Ram 3500 Harmon Kardon

[Shauner2019]

Hello all.

I have been everywhere with FCA and my dealership looking for answers but to no avail. So I am hoping somebody else out there might be dealing with the same problem.

I run a fleet of rams and personally have owned a few so I am no stranger to the vehicle. I have had the 1500s, 2500's, 3500's and the 5500's with all types of configurations. Recently I had traded in my 2016 3500 Laramie for the new 2019 5th gen 3500 Laramie. The main issue outside of other smaller teething issues is that the Harmon Kardon system is by far the weakest system in any of the trucks. Has anybody else come across this? I bought the system based on listening to the HK system in the 1500 which is completely different sounding to what I have. FCA says it is normal so the dealership cannot do anything about it. For such an expensive truck it seems like we are being ripped off with a subpar system in the 3500's. Even the dealership says its sounds off but not enough folks are complaining about it for FCA to change it. I have been told to upgrade it? A 93 thousand dollar truck and the only option is to upgrade the sound system which is already the upgrade! There is literally no range to the system and the equalizer does not do much when trying to tune it. Throw in road noise and being that I spend over 6 hrs a day it makes for a serious headache.

We have compared it to other 3500s from the same lineup and they all sound the same. Yet the 1500 is drastically different so could it be a bad batch that Ram will not admit to?

 

[devildodge]

The Ram 1500 has a redesigned cab which may have the speakers in a better position than the carryover cab in the Heavy Duty 4.5 Gen.

That is about all I can help out with, but if you go to our sister site HDRAMS.COM you will find a few guys with the new Gen HD that could probably help more.

 

[jloops]

Hello all.

I have been everywhere with FCA and my dealership looking for answers but to no avail. So I am hoping somebody else out there might be dealing with the same problem.

I run a fleet of rams and personally have owned a few so I am no stranger to the vehicle. I have had the 1500s, 2500's, 3500's and the 5500's with all types of configurations. Recently I had traded in my 2016 3500 Laramie for the new 2019 5th gen 3500 Laramie. The main issue outside of other smaller teething issues is that the Harmon Kardon system is by far the weakest system in any of the trucks. Has anybody else come across this? I bought the system based on listening to the HK system in the 1500 which is completely different sounding to what I have. FCA says it is normal so the dealership cannot do anything about it. For such an expensive truck it seems like we are being ripped off with a subpar system in the 3500's. Even the dealership says its sounds off but not enough folks are complaining about it for FCA to change it. I have been told to upgrade it? A 93 thousand dollar truck and the only option is to upgrade the sound system which is already the upgrade! There is literally no range to the system and the equalizer does not do much when trying to tune it. Throw in road noise and being that I spend over 6 hrs a day it makes for a serious headache.

We have compared it to other 3500s from the same lineup and they all sound the same. Yet the 1500 is drastically different so could it be a bad batch that Ram will not admit to?

Several 1500 owners complained about the HK system and FCA came out with this TSB. Maybe it needs to be done to the 3500s as well?

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Shauner2019]

Several 1500 owners complained about the HK system and FCA came out with this TSB. Maybe it needs to be done to the 3500s as well?

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Thanks Jloop. I brought that to the dealers attention as they were unaware but unfortunately it did not make a difference as the system was already running the latest update according to them.

 

[Shauner2019]

The Ram 1500 has a redesigned cab which may have the speakers in a better position than the carryover cab in the Heavy Duty 4.5 Gen.

That is about all I can help out with, but if you go to our sister site HDRAMS.COM you will find a few guys with the new Gen HD that could probably help more.

Thanks Devildodge.

I am on there as well trying. The 5th gen 3500 still basically has the same config as the 4th in terms of speaker layout and placement therefore making it more confusing regarding the sound quality on a "premium" system. The alpine system is miles ahead of what I am stuck with at the moment.