Adding Passive Entry: How-to

[MayhemMOORE]

Can anyone tell me how many clips the door panels hold? Yellow and White. I'd like to buy spares just in case things go south.

See the photo below for each door. I don't think you will have any issues with the clips as they are pretty tough. I had my panel on and off several times and never broke one.

 

[Ethanol2]

I cant get any control unit to work for my 2021 Ram 1500 BigHorn. I see a few of you have gotten this to work on 2021s. Which did you select? Anyone I pick I get an "ECU Verification Failed" and sounds pretty risky to proceed after that.

 

[Jimmy07]

I cant get any control unit to work for my 2021 Ram 1500 BigHorn. I see a few of you have gotten this to work on 2021s. Which did you select? Anyone I pick I get an "ECU Verification Failed" and sounds pretty risky to proceed after that.

View attachment 92417

It doesn’t matter which one you pick, as it will auto detect once it connects. If you get the ECU verification pop up, just click continue. That just means your particular BCM part number isn’t in his database, but all the settings changes will still function the same.

 

[Ethanol2]

How have people routed the extra wires instead of replacing the harness, are you cutting a hole in the rubber gaskets the existing harness runs through, or is there a better way?

And when fitting the ends into the door-to-body terminal, are you gluing or soldering them in there? They feel prone to sliding back out.

 

[MayhemMOORE]

How have people routed the extra wires instead of replacing the harness, are you cutting a hole in the rubber gaskets the existing harness runs through, or is there a better way?

And when fitting the ends into the door-to-body terminal, are you gluing or soldering them in there? They feel prone to sliding back out.

The terminals will lock into place just like the factory ones in the connector as long as they are inserted the correct way.

As far as routing, you should be able to feed the wires through the portion of the harness thats contained in the rubber sleeve between the door and the body. Once inside the door just secure it alongside the rest of the harness with a few zip ties.


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[Ethanol2]

The terminals will lock into place just like the factory ones in the connector as long as they are inserted the correct way.

As far as routing, you should be able to feed the wires through the portion of the harness thats contained in the rubber sleeve between the door and the body. Once inside the door just secure it alongside the rest of the harness with a few zip ties.


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That worked great. Had to use needle nose pliers to push it into the terminal hard enough but snapped in like you said. Once I unwrapped the existing tape around the rubber sleeve there was plenty of room to fit the new wires through. Hope the hole I made on the passenger door sleeve doesn't cause problems in the future.

Followed the AlfaODB instructions and it works! Have to basically redo the drivers side door to fish out my 10mm socket that fell in there when tightening the window bolts, but this goes way faster each time.


Points that helped me out:

• Removing the rubber boot off the door to body connector helped a ton. Spent nearly an hour trying to hit the clips wedging a flathead in there. Removed the boot from the bottom half and hitting them was easy. Theres levers a bit further away from the body designed to be pressed, but they cant be reached with the rubber covering on.
• Absolutely buy painters tape before starting. Didnt see that step till my truck was already in a non-drivable state and attempted to make due with electrical tape. It kept stretching, putting the window in the way of machinery inside and left a lot of junk on the window when I was done.
• Reattaching the door handle was the hardest part by far. The internal parts are a beast to get back into place to be ready for the handle parts to be reattached. 1. Reattach this before reconnecting the door latch or all the bolts that you took off the door. You'll need as much play as possible to wedge this guy in to the correct place. 2. Feed the wire that connects to the door handle out through the door handle hole before you try reattaching the internal parts. Otherwise you'll have to undo everything to reach it. 3. The back part of the internal assembly has a little clip that has to be seated outside the door. When undoing everything you loosened a torx screw and probably didnt notice that tab holding things in place on the back half. 4. Use a flathead screwdriver to reach into a hole on the back half to pull it towards you before sliding the assembly backwards to fit that tab in place. Once you pull the torx screw into place on the front, the back half will push itself deeper into the door. You need a way to keep both halves pulled towards you. 5. Once the back tab and front torx screw are in the right places, make sure the torx screw is centered vertically. Look at how much plastic you see in the front hole and make sure it's symmetrical. Otherwise things will be very tight and when you try to insert the main handle piece it will pull the internal assembly out of place. That will make everything crooked and might not be able to move the handle at all when you're done. Once the front handle can slide in easily, finally tighten the torx screw fully to keep it in place when you finish installing the handle.

Time to tackle the tailgate. That looks far easier.

