How To: Install a 2018 4C (UAQ/UAS) Radio in 2013 - 2017 RAM

[CuylerTech]

You have to enable Travel Link in the BCM for it to work. Auto Eng will corrupt the config if you do just fair warning. All new radios carry the 1yr/5yr setup as the same as a new vehicle.

 

[trp3383]

I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to get this upgrade done. Infotainment has the uas kit for $1299 which includes the hub. Cheapest I can find the uas by itself is $1249 from allmoparparts. Any way to get it cheaper?

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[CuylerTech]

I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to get this upgrade done. Infotainment has the uas kit for $1299 which includes the hub. Cheapest I can find the uas by itself is $1249 from allmoparparts. Any way to get it cheaper?

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Only way would be to get a used unit off carpart or ebay, but most radio reconditioners watch those religiously

 

[LarryA]

You have to enable Travel Link in the BCM for it to work. Auto Eng will corrupt the config if you do just fair warning. All new radios carry the 1yr/5yr setup as the same as a new vehicle.

Sorry, for not knowing, but was is BCM, and Auto Eng?

I like the traffic overlay with in the navigation, but if I had to lose it as part of the upgrade it would not be a deal breaker


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[Mpgrimm2]

Unfortunately used UAS/UAQ's will continue to be difficult to come by for awhile, especially if they are coming out of 18 Rams only (19 Rams may be using a different radio now that they have a 12.1" option). There are a few possible other options if your willing to modify mounts as DeereGuy mentioned in the OP.

BCM= Body Control Module.
Layman's explanation: Stores your vehicle configuration (ie sales codes) that enable features on your truck to work. Can be accessed/changed using OBDII port via a dealer scan tool or to varying degrees aftermarket scan tools/serial interface devices.

AutoEngenuity makes one such tool ($600) some of us have tried for various mods/installs. It can change some settings safely but we have have found out the hard way that it can screw up (corrupt) other settings in the BCM in addition to the ones you want to change ... And then can't fix without going to the dealer to reset back to factory config. Sometimes it can be really bad, ie change left hand drive truck to right hand drive (screws up the ABS). We have had one or two reports of people not being able to get their BCM reset by the dealer and had to get a new one ($$$). We don't recommend using it because of the risks.

Edit:
There's a new obd tool that is affordable and works without the issues the AE... It's called AlfaOBD. It's $50 for the software and requires one of their recommended obd adapters such as the OBDlink MX BT ($80 on Amazon). There's a whole thread on using the AlfaOBD by Ghost_Ram

M² Mods.

 

[LarryA]

Thanks for the explanation - I am 100% sure I would not want to chance making changes to the BCM!

I do have one more question - would I need to update the BCM by installing the 2018 UAQ radio?

 

[CuylerTech]

Thanks for the explanation - I am 100% sure I would not want to chance making changes to the BCM!

I do have one more question - would I need to update the BCM by installing the 2018 UAQ radio?

Yes you will, Unless you can live with some stuff being "off". The Ram USB Ports have 2 USB now instead of one, so the BCM needs to be corrected to tell the radio it is 2USB + AUX not USB+AUX or USB+SD+AUX. If you do not currently have an RA4 Radio, then travel link will not work either.

 

[DeereGuy]

Yes you will, Unless you can live with some stuff being "off". The Ram USB Ports have 2 USB now instead of one, so the BCM needs to be corrected to tell the radio it is 2USB + AUX not USB+AUX or USB+SD+AUX. If you do not currently have an RA4 Radio, then travel link will not work either.

Since he has a 2017 1500 Limited I’m pretty sure he has travel link now which should carry over since it is a BCM setting. That explains why it worked in my wife’s truck.

As for the hub, I have a 2018 RAM hub in my truck now and both USB ports work correctly. I’ve never changed any setting for the USB in my trucks BCM. We’ve also had UAQ radios in 4 other trucks and have never changed a BCM setting for the hub. Anyways right now the compass hub is the best option for most people and it is only 1 USB + AUX.

@LarryA I have a spare 18 UAQ and hub. If you’d like to try it out and see how it works in your truck send me a PM.


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[CuylerTech]

Since he has a 2017 1500 Limited I’m pretty sure he has travel link now which should carry over since it is a BCM setting. That explains why it worked in my wife’s truck.

As for the hub, I have a 2018 RAM hub in my truck now and both USB ports work correctly. I’ve never changed any setting for the USB in my trucks BCM. We’ve also had UAQ radios in 4 other trucks and have never changed a BCM setting for the hub. Anyways right now the compass hub is the best option for most people and it is only 1 USB + AUX.

@LarryA I have a spare 18 UAQ and hub. If you’d like to try it out and see how it works in your truck send me a PM.


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ECU 3 External Port Type is what Drives what Options are shown under media on the radio.Both usb ports will work yes, but the if you had a SD card reader before it'll still show under Media even if the SD card hub is not installed.

Options are:
Absent
AUX Only
AUX + USB
AUX + USB + SD
AUX + USB + extra USB
AUX + USB + SD + Extra USB
None Used.

 

[DeereGuy]

Mine does not. My truck came factory with the SD Card and on my UAQ it does not show the SD Card option. Now that being said, I never used it so I don't know if it ever worked. The next time I have my AE tool out, I will check to see what the BCM is set at. Maybe it never was actually activated in my truck. I never much paid any attention to it. My mere point was that both USB ports will work. I was simply trying to say that in @LarryA's case he will not need to modify the BCM for the hub to work. Worst case scenario, he has a buton for the SD Card that doesn't work.

