The Good, The Bad, And The Wants - Ram 2021 Limited Longhorn

[Dr. K]

Hi
just got mine also; so far love it but I was startled by truck slamming on brakes when backing out of any driveway on a slope. Catches you off guard.
good luck with yours; let the mods begin.
K

 

[securityguy]

Great write up and happy to see that you're enjoying your new truck as am I. A few things to follow-up on:

1. Totally agree on the auto-fold mirror option. Should be easy to code and make an option in the radio to turn on or off...I wanted this in my 2019
2. The speed is limited on the air suspension height because it is UNSAFE to drive the truck at those speeds when in OR1 and OR2
3. Not aware of any vehicle that remember the Auto S/S setting. There are aftermarket modules that will "fix" this. However, the 2021 version is not yet available as RAM changed something in the signaling so the 2019-2020 version will not work. Should be out Q1-2021 according to the manufacturer
4. Total bummer on Wireless CarPlay. I'll bet it will be a part of Uconnect 5 in the 2022 (you can buy this...many of us have it and it works great!)
www.carplay2air.com
Enjoy and welcome to the Forum!

 

[securityguy]

Hi
just got mine also; so far love it but I was startled by truck slamming on brakes when backing out of any driveway on a slope. Catches you off guard.
good luck with yours; let the mods begin.
K

Most of us just turn that off in the settings. It was constantly pissing off my wife

 

[Dr. K]

L

Most of us just turn that off in the settings. It was constantly pissing off my wife

LOL!!!!

 

[Berkley]

Great write up and happy to see that you're enjoying your new truck as am I. A few things to follow-up on:

1. Totally agree on the auto-fold mirror option. Should be easy to code and make an option in the radio to turn on or off...I wanted this in my 2019
2. The speed is limited on the air suspension height because it is UNSAFE to drive the truck at those speeds when in OR1 and OR2
3. Not aware of any vehicle that remember the Auto S/S setting. There are aftermarket modules that will "fix" this. However, the 2021 version is not yet available as RAM changed something in the signaling so the 2019-2020 version will not work. Should be out Q1-2021 according to the manufacturer
4. Total bummer on Wireless CarPlay. I'll bet it will be a part of Uconnect 5 in the 2022 (you can buy this...many of us have it and it works great!)
www.carplay2air.com
Enjoy and welcome to the Forum!

I installed a Tazer DT and now have auto-folding mirrors. There are lots of other "programmable features" available through the Tazer DT. Check out there website

 

[securityguy]

I installed a Tazer DT and now have auto-folding mirrors. There are lots of other "programmable features" available through the Tazer DT. Check out there website

Thank and I know the Tazer does this...I had one in my 2019 and got rid of it. What we all are saying is that the power folding mirrors should be a standard feature with the ability to auto-fold when the IGN is turned off. It's a real shame that RAM doesn't give us this option...a VERY SIMPLE program add to add the functionality.

 

[sailouterbanks]

I'm new to owning a Ram and have right under a month and 2000 miles on my 2021 Limited Longhorn. So far I'm loving the truck but I wanted to share some of the features that I enjoy the most and areas that are lacking for others considering a Ram.

The Good

If you drive a lot of highway miles the adaptive cruise control is more than a gimmick and a great feature. You set the max speed you want the truck at and the following distance (2 -5) and it will speed up to the set speed and slow down all the way to a complete stop if their is a vehicle in front of you. If the the truck is stopped more than a few seconds like in stop in go traffic you need to tap the gas to reengage the system.

The interior finish is unreal and on par with luxury cars. Space in the backseat is incredible as well.

The suspension is close to equivalent to a Lexus. This truck has the 4 corner air suspension but I've read the trucks without air suspension ride incredible as well.

The XM Weather is really useful and probably underrated. It will notify you of weather warnings as well as real time weather radar maps which is helpful.

The heads up display showing speed, speed limit, street, etc. is really helpful. Initially I thought it was an annoyance but I've actually grown to use it as the primary location I look for my speed and the current speed limit.

The rear floorboard container are a great place to store tie downs, gloves, flashlight, etc.

The etorque system makes the restart of the truck the smoothest of any vehicle I've been in that has the "auto start" feature.

The pano sunroof is incredible.

The Wants

An option to fold the mirror when you place the vehicle in park without having to buy an aftermarket "programmer". There are 10s of other options, why didn't Ram include this as well?

The air ride suspension allows you to move the truck up to 4" in height. (Off Road 1 and Off Road 2) The bad news is the truck doesn't allow you to drive in those modes over a certain speed, something like 45 and 25 MPH respectively. It would be great to be able to drive at normal highway speeds in these higher height modes.

The surround camera view turns off after a few seconds when moving from a stop to drive. Why not enable this option at any speed?

