DodgeTalk Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Steering wheel Radio Controls added with Pics

328K views 552 replies 110 participants last post by  TX_howdy 
#1 ·
First off I have to say Thanks to Russellabjr :rck: ,
These instructions are for a 2004 Ram 1500 SLT other models may vary,
after seeing his thread I decided to do this mod, I ran into a few snags so I was able to call him for clarification,

First I went to the Dealer and got the 3 parts I needed for this mod,
I got my parts 10% over dealer cost.
The Harness Part # 56042934AA List $24.50 (I paid $16.17)
Left Switch Part # 4685728 AB List $14.10 (I paid $9.30)
Right Switch 4685729 AB List $16.45 (I paid $10.84)

There were a few things that Russ didnt outline until I called him and asked him a few specific questions about the install.
I took a piece of card board and seperated it to use as a template, I also took the switches apart carefully not to break any clips and made the cardboard fit snug around the switch piece.

1- First things first, take the ground off of the battery and let the truck sit for 10 minutes, to allow the capacitor for the Air bag to drain.
2- Then I took apart the dash pieces, took apart the clam shell around the steering wheel shaft,
3- then used a 10 mm socket to take the air bag off of the steering wheel, make sure you touch the truck with bare hands to make yourself the same so you dont make any electricity between you and the truck,
4- then carefully take the airbag out and un-clip the connector and the horn and set aside.
5- now you will see two philips screws for the cruise control modules and then you will see two more philips screws for the back cover to prepare for the dremel of the holes for the switches,
6- Now with a marker take your piece of card board that you are gonna use as a template for the switch holes and trace out the holes so you have an idea where you are gonna dremel your holes for the switches.
7- Use the dremel and carefully cut out on your lines, this is where patients comes into play, take your time and dont rush this part, you may need to take the piece and check it a few time before you get this part right.
8- Now comes the fun part Hooking up the wires, once you take the Harness apart that you bought from the dealer carefully take the harness apart you will need to save the pieces you dont use for later in the install. the piece you will be using for now has 3 connectors on it for the Radio control harness,
now you will need to modify the connectors and snip the tops piece off and the switch ends need the center bars cut to make them mate together, after you are done with all the wiring it may be a good idea to put a small dab of silicone over these two connectors to keep them from coming apart and possibly shorting to anything.
9- you will see a white connector next to the neon yellow connector .. you are gonna use the white connector on the under side of the steering column, there will will be two empty holes for you to plug the cable ends into,
10- this is where you use the pieces from the harness that you were to put aside, the outer connector will go to ground (I used the red with green stripe for this wire)
11- you will need to gain access to behind the cluster so pretty much the dash needs to come apart and allow you access to the back of the gauge cluster.
12- the inner connector goes to C2 (smaller of the two grey connectors) pin12 (should be empty) behind the gauge cluster.
13- you will need to shove something in the hole next to it to push the white bar down to allow you to insert your wire from the saved harness, I used the blue with black stripe for this one cause I was able to keep it long enough to reach back to the Clock spring harness connector. Watch to make sure other wires dont come out of the connector while inserting this wire end.
14- I had to use a splice connector to lengthen my red with green stripe for the ground wire, I added a lug connector and placed it under a screw that had a metal tab under it for a good ground.
15- plug your harness'es back into the back of the gauge cluster,
16- next I put the ground wire back on the truck to test the switches,
17- put the key into the accessory (pulling back not forward)
18- if it doesn work get a multimeter and set it to VDC and check the clock spring in the center of the steering wheel where the radio control harness plugs into.. ... the ground lead should go to a good ground or piece of metal under the dash and the red lead should go to the connector on the clock spring there should be +5vdc (cant remember which side but I think it is the left side) if there isnt take the battery cable off and recheck your plugs in the back of the gauges to make sure they are seated properly ( imade this mistake)
19- it should be working now for the radio controls if not refer back to prior steps to make sure your wiring is correct.
20- it should be working now so you need to unplug the ground wire on the battery.
21- resecure your gauge cluster and the plastic pieces on the dash.
22- now you will need to reinstall the air bag
23- now you will reinstall the clam shell that goes around the back half of the steering.
24- button the rest of the panels up if you havent already
25- re-connect the negative battery cable and tighten the clamp.
Now you are ready for steering radio controls.
Well worth Mod IMO and this mod took me 4.5 hours from start to finish including cleaning up tools and extension cord since I did half in the dark I needed a light to see.
I am also including pictures and please feel free to ask any questions.
 

