Added OEM Homelink

[firemedic10584]

Those of you who don’t have the OEM home link buttons but would like to add them, I completed this mod on my dad’s truck yesterday. Can be done for around $150 total. No flashing or anything required, simple plug and play.

OEM Visor with home link - 2019-23 RAM 1500 DT Driver Left Sun Visor Illuminated Vanity Mirror OEM MOPAR | eBay

Harness you’ll need - https://infotainment.com/shop/interior-accessories/wiring/c-intvisor/

YouTube walk through -

Took all of 20 minutes if that.

 

[firemedic10584]

by the way - for giggles, my dad asked the service guy at our local dealer what it would take / cost to add Homelink to his truck since it didn't come with it. Service guy said it doesn't even appear it's possible and he'd have to look into making a custom harness and adding it after the fact would be pretty expensive. Just goes to show the dealers the majority of the time know less than what we know here on the forums.

 

[Darksteel165]

by the way - for giggles, my dad asked the service guy at our local dealer what it would take / cost to add Homelink to his truck since it didn't come with it. Service guy said it doesn't even appear it's possible and he'd have to look into making a custom harness and adding it after the fact would be pretty expensive. Just goes to show the dealers the majority of the time know less than what we know here on the forums.

I could of told you that. Dealerships are clueless and only exist because manufacturers aren't allowed to sell direct to consumers. Living on brand name alone.

 

[firemedic10584]

I could have told you that. Dealerships are clueless and only exist because manufacturers aren't allowed to sell direct to consumers. Living on brand name alone.

Yep. And if their little computer doesn’t say it can be done, then that’s their final answer. I should go be a salesman for Ram. I know more about the trucks after having quite a few of them than the people selling them. Lol

 

[irishwake63]

I have the homelink but wont use it as all someone has to do is break into the truck and hit the garage door button and can enter the house easily my truck cannot fit into my garage

 

[firemedic10584]

I have the homelink but wont use it as all someone has to do is break into the truck and hit the garage door button and can enter the house easily my truck cannot fit into my garage

I noticed his does not function with the truck off, but mine that came from the factory with it does.

 

[Jimmy07]

It’s a little unfair to knock a dealership or a tech for not knowing how to add something like this because it’s out of their scope of work, since add-on harnesses like this don’t exist to them in factory form. The best thing they could do is just “turn down the work” by telling you it can’t be done. If they do bite, the cost WILL BE astronomical. They don’t have the luxury of other people on forums/companies already having put in the time of figuring it out so they can sell the mod all the time.
If I was a tech at a dealership, and I did decide to take on a request like this, (just like when I figure out how to add factory features after the fact), I’d probably charge the customer 3 hours labor to pull up the schematics, figure out the home link circuits and all factory connectors involved, search for the connectors and their terminals and availability, price for the parts, another 2-3 hours labor to build it, and another hour to install it.

That’s not even including the fact that the infotainment home link method is not even added to the truck circuits like it is factory (there is no fused ignition circuit involved with the factory home link, it is supposed to be the UGDO circuit from the BCM, and that circuit would be enabled with alfaobd).
The techs also have another road block (when dealing with all of the factory features that we all know how to add after the fact):
They don’t have tools like alfaobd or JScan to be able to enable any of these features after they install all the parts. Their witech tool is not capable of adding sales like that to enable any of these features.

 

[firemedic10584]

It’s a little unfair to knock a dealership or a tech for not knowing how to add something like this because it’s out of their scope of work, since add-on harnesses like this don’t exist to them in factory form. The best thing they could do is just “turn down the work” by telling you it can’t be done. If they do bite, the cost WILL BE astronomical. They don’t have the luxury of other people on forums/companies already having put in the time of figuring it out so they can sell the mod all the time.
If I was a tech at a dealership, and I did decide to take on a request like this, (just like when I figure out how to add factory features after the fact), I’d probably charge the customer 3 hours labor to pull up the schematics, figure out the home link circuits and all factory connectors involved, search for the connectors and their terminals and availability, price for the parts, another 2-3 hours labor to build it, and another hour to install it.

