Auto-Fold Mirror Hack.

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Randy Grant

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At over 70, I still have the energy to push the button when in tight parking situations. Of course remembering to put them back out is getting to be a problem, but, hey, it's part of the curve. Seams like you young'uns just want everything done for you automatically and without thinking.
 
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dpinvidic

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You're making an assumption that every switch is on the can bus. I don't have schematics but I don't believe that's the case you have things like body control module or ECM that are distributed about the car, and multiple can buses in a vehicle. I would bet $11.73 that the mirror switch is a regular switch with wires that go to the body control module. The body control module makes its decision to do something with the mirrors or do something with other parts of the car. If you think about it the advantage of canbus is to allow reduction in total wiring of a car. Two wires to a switch would be the same as two wires for a can bus signal to that switch. Not much Advantage there. All of this is based on how I'm assuming this would work based on an engineering background in electronics but my no means an expert in Vehicle Systems
 

chrisbh17

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You're making an assumption that every switch is on the can bus. I don't have schematics but I don't believe that's the case you have things like body control module or ECM that are distributed about the car, and multiple can buses in a vehicle. I would bet $11.73 that the mirror switch is a regular switch with wires that go to the body control module. The body control module makes its decision to do something with the mirrors or do something with other parts of the car. If you think about it the advantage of canbus is to allow reduction in total wiring of a car. Two wires to a switch would be the same as two wires for a can bus signal to that switch. Not much Advantage there. All of this is based on how I'm assuming this would work based on an engineering background in electronics but my no means an expert in Vehicle Systems

Not assuming, actually worked on them.

Each door has its own module. The mirrors connect to the door module in each door. The modules then connect to the CAN bus using the STAR bus hub that is under the steering column.

The modules allow for a large reduction in wiring, because the mirrors have: heat, auto dim, power adjustment, power folding, puddle lamps, signal lamps. So 12 or 13 leads connecting to the door module, then 2 from the module to the CAN bus.
 

Jimmy07

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You're making an assumption that every switch is on the can bus. I don't have schematics but I don't believe that's the case you have things like body control module or ECM that are distributed about the car, and multiple can buses in a vehicle. I would bet $11.73 that the mirror switch is a regular switch with wires that go to the body control module. The body control module makes its decision to do something with the mirrors or do something with other parts of the car. If you think about it the advantage of canbus is to allow reduction in total wiring of a car. Two wires to a switch would be the same as two wires for a can bus signal to that switch. Not much Advantage there. All of this is based on how I'm assuming this would work based on an engineering background in electronics but my no means an expert in Vehicle Systems
Like chrisbh17 said, the door modules are only online with the BCM via the CAN IHS junction block. These are the two wires from the switch to the door module that take care of the power fold button, left/right mirror select buttons, mirror direction button, etc- MxOyeT9.jpg
The member in the linked thread earlier in this thread is going to tear apart a door switch and see what he can do with it.
 

JKLines

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Well ... I'm only 69 so maybe that one year makes a difference ... but there are times I've returned to my vehicle in a parking lot and there is a car parked close to my truck and I think, "darn, I should have folder my mirrors". Personally, I would like it if they folded automatically when I shut off the truck since I'm a bit forgetful when it comes to folding them. What really annoys me though is just one more thing where all the capability is there but they don't do it or make it very hard for you to enable. It also seems it would be one of those things they could easily add to the programming to do this for vehicles already equipped with power fold mirrors. I miss the days where you could add options to your vehicle and not worry about an option having to be enabled on the vehicle's computer. The programming is very archaic by todays standards as well. Perhaps it's time to improve rewrite the whole thing, i.e. ODB-III, but searching the internet about making improvements the discussion is more around big brother monitoring our vehicles and coming after us if we don't keep everything in spec. Definitely don't want that.
 

Randy Grant

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AAHHH!!!! For the day when all you had to do was turn the key, and just drive. Change your own oil, spark plugs, air filter, and adjust the carb, change the points and condenser, a little air in the tires, and maintenance was done. No worries about anything going wrong that the average backyard wrencher couldn't fix. Ain't technology great??????
 

mikeru

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AAHHH!!!! For the day when all you had to do was turn the key, and just drive. Change your own oil, spark plugs, air filter, and adjust the carb, change the points and condenser, a little air in the tires, and maintenance was done. No worries about anything going wrong that the average backyard wrencher couldn't fix. Ain't technology great??????
I miss those days too. I seriously considered finding a fully restored car or truck from the 60's or early 70's to use as a daily driver instead of a new Ram. So that I could fix things myself when needed. But then I remembered how my feet, knees, and back feel after working on one of my kid's cars for a couple of hours and I quickly got over it LOL
 

Narg

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Hi guys,

I contacted Zautomotive to see if they supported the 2020 RAM 1500s yet, and they said they did in their "Tazer DT" product. So I bit the bullet and bought one. At least three of the features this device provided appealed to me. Windows down from remote (though 5 presses of unlock seem extreme to me.), fog cut out on bright turned off, turn signal camera trick, and GPS usage while in motion for my wife to help with that. A few other things were neat too, but not a big deal.

