I will be putting in an aftermarket radio in my '04 Dakota soon. I have already found the dash kit at HiFi Buys. But the plastic cover ( over radio and ac controls) looks like it is one piece, all the way over above the steering column? Anyone done this? Just don't want to break something on my new truck (3 weeks old).

yes it is one peice there are 2 bolts in the top of the guage bezel close to the stearing wheel and there are 3 underneath the stearing wheel. it is rather simple to take off once you get the bolts out it all just pops right off. Dont worry abuot breaking anything the plastic is like steel it is vertaly impossible to break.

Thanks for the help ct4X4. You were right, it was a piece of cake. I did the whole job in ~40 minutes, and that was with lots of patience.

Ugh, it just took 3 hours of searching the internet to find out about those three bolts on the bottom. Heh, hopefully tomorrow this will also mean 40 min of work as well .

Thanks.