Attachments

See less See more
5
#303 ·
Jesus dude!!!

That reminds me of "Killer Clowns from Outer Space".... freaky movie!

So I did all the wiring from the clockspring to gnd and back to the C2 behind the cluster.... just waitin for the buttons and harness to arrive.
 
#304 ·
I want to see if I have the wiring straight before I do this

One wire will go from the white connector under the steering column to a ground

One wire will go from the same connector to the connector behind the gauge cluster

And the one harness with 3 connectors, one connector plugs into the steering wheel and the other 2 connectors plug into the switches, 1 connector per plug.

Is that correct?

Also, why do the connectors to the switches need to be modified?
 
#368 ·
I want to see if I have the wiring straight before I do this

One wire will go from the white connector under the steering column to a ground

One wire will go from the same connector to the connector behind the gauge cluster

And the one harness with 3 connectors, one connector plugs into the steering wheel and the other 2 connectors plug into the switches, 1 connector per plug.

Is that correct?
so this is correct right?
 
#305 ·
Finally got the switches enabled today. Had to pay for 1 hour of shop labor. Tech had to call Support to get help on where to enable them and then 15 minutes to do it.

I could not find the connectors anywhere so I stole them from the passenger airbag on/off switch connector. I will not be needing to turn off the passenger airbag. It uses the same connector as the dash side of the clock spring.

Happy now. Thanks to all who contributed to this mod.
 
#306 · (Edited)
Clockspring C3 to C4 conversion

I have an 04 DR 1500 QC without the premium sound or steering wheel controls.
I purchased a steering wheel with radio controls from a junk yard for $40. It came with the Clockspring C4 connector cut off.

I could either have purchased another ~$200 wiring harness or --- take the Clockspring C3 connector (Cruise Control and Horn) that was not cut off from the harness that came with the new wheel, and modify it to fit the C4 receptical. I cut off pins 1 and 2 so that now it was just a two pin connector with (old) pins 3 and 4 which each had two wires leading out (to the old cruise control switches).

I cut and spliced the 4 pigtails on the (newly two pinned) connector to the wires from the radio switches and made a "radio controls harness" to go along with my existing harness for the horn and cruise controls. The pin spacing in C3 and C4 match so removing two pins and then grinding down the top of the connector so that it would fit in the (slightly) shorter C4 cavity worked like a charm.

I have yet to finish connecting from the back of the clockspring to the instrument cluster, but I will probably do that when I build my harness for the uconnect module and mirror.

So if you are fortunate to get a harness with the C4 connector still intact with your steering wheel along with the misfortune of having the C3 connector snipped, it is doable with some diagnal cutters and a grinder. (and a soldering iron and electrical tape).

Best of luck to the rest of you.
 
#307 ·
Does anybody know if the 06-07 mod would be the same for an 08?
Also does the harness have to be modified for the newer 06-08 rams or is it more plug and play?
I waited 20 weeks for my new ram to be delivered only to find out the the dealer ordered the wrong nav pacakge, he ordered the less expensive one (minus the leather wrapped steering wheel w/ controls) and I wanted them,
anyway, I am going to order a leather wrapped steering wheel and if this mod can be easily done, I will order one with the audio control holes already cut out.
Any help will be greatly appriciated.

Tom
 
#308 ·
I know this is really old news and a really old thread, I just have to offer a huge thanks to you Matt for the writeup. Thanks for spending your time to put it together and thank you for helping me on the phone!!! You freaking rock.

