Uconnect wiring infrastructure in all trims

I'm new to the forum and new to Rams. I had a 99' Dakota r/t years ago but this is a different animal. Just picked up a stripped down express with a basic stereo (has Sirius) Been reading about swapping out to a 430 ($200+) or 430n. ($400+) Also looking into the updated cluster.($150+) Scouring the forum and checking EBay for pricing. But need to know how much wiring is going to have to be added. Would like the stock look but upgraded stuff. Right now I have no steering controls for the radio. Is it worth the trouble or do I just start fresh and go Alpine and forget about Uconnect? Any cool extra functionality from touchscreen? Or is it just easier because of plug and play?


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Check out this thread for some info: http://www.ramforum.com/f51/help_just_bought_rbz_radio_off_ebay_now_not_sure_if_compatible-107025/

Depends if you have uconnect already then you just need a different harness. If you don't have it then you need the radios that have it built in or otherwise you have to get the "add on" kit. Gets real expensive for no more then it does. I did it in my Challenger and it was ok, I did like the navigation feature. If I had to do it again I'd have gone aftermarket, all the features but cheaper overall to do.

I will be honest. If you want to spend that kind of coin on a 5-6+ year old radio just buy an aftermarket. The technology has changed so much in the more recent years you would be a fool (sorry) to waste your money on a factory unit.

stimpy433 said:

Check out this thread for some info: http://www.ramforum.com/f51/help_just_bought_rbz_radio_off_ebay_now_not_sure_if_compatible-107025/



Depends if you have uconnect already then you just need a different harness. If you don't have it then you need the radios that have it built in or otherwise you have to get the "add on" kit. Gets real expensive for no more then it does. I did it in my Challenger and it was ok, I did like the navigation feature. If I had to do it again I'd have gone aftermarket, all the features but cheaper overall to do.

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How do I know if uconnect installed already? Not listed when I look up vin#.


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baum said:

I will be honest. If you want to spend that kind of coin on a 5-6+ year old radio just buy an aftermarket. The technology has changed so much in the more recent years you would be a fool (sorry) to waste your money on a factory unit.

Click to expand...

Original 430 is around $200 and wasn't sure if it would open up any features with uconnect that an aftermarket wouldn't. New Alpine w/ apple is $699 plus whatever harness I need


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Abacus said:

Original 430 is around $200 and wasn't sure if it would open up any features with uconnect that an aftermarket wouldn't. New Alpine w/ apple is $699 plus whatever harness I need


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you can go to the u-connect website and put in the year of truck and it will tell you want all features the 430 has. To match that with an aftermarket you can get a pioneer or kenwood for 2-500. a 430 will never sound as good as an aftermarket either

you can even get them to do car play or android auto
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_1301330NEX/Pioneer-AVH-1330NEX.html

Abacus said:

How do I know if uconnect installed already? Not listed when I look up vin#.


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If you don't have steering wheel controls I doubt you have it.... does your radio have a button with a picture of a phone on it now??? If you aren't able to Bluetooth your phone to the radio now then you don't have it.

All the uconnect really adds is the Bluetooth pairing to the radio.... not worth the money to add it to your truck. Aftermarket radios are so much better then those oem radios. Also, they are known to have a lot of problems with the hard drives crashing in them.

Aftermarket all the way. More choices and support is better in the long run. IMO


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Thanks everyone for the advice. Now to save for the Alpine with CarPlay


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What is the reason so pro alpine? I have had dvd and touch screen radios in my vehicles since about 2002. I have had all the major brands (alpine, kenwood, pioneer). Personally what i would recommend is to find some audio stores and go play with them you may find that you like the UI on one of the other units better than an alpine. Back in the day when people where buying cd players i would push customers toward alpine because they were better then.

keep in mind also that with a '12 you dont need the high dollar maestro module you can get away with the basic can bud module for about half the price

baum said:

What is the reason so pro alpine? I have had dvd and touch screen radios in my vehicles since about 2002. I have had all the major brands (alpine, kenwood, pioneer). Personally what i would recommend is to find some audio stores and go play with them you may find that you like the UI on one of the other units better than an alpine. Back in the day when people where buying cd players i would push customers toward alpine because they were better then.

keep in mind also that with a '12 you dont need the high dollar maestro module you can get away with the basic can bud module for about half the price

Click to expand...

Alpine was just the go to long ago. I have also had Pioneer. Thanks for the help. Just started going through Crutchfield. Apple CarPlay I think is a must. That's about it


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If it was me i would do car play any day over a radio with nav. the reason being is the nav updates can get costly and with all the new construction they get outdated right away. Car play uses your phone nav app and those are usually updated all the time.