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

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

sirdumpsalot

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Jul 9, 2021
Posts
126
Reaction score
29
Location
Las Vegas
Ram Year
2017
I got around to making the radio much cooler by applying a simple fix. I installed new thermal pads inside the unit by just cutting to the same size as the factory pads.

Factory pads...



I have no means of accurately measuring the temperature but the radio is quite noticeably cooler after applying new thermal material to transfer heat from the chips to the case. The radio has gone from hot/almost too hot to touch to cool/ambient temperature after normal prolonged operation.

I'll be inspecting the new thermal material the next time I open it up to ensure it is making good contact. It appears to be the same thickness as the factory thermal material though...

Pink = Factory
Blue = Arctic thermal pad.



I probably only used 1/3 of the thermal material I purchased.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Arctic-The...-/401109922295?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286


Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
SitKneelBend did you just replace the factory pads or did you add to it? My radio is almost too hot to touch after running for 10 mins...
 

sirdumpsalot

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Jul 9, 2021
Posts
126
Reaction score
29
Location
Las Vegas
Ram Year
2017
I got around to making the radio much cooler by applying a simple fix. I installed new thermal pads inside the unit by just cutting to the same size as the factory pads.

Factory pads...



I have no means of accurately measuring the temperature but the radio is quite noticeably cooler after applying new thermal material to transfer heat from the chips to the case. The radio has gone from hot/almost too hot to touch to cool/ambient temperature after normal prolonged operation.

I'll be inspecting the new thermal material the next time I open it up to ensure it is making good contact. It appears to be the same thickness as the factory thermal material though...

Pink = Factory
Blue = Arctic thermal pad.



I probably only used 1/3 of the thermal material I purchased.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Arctic-The...-/401109922295?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286


Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
also, if the case is cooler after you put the different pads in, could that be a sign that they don't work as well? Won't the heat be produced no matter what, and ideally it gets transferred to the case and not overheat the components? I could be totally wrong, but it's something I just thought of after ordering the thermal material hah
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
SitKneelBend did you just replace the factory pads or did you add to it? My radio is almost too hot to touch after running for 10 mins...
Removed and replaced. Too much thermal material could actually be worse than none at all. The factory stuff looked and felt OK but replacing it made a noticeable difference.
 

sirdumpsalot

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Jul 9, 2021
Posts
126
Reaction score
29
Location
Las Vegas
Ram Year
2017
I have a UAS and the compass worked briefly yesterday. I can make it shown up for a split second when switching between the radio and Android Auto. I wish the clock stayed at the top when using AA because it's too small and poorly placed IMO. View attachment 438780

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
did you ever figure out a way to keep the clock at the top of AA?
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
did you ever figure out a way to keep the clock at the top of AA?
I think there is a setting accessible via AlfaOBD in the radio. I think there are settings labeled clock defeat and temperature defeat. If you disable I "think" it will leave the radio time in the space above AA.
 

sirdumpsalot

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Jul 9, 2021
Posts
126
Reaction score
29
Location
Las Vegas
Ram Year
2017
I think there is a setting accessible via AlfaOBD in the radio. I think there are settings labeled clock defeat and temperature defeat. If you disable I "think" it will leave the radio time in the space above AA.
awesome, thanks for the info. I'll give it a try
 

Gordo2212

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Aug 23, 2021
Posts
244
Reaction score
121
Location
Mississippi
Ram Year
2018 3500 Tradesman
Engine
6.4 L Hemi
So just installed a UAS radio for my 2018 3500 Tradesman, all went well but the buttons on the bezel aren't working except for the hazard lights. I took apart and reconnected everything and still nothing. Maybe I got a bad bezel from ebay? Issue is that I do not have steering wheel volume controls so I kind of need the bezel to work lol.

Also, when I first installed radio the back up camera and XM came up. After reconnecting everything to try and get bezel to work now I don't have back up camera or XM. There's also nothing in the settings for the back up camera or all of the other custom setting for the truck (locking/ engine off etc). Anyone else deal with this? Not sure of what to do.

I installed the radio from https://www.ramforum.com/threads/sold.181565/

At first I was getting device not supported error and thought it was because I had USB plugged in but then it went away and now it's back. I have attached pic of error and software from dealer mode if anyone has any suggestions.


image0.jpegimage1.jpeg
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
So just installed a UAS radio for my 2018 3500 Tradesman, all went well but the buttons on the bezel aren't working except for the hazard lights. I took apart and reconnected everything and still nothing. Maybe I got a bad bezel from ebay? Issue is that I do not have steering wheel volume controls so I kind of need the bezel to work lol.

Also, when I first installed radio the back up camera and XM came up. After reconnecting everything to try and get bezel to work now I don't have back up camera or XM. There's also nothing in the settings for the back up camera or all of the other custom setting for the truck (locking/ engine off etc). Anyone else deal with this? Not sure of what to do.

I installed the radio from https://www.ramforum.com/threads/sold.181565/

At first I was getting device not supported error and thought it was because I had USB plugged in but then it went away and now it's back. I have attached pic of error and software from dealer mode if anyone has any suggestions.


View attachment 472524View attachment 472525
SXM and camera will appear with time/power cycles. Did you buy an 8.4 conversion harness to get the bezel to work? If not you can buy one from forum vendor @Mpgrimm2 . Do you have any USB devices plugged in?
 