:pDT_git::pDT_git:

The next time I am out that way I owe you some whiskey!! I went to the stealership before I started this morning to price the harness in case the one I got from the junkyard was bad. They wanted $187 for the harness.. I didn't ask about the switches but I am sure the price for them has gone up as well. So since I got the switches and the harness from the junkyard the total cost was only $22.00 and 3.5 hours of my time...

Thanks Bro!!!!
Brent
 
#309 ·
Hi, So I've gotten everything installed. Called dealer had them put on the RDZ, took it in to get it enabled and they said they couldn't get it to work but they programmed it so that it should work when the switches do work. They said that it might be I need a cable going to the radio. Anyways. So I checked everything today. I get voltage from the cluster to the clock spring connector. Good ground. Get voltage on the other side of the clock spring, connect the harness to the switches and leave some room to test the connection and it gets voltage and can see it change when its pressed. So I really don't know what to do. In my receipt for the switches it says 07-08 and I have an 06 but I can't image that would make a difference.

Any ideas??

Thanks.
 
#310 ·
Hi, So I've gotten everything installed. Called dealer had them put on the RDZ, took it in to get it enabled and they said they couldn't get it to work but they programmed it so that it should work when the switches do work. They said that it might be I need a cable going to the radio. Anyways. So I checked everything today. I get voltage from the cluster to the clock spring connector. Good ground. Get voltage on the other side of the clock spring, connect the harness to the switches and leave some room to test the connection and it gets voltage and can see it change when its pressed. So I really don't know what to do. In my receipt for the switches it says 07-08 and I have an 06 but I can't image that would make a difference.

Any ideas??

Thanks.
sounds to me like the dealership didnt do something right......... I doubt the year switches are gonna make a diffrence.
if you verified the +5 volts and it changes as you push the switches I would have to guess the dealership didnt do it right.
That is the same thing mlakenan ran into when he installed his.... send him a pm and ask since he was the one that figured out the 06-07-08 Dilema
 
#313 ·
if it was wrong you wouldnt get voltage but it should be like +5 volts not 7

yes you would get voltage even if the dealer didnt enable it right .... that was one of the things he said when he did it on his 07 until the dealer enables RDZ it would get voltage but not work
 
#314 ·
Ok, I was just making sure I didn't have to take the cluster back out again. Not sure why its around 7 volts, could be my meter. Wonder if that could be throwing off the values sent to the module.

I had someone on DTR check the options and said the RDZ was there like it should be. I've got another appointment for Monday so gonna try to get out there with them and see whats going on.
 
#315 ·
Well steering wheel audio switches finally work. Only took about 2hrs at the dealer. The first trip last week yielded no results and i think i understand why. i took it too em with the airbag out and wires hangin out, figured it'd be easier to troubleshoot that way the service write was like "oh shit" when he opened the door. Wasn't very optimistic at that point. So I told em I'd like to be out there when he worked on it and he was like oh no osha would have my ass if you got hurt and i really wanted to say well, actually the insurance company might, but not osha. Anyways, they eventually called me outside and we verified all the voltages and finally he hooked up the starscan tool and i watched him go through the menus and I told him what I was told to go through and he was like oh well we need to hook up to the internet for that. I was like ahhhhh, yea. The chrysler computer can't magically beam the option code I told them to add to the vehicle, though it'd be nice. So they did that and it worked great. The guy I was with was like hell we should hire him. Probably the only time they will ever have to do that. and even all that talk about the service write and me being in the shop, by the end i was putting the air bag and everything back together while he was reconfiguring my preferences.

Not sure if i'll have them work on it again. One mechanic came up to the window and was smoking and didn't really seem to care that it was going inside the cab. I should have said something, but we weren't finished yet and didn't want to hurt my chances. Who knows how much that happens though.

and after that still cost $45, i feel like they owed me money. Oh well. I'm just happy they work. now if i can just change tracks on my iphone from the controls, then i'll be all good.
 
