from pulling the dash apart again if the 11 year old heater core fails in the near future.