The center console is massive and has a great setup but lacks appropriate lighting at night.

Add a 120V outlet to the bed like Ram does with the Ram boxes.

Allow for the truck to remember the position of the auto start without having to turn it off after every start.

Add wireless Apple CarPlay already.

Have a locking console somewhere to lock items up. (ex. during valet)

Increased use of the fuel 12" screen. Most apps only allow for the screen to be split into halves. For example, Apple Car Play will only take the top 6" and then the bottom 6" might be the interior controls or climate control. I suspect this will improve as Ram continues to mature with another UConnect version.

The Bad

The gas mileage is abysmal, like 16 on the highway so far but you didn't buy this bad boy for it's gas mileage did you?

With the safety rear braking enabled sometimes the truck randomly slams on the brakes in reverse believing there is an object that is about to be struck. This option can be disabled which I will probably do shortly as the reaction is jarring but just a heads up that it's finicky.

I'm at 1500 miles on my new 2021 limited. Great write up and follow up here. Here are my thoughts:

1) Agree on the side mirror turn down in reverse. On my 2003 Avalanche that I bought 18 years ago, you had the option to turn down one or both mirrors in reverse. Plus, you could adjust the turn down angle and save it to the driver profile. that was 18 years ago.
2) Exit seat position. Again on my 03 Avalanche I could set the seat exit position that I wanted and save it to my profile.
3) The bed tie down rails should be compatible with the optional bed divider. I already have a track, why not sell a divider that fits that?
4) I enjoy the adaptive cruise control except on a two lane road when the car in front moves to a turn off lane and the curve of the road makes the truck think it is still in font and slams on the breaks.
5) I turn off the lane departure system in heavy rain because it make me feel like I'm hydroplaning when it kicks in.
6) The Uconnect maps are from middle of 2019.
7) Harmon Kardon subwoofer sucks. Very boomy and not tight at all. I also drive a 2016 Chrysler 300 S, it has a beats audio system. You would think that system would be boomy but it sounds better than the HK system. Several threads here on that. BTW, my 300 S is blacked out too. Guess I like vehicles that look like Darth Vader.
8) Think I might have the ANC droning issue. A couple of time when driving above 70mph with the music off, I have heard a loud low frequency droning sound. Not doing it all the time though.
9) My biggest complaint...and the only reason I still pay for uconnect on my 300s...the uconnect system no longer has voice reply to text messages! You can only send predefined replies even though it says voice reply on the screen! in my 300S I could dictate replies in detail, much better, faster and safer. I was shocked to find this out.

Truck has been great on trips. I was cleaning my sunglasses for a few the other day on the highway and the lane departure control was keeping me on the road. The heads up display said "Please put you hands back on the steering wheel"

 

[securityguy]

9) My biggest complaint...and the only reason I still pay for uconnect on my 300s...the uconnect system no longer has voice reply to text messages! You can only send predefined replies even though it says voice reply on the screen! in my 300S I could dictate replies in detail, much better, faster and safer. I was shocked to find this out.

Why not use Apple CarPlay or AA and you can say and text whatever you want! I use my wireless CarPlay constantly and can have full conversations just by talking and having CarPlay send my text messages.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Welcome, and nice writeup!

X2. No mention of ac not cooling down right. Maybe too early for the OP to find that out. I’d definitely say that needs to be addressed by RAM. Otherwise it is an excellent truck.

 

[sailouterbanks]

Why not use Apple CarPlay or AA and you can say and text whatever you want! I use my wireless CarPlay constantly and can have full conversations just by talking and having CarPlay send my text messages.

I use Android Auto but I have to plug my phone in to use it. The uconnect was nice because I tap the message icon and see the last dozen messages received and I could listen and respond very quickly. It faster than android auto in that way. On long trips I use AA because I use Waze navigation because is much better than uconnects. Around town voice text on the uconnect on my 300 is an easier interface. I just makes no sense for it not to still work , Uconnect still works off of voice commands.

 

[Buz]

#1The air ride suspension allows you to move the truck up to 4" in height. (Off Road 1 and Off Road 2) The bad news is the truck doesn't allow you to drive in those modes over a certain speed, something like 45 and 25 MPH respectively. It would be great to be able to drive at normal highway speeds in these higher height modes.

#2The surround camera view turns off after a few seconds when moving from a stop to drive. Why not enable this option at any speed?

#3Allow for the truck to remember the position of the auto start without having to turn it off after every start.

#1 While it is less safe to drive at speed with the body 1" or 2" higher, I think the primary reason it doesn't allow you to do this is alignment issues. When you lift or lower a vehicle, even 1" it alters the geometry of the front end and will wear the tires (and other goodies) more quickly. The speed limits for OR1 and OR2 are there to sort of force you to drive the truck in normal mode since that's how the alignment is set up at the factory.
Oh, and if you haven't noticed the ride is far superior in normal mode than any other suspension mode, including aero.

