Added Wireless QI Charger to my 2020 Ram Bighorn

[papester]

I originally was looking to add the Mopar Wireless Charging Accessory to my 2020 Bighorn but did not feel like having the dealer enable it for me. The install seemed pretty straight forward but having to pay the dealer to program the truck so it could be used just didn't sit well with me.

So i thought about another way of adding QI Wireless Charging.

I picked up one of these pads from Amazon (CHOETECH Wireless Charger, 10W Max Qi-Certified Fast Wireless Charging Pad)


One of these cables from Amazon (Right Angle Micro USB Cable Short,SUNGUY Reversible 1FT 3pack 90 Degree)


Some 3M Molding Tape


For the installation, i taped the charging pad so that when i place my phone in the phone holder, i could still have a cable attached to the phone.

Here are some pictures of the unit installed.




All in, it cost me about $23 for the solution. It may not be as clean looking as the OEM solution, but it works

 

[SlowPoke]

Great idea man.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[iamtheav8r]

I originally was looking to add the Mopar Wireless Charging Accessory to my 2020 Bighorn but did not feel like having the dealer enable it for me. The install seemed pretty straight forward but having to pay the dealer to program the truck so it could be used just didn't sit well with me.

So i thought about another way of adding QI Wireless Charging.

I picked up one of these pads from Amazon (CHOETECH Wireless Charger, 10W Max Qi-Certified Fast Wireless Charging Pad)
View attachment 43061

One of these cables from Amazon (Right Angle Micro USB Cable Short,SUNGUY Reversible 1FT 3pack 90 Degree)
View attachment 43062

Some 3M Molding Tape
View attachment 43063

For the installation, i taped the charging pad so that when i place my phone in the phone holder, i could still have a cable attached to the phone.

Here are some pictures of the unit installed.
View attachment 43064
View attachment 43065
View attachment 43067

All in, it cost me about $23 for the solution. It may not be as clean looking as the OEM solution, but it works

Probably works better than the factory one.

 

[derp]

Probably works better than the factory one.

I have the factory one, it works like a champ. this solution does look well done as a postfit. much better than I would have done.

The amount of stuff that is locked down to dealer flash on these trucks is frustrating at best. my next purchase is definitely AlfaOBD and the supporting hardware. the dealer stranglehold on my truck has been nothing but pain. if I should ever find a way to execute the TSB firmware updates without the delaership then I am going out of pocket third party service all the way. so far my warranty service experience has set a new low for customer care.

 

[iamtheav8r]

I have the factory one, it works like a champ. this solution does look well done as a postfit. much better than I would have done.

The amount of stuff that is locked down to dealer flash on these trucks is frustrating at best. my next purchase is definitely AlfaOBD and the supporting hardware. the dealer stranglehold on my truck has been nothing but pain. if I should ever find a way to execute the TSB firmware updates without the delaership then I am going out of pocket third party service all the way. so far my warranty service experience has set a new low for customer care.

I'm glad yours works well, but many of us have had poor service out of the wireless charger in our trucks. Mine is about 20% actual charging to flashing a red LED at me. I've given up and went back to a cord. Another half-baked "feature" from FCA USA LLC.

ram 1500 wireless charger - Google Search

 

[derp]

I'm glad yours works well, but many of us have had poor service out of the wireless charger in our trucks. Mine is about 20% actual charging to flashing a red LED at me. I've given up and went back to a cord. Another half-baked "feature" from FCA USA LLC.

ram 1500 wireless charger - Google Search

Mine was red flash PITA at first. then I noticed (on mine) that if I lined up my phone with the indentation on the charge pad by my thumbnail as a guide, it worked every time.

As always, YMMV. I am using an S10+ and my hands are different than everyone else's by that tiny bit. Sorry yours is not going well. I feel your pain on half baked features.

If I were in the same boat, I might try embedding the Qi coil behind the plastic of the holder. I've seen it done for nightstands, desks, etc. and it is a very fetching idea. I like the invisible features look.

Again, I think the OP's solution looks very good and is much better than any of the rats nests that I have done in my last car.

 

[iamtheav8r]

Mine was red flash PITA at first. then I noticed (on mine) that if I lined up my phone with the indentation on the charge pad by my thumbnail as a guide, it worked every time.

As always, YMMV. I am using an S10+ and my hands are different than everyone else's by that tiny bit. Sorry yours is not going well. I feel your pain on half baked features.