#316 ·
06SLTcs,
Glad to hear that you got your steering wheel audio switches to work.
I really want this feature on my truck and have talked to a couple of dealers, but the first response is a "vacant look" and then they say "it can't be done, only the factory can do this". In fairness to both dealers, after explaining to them that it has been done and giving them some details, they are receptive to helping me. So the more information that I can give them the better my chances for sucess.

06SLTcs, I noticed that your truck is an 06 like mine and I was wondering what the part numbers for the switches and wiring harness are that you used?

Also any tips or information that you can provide that would help me with the installation.

If any one else would like to jump in and help, please feel free to do so.

Thanks,
AlK
 
#317 ·
06SLTcs,
Glad to hear that you got your steering wheel audio switches to work.
I really want this feature on my truck and have talked to a couple of dealers, but the first response is a "vacant look" and then they say "it can't be done, only the factory can do this". In fairness to both dealers, after explaining to them that it has been done and giving them some details, they are receptive to helping me. So the more information that I can give them the better my chances for sucess.

06SLTcs, I noticed that your truck is an 06 like mine and I was wondering what the part numbers for the switches and wiring harness are that you used?

Also any tips or information that you can provide that would help me with the installation.

If any one else would like to jump in and help, please feel free to do so.

Thanks,
AlK
I am Glad to see he finally got it working too :rck:

You need to tell them to update your truck for the RDZ Option through chrysler then they need to update the BRDIII via the internet for that option to be there then after they update the DRB they will reprogram your truck for that option ..... hopefully 06SLTcs will jump for better clarification
 
#319 · (Edited)
I Also got that same bit for my dremel and it wasn't said above but it makes a TON of chips. They went everywhere. Had to blow everything clear before reassembly. I used the abrasive wheel on the other one and thought it worked better. Also the Diameter is almost perfect for the switch cutout. I used some graph paper and a triangle and circle template. and just cut those out, taped them on the wheel measured a bit, found my fingers liked it. and traced and cut. I'll post pictures this afternoon of mine.

For the part numbers I'll check when I go to lunch. I had them on my phone but deleted them figuring i didn't need them anymore. I'll check the invoice though. From oemdodgeparts.com I spent about $64 with shipping. $45 for dealer config. and assorted tools and stuff. I bought a dremel. It was a good excuse to get one.

As for the dealer part its under the ECM buttom, TIPM gateway, misc. options. and at the very bottom of the list is a reconfigure button. if they arn't connected to the internet it should tell them they have too. In a a few mins they'll be working. he went through almost every avaliable option before i convinced him to try it. but it was interesting the things you could do with the scan tool (like personal preferences and stuff). I'd get one if they didnt cost $5k. ebay maybe?

I also had a tech come in and talk to me about how its only enabled at the factory and you had to have the 6 disc radio. But you have to be patient ( I was starting not to be after sitting for an hour) and keep telling them it is possible and you can tell them how to do it. As long as you can verify your wiring is correct and the RDZ is added. And tell them it has to be done over the internet. I assumed my first trip they knew this and apparently they didn't. Most dealers have probably never done this and after you will probably never do it again. We're in probably the 1% that add factory stuff to their vehicles as aftermarket.
 
#320 ·
I didn't really think the chips were that bad. I think it depends on how fast the bit is spinning and how fast you are moving it. Just a matter of preference I guess. Nothing a shop vac won't take care of. Can you possibly post a pic of the bit you used? Is it the wheel like sherdep used or a grinding bit shaped like the one I posted above?

Also.....
Has anyone done this on a CTD truck? Is there anything different on the cluster? I have a buddy that wants me to do his truck. I am assuming it should be the same... It is an '06 so I know he will have to do the whole dealer thing...
 
#321 ·
Yea i'll get a pic. It was the standard abrasive that came with it. Similar in size to the metal we used. The metal one cut the plastic like butter though. Mine is a CTD as well. Nothing is different other than the name of the connectors. still pin 12 for the cluster. I think its C4 instead of C2 but the same thing. just different name.
 
