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

[SitKneelBend]

If your radio is from a 19 classic (same PN as 2018) then I do have some USA RAM UAQ and UAS FW files linked in my 8.4 fw info thread.

M² Mods.

Thanks, I found them and tried. It appears they are valid for this radio but I can't reflash because it's already up to date.

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[srtdrew]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has contributed to this thread that I was able to successfully find(on my third try) a UAQ unit and it's working great. I went through 2 UAS units that I thought were going to be UAQ's before finding the right one. Luckily I was able to return one of them,

 

[SitKneelBend]

Going nuclear on the screen. I've discovered that what may seem like a really scuffed screen is actually a really scuffed factory anti glare laminate.

It is removable with heat, WD-40, Isopropyl Alcohol and patience. It also leaves you with a pristine screen you can apply a new screen protector to. Do not apply too much heat but the heat is necessary to pull the liner up. First the protector comes off and leaves adhesive. The adhesive gets soaked in WD-40 to soften it up. The alcohol gets the adhesive and WD-40 up. The final cleaning was performed with electronics cleaner.

I'm hoping it cured my phantom touch issue as well. The factory liner was peeling up at the corners I believe from the aforementioned oily substance that may have coated it in the accident.



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[JoeGo88]

Going nuclear on the screen. I've discovered that what may seem like a really scuffed screen is actually a really scuffed factory anti glare laminate.

It is removable with heat, WD-40, Isopropyl Alcohol and patience. It also leaves you with a pristine screen you can apply a new screen protector to. Do not apply too much heat but the heat is necessary to pull the liner up. First the protector comes off and leaves adhesive. The adhesive gets soaked in WD-40 to soften it up. The alcohol gets the adhesive and WD-40 up. The final cleaning was performed with electronics cleaner.

I'm hoping it cured my phantom touch issue as well. The factory liner was peeling up at the corners I believe from the aforementioned oily substance that may have coated it in the accident.



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Think that will fix this one?




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[SitKneelBend]

Think that will fix this one?




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Yes. So long as the screen isn't cracked. It took me about 3 hours. I used a heat gun at 400-500 degrees to get it warmed up enough and my finger nails to get enough protector up to begin pulling towards me.

If you go slow and heat up when necessary you could get the whole thing off in one go (I unfortunately didn't). This is one of those things where the slower you go the faster you'll get done.

I should also mention to let things cool before applying any cleaners to it. Especially the alcohol as it will evaporate quickly and therefore cool the surface rapidly.

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[JoeGo88]

Yes. So long as the screen isn't cracked. It took me about 3 hours. I used a heat gun at 400-500 degrees to get it warmed up enough and my finger nails to get enough protector up to begin pulling towards me.

If you go slow and heat up when necessary you could get the whole thing off in one go (I unfortunately didn't). This is one of those things where the slower you go the faster you'll get done.

I should also mention to let things cool before applying any cleaners to it. Especially the alcohol as it will evaporate quickly and therefore cool the surface rapidly.

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Did you remove the screen from the rest of the radio before doing this?


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[SitKneelBend]

Did you remove the screen from the rest of the radio before doing this?


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Yes, it must be removed but it was fairly easy. This video got me started...




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[mrekimf]

Has anyone tried this with a factory Alpine amp/speaker system? I have a 2016 with the 8.4A and Alpine. Curious if having the Alpine is a deal breaker for the upgrade to a 2018 radio.

Has this been answered?

 

[rgardjr]

Has this been answered?

I have a 2014 1500 Limited with the Alpine stereo and it was plug and play to install a UAQ in my truck.

 

[JoeGo88]

Think that will fix this one?




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@SitKneelBend was right. I was able to pull up the laminate and there was a perfect screen behind it. A few things I did different were I actually used a hair dryer for heat because the heat gun I had was only 750° or 1000° and I thought that would be too much. Once I got a corner up I started using a razor blade which made life much easier. Once the screen protector was up I used a decal and adhesive remover and micro fiber cloth. After a few rounds with that I had all of the adhesive off and a brand new screen! The picture has all of the things I used in it.





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[SitKneelBend]

@SitKneelBend was right. I was able to pull up the laminate and there was a perfect screen behind it. A few things I did different were I actually used a hair dryer for heat because the heat gun I had was only 750° or 1000° and I thought that would be too much. Once I got a corner up I started using a razor blade which made life much easier. Once the screen protector was up I used a decal and adhesive remover and micro fiber cloth. After a few rounds with that I had all of the adhesive off and a brand new screen! The picture has all of the things I used in it.





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Great work! I thought about a razor blade too but I wasn't sure how the glass would hold up. Luckily my fingernails held up throughout the process!

Edit:. Look at the patience on Joe! He pulled it off in nearly one piece!


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[Mike whelchel]

Please point me to the correct section of this thread - 174 pages is too much for me. I have a 2018 Ram 2500 tradesman with the uconnect 3 with 5" display. I would like to get the UAC (Apple CarPlay + nav?) in it. I know I will need the different bezel, what I am unsure of is will the USB ports in the flip up console work for Apple CarPlay and I don't know what else I don't know

thanks,
Mike

 

[Wildfire1206]

Please point me to the correct section of this thread - 174 pages is too much for me. I have a 2018 Ram 2500 tradesman with the uconnect 3 with 5" display. I would like to get the UAC (Apple CarPlay + nav?) in it. I know I will need the different bezel, what I am unsure of is will the USB ports in the flip up console work for Apple CarPlay and I don't know what else I don't know

thanks,
Mike

I'm new here and looking to do the same with my 18 2500 tradesman. I'm assuming it's roughly the same as the 13-17 conversion https://www.ramforum.com/threads/diy-2013-2017-ra3-ra4-8-4-radio-upgrade-hvac-conversion.135601/ but with an '18 radio plus the addition of the media hub?