If I were in the same boat, I might try embedding the Qi coil behind the plastic of the holder. I've seen it done for nightstands, desks, etc. and it is a very fetching idea. I like the invisible features look.

Again, I think the OP's solution looks very good and is much better than any of the rats nests that I have done in my last car.

I have the same phone, in a Samsung rugged case (charges 100% on my Samsung wireless chargers at home and office) and I've yet to figure out the perfect placement...which is my point. It shouldn't be that it has to be placed in a 2mm window to make it work. I'll try the trick you mentioned if I understood it. When I remove the case it does seem to work better, but still not 100%.

Thanks

 

[TheDutchRAM]

Great idea for my Laramie Sport which comes with the onboard wireless charger, bit stopped working for some reason. Grr.

 

[derp]

I have the same phone, in a Samsung rugged case (charges 100% on my Samsung wireless chargers at home and office) and I've yet to figure out the perfect placement...which is my point. It shouldn't be that it has to be placed in a 2mm window to make it work. I'll try the trick you mentioned if I understood it. When I remove the case it does seem to work better, but still not 100%.

Thanks

I had another case for my phone initially. it didn't charge at all in the truck. now I have a non-slip case that is mostly hard plastic with non-slip overmolding. Definitely not a rugged type case. Wireless charging works fairly well and it doesn't overheat the same way as the phone did in the rugged case, and the overheating interrupted wireless charging ALL the time. Wireless anything is generally fraught with problems and I do my best to avoid in terms of reliability.

In my career I am a network technician and have to accept that wireless is often times the only connectivity available for a use case. I just make sure that I have exhausted everything else before hand due to the variables that affect reliability and performance. Wireless power of course is the same media/transport as anything else I deal with wireless even though the end goal is power vs data.

Back to the RAM. I have noticed the phone charging via the in-built plugs is ~250mah vs the 2.5ah I can get with the first party samsung charger due to their fast charge handshake. when I did use a cable, I still ran it via either the dash plug 12v, or the 110vac charger in the console. This of course sucks if you needed to use android auto. It's a PITA to get the best of everything.

 

[iamtheav8r]

I had another case for my phone initially. it didn't charge at all in the truck. now I have a non-slip case that is mostly hard plastic with non-slip overmolding. Definitely not a rugged type case. Wireless charging works fairly well and it doesn't overheat the same way as the phone did in the rugged case, and the overheating interrupted wireless charging ALL the time. Wireless anything is generally fraught with problems and I do my best to avoid in terms of reliability.

In my career I am a network technician and have to accept that wireless is often times the only connectivity available for a use case. I just make sure that I have exhausted everything else before hand due to the variables that affect reliability and performance. Wireless power of course is the same media/transport as anything else I deal with wireless even though the end goal is power vs data.

Back to the RAM. I have noticed the phone charging via the in-built plugs is ~250mah vs the 2.5ah I can get with the first party samsung charger due to their fast charge handshake. when I did use a cable, I still ran it via either the dash plug 12v, or the 110vac charger in the console. This of course sucks if you needed to use android auto. It's a PITA to get the best of everything.

I've not had any overheating issues with my phone.

The Samsung rugged case isn't much....nothing like a Lifeproof or Otterbox. It's quite thin so no idea why the Ram has problems with it.

30+ years in data security, enterprise network, VM farms, etc. Currently have over 50,000 nodes in my day job network. I'm about sick of tech...can't wait to be done!

 

[saturn298]

I have the factory one, it works like a champ. this solution does look well done as a postfit. much better than I would have done.

The amount of stuff that is locked down to dealer flash on these trucks is frustrating at best. my next purchase is definitely AlfaOBD and the supporting hardware. the dealer stranglehold on my truck has been nothing but pain. if I should ever find a way to execute the TSB firmware updates without the delaership then I am going out of pocket third party service all the way. so far my warranty service experience has set a new low for customer care.

Keep in mind Alfa doesn't have the DT out for specific changes. You can still do a fair amount using the DS/DJ (4th gen) bcm selection. Ive had the software for 3 years, and have been quite happy with what I can change! Worth every dime

 

[derp]

phone charging using the onboard charge.

I just got my truck back from service and got the red light on charge. a mental light went off as my key fob was in the center console instead of on my left hip. the owners manual said to keep the fob away from the wireless charge area as it will interfere with the function of charging and possibly the fob as well.

I moved the fob back onto my keyring on my left hip and the charging has been flawless since. I also don't usually keep my HID card in the center console.