#323 ·
I used the metal one for one side, and then used a drill, the cutoff and the drum for the other and for the template I used the drum was close to the radius for the cutout and worked good.







If you look torwards the bottom of the where the center bezel mounts you'll see two screw holders. Which are a PITA. The rest just pulls off.



And to get those two screw out, you have to take all this off. You can also see my switch harness to there.


Final product


And for the part #s I used:
56000918AC - Harness
4685728 AB - Radio Switch
4685729 AB - Radio Switch

With that harness just take your time and undo all the tape and you can reuse it and make it look all nice. I think I got everything requested. Let me know if there are any more questions.
 
#324 ·
nice work ....... looks like you took your time and did it right
 
#325 ·
Thanks guys for the replies and suggestions. :tup:
I have ordered the following parts and they will cost $65.
56000918AC - Harness
4685728 AB - Radio Switch
4685729 AB - Radio Switch

I think I have a basic understanding of what is involved with the wiring, but when I receive the wiring harness and have the steering wheel off and the dash apart I am sure things will be clearer.

RamHemiTX,
I would like to take you up on your offer to provide pictures of the connectors - I hope you don't mind. "I can try to get a picture of the two connectors if needed."

The part at the dealership sounds like it may be the most difficult.

I hope you guys don't mind, if I come back with more questions.

Thanks again,
AlK
 
#327 ·
RamHemiTX,
I would like to take you up on your offer to provide pictures of the connectors - I hope you don't mind. "I can try to get a picture of the two connectors if needed."AlK

Here is the picture. Probably a no brainer but since there were two different types of "pins" inside the connectors I was unsure about which one. I just didn't want to jam the wrong one in and get it stuck. The one you want to use is the one on the top of this picture.

Cable Wire Technology Electrical connector Arrow
 
#326 ·
Yea it did take a few hours when I did it. I think the holes came out great. I took apart the switch and cut the hole so that the plastic, non board piece fit snug in the hole. But then I found I actually had to file down the plastic legs on the circuit board part to get the fingers back into the other part. needless to say its not going anywhere.

Not a problem. I'll do my best to help since its fresh on my mind. I was the same way. And it will be alot clearer when you see it. Also on many older write ups it says to cut part of the switch so the harness connector will fit it. With that harness you don't have too. It just clicks right in. and you don't have to take the steering wheel off to do it. But I imagine it would make the cuts easier in the back. You just have to rotate the plastic piece. Its alittle awkward but doable.

Also when I was refering to those two screws for the center bezel. I didn't put mine back in. It makes it ALOT easier to pull the bezel off again if need be. And with all the clips its still in there very tight.
 
#329 ·
thats what this thread is for information and if you guys need assistance
we are here to help so if you run into a snag email me and I will try to reply pretty quick or post here and wait for a response
if you need phone support and have a Verizon phone I will be more then glad to give you my cell so it doesnt cost any minutes ;)
 
#331 ·
I have been reading and now have some questions.

The reason for removing the steering wheel is to make it easier to cut the holes for the audio controls, is this correct?

It appears to me, that with the steering wheel left attached, it is possible to access the Cluster C4 plug (small grey plug) and the white connector on the back of the clockspring, is this correct?
 
#332 · (Edited)
I have been reading and now have some questions.

The reason for removing the steering wheel is to make it easier to cut the holes for the audio controls, is this correct?

It appears to me, that with the steering wheel left attached, it is possible to access the Cluster C4 plug (small grey plug) and the white connector on the back of the clockspring, is this correct?
i didnt remove my steering wheel to dremel my holes but it would make it easier but not neccassary besides if you took the wheel off then you would have to worry about putting it back on the same position it came off.

you can get to the connections with the steering wheel attached the white one below isnt effected by the wheel ... it is the cluster that is effected by the wheel in the way... you just have to be careful not to scratch the cluster when removing it thats all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top