what causes the dash pads to crack on 73-91?
CK5
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what causes the dash pads to crack?
- Thread starter wazzabie
- Start date
Prolly the fact they are all 20+ years old and vinal coverd foam that constantly gets baked in the sun
63chevyll
1/2 ton status
Sun, and the designs from that era weren't ground braking.
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
From what Ive seen, granted Mn isnt the harshest climate for interior parts, but the 73-80 seem to hold up far better than 81+.
Not in my experience--my '82 GMC's dash is perfect,and I still see many in nice shape on daily drivers on 82-87 trucks--not so with the older trucks though,my '72 K5's dash was looking like a volcano ready to erupt in several spots,with big cracks in it...same with the '73 K10 I had,the '71 GMC,and a '75 K5 2wd I had,all three of them the dashes were wiped!..I bought those carpet pads to hide them,one truck I had one of those "slipcovers" made of abs you glued on with silicone...I guess the UV rays from the sun destroys the flexibilty of the plastics in the dash and degrade the foam eventually...I bet there aren't many nice original dash pads in AZ and CA ,due to the sun..
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
The pads in both of my 79's were pretty decent, maybe a small crack, but the one in my old 82 was toasted.
Weird.
Weird.
my 77 one was SUPER clean.. sold it on here a while back.. all the post 80 dashpads I've seen have been cr@p usually... i think the pre 80 dashes where made better.. but obviously a bit older too...
63chevyll
1/2 ton status
I thinkt less Sharp bends in the pre 81 stuff,
So putting on the UV spray, Armoral is that going to help some? Did the pads not come with UV protectors? Do they split because the plastic cracks or the foam backing cracks?
Armor all is terrible stuff to put on our dashes.
Look for some 303 vinyl protectant
I have used it on other stuff and it has worked well
I have heard from a few sources that armor all is really bad for vinal type stuff because it actually pulls something out of the material and leads to cracks. I would 2nd some sort of vinyl protectant. Its not plastic. (well mine is plastic because its the lmc style cover one... Lol)
I know Armor-All is one of the worst things to put on a vinyl dash or door panels,it makes them look nice,but doesn't really "protect" all that much and many people claim it actually hastens the aging process...I've seen tires get dry rot cracks very rapidly after Armor-All was applied to them....I used to use brake fluid on my tires sidewalls,it seemed to work well and used to be cheaper than so called "vinyl protectants".....I have used it on my wiper blades and other rubber items also,and on the dash pads.........................................................................................................................................................................................................Last stuff I put on my trucks dash pads was some "Jubilee Kitchen Wax" by Johnson & Johnson---I found an aincient can of it many years ago when I was cleaning my uncles house out after he passed away--it really works well,to protect and shine things up,it was used on appliances,leather,vinyl,and plastics like you'd find in a typical kitchen.....unfortunately they quit making it many years ago...like every other product that was GOOD and WORKED,they decided to stop making it....many body shops here loved the stuff...and hated Armor-All,that stuff has lots of silicone in it and will make a painters life a nightmare--it made fisheyes a common problem,and the stuff is real hard to wash off completely..
