I know this topic has been covered here, and in other forums. The leather covering my dash has completely failed. I spoke with a couple of local upholstery shops and it is an issue they see a lot. Leather won’t survive on the dash under the Florida sun. What dash cover products have you seen that look good and fit well?
Ram Heavy Duty Forum
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Longhorn leather dash failure
- Thread starter jeffn
- Start date
In all honesty, having dealt with this in my 2019 limited, a dash should not be having issues this quickly in the sun, period. I have a pretty extensive background in detailing cars and leather is typically pretty resilient early in its life, hell even old leather will rebound pretty good with proper products. Ram should be standing behind their crap quality, which in this case I think the glue underneath is more of the issue that when it fails, leather lifts and once it does that, the issue worsens.
agree. But I do not see them doing that.
I’ve had one of these in each of the seven trucks I’ve owned over the years. They’re far from the cheapest option but they do an excellent job at protecting the dash from excessive heat and sun. 
I have one of those as well, and the door glass covers as well. The direct sun is not the problem, it is the heat. The cabin heat shrinks the leather and then it expands as it cools.
I guess I live in an area where the cab doesn’t get that hot. Our summers here are typically in the 80’s with highs in the 90’s occasionally.
Yes, I think you are correct. I am in South Florida.
Yeah I could see where that would generate a whole lot more heat. I guess leaving the windows cracked probably doesn't help much? Not sure what else could decrease the chances. A dash cover would keep the sun off the leather but again, if the truck is turning into an oven it’ll bake everything. There was someone with the same issue in another group I frequent and they said those dashes are hard to come by right now. I guess they’re on significant backorder?
I own a 2019 2500 cummins. Replaced the original dash in 2021 because it was coming apart. Bought the extended warranty for @$3,000.00 and found out later the dash is not covered by the extended warranty(contrary to what the warranty salesman had said. Ram Doesn't Care dropped the ball on two warranty requests and pushed it to the dealer. The Dealers best offer was to split the cost. This is a well know defective part that should be replaced by Ram. How many customers will they lose over this?
Unfortunately not anywhere near enough to make it impact their bottom line, or the way they choose to do business. There are thousands of trucks sidelined or operating incorrectly due to broken transmissions, lifter failures, frequent regeneration issues, etc and they have done absolutely nothing to change or improve (or even repair) the issues. All the major auto manufacturers today are “too big to care, but not too big to fail”. Stellantis is sitting on massive unsold inventory right now, and likely will continue sitting. They’ve priced themselves out of markets they once dominated. If anything hurts their bottom line, it’s a lack of selling new vehicles. Price and interest rates have hit them harder than any vehicle malfunction ever has. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they’re intentionally allowing the brands to deep dive in an effort to kill them off.
AlphaDad1906
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I have the same story with my longhorn. Quoted me $3000 + to replace my dash since the extended warranty didn't cover it. It's such an eye sore and I'm not spending 3grand for it, but less likely will stay with ram when I upgrade to a 3500.
4FishLimit
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This has been a fairly common issue in the Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2) world since 2014 or so.
The general consensus is the cause from water based (environmentally friendly) adhesives used to install the leather dash covering. Certain cleaners or having tint or UV rejection film installed on the windshield would saturate the dash and release the adhesive.
It was bad enough that Jeep offered an extended warranty and/or replacement.
If you catch it early enough there are several adhesive options available where you can use small syringe to inject it under the covering and glue it back down.
The general consensus is the cause from water based (environmentally friendly) adhesives used to install the leather dash covering. Certain cleaners or having tint or UV rejection film installed on the windshield would saturate the dash and release the adhesive.
It was bad enough that Jeep offered an extended warranty and/or replacement.
If you catch it early enough there are several adhesive options available where you can use small syringe to inject it under the covering and glue it back down.
CdnHO
Well-Known Member
I use the HeatShield custom window sun screens on all my windows. I only install the side windows that face the sun depending on how I am parked. I found the temperature in the cab is considerably lower when installed compared to uncovered windows on a sunny day. The windshield is probably the main source of heat.
thanks for the suggestion
Dieselwill
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All of these failures that I have seen were shortly after the ceramic treatment on the interior, the wood cracks and the glue fails because it can’t breathe.
flan
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Ceramic Windshield tint caused the dash to not be able to breathe?
Dieselwill
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Not the windshield, they treated the dash and interior.
Thanks for the links.
Just a peasant BH owner here with no fancy stuff at the rear view mirror on my 2021…..but the mirror housing is big. Anyone know which version sunshade to order? I see no sensor, 5” sensor and 10” sensor.
We all wish we had the 10”-er!!!
Sent from me