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Dash squeaking/replacement

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dash s10
90 views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  Joe Cool  
#1 ·
I’ve got an 02 s10 that has had a lot of dash noises like plastic on plastic or even the sound of styrofoam squeak from road vibration. I can tune it out to a certain extent but my girlfriend often just holds the dash oh **** handle to keep it from squeaking. All this to say I think it is because the dash is a bit warped along the windshield and even looks like it’s shank a little along the edge. Does anyone know if there’s a reproduction dash somewhere? I’ve been looking but can’t find anything but skins. The dash actually isn’t in bad shape so a skin does nothing for me.
Are there any other routes you guys would recommend? I’m not trying to break the bank fixing up this truck but I do want it fixed up nicely.
 
#5 ·
The most economical route will be doing some research and getting familiar with how to remove and reinstall a later 2nd gen dash. I've found S10forum is the best resource for how to remove the dash.

My truck had some work done a while ago and the mechanic forgot to tighten one of the nuts that secures the dash, which created an annoying squeak. I've had to remove my dash a couple times in the past to replace the heater core and other work, so being somewhat familiar with the process I started by removing the lower panels and thankfully found the loose nut fairly quickly. If you go this route, I recommend using ziplocs for screws and other item that you remove; labeling them for each section or area you remove them from makes it so much easier to reassemble.
 
#4 · (Edited)
'68-72 A-bodies, and similar cars, would do that - almost every one, common. Obviously it's generally a spot where the plastic of the dash contacted the underside windshield glass. I recall using pieces of bicycle inner tube to isolate the squeaking surfaces from each other. Determine your contact spots, take a putty knife or similar tool, insert it and compress the plastic away from the glass surface, insert a piece of inner tube, withdraw the putty knife, and the piece of rubber should stay there, compressed and hanging onto the glass. The inner tube can be cut to fit out of sight, doesn't take much.

There are nuts/studs that should hold the dash tight, some of which you can find if you look up under the dash. It can be that a prior owner had the dash out for hvac or heater core work, and didn't replace the nuts, or sock them down right. I've had/seen that. If your dash can be wiggled by hand, I'd suspect that, and tighten that up first.
 
#3 ·
Lots of things (including people :)) can develop squeaks, rattles, and grinding noises with advancing age. The warpage is likely the byproduct of heat and UV exposure over the decades. I'm not aware of any 'reproduction' dashes. Make sure all fasteners are tight and secure. Locate the plastic that is rubbing (causing noises) and eliminate the cause(s). Good luck!
 
#2 · (Edited)
I’ve got an 02 s10 that has had a lot of dash noises like plastic on plastic or even the sound of styrofoam squeak from road vibration. I can tune it out to a certain extent but my girlfriend often just holds the dash oh shit handle to keep it from squeaking. All this to say I think it is because the dash is a bit warped along the windshield and even looks like it’s shank a little along the edge. Does anyone know if there’s a reproduction dash somewhere? I’ve been looking but can’t find anything but skins. The dash actually isn’t in bad shape so a skin does nothing for me.
Are there any other routes you guys would recommend? I’m not trying to break the bank fixing up this truck but I do want it fixed up nicely.
fold up pieces of cardboard and stuff it into the various gaps to stop the squeaking...use to do this on my 1970 Chevelle SS back in the day using match books....ah memories.