 

[Ricks Ram]

OK I got my SD/USB/AUX hub today for the 17 Challenger Part# 68294633AB that Cuylertech referred too, plus my harness from M2mods arrived today as well. Absolutely beautiful work guys as usual! The hub appears to be the same size as the Ram UAS/UAQ hub so I am hoping if I can find the storage bin for an 18 Ram this hub should be a direct fit. My truck came with the RA2 but it shows the SD card option on the UAQ/UAS radio because I actually activated the code in my BCM. I'm hoping it will work. I might try to install it tomorrow depending on the weather. I am borrowing STecoD's spare UAS until my UAQ gets here just to test and see how everything works. I will report back with any information.

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[rango10]

I wonder if I would like the double usb or the usb and sd card combo. I occasionally use the sd, but not enough to miss it (I think) if it's not there any more.

With the double usb hub, can I have an ipod in one and be able to access music with my phone plugged into the other usb accessing android auto? Or is one a charger while the other is accessing android auto/apple car play?

I'm intrigued to find out if the 2018 bin will fit your 2016 center console bin with a clean swap vs having to replace the entire Center console lid with a 2018 one.

It would be pretty awesome if you guys could figure out how to retain the stock hub on 2017's and older while retaining all functions of the vehicles original hub.

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[Ricks Ram]

I installed the hub and conversion harness in my truck. Everything works accept the SD card will not play. I can play music off of a USB stick but it's kind of temperamental. Android auto and everything else works great. I was kind of hoping the SD card would work. I'm one of those rare guys that actually use it everyday. The SD card and USB run off the same line so SD card not being picked up by the radio doesn't make sense. My truck has all the proper codes and configurations and I've had the SD card for years so I know that's not the issue. It was getting pretty dark and raining so I came inside I got to take a look at it tomorrow see if I can figure out what's going on.

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[Ricks Ram]

OK I worked on the radio again today and I definitely cannot get the SD card to function. I try ed reformating the card from Fat32 to NTFS and the radio is still not picking up on the SD card. The screen comes up but doesn't recognize the card when you insert it. I have had some people say that the SD card has worked for them so hopefully mine is just an exception. The USB works fine to play music so it's not the end if the world. Also Android Auto is pretty nice to play music through the phone. The new radios are extremely fast to boot up and change screens. You have album art on AM/FM stations which is cool plus both the UAS and UAQ both have HD Radio now. The Android Auto and Apple Carplay are a game changer. This radio I'm testing is a UAS non nav radio but I can run Google Maps or Waze maps through it or Apple maps for an I phone and it works perfectly. If I hadn't already ordered my UAQ radio I think I would be absolutely fine with a UAS.

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[rango10]

OK I worked on the radio again today and I definitely cannot get the SD card to function. I try ed reformating the card from Fat32 to NTFS and the radio is still not picking up on the SD card. The screen comes up but doesn't recognize the card when you insert it. I have had some people say that the SD card has worked for them so hopefully mine is just an exception. The USB works fine to play music so it's not the end if the world. Also Android Auto is pretty nice to play music through the phone. The new radios are extremely fast to boot up and change screens. You have album art on AM/FM stations which is cool plus both the UAS and UAQ both have HD Radio now. The Android Auto and Apple Carplay are a game changer. This radio I'm testing is a UAS non nav radio but I can run Google Maps or Waze maps through it or Apple maps for an I phone and it works perfectly. If I hadn't already ordered my UAQ radio I think I would be absolutely fine with a UAS.

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That's great to hear about the UAS working great with maps. Most of the time you're doing a search on your phone for directions so it would be easier, most of the time, to just have the maps function through the android auto or apple car play.

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[ivey_usmc]

I want the 18 radio in my 17 pretty bad mainly for the nav and apple play. Guess ill wait to find one. Dealer price is too much!

 

[ckleinfeld]

Has anyone successfully unlocked navigation entry while the vehicle is in motion with the UAQ? I see the PAC BCI-CH41 listed for the '18 ram, but have no experience with it.

 

[blueteam01]

Just figured i'd drop off my 2c as I was the first one to put one of these radios in a ram. The heated seat issue carries over to 15 also, not just 13-14s. The Durango Mount with a 30 second cut with a dremel will mount up fine using 2 screws in a ram. 2017 radios can be converted into 2018 radios. I have 3D printed adapters to use the 2018 Hub in a 13-17 lid with slight dremeling but will fit and look mostly stock.

To @CuylerTech:
Would you have pictures of the dremeled Durango radio? Also what year Durango did you use? Thank you.

 

[Mpgrimm2]

To

Would you have pictures of the dremeled Durango radio?
Also what year Durango did you use? Thank you.

@DeereGuy has personally purchased/tried several Model & Year (MY) Panasonic UAQ/UAS radios (& 00R/T) and kept track of the outcome. If you must venture into other models stick with the MY18 vs MY17.5. These radios aren't cheap, even used (keyword is crapshoot) ...

It is also important that you get a MY18 radio. All MY18 radio part numbers start with 683.... The RAM themes are only available on MY18 year radios and the firmware must be at least version 18.
....
Anything less than 18.7 may have functional problems. It is possible to upgrade radios with older versions of software (I have upgraded to 18.14 all the way from 15.5 on one radio) but I also had one fail the upgrade process. Be wary of "AA" revision radios as they are really a crapshoot of what you are actually going to get.

Also, I believe @Dodgetk81 may gotten his hands on an 18 Durango UAQ and may be able to elaborate on the mount if Cuyler doesn't have pictures.

http://www.ramforum.com/index.php?posts/1458159]M² Mods.

 

[NapaRam]

I want the 18 radio in my 17 pretty bad mainly for the nav and apple play. Guess ill wait to find one. Dealer price is too much!

Have you looked at the one at infotainment.com? Do they want more that than? That is the only other place to get one that I know of.