Does the dash really need UV protection?

[brave sir robin]

Armor all and most of the other 'protectants' are nothing but silicone an emulsifier a surfactant and some deionized water. There is nothing in it that will cause deterioration of plastics vinyl or leather. Stories about it causing cracking or whatever are the same as the old Pennzoil wax nonsense we used to hear.

silicone is about as inert as anything can get it also happens to be a very good UV inhibitor


I use armor all or products like it on anything plastic or rubber (aside from the tires) on the falco. It works excellent on rubber dust boots on the bikes linkages. I also use it on the vinyl and dash or every vehicle I have ever owned. Whether or not it prevents dash cracking I couldn't tell you for sure but I can tell you that my truck is 22 years old and has always been stored outdoors and none of the interior plastics are cracked or showing signs of deterioration. The dash on the Electra is immaculate and the rest of the interior vinyl is soft and still fairly supple for being 50 years old. The stitching is coming apart but that's another story............

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I have bought some cars from AZ and TX, all had cracking or fading of the dash, upper door panels, rear shelf and droopy headliners, the glue just turns to powder.
Still, I rather deal with that any day than terminal cancer of the shell.


A cracked dash beats rusted rockers any day of the week!

 

[01rangerxl]

On later model vehicles, dash cracking or other deterioration is usually a manufacturing/material quality issue common to that line of vehicle. Not so much something easily prevented beyond keeping the vehicle out of the sun as much as possible.

GMT900 trucks/SUVs with the uplevel dash are bad about cracking, especially in the South. Doesn't happen to all of them by a long shot, but if the truck sits outside in hot temps your odds are much higher. Some mid/late 2000s Toyota/Lexus dashes are bad about getting huge cracks all over. Nissan and I think some others have had issues with tacky/melting dashes in the last decade. In a lot of these cases, I don't think any spray is going to magically make the material robust enough to deal with the heat/exposure. It might delay the issues.

My 2002 Ranger has spent the majority of it's life outside in the South, and has black paint, and the top of the dash looks basically like it did the day it left the factory. The only cosmetic issues on the dash have been caused by things hitting/scraping it. I have used quality products such as Mother's VLR, Meguiar's, 303, etc. on it over the years, but only sporadically when doing a good cleaning of the whole truck. These dashes are not known for issues though. The style of dash in my 1994 Ranger IS known for cracking in a particular spot, and it has cracks in that spot. The ones I have seen without cracks have all been garaged/covered trucks.

I think usually the variables fall in this order...
1. Material/design
2. In garage/covered
3. Care

 

[aquariuscsm]

I wonder if it all comes down to the quality of materials used in particular cars? My dad's 1990 Olds 88 (white with burgundy interior) spent it's entire life outside ungaraged and nothing whatsoever in the interior had the least bit of fading or cracking. Up till the day he gave it to one of my nephews,the interior looked and felt show room new. The car did not have tinted windows either.

Then there is my gf's 2007 Mustang that the interior is literally falling to pieces. Every part is warped,curled up,faded,cracked,broken.

 

[Bear]

Originally Posted By: brave sir robin
Armor all and most of the other 'protectants' are nothing but silicone an emulsifier a surfactant and some deionized water. There is nothing in it that will cause deterioration of plastics vinyl or leather. Stories about it causing cracking or whatever are the same as the old Pennzoil wax nonsense we used to hear.

silicone is about as inert as anything can get it also happens to be a very good UV inhibitor


I use armor all or products like it on anything plastic or rubber (aside from the tires) on the falco. It works excellent on rubber dust boots on the bikes linkages. I also use it on the vinyl and dash or every vehicle I have ever owned. Whether or not it prevents dash cracking I couldn't tell you for sure but I can tell you that my truck is 22 years old and has always been stored outdoors and none of the interior plastics are cracked or showing signs of deterioration. The dash on the Electra is immaculate and the rest of the interior vinyl is soft and still fairly supple for being 50 years old. The stitching is coming apart but that's another story............


+1! Myths die hard!

 

[aquariuscsm]

The problem I've heard with using "Armor All" type products on leather interior vs dedicated leather products is that it destroys the stitching.