Anyone have a good way to repair the broken ears on a 2005 KW dash? The holes in the top corners of my dash panel are gone. Mine has a plastic ear were the screw goes that has broken off. I can get some pictures tomorrow. Most of you know what i am talking about. Thanks
A new plastic cover.
Money will fix it the dashes on trucks are a joke. There are several trucks were i work that are coming apart.
I can't get a picture but if you take a piece of 1" x 1/8" flat bar and glue it across the top tucked behind the dash then drill and tap the holes it will be fixed forever. You will have to trim a little for the panels with gauges to clear the bottom of the bar but that is minor. Glue the bar in with some good epoxy of your choice, let cure, then drill the holes using the panels to locate the holes. Those dashes are junk, the only thing worse is the hvac system. Where they mounted the resistor is insane but it can be moved so the entire dash doesn't have to be disassembled to replace it.
I can't picture it but I have glued/riveted aluminum tabs onto junk plastic corners before, much like JPV's 1/8" steel idea. You'd think the look is bad, but It is nowhere near as bad as ordering up another plastic panel and having it break right away.
I feel your pain. Holy crap. Between Bubba using his 600 ft/lbs impact driver to install the panel screws or a coastal environment corroding the metal tabs, those dashes are very fragile. Especially, for a brand that claims to be the “ The Worlds Best”. That’s how a 5 minute turn signal indicator bulb replacement turns into an all day project. I’ve tried everything and had the best luck with the idea that JPV shared. I found 3M 08217 adhesive to adhere the best.
And those blower motor resistors! Speaking of KW HVAC. I recently had a brand new T880 catch fire in the shop. The blower motor shorted out, with the key off. Totaled the truck. Don’t want to derail this tread. I’ll start another one with pictures.
I have never seen the old style dash have a failure like that, even the ones that have been around for 35 years, and I have never seen one of the dashes like you are talking about NOT have at least one of those tabs broke.
I was tasked with a “repossessed” T800 with a messed up dash. It came from a customer that had a huge fuel bill they could not pay. So, we ended up with some equipment in exchange. Their maintenance guy had brutally disassembled the dash, for some reason. ( maybe trying to find the blower resister) lol. Broke every tab off and tossed all the hardware. For the sake of science, I had KW Alaska quote the job the repair. It was over 30 grand, and a lot of the individual plastic was not available at that time. What a time consuming project that was.
Well here is my fix. Bent up a little strip of .045 aluminum. Added some rivnuts. The short 90 bend hooks under radio tray and I epoxied the piece to the Back of the plastic dash. Used some stainless aircraft screws.
Looks awesome, that's what I was talking about only better with the rivnuts, you should be a Kenworth engineer.
Sweet! That 90 angle should help a lot with retention. Awesome.
Nice! You better box that idea up and sell it!