Biggiehorn's Build Thread

[Biggiehorn]

01/15/2022
Adding Passive Entry
OEM Handles, Caps, Tailgate Antenna
PE Wiring From Jimmy07

I originally had some family plans lined up this weekend but those were canceled due to reasons related to the pandemic. Not an ideal situation, but it did give me a free Friday and Saturday to jump into the passive entry project, and what a fun project that was! In all honesty, most of it really wasn’t that bad, but there were a couple of areas that created difficulty for me. Releasing the main door harness from the body of the truck is an absolute pain in the a** and that seems to be the biggest hassle for everybody. Everyone said that it’s easier on the second door and unfortunately, I only found greater difficulty on the second one lol. I probably lost an hour or more of time between those two harnesses, but hopefully I’ll never have to mess with them again for as long as I own the truck .

I knocked out the driver side Saturday night, and jumped into the passenger side Sunday morning. I still have to add the tailgate antenna and wiring for the PE to work on the tailgate, and I hope to get that added in sometime this week. After activating in AlfaOBD, the passive entry actions began working immediately. The feature showed up on my Uconnect screen a few hours later. I can’t even begin to describe how thrilled I am to have this working on the truck. The how-to thread was such a huge help.

This is a rather large undertaking. There is no doubt about that but the project is definitely doable. With that, if anyone without passive entry decides that they want to tackle this on their truck, please know that you can message me if you have questions or need guidance.

 

[MurphBigHorn]

Once winter is over. I’ll be ordering and doing this for sure.

 

[Biggiehorn]

Once winter is over. I’ll be ordering and doing this for sure.

It’s definitely worth it in my opinion. Not having it for the last 8 months just makes me appreciate the feature that much more..I used the how-to thread for a lot of the fine details, but this YouTube video is what really helped give me the confidence I needed to knock this out. If you just follow along with the process in the video, it makes the project seem not so overwhelming. He does a great job at describing each step of the process throughout the entire thing.

 

[LoNeStAr]

10/02/2021
BTS Seat Covers - $590
Installation - $450

BTS seat covers are on and the upholstery shop knocked it out of the park. I was a bit worried, but they crushed it just as they said they would. They look amazing! I didn’t hate the factory cloth by any means but these look so much more premium. It adds such a nice touch to the interior. The fact that I purchased these and then had them installed at just over $1k all in is a score in my mind. Now I need to spend the weekend getting the interior all cleaned up!

BEFORE:
View attachment 109845
View attachment 109846 AFTER:
View attachment 109847
View attachment 109848
View attachment 109849

So jealous of theses covers

 

[Biggiehorn]

So jealous of theses covers

I’ve had so many people hit me up on Instagram asking who makes these covers, where did I buy them at, and how can they get a set lol. This has to be one of my favorite upgrades, if not THE favorite upgrade that I’ve done so far. It completely transformed the interior.

 

[Biggiehorn]

1/17/2022
Adding Passive Entry - Tailgate

I got home from work a couple hours early and decided to knock out the last piece of the passive entry project. I added the rear antenna and wiring to the required harness connector up under the truck. I was burnt out from doing both doors over the weekend, and for whatever reason I assumed this was going to be just as involved. This really wasn’t bad at all though and probably took 20 minutes time to complete. I do plan on cleaning up my work a bit as I zip tied the antenna up where it is supposed to go for now due to not having a proper fastener on hand to secure it. I’m sure the zip ties would be sufficient, and I know that no one will ever know the difference but it is more of a peace of mind thing for me than anything else. I gave the tailgate release button a quick test after the install, and the passive entry function works perfectly.

 

[Biggiehorn]

No upgrades today. Just a photo drop for my 8 month of ownership check in. I also included a photo down in the attachments section that I took at this same spot back in early June right after I installed the sidesteps. I compared the two photos against each other and couldn't do much more than laugh. Pretty wild transformation to say the least.