Gordo2212

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Aug 23, 2021
Posts
244
Reaction score
121
Location
Mississippi
Ram Year
2018 3500 Tradesman
Engine
6.4 L Hemi
SXM and camera will appear with time/power cycles. Did you buy an 8.4 conversion harness to get the bezel to work? If not you can buy one from forum vendor @Mpgrimm2 . Do you have any USB devices plugged in?
I got the harness from Mpgrimm2 and installed as per his directions. I have unplugged everything a few times so maybe the system needs a few cycles like you said (disconnecting the battery every time). At the moment I do not have any USB plugged in and I have figured out that if the truck was turned off with bluetooth connected that error comes up when starting, doesn't come up if I turn off truck in AM/FM.

Starting to think the bezel is a dud since the hazard button works but nothing else.

Edit: worked with Mpgrimm and looks like it's the bezel, just ordered another one so hopefully that does the trick. It's usable but just don't have volume control at the moment lol.
 
Last edited:

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
I got the harness from Mpgrimm2 and installed as per his directions. I have unplugged everything a few times so maybe the system needs a few cycles like you said (disconnecting the battery every time). At the moment I do not have any USB plugged in and I have figured out that if the truck was turned off with bluetooth connected that error comes up when starting, doesn't come up if I turn off truck in AM/FM.

Starting to think the bezel is a dud since the hazard button works but nothing else.

Edit: worked with Mpgrimm and looks like it's the bezel, just ordered another one so hopefully that does the trick. It's usable but just don't have volume control at the moment lol.
Good stuff, its interesting about you getting that error with Bluetooth. You might have the same symptom as forum member @Earl Zeis
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
Mpgrimm said the error is normal with the newer software. It’s nothing that effects performance. I just click ok and it goes away
Normal somewhat. I think "common" is a better description. For me, I was able to eliminate it by turning off USB debugging in Android settings but mine occurred with USB connection. I wonder if there is a similar setting you could try? Are you using an Android device for Bluetooth?
 

Gordo2212

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Aug 23, 2021
Posts
244
Reaction score
121
Location
Mississippi
Ram Year
2018 3500 Tradesman
Engine
6.4 L Hemi
Normal somewhat. I think "common" is a better description. For me, I was able to eliminate it by turning off USB debugging in Android settings but mine occurred with USB connection. I wonder if there is a similar setting you could try? Are you using an Android device for Bluetooth?
Common might of been what he said lol. I have iPhone so there's no debugging that I know of. I haven't had much of a chance to really mess with everything yet so I'll report back when I do to see if I can get rid of it.
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
Common might of been what he said lol. I have iPhone so there's no debugging that I know of. I haven't had much of a chance to really mess with everything yet so I'll report back when I do to see if I can get rid of it.
Even more interesting. I'm not as familiar with IOS but I wonder if there is some kind of Bluetooth setting that is user accessible? Does IOS let you modify Bluetooth version used?
 

Earl Zeis

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Posts
98
Reaction score
45
Location
Saint Thomas, PA
Ram Year
2018
Engine
6.7L
Mpgrimm said the error is normal with the newer software. It’s nothing that effects performance. I just click ok and it goes away
That maybe so but when you spend all that time and money to get an error message everytime you start the truck, it's leaves a bad taste. Especially when someone else in the tuck asks about it. I had the ***** of it the first day. Unfortunately there is no software updates yet. Hopefully the next update solves it. But been waiting for an update since spring.


Earl
 

SitKneelBend

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
9,022
Reaction score
4,694
Location
St. Louis
Ram Year
2014
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
That maybe so but when you spend all that time and money to get an error message everytime you start the truck, it's leaves a bad taste. Especially when someone else in the tuck asks about it. I had the ***** of it the first day. Unfortunately there is no software updates yet. Hopefully the next update solves it. But been waiting for an update since spring.


Earl
Does yours do it if you turn off Bluetooth on your phone?
 

Earl Zeis

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Posts
98
Reaction score
45
Location
Saint Thomas, PA
Ram Year
2018
Engine
6.7L
Humor me...
It does it with no Bluetooth, no USB connection. Phones no where near the truck. Phones paired or not. Like I said, it's not a phone issue, Android or Apple. The only way I can get it to go away is to unplug the hub. It's done it since I first powered it up. Brand new UAQ from Ram for Ram with 34.2 software. Radio manufacturer date of March 2021. 68331631AL. Installed April of 2021. 68328704AD hub. That's as much as I can humor you.


Earl
 

Mpgrimm2

Senior Member
Preferred Vendor
Military
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Posts
6,085
Reaction score
4,168
Location
SC
Ram Year
2022 Ram 1500 (5th Gen)
Engine
5.7L
It does it with no Bluetooth, no USB connection. Phones no where near the truck. Phones paired or not. Like I said, it's not a phone issue, Android or Apple. The only way I can get it to go away is to unplug the hub. It's done it since I first powered it up. Brand new UAQ from Ram for Ram with 34.2 software. Radio manufacturer date of March 2021. 68331631AL. Installed April of 2021. 68328704AD hub. That's as much as I can humor you.


Earl
Unfortunately, v22.6 was the last publicly released version for Ram, but I've seen sw update on UAQ's from customers that got their radio repaired by United Radio with v39.6 without any issues.
The closest newer version to that I've seen shared is in @ClearlyStabile 's Alternative Fw thread which has v39.5 you could try (at your own risk) or possibly the Chrysler 200 Style Dual USB Hub linked in post 5 which may work better on that fw.
 
Last edited:
Top