Who sells the best fitting dash pad. Time for a new one

[Nasty-LSX]

Its time for me to replace the dash in the stepside. There are many vendors
and most are from the same maker. Some companies have exclusive dashes
that are a perfect fit, like NDP, but thats for camaros. Who do you recommend?

 

[Scott91370]

Have it recovered. You already knwo it fits and a recovered will be the same fit. Plus, if you want you can change the color at the same time.
When I had mine done it was actually cheaper to get it covered than to replace. Just make sure if you want the speaker holes they know in advance.

 

[Grit dog]

Well I’ve bragged up the one I bought from The Truck and Car Shop, until now. Idk if it’s the direct heat since the truck has been getting used sporadically as a daily and left in the summer sun closed up all day, more often, but the drivers side cutout for the defrost vent has now humped up and popped the vent grille out.
The might be in the “none of them are perfect” camp now too…

 

[SmashBack]

I bought a couple different ones and settled on USA1. Seemed like a great one out of the box. Fit ended up being so-so. Needed a lot of trimming. A metal support thing came out from where I HAD to trim, top right of gauge bezel. Then I realized this thing is spray painted (aka dyed). Paint scrapes off super easy, looks like ass now. For $400 it could at least have colored vinyl...definitely not buying anymore soft parts from USA1, and my last order was interesting to say the least. Definitely will be looking to have mine redone, but who knows when I'll find someone that does good work.

 

[nvrenuf]

Show quality or daily driver or..?

 

[Radiohead]

I'd settle for an octave or two above fugly

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The more I read about people's experiences with aftermarket dash pads, and seeing how brothers pad is holding up in his c10, it has me leaning towards recovering the one I have.

Then I can decide to stay with the rpo code for saddle or finish what the prior guy was trying to pull off in gray.

Oh yeah, that column is coming out for a period correct version that also matches the rpo codes.

 

[nvrenuf]

Some people don’t like them but if you’re not going “pro show” then consider a dash cover. I used a Coverlay Manufacturing dash cover, it fit great and only had a couple of small places were it didn’t perfectly cover my old busted up dash. For a regular daily or nice weekend ride I think it’s great and it cost about $150 so it saved me $250+ over a crappy fitting aftermarket replacement dash.

 

[88suburbanoverlan]

Some people don’t like them but if you’re not going “pro show” then consider a dash cover. I used a Coverlay Manufacturing dash cover, it fit great and only had a couple of small places were it didn’t perfectly cover my old busted up dash. For a regular daily or nice weekend ride I think it’s great and it cost about $150 so it saved me $250+ over a crappy fitting aftermarket replacement dash.

How is this one holding up for you?
My dash is in bad shape on my 86 suburban and my upholstery job was a sh!t show to say the least.
Is this like a plastic covering? Can you see any gaps between this overlay and the new dash?

 

[ChuckN]

I don’t know if they’re all equal (coverlays), but I did get one in the correct color (a shame, because it would’ve looked really nice) from the jungle website.

It was easily an 1/8-1/4” too short and in trying to get it to fit, cracked in two places. I sent it back and got a refund.

There’s a local Mexican guy around that does reupholstering here and I think I’m just going to have him re-cover my own. It’ll likely have some stitching around the corners but I’m ok with that if it lasts years.

 

[nvrenuf]

How is this one holding up for you?
My dash is in bad shape on my 86 suburban and my upholstery job was a sh!t show to say the least.
Is this like a plastic covering? Can you see any gaps between this overlay and the new dash?

It’s holding up great but it hasn’t left the shop. lol Even when I do start driving it again it’s just a play toy so it likely won’t see enough constant UV exposure to have any effect.

As far as the fit, it was pretty good considering what it is - a thin plastic shell that glued to the original dash. I did have a couple of places at the outer ends in the door jam areas where the cover was short by about 1/8”~1/4”. Also the long straight area right above the glove box is a tad short to keep it from covering the original dash mounting screws.

It’s not a show quality piece but I’d say it’s a great alternative to a $400+ dash for a daily driver, weekend driver.

 

[Randy and Easton]

We had a very bad experience at truck and car shop in Cali… had to send one back, replacement was just as bad. Sent it back and went with LMC. Looks great and went right in. Only trimming was around passenger AC vents to allow vent to sit flush and dash bezel to deep set for post clutch back nut to secure it.
Would buy again.

Randy and E

 

[GTX63]

How is this one holding up for you?
My dash is in bad shape on my 86 suburban and my upholstery job was a sh!t show to say the least.
Is this like a plastic covering? Can you see any gaps between this overlay and the new dash?

I have used several of the Coverlays. Like most or all of the dash "inserts" the final fit takes some time. The driver's side verticle end along the amp and clock seems to pull away as it goes toward the bottom, like the top was manufactured an 1/8" too narrow. It hasn't been anything I would return it for, and 9.5 people out of 10 wouldn't notice it. I had a dark brown one warp slightly over the center speaker cover after a few straight weeks in full August sun.
There is a youtube video around of a guy that pulls the original dash and uses a hair dryer to remove all of the old vinyl before installing the new cover. It seems to help with the final fit.
The trucks I turn out are daily drivers and not intended to be garage queens. At $150 a pop, if they last 5-7 years, I'm good with that.

 

[Trucksareforwork]

Usa-1 is great but it’s unobtanium. I bought one for my 85 a couple years ago and love it. Have been waiting for an 80 version for 10 months now. Can’t recommend them.

 

[Grit dog]

We had a very bad experience at truck and car shop in Cali… had to send one back, replacement was just as bad. Sent it back and went with LMC. Looks great and went right in. Only trimming was around passenger AC vents to allow vent to sit flush and dash bezel to deep set for post clutch back nut to secure it.
Would buy again.

Randy and E

Car and Truck Shop was where I got ours. The expensive one whatever it was. It fit fine. Very tight to get in but no trimming. Minus the later issue posted above.
Their prices always seemed right compared to the others like LMC and Ecklers etc. But their service and returns was no bueno por ****.
I’d be hard pressed to use them again unless necessary, unfortunately. Cause they do seem like a mom n pop place, which I’d rather support.

 

[squaredeal91]

Some people don’t like them but if you’re not going “pro show” then consider a dash cover. I used a Coverlay Manufacturing dash cover, it fit great and only had a couple of small places were it didn’t perfectly cover my old busted up dash. For a regular daily or nice weekend ride I think it’s great and it cost about $150 so it saved me $250+ over a crappy fitting aftermarket replacement dash.

That looks really good actually