 

[LoNeStAr]

Doesn’t even look like the same truck. Very nice

 

[User_34235]

Looking good......quite the transformation.

 

[AngelPhoenix]

Such a clean look man, love it. What's your current wheel & tire setup?

edit: never mind, I see it in your sig. How's the highway ride on those beefcake Kevlars?

 

[Biggiehorn]

Doesn’t even look like the same truck. Very nice

Appreciate it! I hardly even remember it looking like the top photo from that comparison.

Looking good......quite the transformation.

Thanks man!

Such a clean look man, love it. What's your current wheel & tire setup?

edit: never mind, I see it in your sig. How's the highway ride on those beefcake Kevlars?

Thank you! the tires actually aren't bad at all. Nice and smooth around town and on the highway. Once you get up over 75mph you can begin to feel a really slight vibration but nothing substantial. Not sure if it is a balance issue or not. It is so minor I haven't worried about addressing it. The road noise is also very minimal, even at highway speeds.

 

[fireberd350]

10/02/2021
BTS Seat Covers - $590
Installation - $450

BTS seat covers are on and the upholstery shop knocked it out of the park. I was a bit worried, but they crushed it just as they said they would. They look amazing! I didn’t hate the factory cloth by any means but these look so much more premium. It adds such a nice touch to the interior. The fact that I purchased these and then had them installed at just over $1k all in is a score in my mind. Now I need to spend the weekend getting the interior all cleaned up!


View attachment 109848

@JBowman - Bravo on the entire build. Very well thought out and put together. Subscribed.
I have the same race deck flooring (color and style) and a very similar build as you, it's eery how similar we think. I've been keeping a running log of all the work I've done w/ the intent to start a thread like this once complete but you've inspired me to start it now and show the journey in real time.

Anywho, one thing I didn't have on my wishlist that you've now corrupted my brain with is seat covers. The BTS covers are amazing but it's unlikely to come across a set like that again, so I've started looking at other options and I'm getting tripped up on all the parts. Looking at your set the front 2 seats, split rear seat and 4 head covers are understood, but what is the center section here for?

The sets I'm finding do not have that. I assumed it was for the middle seat (no console) but wanted to confirm. Also it appears you did not upholster your console right? And finally, the aftermarket set I was looking at stated that:

"This kit is not comprised of simple seat covers, it is a replacement interior cover set for your vehicle - in other words, you must remove the factory cloth interior before these covers are installed"

Was that the case with yours or did you go over top of existing seats? I'd really like to keep the factory stuff in place and if that's an option I'll keep looking for another product.

 

[Biggiehorn]

I really appreciate the words and support! Yes you are correct. That middle piece you’re referencing is for a middle front seat. These came off of a brand new BTS truck that did not have the center console. It had the 40-20-40 bench option instead. Everything is interchangeable between the two configurations from a seating standpoint, so I bought the set and just didn’t use that piece. I have it boxed up in my attic for now along with the original cloth covers that my truck came with. These are factory OEM covers that go over the foam cushions of the seat just like it would come on a new truck from the dealer. So the cloth was removed and then these were installed in place of the cloth. I understand how the term “seat covers” can be misleading, but these are not covers that slip over the existing fabric. While it is rare to find a set of these, I wouldn’t lose all hope if that’s the route you’d like to take. There are several options out there and I’m sure a deal will pop up eventually. And to answer your question about the center console, I did not make any changes to that at all. Feel free to shoot me a message at any time if you’d like. I’ll keep an eye out for your thread. I look forward to following along with your build.

 

[Idahoktm]

Very simple. Took about 5 minutes for me and that was my first time ever using Alfa. You only have to enable two things for it to work.

once in AlfaOBD, go to body computer, configuration change, and enable the following two settings. Mine already had the first one on, but I had to enable the second one.