Andre

 

[mdowning]

Please point me to the correct section of this thread - 174 pages is too much for me. I have a 2018 Ram 2500 tradesman with the uconnect 3 with 5" display. I would like to get the UAC (Apple CarPlay + nav?) in it. I know I will need the different bezel, what I am unsure of is will the USB ports in the flip up console work for Apple CarPlay and I don't know what else I don't know

thanks,
Mike

I pretty much did just what you want to do.... 2018 Tradesman. See my post:

https://www.ramforum.com/posts/2169823/

Feel free to let me know if I can help.

--md

 

[SitKneelBend]

So, I think the issue with the ghost touches on screen may actually be the radio overheating and the touchscreen being affected by the excess heat. This would explain why letting it sit for a bit clears the issue up but it always returns.

That being said, has anyone else felt these radios run hot? I know it's all passive cooling but mine seems to be hotter than it should be.

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[SitKneelBend]

Just threw my RA4 in to compare. The UAS is glacially cool by comparison. The RA4 is literally too hot to handle even 10 minutes after being in the truck but the screen remains cool/warm to the touch.

Now I'm wondering if I can somehow insulate the screen from heat better? Anyone know of any heat reflecting materials I could put between the screen and the radio to test? Anyone ever open an RA3/RA4 and see how they manage heat?

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[Ricks Ram]

Just threw my RA4 in to compare. The UAS is glacially cool by comparison. The RA4 is literally too hot to handle even 10 minutes after being in the truck but the screen remains cool/warm to the touch.

Now I'm wondering if I can somehow insulate the screen from heat better? Anyone know of any heat reflecting materials I could put between the screen and the radio to test? Anyone ever open an RA3/RA4 and see how they manage heat?

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I know Im in the minority but I'm just not a fan of the UAS/UAQ radios. I bought a brand new UAQ and ended up pulling it and re installing my RA4. I just like the RA4 better. I feel it's a better quality radio. The sound quality is much better, the screen themes and overall look are better in my opinion. Since I have an android phone I can voice text with the RA4 without having Android Auto or having the phone plugged into the media hub and it works great. The UAQ/UAS radios cannot play the SD card and that's what I use to listen to my music and they cannot voice text unless connected to Android Auto or Car Play. My truck is a 14 so I also had the normal 13 and 14 truck issues with certain things not displaying which was annoying. If I was an I phone guy I would have probably tried the UAQ a little longer because the I phone can't voice text on the RA4 and from what I have seen with my friends that have the I phones the Car Play is a lot nicer than the Android Auto.

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[Jeff Krawczyk]

I know Im in the minority but I'm just not a fan of the UAS/UAQ radios. I bought a brand new UAQ and ended up pulling it and re installing my RA4. I just like the RA4 better. I feel it's a better quality radio. The sound quality is much better, the screen themes and overall look are better in my opinion. Since I have an android phone I can voice text with the RA4 without having Android Auto or having the phone plugged into the media hub and it works great. The UAQ/UAS radios cannot play the SD card and that's what I use to listen to my music and they cannot voice text unless connected to Android Auto or Car Play. My truck is a 14 so I also had the normal 13 and 14 truck issues with certain things not displaying which was annoying. If I was an I phone guy I would have probably tried the UAQ a little longer because the I phone can't voice text on the RA4 and from what I have seen with my friends that have the I phones the Car Play is a lot nicer than the Android Auto.

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How do you voice text with the android phone...or is it because of you have a uconnect account..

 

[SitKneelBend]

I know Im in the minority but I'm just not a fan of the UAS/UAQ radios. I bought a brand new UAQ and ended up pulling it and re installing my RA4. I just like the RA4 better. I feel it's a better quality radio. The sound quality is much better, the screen themes and overall look are better in my opinion. Since I have an android phone I can voice text with the RA4 without having Android Auto or having the phone plugged into the media hub and it works great. The UAQ/UAS radios cannot play the SD card and that's what I use to listen to my music and they cannot voice text unless connected to Android Auto or Car Play. My truck is a 14 so I also had the normal 13 and 14 truck issues with certain things not displaying which was annoying. If I was an I phone guy I would have probably tried the UAQ a little longer because the I phone can't voice text on the RA4 and from what I have seen with my friends that have the I phones the Car Play is a lot nicer than the Android Auto.

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I pretty much feel the exact opposite. I liked the RA4, and the UAx just perfects it.

That being said, I'm glad I have my RA4 to fall back on...I probably won't sell it, I took it on road trips with me when I had the Tesla Style radio installed because I couldn't trust the Tesla Style.

I fashioned a heat shield of sorts which consists of fiberglass motorcycle exhaust wrap covered in foil tape. I plan to put it between the screen and the rest of the radio to see if I can keep the screen cooler.


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[SitKneelBend]

How do you voice text with the android phone...or is it because of you have a uconnect account..

If you turn on/install/allow Google Assistant these features will work so long as you have a data connection. Google Assistant is (was?) meant to replace Android Auto.

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