Dash Cover

[Meanderthal]

Can someone recommend a dash cover that does not cover the B&O grill on top of the dashboard?

Get your windshield tinted with a 70% ceramic tint and you won’t need a cover. You can have the sun shining directly in on your skin and barely even notice it. The tint is light enough that you can’t see the difference but you will feel it and so will all of your interior.

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[dannyc928]

Get your windshield tinted with a 70% ceramic tint and you won’t need a cover. You can have the sun shining directly in on your skin and barely even notice it. The tint is light enough that you can’t see the difference but you will feel it and so will all of your interior.

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately I live in CA where it is illegal to tint the windshield and driver and passenger windows.

 

[Meanderthal]

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately I live in CA where it is illegal to tint the windshield and driver and passenger windows.

It might be "illegal" but a 70% tint is pretty much indistinguishable from not being tinted. I think that they even have 80%. Tinting the windshield is illegal in every state that I know of. The 70%, or 80%, would not be anything that any LEO would notice. Since you cannot tint the side windows dark, I would do the 70% on them as well.

Just for reference, most states that allow window tinting have a limit of around 25-30%. I think in CO it is 28%. Most "dark" window tinting is 15% or less. The lower the number the lower the amount of light that comes through, or the darker the tint. So, at 70% almost all of the light is coming through. I know it sounds like a lot of light is being filtered but if you see it in person it is almost nothing and you can only tell it is tinted if you put 2 pieces of glass right next to each other (tinted/not).

There are so many benefits to having the ceramic tint with the UV and Infrared light being reflected that I would recommend this to anyone. No more getting sunburn while sitting in traffic. Basically, once you have a car with ceramic tint, you will never want to be without it.

 

[dannyc928]

It might be "illegal" but a 70% tint is pretty much indistinguishable from not being tinted. I think that they even have 80%. Tinting the windshield is illegal in every state that I know of. The 70%, or 80%, would not be anything that any LEO would notice. Since you cannot tint the side windows dark, I would do the 70% on them as well.

Just for reference, most states that allow window tinting have a limit of around 25-30%. I think in CO it is 28%. Most "dark" window tinting is 15% or less. The lower the number the lower the amount of light that comes through, or the darker the tint. So, at 70% almost all of the light is coming through. I know it sounds like a lot of light is being filtered but if you see it in person it is almost nothing and you can only tell it is tinted if you put 2 pieces of glass right next to each other (tinted/not).

There are so many benefits to having the ceramic tint with the UV and Infrared light being reflected that I would recommend this to anyone. No more getting sunburn while sitting in traffic. Basically, once you have a car with ceramic tint, you will never want to be without it.

Wow. Thank you for the detailed reply. I will research this ceramic tint. I really appreciate your help.

 

[Meanderthal]

Wow. Thank you for the detailed reply. I will research this ceramic tint. I really appreciate your help.

For reference, the tint that I would recommend (just because of my experience with it, no experience with other ceramic tints) is Huper Optik. I have used this tint on 4 vehicles and will continue to use it when the BS arrives.

 

[DaveInSA]

I reached out to Covercraft to see if they had any photos of the actual mat on the BS. They sent me this.

I'm going to give it a try and order one. Covercraft makes the DashMat brand. Think I'm going to go with the Ltd Edition style. I had it on my Mustang and liked it.

*edit: but shipping is $18... hmmm

 

[DaveInSA]

Well I hadn't ordered the covercraft one yet, due to the shipping charges.
But I did try one of the $36~ ones from ebay.

I don't like the way it fits. It covers up the tweeters, and the part that goes on the surround over the gauges doesn't fit right. Plus the way they ship it is folded up 10 times in to a little square, so there are creases everywhere. They might come out after sitting in the sun/heat for a while, but with it covering the tweeters and the poor fit around the gauge cluster I'm not going to keep it.

 

[DaveInSA]

An update, I brought the mat inside and ironed it to get rid of the shipping creases.. It looks a lot better.

And I think if it were to actually bend at the creases it would fit around the edge of the gauge cluster better. Though it still covers the tweeters obviously.. I'm wondering if I can just trim it.. though it won't have the nice edging on it.

I'm hoping just being in the hot vehicle for a while will make it lay down and conform a bit more. I've tried folding on the creases to get it to fit better, but not quite. I don't want to use the 3M velcro tabs it comes with to hold it down. Don't wanna have 3m tape on my dash. It has a rubber coating on the underside so it doesn't slip so far.
Maybe if I try steaming the creases (when it's NOT on the car) I can get them to conform a bit more.. If only I had a steamer

 

[Moltenburn]

God I remember when this was the thing in the 80s bc almost no manufacture could create a padded safety dash that would not disintegrate in UV. But put one in a car manufactured in the last 10 years, I would ask have you been living under a rock?

 

[DaveInSA]

God I remember when this was the thing in the 80s bc almost no manufacture could create a padded safety dash that would not disintegrate in UV. But put one in a car manufactured in the last 10 years, I would ask have you been living under a rock?

Nope, just a place that's about 6' from the sun and regularly over 100 degrees in late spring through early fall

 

[kyle_conrad]

Wondering what this solves vs just using a reflective sunshade in the windshield?

 

[DaveInSA]

Wondering what this solves vs just using a reflective sunshade in the windshield?

You can't drive with a reflective sunshade in the windshield.

 

[kyle_conrad]

You can't drive with a reflective sunshade in the windshield.

Ah I guess I didn’t realize this was a “leave it on all the time” kind of thing

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