Taking Care of your dash pads

[756man]

What is best to use on 81-87 dash pads to prevent them from cracking ? I recently found a perfect Charcoal  dash pad for my 85 Chevy 3/4 ton, 4x4, long stepside, and would like to keep it in good condition.

[fitz]

I use Armor All to clean mine but I think the biggest enemy to the dash pad is sunlight/heat.
If the dash is a concern try not to park it in direct sunlight for extended periods, leave your windows open a little on hot days for the heat to escape, or get one of those winshield shades to block out the sun when it's parked
Any pics of you 8' step side?

[78 Chevyrado]

You need a good UV blocking vinyl dressing.  I Use Meguiars on mine.   

**One thing I've learned though is once you ever put a dressing on there, you have to keep it up like weekly or they seem to crack even faster.**  That's the one thing on my truck I never let slide, no matter how busy I am, even when I don't wash the truck for a few weeks.

[756man]

Fitz , I'll try to Figure out out to post the pics of my step side this weekend.

Has any body ever heard of wiping the dashpad down with baby oil ?
Somebody had mentioned that, but it seems it would just be a dust magnet.

[78 Chevyrado]

Just buy about any good brand name quality vinyl dressing.   don't cheap out on a $400+ dash pad.   The better brands, while they don't dry out as such, they do harden (for lack of a better word) enough the dust mostly blows off and they last longer.   The only hard decision is how shiny do you want it to be?

[VileZambonie]

I've used armor all forever

[Canadian 4X4]

There is a Product called 303 it works very well.

[Captkaos]

I use 303, not as greasy/oily as Armour all.

[beastie_3]

Ive read that armorall is petroleum based which later encourages the cracking if it isn't applied regularly (or something to that effect. Maybe it just doesnt protect against UV)

303 is synthetic...and does not lead to cracking.

Not saying this is right or wrong, just what I remember reading. I am not a detail professional.

What ever you end up doing, make sure you take care of it regularly. Try to keep it out of the sun, use windshield shade, dash mat, garage, etc. I wouldnt use baby oil. Im sure if it worked, everyone would use it instead of the detail products.