Calvin Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 Not sure what section to post this in but since it seems to pertain to those with stiff suspensions, I think more relevant eyes will see it in this section. Has anyone else noticed that their dash seems to "flex" or "bounce" when their car is set up stiff and goes over bumps? I swear the dash on my car moves vertically about 1/4" every time I go over a severe expansion joint with the new GR2 struts. Maybe this is an optical illusion, but it sure seems like it.... anyone else? It seems like all 80s GM stuff does it, even my old caprice and pontiac 6000s would do "the dash shake" when the tires were out of balance... Do the 94+GPs and 95-97 Cuttys have extra stiffeners in the dash, or do they do it too, or is something simple that bolts the dash down loose, or do these things just do this worse as they get fatigued over time or what? TIA Kurt Quote
ToroToro Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 Most of the time its just because the IP carrier is broken, but the newer first gens do have extra braces IIRC. Quote
slick Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 Yup, mine does this as well. I have a new dashboard in my basement that I'm dying to match my interior. When it gets swapped in, I'm also going to be attaching backstraps in a few spots to see if it will help any. Mainly because between the toledo roads and the stiff suspension, my stereo skips every once in a while. I hate it. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 Mine used to bounce about a good 2-3 inches with 3 or the 5 IP bolts broken. Then when I fixed it ( with heady duty exhaust hanger ) it only bounces around maybe 1/4", if that. It made a huge difference and doesnt rattle anymore either. Im willing to bet most people have this problem. I know some of the potholes around here doesnt help much either... Quote
Calvin Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Posted March 29, 2006 Mine used to bounce about a good 2-3 inches with 3 or the 5 IP bolts broken. Then when I fixed it ( with heady duty exhaust hanger ) it only bounces around maybe 1/4", if that. It made a huge difference and doesnt rattle anymore either. Im willing to bet most people have this problem. I know some of the potholes around here doesnt help much either... 3 of 5 broken off? Are these somehting I can see with the dash cover thing removed? I presume you mean there are some bolts along the top edge of the dash assembly under the big cover that snaps down and the ears on the dash have cracked out and let loosened up the dash? I will have to take a look! Quote
GP1138 Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 I've never had this problem. In fact, this is one of the most solid cars I've driven. No rattles, squeaks or other odd sounds. Quote
1990lumina Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 My dash doesn't move either....however I don't have the fancy aftermarket suspension......my car used to be solid, but I've made everything loose in it within 1.5yrs of ownership...now everything rattles and whatnot...pos....lol my dad's Taurus does this dash moving thing though.....it's solid on the firewall or whatever it's mounted to, but it hangs out to far that it moves up and down from lack on support I think Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 Clavin, the bolts that hold the IP to the firewall, right on top, 3 of the plastic surrounding was broken, therefore no support! But once you take the dash pad off, youll see. Quote
cutlsp Posted March 29, 2006 Report Posted March 29, 2006 Well i have repaired my cutlass's dash Pm where you are in texas I can help you fix it if you want. Quote
Calvin Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Posted March 29, 2006 As of thursday night i will actually be in Flint, MI for school. When I am down in TX I am in Houston/Katy. I was in the pickapart today I tried to peel the dash off of a 1990 four door, just prying up starting at the passenger side, but i heard cracking and breaking. I want to see how this is done or a diagram of where the clips are or a pic of the underside of the dash or something. Quote
cutlsp Posted March 30, 2006 Report Posted March 30, 2006 there are about a dozen bolts holding the dash in the car. I only have experiance with the cutlass supremes so I can't be much help with the removal of the dash in a gp to fix it but I can e help with fixing it. Quote
95oldsVan Posted March 30, 2006 Report Posted March 30, 2006 This is also more common than you think,since once a dash gets taken apart for stereo work,or something behind there,it never seems to screw back together tight.And its not even about how tight the screws get,cant overtighten them or stuff breaks. Thats just one example of how a dash flexes other than a loose or very hard ride causes with chassis flex. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted March 30, 2006 Report Posted March 30, 2006 Clavin, the bolts that hold the IP to the firewall, right on top, 3 of the plastic surrounding was broken, therefore no support! But once you take the dash pad off, youll see. Several of the ones in my 89 were broken too. GM actually sold some metal braces to help reinforce the rightmost bolt hole. It was real expensive and hard to find, but I managed to get one (there was a TSB about it). Before that, the dash in my 89 seemed like it wanted to jump in my lap over bumps. Now the dash still shakes, but not so bad. The 94's are supposed to be a lot better reinforced, although I feel like the one in the 94 shakes too. Quote
ToroToro Posted March 30, 2006 Report Posted March 30, 2006 My '94 is pretty busted up too though. Three of the tops bolts closest to the passenger side were totally busted, just like 19cutlass94s. I added a metal brace of my own design and it's much better now. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted March 31, 2006 Report Posted March 31, 2006 I used some silicon to fix a couple squeaks and rattles I had and some heavy duty exhuats hanger, my dash doesnt move at all any more. Im finially happy about that! although naturally I gotta make it even better. Shawn, what are these metal braces you speak of? Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted March 31, 2006 Report Posted March 31, 2006 They're some braces from a very old TSB. I tracked down the TSB awhile back because my car's shaky dash annoyed me greatly. It was even harder to track down the braces (many phonecalls). One of them was also very, very overpriced. This was back in 1998 I'm guessing (judging by the file date on the TSB I saved), so it'd be impossible to get these brackets today. Here's the TSB though, I had to convert it from a Word doc. http://gnatgosplat.homestead.com/files/TSB-Squeaky_Dash.mht Quote
cutlsp Posted March 31, 2006 Report Posted March 31, 2006 How many people with cutlasses have had this problem and fixed it....... i still haven't driven the car after fixing it so i wouldn't know if it bounces over bumps or not but it never did bounce over bumps because its a car i have a truck to drive like its an off road vehicle. So yeah I baby my car or I do now. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted March 31, 2006 Report Posted March 31, 2006 Im willing to bet MANY people have the problem. Those pissed off by it have fixed it. Yeah I bet those parts would be impossible to find today if they were that hard to get back then. From the looks of it, it should have done a decent job at fixing everything that was wrong. But for the same amount of work, you could prolly fix it yourself just as good.... Very interesting non-theless Quote
Intlcutlass Posted March 31, 2006 Report Posted March 31, 2006 Kinda old but this should prove usefull..... http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php/topic,5464.msg48665.html#msg48665 Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted March 31, 2006 Report Posted March 31, 2006 I forgot I had posted that before! Quote
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