After installation, some of the functions didn't work right. Like the windows down from remote worked once, then never again. The light show trick was wonky and sometime wouldn't start. Other things just seemed odd. So, I gave up and went back out to the truck the next day to find a dead battery. Plus, the camera signal thing and GPS unlock can't be enabled at the same time according to the instructions. Either one or the other between programming. Right now I'd give Zautomotive a zero star review. I've messaged their support, so we'll see what happens, but not happy at the moment.
 

Ridergc4

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I own 2017 Ram 2500 with folding mirrors. I am an auto technician by trade and understand the can bus system of most modern cars. Most mid to upper level cars have folding mirrors that can be activated or deactivated by the owner interface function. Most that I have seen can fold the mirrors upon locking the car (or not).
It seems to me that it would be a simple programming feature that could be added by the factory or a knowledgable hacker that could activate this feature in the BCM.
I'm sure there are some ways to finnagle it to work but it really should be a feature on a 60K+ truck.
 

chrisbh17

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I was able to capture messages on the bus when folding and unfolding. The issue is that the drivers mirror does not get a message over the CAN bus, it seems to get a message directly from the drivers door module, using the LIN bus. The LIN bus is a different architecture than CAN and is not as easy to mimic sending messages. So I cant repeat a drivers side fold/unfold.

There *is* a message sent on the CAN bus to the passenger mirror. I have been able to replay that message and get the passenger mirror to fold and unfold.
 

Michael Hartman

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I was able to capture messages on the bus when folding and unfolding. The issue is that the drivers mirror does not get a message over the CAN bus, it seems to get a message directly from the drivers door module, using the LIN bus. The LIN bus is a different architecture than CAN and is not as easy to mimic sending messages. So I cant repeat a drivers side fold/unfold.

There *is* a message sent on the CAN bus to the passenger mirror. I have been able to replay that message and get the passenger mirror to fold and unfold.

You mind sharing that CAN message? I'd like to try it myself.

How do you listen in on the CAN bus? I've hacked into the IHS bus by making a T connector to the A/C - radio plug below the touch screen. I was so proud I found the exact connector and pin inserts from mouser. I wish I knew about the green start connector bus before. That would have bee much easier.

BTW - have you decoded any other messages? I'm still looking for door lock and unlock. Ideally remote start, but I'm pretty sure that's more than a simple CAN message.
 

Michael Hartman

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For what it's worth, I'm planning on making a personalized GPS tracker that also interfaces with the IHS bus to automate few things. I'll be using a Particle Boron LTE connected back to my own install of Home Assistant so I can replicate the "Uconnect access" vehicle tracking and remote door lock/unlock.

The current road block is trying to reverse engineer the right codes with by CAN IHS sniffer. So many messages on the bus, even when I filter out repeating, non changing messages.
 

chrisbh17

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For what it's worth, I'm planning on making a personalized GPS tracker that also interfaces with the IHS bus to automate few things. I'll be using a Particle Boron LTE connected back to my own install of Home Assistant so I can replicate the "Uconnect access" vehicle tracking and remote door lock/unlock.

The current road block is trying to reverse engineer the right codes with by CAN IHS sniffer. So many messages on the bus, even when I filter out repeating, non changing messages.
I'm not sure if/what UConnect messages go across the bus. Things like the remote start request I think go right to the head unit first, the possibly translated into non uconnect messages onto the bus. Not sure how one could mimick talking to the uconnect head unit directly (at least not easily) although there is that white paper about the guys that got into the 2014 jeep Cherokee.

I think a simple start would be sniffing a regular remote start session (using the keyfob to start) and then play it back over your lte setup. Interestingly enough, I signed up for the uconnect deal that came with a 4g adapter that plugs into the obd port to provide a 4g hotspot. I do not think it provides any uconnect functionality, at least not currently. I can still access my truck with uconnect and without the adapter.


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