 

[Damion]

I was thinking of dong the same thing, but taking the wireless charger apart and putting the guts behind the panel you mounted yours to, like the factory one would work. I just haven't been able to find pictures of the back of that panel to see whats there.

maybe once it warms up I may take my console out and try it

 

[MG99]

I originally was looking to add the Mopar Wireless Charging Accessory to my 2020 Bighorn but did not feel like having the dealer enable it for me. The install seemed pretty straight forward but having to pay the dealer to program the truck so it could be used just didn't sit well with me.

So i thought about another way of adding QI Wireless Charging.

I picked up one of these pads from Amazon (CHOETECH Wireless Charger, 10W Max Qi-Certified Fast Wireless Charging Pad)
View attachment 43061

One of these cables from Amazon (Right Angle Micro USB Cable Short,SUNGUY Reversible 1FT 3pack 90 Degree)
View attachment 43062

Some 3M Molding Tape
View attachment 43063

For the installation, i taped the charging pad so that when i place my phone in the phone holder, i could still have a cable attached to the phone.

Here are some pictures of the unit installed.
View attachment 43064
View attachment 43065
View attachment 43067

All in, it cost me about $23 for the solution. It may not be as clean looking as the OEM solution, but it works

Great idea and well done. Two questions;
-with the charging pad plugged into usb port 1, while the phone is charging, does it play through the radio (via CarPlay)?
-will the charging pad and your phone fit in that storage area just above its current location? Can’t tell by the picture but that would also be a good place to charge a phone.

 

[Damion]

Great idea and well done. Two questions;
-with the charging pad plugged into usb port 1, while the phone is charging, does it play through the radio (via CarPlay)?
-will the charging pad and your phone fit in that storage area just above its current location? Can’t tell by the picture but that would also be a good place to charge a phone.

While not my truck I’ll answer these.
1) no it won’t play through CarPlay. The charger is just that a charger. It doesn’t connect wirelessly to the USB for data. Would be slick if it did though.

2) the slot on top is small. I believe it’s designed as a pen holder. May also hold a lighter, lip balm etc.... it’s not overly wide

 

[MG99]

While not my truck I’ll answer these.
1) no it won’t play through CarPlay. The charger is just that a charger. It doesn’t connect wirelessly to the USB for data. Would be slick if it did though.

2) the slot on top is small. I believe it’s designed as a pen holder. May also hold a lighter, lip balm etc.... it’s not overly wide

Got it. Thanks for the response.

 

[Neurobit]

Great job.
BTW, I have no complaints about the built in wireless charger. Works fine with my iPhone w/ thin vinyl case.

 

[kmblackbear]

I originally was looking to add the Mopar Wireless Charging Accessory to my 2020 Bighorn but did not feel like having the dealer enable it for me. The install seemed pretty straight forward but having to pay the dealer to program the truck so it could be used just didn't sit well with me.

So i thought about another way of adding QI Wireless Charging.

I picked up one of these pads from Amazon (CHOETECH Wireless Charger, 10W Max Qi-Certified Fast Wireless Charging Pad)
View attachment 43061

One of these cables from Amazon (Right Angle Micro USB Cable Short,SUNGUY Reversible 1FT 3pack 90 Degree)
View attachment 43062

Some 3M Molding Tape
View attachment 43063

For the installation, i taped the charging pad so that when i place my phone in the phone holder, i could still have a cable attached to the phone.

Here are some pictures of the unit installed.
View attachment 43064
View attachment 43065
View attachment 43067

All in, it cost me about $23 for the solution. It may not be as clean looking as the OEM solution, but it works

Might not be as clean but it didnt cost you an arm and a leg haha. I like this but my Rebel has a CD player there even though I probably wont ever use it. USB cable for now works for me, but damn do I have untidy wires in my way. Nice work man

 

[BugGuy]

Looking to add some kind of wireless charging option for my truck. Just had to spring for a "new to me" phone and it has wireless charging.

Anyone know what the cost is to have the dealer install the factory ram charger?
Or I may go with OP's idea, or something else. I'll have to think on it.

 

[derp]

Looking to add some kind of wireless charging option for my truck. Just had to spring for a "new to me" phone and it has wireless charging.

Anyone know what the cost is to have the dealer install the factory ram charger?
Or I may go with OP's idea, or something else. I'll have to think on it.

whatever the dealer is doing to charge you is crazy too much.

you would literally better off to get the software (alfaobd), the SGW bypass, the obd reader, and the charging parts yourself than to pay them the once.

at least you would get to keep the software to enable features for next time and pull diagnostic info on your own.