Switched to a Milwaukee M12 ratchet for dash work and my speed doubled

Brooke Taylor · 2026-03-10T01:25:07.873823+00:00

I was doing a heater core on a 2018 F-150 last week, which means pulling the whole dash. With my old manual ratchet, that job took me about 3 hours just to get the dash out. This time, I used my new M12 ratchet on the low torque setting, and I had the whole thing on the bench in under 90 minutes. The tight spots behind the steering column were way easier. Anyone else have a go-to tool for dash pulls that saves you a ton of time?

brooket435mo ago

M12 is a game changer for those tight spots behind the column.

10

holly_thompson986mo ago

The service manual for my shop lists about fifteen dash bolts you can just leave out.

9

davis.olivia6mo ago

Honestly, the real time saver for me was just learning which bolts you can actually leave out on the reinstall.

8

the_alice6mo ago

@davis.olivia that's a pro move right there. Which parts did you find were safe to skip? I'm curious if it's mostly interior trim clips or if some actual chassis bolts aren't needed.

1