[AT] The newer trucks re just not going to last.

[Stuart Harner]

Would it be possible to replace the factory dash with a custom made 
metal one? I am thinking about custom made instrument panels for home 
built aircraft.

It might not look "right" but then again, it is a 24 year old truck....  :)

Just call it a Rat-Rod and charge extra for it when you do sell it.

Just an idea.

On 5/16/22 22:11, Cecil Bearden wrote:
> I have a 98 Chevy C8500 Medium duty I use to pull my trailers with.   
> I hope to eventually get a winch bed on it, but as it is it has a 
> Gooseneck hitch with  fenders.  It was originally a county dump truck 
> and the bed was removed after a month and the mechanics bed was 
> installed and it was used as a mechainc truck until about 2007.  It is 
> sprung really stiff, and the rough roads here have torn up the doors 
> and the dash.  I don't dare drive over 20mph on these roads, but the 
> washboards and potholes are impossible to miss.  The dash panel has 
> literally fell apart.  It will not hold the instrument cluster to 
> operate the gauges.  All the press fit connections get loose in a few 
> miles.  When i removed the gauge cluster, there are massive gaps and 
> no pieces to glue back in. The wiring harness is over an inch in 
> diameter and stiff as a board.  I tried all day to find a NOS dash 
> panel and have the GM number, but good old GM has discontinued the part.
>
> I would have thought there would be a NOS one around but no luck...   
> This truck has a recently overhauled Cat engine and a rebuilt Allison 
> transmission.   Brakes have been reworked and the A/c works great 
> too..  It is the nicest truck I have ever had. Now, it may have to be 
> scrapped due to the plastic parts in the dash.   I have found salvage 
> das parts, but they are broken too....  When I contact  a dealership, 
> they tell me that is a 24 yr old truck..   I guess they don't think I 
> can do math anymore.. My old 66 Chevrolet still hauls wheat.  My 
> others are built in the 70s, and are most all steel....
>
> Cecil
>
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