That’s not even including the fact that the infotainment home link method is not even added to the truck circuits like it is factory (there is no fused ignition circuit involved with the factory home link, it is supposed to be the UGDO circuit from the BCM, and that circuit would be enabled with alfaobd).
The techs also have another road block (when dealing with all of the factory features that we all know how to add after the fact):
They don’t have tools like alfaobd or JScan to be able to enable any of these features after they install all the parts. Their witech tool is not capable of adding sales like that to enable any of these features.

Valid points. I guess I just assume techs and dealers should know the products they’re selling in and out. But that may be unrealistic.

 

[Darksteel165]

It’s a little unfair to knock a dealership or a tech for not knowing how to add something like this because it’s out of their scope of work, since add-on harnesses like this don’t exist to them in factory form. The best thing they could do is just “turn down the work” by telling you it can’t be done. If they do bite, the cost WILL BE astronomical. They don’t have the luxury of other people on forums/companies already having put in the time of figuring it out so they can sell the mod all the time.
If I was a tech at a dealership, and I did decide to take on a request like this, (just like when I figure out how to add factory features after the fact), I’d probably charge the customer 3 hours labor to pull up the schematics, figure out the home link circuits and all factory connectors involved, search for the connectors and their terminals and availability, price for the parts, another 2-3 hours labor to build it, and another hour to install it.

That’s not even including the fact that the infotainment home link method is not even added to the truck circuits like it is factory (there is no fused ignition circuit involved with the factory home link, it is supposed to be the UGDO circuit from the BCM, and that circuit would be enabled with alfaobd).
The techs also have another road block (when dealing with all of the factory features that we all know how to add after the fact):
They don’t have tools like alfaobd or JScan to be able to enable any of these features after they install all the parts. Their witech tool is not capable of adding sales like that to enable any of these features.

This is true but they are always sold as "experts of your vehicle" so they are getting put in the spotlight that they are are MVPs. They can't even find me the cap for my oem air intake tube that is sold by Ram when replaced with the Ramair system.

If you go to an audio shop with a new car/truck they are not going to turn you away because they are experts in their field, the dealership is advertised as experts for that brand of truck and these are OEM parts but all they can do it rip and replace because they never get any training on how any god damn thing works.

This is the same reason why dealerships will not fix any parts and just replace stuff. I had to replace a 25 cent diode on an led rear brake light, that was part of the entire rear end trim. It took me a while to get to it but was easy once I got there and second diode I checked was blown. Replaced it and moved on.
The dealership wanted 6 hours of labor and $510 to replace the entire unit vs seeing if it could be fixed, over a $1000 for a rear brake light.

 

[firemedic10584]

This is true but they are always sold as "experts of your vehicle" so they are getting put in the spotlight that they are are MVPs. They can't even find me the cap for my oem air intake tube that is sold by Ram when replaced with the Ramair system.

If you go to an audio shop with a new car/truck they are not going to turn you away because they are experts in their field, the dealership is advertised as experts for that brand of truck and these are OEM parts but all they can do it rip and replace because they never get any training on how any god damn thing works.

This is the same reason why dealerships will not fix any parts and just replace stuff. I had to replace a 25 cent diode on an led rear brake light, that was part of the entire rear end trim. It took me a while to get to it but was easy once I got there and second diode I checked was blown. Replaced it and moved on.
The dealership wanted 6 hours of labor and $510 to replace the entire unit vs seeing if it could be fixed, over a $1000 for a rear brake light.

What put a bad taste in my mouth for the credibility of the dealers was back in I think 2017-2018, I was still learning myself, but they told me it was 100% not possible to put tow mirrors on a 1500 (4th gen). After doing some digging on the 4th gen forum, I confirmed they were in fact incorrect. Whether they just truly didn't know or that's what they were told to tell customers in order to try and upsell a product, who knows. But ever since, I don't ask the dealer anything. We've got more resident experts on here I trust way more.

 

[Jimmy07]

This is true but they are always sold as "experts of your vehicle" so they are getting put in the spotlight that they are are MVPs. They can't even find me the cap for my oem air intake tube that is sold by Ram when replaced with the Ramair system.

If you go to an audio shop with a new car/truck they are not going to turn you away because they are experts in their field, the dealership is advertised as experts for that brand of truck and these are OEM parts but all they can do it rip and replace because they never get any training on how any god damn thing works.