ECUConfig 4: tailgate ajar indication - yes

CBC Config I/O: Connector F Pin 26: Truck Liftgate Ajar Signal Input Present - Yes

I just checked the tailgate ajar indication on my cluster. I'm surprised that neither one of them was turned on at the factory. I'll get them both turned on with AlfaOBD...thanks for the procedure.

I know my bed lights turn on when I open a cab door but I'm not sure if they come on when I drop the tailgate. Just in case they don't, can you tell me which config I need to turn on? Thanks.

 

[Idahoktm]

I got both tailgate indications enabled. Very easy. The small red tailgate ajar light in the upper right hand corner showed up as soon as I popped the tailgate. The big depiction in the center screen didn't show up, so I checked the settings in AlfaOBD and everything looked good. I started my truck and backed out of the garage. As soon as I did that, the tailgate ajar depiction popped up. Thanks again!

 

[AngelPhoenix]

I got both tailgate indications enabled. Very easy. The small red tailgate ajar light in the upper right hand corner showed up as soon as I pooped the tailgate. The big depiction in the center screen didn't show up, so I checked the settings in AlfaOBD and everything looked good. I started my truck and backed out of the garage. As soon as I did that, the tailgate ajar depiction popped up. Thanks again!
View attachment 118086

Wait, so you don't get these warnings at all at stock settings?

 

[Biggiehorn]

I got both tailgate indications enabled. Very easy. The small red tailgate ajar light in the upper right hand corner showed up as soon as I pooped the tailgate. The big depiction in the center screen didn't show up, so I checked the settings in AlfaOBD and everything looked good. I started my truck and backed out of the garage. As soon as I did that, the tailgate ajar depiction popped up. Thanks again!

Nice! Did you get the bed light piece figured out? I'm not sure what settings would need to be changed for that if necessary. I'm still not really up to speed with AlfaOBD yet. I've just been following along with existing procedures for the changes that I have made so far. I don't have bed lights currently either so I am unable to verify.

Wait, so you don't get these warnings at all at stock settings?

I still haven't been able to figure out why some trucks have this enabled from the dealer and some don't. I'm sure it is related to something, but I haven't been able to connect the dots. I've discussed with quite a few, and some bighorns, laramies, limiteds, etc. come with it enabled while many of our trucks did not.

 

[Idahoktm]

Nice! Did you get the bed light piece figured out? I'm not sure what settings would need to be changed for that if necessary. I'm still not really up to speed with AlfaOBD yet. I've just been following along with existing procedures for the changes that I have made so far. I don't have bed lights currently either so I am unable to verify.


I still haven't been able to figure out why some trucks have this enabled from the dealer and some don't. I'm sure it is related to something, but I haven't been able to connect the dots. I've discussed with quite a few, and some bighorns, laramies, limiteds, etc. come with it enabled while many of our trucks did not.

I thought the bed lights coming on with the tailgate open was a separate setting. I'm now thinking that they are going to work with the tailgate ajar indication. I'll check it out when I leave the house today.

At a minimum, I would think the factory would activate the small tailgate ajar indication. Actually, it's just dumb that they don't turn on both. I'm glad this was brought up because it's pretty hard to see if the tailgate is open and it opens so softly, you definitely couldn't feel it pop open.

 

[AngelPhoenix]

Nice! Did you get the bed light piece figured out? I'm not sure what settings would need to be changed for that if necessary. I'm still not really up to speed with AlfaOBD yet. I've just been following along with existing procedures for the changes that I have made so far. I don't have bed lights currently either so I am unable to verify.


I still haven't been able to figure out why some trucks have this enabled from the dealer and some don't. I'm sure it is related to something, but I haven't been able to connect the dots. I've discussed with quite a few, and some bighorns, laramies, limiteds, etc. come with it enabled while many of our trucks did not.

So me checking the "Tailgate Ajar" warning box thingy in Uconnect does nothing?

 

[Idahoktm]

So me checking the "Tailgate Ajar" warning box thingy in Uconnect does nothing?

Hmm...I wasn't aware that was a box you could check. Now I'll have to take a look.