Adding cooled seats

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chris3209

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I have a 2014 ram 1500 express and I'm replacing the seats with some Laramie, heated and cooled seats. My understanding is I need some harness from the original truck and to find a dealer who can update my build codes. Can anyone tell me if I just need the "pig tail" connector under the seat or if it's something more? Also, I'm updating the radio panel to add cooled and heated seat buttons. Is there an adapter I should ask the seller for? Thanks!
 

Ricks Ram

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You are getting into alot more than you realize. I installed Laramie seats on my Express as well. It is easy to hook them up to power so the adjustments and Lombar work. Hooking up the heated cooled option is a another story. You will need all of the correct harnesses to hook up to all of the modules under the seat plus your truck. These harnesses are not availible seperate so you have to buy the whole cab harness for around 1k. Doc Holiday actualy bought a complete harness to add heated seats to the rears on his truck. He might be able to hook you up with the pieces he has left for your install. After you figure out all if the harnesses and get a switch panel you will need to have the sales codes for the heated cooled seats added to your truck. Your truck never had this as an option in your trim level so you can't just go have the codes flashed in. You need to find a dealer willing to contact WIC( Warranty Information Center ) and see if they will release the codes to your Vin#. Doc and CuylerTech have been able to do this and if I'm not mistaken I think they went through the same people. I haven't heard of anyone else being able to get it done. I am working on getting the Auto Dim code added to my truck but so far have had no success. I have all of the wiring on seats figured out. I am going to just install aftermarket seat heater switches and hook up the fans as well. If I where you before you spend all of the time and money on parts go to a dealer and see if you can get them to contact WIC to add the codes. If you are successful at getting the codes added then you can go from there. As far as your radio goes look up 5.0 to 8.4 upgrade in the 4th gen DIY by Getupkid. You will need a custom made adaptor harness and some other pieces but it is simple to do. You can buy the harness from the Harness Conection who is a,vendor on this forum.
 
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chris3209

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Thanks for the detailed response! I'll call my dealer now. The guy I'm buying from seems willing to send me the harnesses for the seats. I'm not sure they'd be worth $1000 to me though. Do you have any pics of the harness for the seats? I'm not sure exactly what I'm asking the seller for ( he wasn't too sure either). Again thanks for all that info.
 

Ricks Ram

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No I don't have any pictures. When you get your seats you will see the wiring is extensive. Also I was thinking you may need to add the RA4 touchscreen conversion with the factory bezel and sales code as well in order for them to work correctly. The seat heater and cooling controls are integrated into the radio. This option is only available on the higher trim levels that have the RA4. It is not availible on models with the lower trim radios. I remember one member upgraded his radio and lost his seat heaters. Not sure if he ever figured it out.
 
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chris3209

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Hmm I didn't realize I'd also have to do the 5.0 to 8.4 conversion. I thought there were separate buttons available to control the seats. The ones that go under the radio?
 

Ricks Ram

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Hmm I didn't realize I'd also have to do the 5.0 to 8.4 conversion. I thought there were separate buttons available to control the seats. The ones that go under the radio?

You are correct thete are separate buttons for the heated cooled seats. You have the switches in the panels and the comfort control soft keys on the 8.4. We had a member add an 8.4 to his truck and keep his stock 5.0 climate control he had factory heated seats. He got a bezel from O.E.M auto parts. This bezel uses your stock climate control setup. You can look it up on line and see what I am talking about. After installing the 8.4 his factory heated seats would no longer work. Obviously they are tyed together somehow. He was going to to the full upgrade to the factory 8.4 bezel to see if his heated seats would work but he never posted back that I saw. As I stated the ventilated seats were only offered in trucks with the 8.4 so it may be an issue for you as well.
 
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chris3209

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Oh I see. Thanks for clarifying. The leather seats will still be worth it, even without the cooled function. Maybe I'll wait on that until someone figures out an easier way to use all the new seats features.
 

Ricks Ram

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Oh I see. Thanks for clarifying. The leather seats will still be worth it, even without the cooled function. Maybe I'll wait on that until someone figures out an easier way to use all the new seats features.

I suggest installing the seats and just connecting them to.power so all of the adjustments work. The nay be install the VP4 NA 8.4 radio with the factory bezel conversion. You will think you are driving a different truck. Then maybe go from there. As I stated I am going to just use aftermarket switches to make mine eork. I have it pretty much figured out. I just need to find the time to get it all hooked up. You can also add the factory Homelink in your overhead console and it will work plug and play. Your truck l ready has the overhead console so you have the CV2 sales code. If you add the Homelink module make sure it's foe a 13 up truvk as they are different. You can also add the premium cluster plug and play
 
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chris3209

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Okay I think I will do that. Maybe I'll just ask this seller for the price on the whole radio and bezel conversion to only pay shipping once. So you think you have the cooled and heated seats both about figured out? Just aftermarket switches? That would work for me.
 

Ricks Ram

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Yes I pretty much have ot figured out. If you buy the radio out of the Laramie that is fine make sure it's a 14 radio also make sure it says VP4 NA on the back. This is the one you want. You don't want the Laramie climate control. It's a dual zone 8.4 bezel. You want a single zone 8.4 bezel.
 

Ricks Ram

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My truck was a 14 Express with the 5.0 and standard 3.5 cluster just like yours. This is what it looks like now....trust me you will like the new look.
 

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chris3209

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haha, yeah that doesn't look like my truck. Nice work!
 

Ricks Ram

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Thanks....it's easy to do. If you decide to do it just read the 4th gen DIY threads. If you have any questions there are tons of us who have done it and will help you with anything you are confused on. When you get your seats let me know and I will list all of the wires I have figured out.
 

GardysGarage

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Where have you guys sourced your Seats/Harnesses? Junkyards? Rick, I have a 2015 R/T would this be an option for me bring that I'm SCSB? Thanks for any input!!
 

big_red06

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My truck was a 14 Express with the 5.0 and standard 3.5 cluster just like yours. This is what it looks like now....trust me you will like the new look.
that looks awesome cant wait to get mine done
 

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Did you truck allready have a puck style shifter? I have a 2015 cummins tradesman I also upgraded to 8.4 with the auto climate from the 5.0 with Manuel climate . And to the 7"evic. I to am looking at some laramie seats and console with heat and cool
 

Ricks Ram

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I'm not sure if I understand your question but if you are referring to the shifter knob then yes it came that way. My truck is a 1500 and has the 8 speed transmission. All of the 8 speeds have the Rotary Shifter Knob.
 

THE HEMI MAN

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Not jacking the thread but have question. I already have heated seats, so how hard will it be to add the cooling feature once i get the seats?
 

Ricks Ram

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I am not sure I have heard of anyone who has try ed to add ventelated seats to a truck that only had heated seats. I am pretty sure the wiring is different for the trucks that have the heated and ventelated seats because they have a lot more features so you would most likely have to find the correct harnesses witch is hard to do because in most cases on these trucks the harnesses are sold as a complete unit you have to buy a lot more wiring than you actually needed. You would need to change your control buttons under the radio most likely as well plus see if you can have the sales code added to your truck in order for it all to work. The sales code is most likely not available in your build sheet in that case you would have to go through W.I.C. to get the code added which is extremely difficult to do in most cases. Honestly I think your first step would be to see if the sales code is even available for your truck and take it from there. As long as you could get the sales code added you could probably do it it would just be a lot of work and a lot of looking for parts and probably get pretty expensive
 
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