This is the same reason why dealerships will not fix any parts and just replace stuff. I had to replace a 25 cent diode on an led rear brake light, that was part of the entire rear end trim. It took me a while to get to it but was easy once I got there and second diode I checked was blown. Replaced it and moved on.
The dealership wanted 6 hours of labor and $510 to replace the entire unit vs seeing if it could be fixed, over a $1000 for a rear brake light.

We’re strictly talking about adding features to the vehicle after the fact, most of which require custom add-on wiring that isn’t present on the vehicle.
“Experts of your vehicle” would obviously mean your vehicle in it’s factory built form, and it’s factory built warranty and repairs.

 

[Darksteel165]

We’re strictly talking about adding features to the vehicle after the fact, most of which require custom add-on wiring that isn’t present on the vehicle.
“Experts of your vehicle” would obviously mean your vehicle in it’s factory built form, and it’s factory built warranty and repairs.

Yes but still, and i'm not knocking the dealership directly here it's just the pedestal they get thrown up on.
If it's something mechanical sure they might be "experts" but once it involves any kind of technology the dealerships experience gets very abstract.
I would expect them to understand how wiring works and is ran and if there is something involving tech that comes on the truck or is an OEM option to understand how it functions.
Maybe my expectations are too high but as the face of the manufacture and the ONLY WAY to get your truck serviced via the warranty I expect to pay a premium and have very smart people and trained involved working on it. Only 1 of those 2 things are true.

What put a bad taste in my mouth for the credibility of the dealers was back in I think 2017-2018, I was still learning myself, but they told me it was 100% not possible to put tow mirrors on a 1500 (4th gen). After doing some digging on the 4th gen forum, I confirmed they were in fact incorrect. Whether they just truly didn't know or that's what they were told to tell customers in order to try and upsell a product, who knows. But ever since, I don't ask the dealer anything. We've got more resident experts on here I trust way more.

Dealerships also need to be careful with what they say and do.
Lets say they went and did the swap and then one of your mirrors broke. They try to file an warranty claim after a year and Ram rejects it because the truck did not come with that item from the factory, and on the paper the dealership is not suppose to "add packages" I would assume.
Or if they screw it up they can't call corporate and ask for help because the manufacture doesn't want you doing anything to their cars\trucks except maintenance and buying a new one.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Jimmy07]

Yes but still, and i'm not knocking the dealership directly here it's just the pedestal they get thrown up on.

Are we talking about the same thing here, as far as this thread is concerned about adding on features after the fact?
I don’t think anyone has ever thrown CDJR dealerships up on a pedestal for their ability to do custom work to add features vehicles didn’t come with.
Outside of that, I don’t care what their general technical or regular repair abilities might be, because that’s not what I was initially talking about when I said it’s not fair to knock their abilities to add something such as this feature.

 

[Darksteel165]

Are we talking about the same thing here, as far as this thread is concerned about adding on features after the fact?

I don't think so.
I think what I was saying drifted when firemedic started talking them saying you couldn't change to tow mirrors which is a pretty basic thing to do imo. It's still a factory option and oem part.

 

[Liquid Li0n]

any idea that they are also sold without those warninglabels on them? I removed those labels of my trucks visor and it is way nicer, no white rectangle in a black/dark interior

I am from europe and I see that the ebay article isn't shipping to Belgium unfortunately.

 

[firemedic10584]

any idea that they are also sold without those warninglabels on them? I removed those labels of my trucks visor and it is way nicer, no white rectangle in a black/dark interior

I am from europe and I see that the ebay article isn't shipping to Belgium unfortunately.

Probably not. Did the stickers just pull off?

 

[Liquid Li0n]

Probably not. Did the stickers just pull off?

Unfortunately not.

I did it with my previous car as well.
I made some paper kitchen towel wet with some sort of white spirit, cleaning spirit gasoline like stuff. Not anything biting of course and wrapped it around the sticker. Kept it on place with some plastic foil for about 15 minutes.

I don't have a picture, but had one from my BMW

But took a picture afterwards of it. Inside the car, where it is darker, and especially when people don't know it, it's hard to see.