 

[nekit]

Rear PE Antenna: 52112204AA or 56046957AA should work in this location

Which rear antenna are people using on a 2021 Bighorn 1500? Looks like the mounting is different on each. Thanks

 

[MayhemMOORE]

Whichever one has the offset mounting holes will line up with the factory mounting points. I can't remember off the top of my head which one that is.

 

[Aagregg75]

If anybody doesn’t want to spend the money for the entire door harnesses and rear facia harness, and doesn’t feel like building the add on harnesses with the parts, let me know and I can build them for you-

Hi, Can you make them for a 2021 Ram 2500? If so, how muck for the whole set up?

 

[MannymanX]

Hi, Can you make them for a 2021 Ram 2500? If so, how muck for the whole set up?

2500 requires a completely different installation and it's totally different... did you know that?

 

[Jimmy07]

Hi, Can you make them for a 2021 Ram 2500? If so, how muck for the whole set up?

Yes, the 2500 is actually easier. I’ll send you a PM.

 

[vincentw56]

What does the rear antenna do? I was able to use passive entry without it. I did install it, but I see no difference.

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque

 

[Jimmy07]

What does the rear antenna do? I was able to use passive entry without it. I did install it, but I see no difference.

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque

It makes the tailgate handle release switch passive, also. That means as long as you have the fob on you, you don’t need to use the unlock button on the fob to be able to open the tailgate, you just walk up to it, and as long as the rear antenna senses the fob, you can open the tailgate.

 

[vincentw56]

It makes the tailgate handle release switch passive, also. That means as long as you have the fob on you, you don’t need to use the unlock button on the fob to be able to open the tailgate, you just walk up to it, and as long as the rear antenna senses the fob, you can open the tailgate.

Ah, okay. I'll give it a try. You know, just to make sure everything is installed properly. Lol

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque

 

[MayhemMOORE]

Ah, okay. I'll give it a try. You know, just to make sure everything is installed properly. Lol

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque

The 5th antenna also eliminates the fault with the fobik safe system. If the antenna is not installed, and passive entry is present, there will be a fault in the RF Hub, and fobik safe won't function quite as intended from the factory.

 

[swing4terps]

Anybody with a Built to Serve done this yet? Just picked up a tank green BTS and this is one of the features I miss the most from my Sierra. Bummed you can’t do auto lock exit on these trucks. I’ve forgot to lock my doors pretty much every time because both my vehicles used to have it.

Guessing I would need to get a set of 4 handles painted matte black or color match.

What’s a time estimate to just replace handles for the back doors?

Thanks!

 

[vincentw56]

Anybody with a Built to Serve done this yet? Just picked up a tank green BTS and this is one of the features I miss the most from my Sierra. Bummed you can’t do auto lock exit on these trucks. I’ve forgot to lock my doors pretty much every time because both my vehicles used to have it.

Guessing I would need to get a set of 4 handles painted matte black or color match.

What’s a time estimate to just replace handles for the back doors?

Thanks!

You don't need all 4 handles. You only need one. I only have 1 installed on the drivers side right now. I'll install the passenger later. I'm not doing the rear doors. Also, the trucks don't have auto-lock on exit. I wish they did. But you can still install passive entry.

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque

 

[parnine]

You don't need all 4 handles. You only need one. I only have 1 installed on the drivers side right now. I'll install the passenger later. I'm not doing the rear doors. Also, the trucks don't have auto-lock on exit. I wish they did. But you can still install passive entry.

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque

NOTE that if you only install one handle you will not be able to lock the doors using the lock/unlock switch on the inside door arm rest (you will have to use either the key fob or the outside door handle push button after you have closed all doors)

 

[MayhemMOORE]

Anybody with a Built to Serve done this yet? Just picked up a tank green BTS and this is one of the features I miss the most from my Sierra. Bummed you can’t do auto lock exit on these trucks. I’ve forgot to lock my doors pretty much every time because both my vehicles used to have it.

Guessing I would need to get a set of 4 handles painted matte black or color match.

What’s a time estimate to just replace handles for the back doors?

Thanks!

Back door handles are simple and can be done without removing the door panels. For the back doors, you will need the passenger side non-passive entry caps in whatever color you choose since there is no keyhole in them.

 

[vincentw56]

Back door handles are simple and can be done without removing the door panels. For the back doors, you will need the passenger side non-passive entry caps in whatever color you choose since there is no keyhole in them.

How's that? Wouldn't you still need to install the wiring? If so I need are the door handles, I might do it on the rear.

2020 Bighorn Night Edition, 5.7 Hemi w/eTorque