#2 It would be too dangerous to use the camera at speeds above 5mph. RAM wants your eyes on the road not on the Uconnect screen.

#3 FCA would lose their EPA credits if they allowed the end user to permanently turn the stop/start 'feature' off.

 

[HemiDude]

Why not use Apple CarPlay or AA and you can say and text whatever you want! I use my wireless CarPlay constantly and can have full conversations just by talking and having CarPlay send my text messages.

What he said

 

[Buz]

What I would like is to have the EQ be an option on the split screen.
So you could have the 'what's playing' part of the music app on the upper screen and the EQ on the lower.
I mess with the EQ on almost every song with this HK system.

 

[ronr]

New limited longhorn owner here (former F150/250) posted my likes on different thread so here are my wishes. (1) easier able/disable on the automatic running board; maybe on the keyfob. (2) step for getting in the bed when tailgate down (I have the middle one for the MFTailgate); (3) love that tailgate, but it does seem a bit "chintzy" to me and hope it lasts. (4) My initial reaction on Adaptive Cruise C was this is great but I usually maintain a bit more distance between vehicle ahead. I only have 4 settings. The other thing I noted was that when the car I was following exited.... my truck slowed down to his speed while he was already in the exit lane.. don't know if it was just me but did not like that. (5) I have some kind of focusing issue with the camera-rear-view mirror .. when i first glance at it it seems disjointed and then my eyes pop it into focus - could be an age thing.

 

[securityguy]

New limited longhorn owner here (former F150/250) posted my likes on different thread so here are my wishes. (1) easier able/disable on the automatic running board; maybe on the keyfob. (2) step for getting in the bed when tailgate down (I have the middle one for the MFTailgate); (3) love that tailgate, but it does seem a bit "chintzy" to me and hope it lasts. (4) My initial reaction on Adaptive Cruise C was this is great but I usually maintain a bit more distance between vehicle ahead. I only have 4 settings. The other thing I noted was that when the car I was following exited.... my truck slowed down to his speed while he was already in the exit lane.. don't know if it was just me but did not like that. (5) I have some kind of focusing issue with the camera-rear-view mirror .. when i first glance at it it seems disjointed and then my eyes pop it into focus - could be an age thing.

Welcome!

 

[jimchi]

Wireless CarPlay is probably the only thing that was a "want" in a new truck that I'm not going to get. But honestly I don't think I'll miss it that much. I have wireless CarPlay in my 2003 Explorer (yes you read that right - I put an aftermarket radio in!) but I won't miss the failures to connect when I'm in the garage and still on the house WiFi, or the times when the music starts skipping and I have to reconnect. I also use a ProClip mount for the phone, which has a charging wire running to it anyway. Already ordered a new ProClip for the Ram when it gets here.

 

[securityguy]

Wireless CarPlay is probably the only thing that was a "want" in a new truck that I'm not going to get. But honestly I don't think I'll miss it that much. I have wireless CarPlay in my 2003 Explorer (yes you read that right - I put an aftermarket radio in!) but I won't miss the failures to connect when I'm in the garage and still on the house WiFi, or the times when the music starts skipping and I have to reconnect. I also use a ProClip mount for the phone, which has a charging wire running to it anyway. Already ordered a new ProClip for the Ram when it gets here.

I don't think you'll experience any of what you stated with the wireless CP device we all purchased...I don't

 

[Reverse]

Good writeup. Agree with most of the comments here (after 1yr/35000 miles), although I tend to err on the side of reliability versus more gadgets. For example, powered steering wheel adjustment I can do without, and I purposely did not get the pano roof in my Limited. Folding mirrors would be nice, but the button is right next to the handle you use to open the door, so there's a 'workaround'

My main gripe with the Limited is fuel mileage. It's got all the fuel saving bells and whistles that my 2014 Big Horn does not (grille shutters, ETorque, start/stop, airdam etc.), but still uses 1.5-2.0 mpg more than our 2014 on the same drive cycle. TFL gave Ram sh*t for this, but haven't heard other 'reviewers' comment on this. Also, it seems to eat tires on the twisty mountain roads, much more so than the Big Horn. Must be the 22" wheels?

Overall though, I love this truck and would buy it again in a heartbeat. Over the past year, I have come to really love some features that I thought were gimmicky when I bought the truck: Start/Stop is super smooth, Adaptive Cruise is awesome, as is automatic High Beam. If I can afford it, I may never buy a truck without air suspension again.

Also, reading through this thread, it's good to see most gripes are for fairly minor things, not affecting reliability at all.