Need To Replace The Fuse Box Cover Bolt For Your Dodge RAM IPM?
Need To Replace The Fuse Box Cover Bolt For Your Dodge RAM IPM?
You are not alone in needing to replace a fuse box screw!
One thing many owners of 2002 – 2005 Dodge RAM pickups have in common is a broken thumb screw that holds the removable lid onto the truck’s fuse and relay box (also known as an IPM, or “Integrated Power Module”.) This thumb-screw bolt is subject to unusually high rates of breakage, so there is a good chance that at some point in the life of the vehicle, owners will find themselves wishing they had not over-tightened it, as finding a fuse box cover replacement bolt has been next to impossible. Until now.
Sitting under the hood, the “IPM” is the name by which Chrysler refers to the fuse box on most of its vehicles produced prior to 2006. (After 2006, Chrysler began referring to the device as a “TIPM”, adding the “T” for “Totally Integrated Power Module”.)
All TIPMs and IPMs come with an easy-open lid, or top cover, to make access to replace fuses and relays housed therein easy. While the later TIPM lids were designed to pop off and onto the base’s plastic hinge mounts, the early RAM IPMs instead used a plastic bolt to hold the cover in place.
The original Chrysler TIPM thumbscrew had an overall shape and Allen-wrench socket daring owners and mechanics alike to over-tighten it. Moreover, its construction of injection-molded plastic grew more brittle over time, leading to breakage in a surprisingly high ratio of RAM vehicles. Moreover, it had unique stem ridges to ensure that it stayed attached to the lid. These ridges and the bolt’s unique length meant it could not be easily replaced if broken, and Chrysler has long since discontinued it as a replacement part. It was originally made of injection-molded plastic that can weaken over time when exposed to the high temperatures and temperature fluctuations of the engine compartment.
MAK’s replacement TIPM thumbscrew is an identically threaded, perfect fit, made by MAK’s exclusively for MAK’s customers. Practically indestructible, it is machined from a single piece of high-heat-tolerant Delrin, and easily pops into the lid’s tab-locks just as the original.
Having received hundreds of requests for an otherwise unavailable substitute, MAK’s new replacement Dodge RAM IPM Lid / Cover Bolt can be purchased here. It comes with a Lifetime Warranty and free priority shipping.