Aftermarket Stereo & UConnect

[Axion]

Anyone out there have any luck getting an aftermarket stereo and uconnect to play nice together?



Originally I was going to get an Edge A2 to cover my gps nav needs but now that its been discontinued I need to look into other options. I found a nice deck from Kenwood (DNX7120) but was wondering if my uconnect would still have the same functionality. My phone works great wth uconnect and I would hate to lose that. Now, the Kenwood has a bluetooth option but its more money to duplicate a system I already have in place.



I could just look into getting a factory nav unit (rec?) off ebay or some such. Are there any other features the oem unit has that I'm not aware of? I heard rumors about the factory deck providing maintenance info? Can anyone confirm? The kenwood uses Garmin for its gps software which would be hard to beat. What software does Dodge put in thier nav radios? I seem to remember seeing something about it being based on an Alpine system.



Just trying to do some research before I start depleting my kids college fund.

 

[Axion]

Something I didn't think of until after I submitted the original post; does the rec unit have any sort of auxillary input? I would like to run from the line out on my sirius directly into the radio.

 

[sam-eye-am]

I have the OEM nav system in my 2007. Looks neat, but sucks otherwise compared to say a Garmin Nuvi. Resolution/Map detail is horrible in comparison. No custom zoom levels either. Touch screen on the Garmin Nuvi is much easier to use as well. From what I have read, the OEM nav unit is Alpine based. last time I tried to look into getting a map update, it seemed to be a big PITA and not easy/cheap to come by. So, I gave up.

My recommendation... stay with something that is aftermarket for a Nav system. The features and Map updates seem much better.

Not sure about the aux input, though my factory sirius goes through it as well.

 

[HBarlow]

Anyone out there have any luck getting an aftermarket stereo and uconnect to play nice together?



Originally I was going to get an Edge A2 to cover my gps nav needs but now that its been discontinued I need to look into other options. I found a nice deck from Kenwood (DNX7120) but was wondering if my uconnect would still have the same functionality. My phone works great wth uconnect and I would hate to lose that. Now, the Kenwood has a bluetooth option but its more money to duplicate a system I already have in place.



I could just look into getting a factory nav unit (rec?) off ebay or some such. Are there any other features the oem unit has that I'm not aware of? I heard rumors about the factory deck providing maintenance info? Can anyone confirm? The kenwood uses Garmin for its gps software which would be hard to beat. What software does Dodge put in thier nav radios? I seem to remember seeing something about it being based on an Alpine system.



Just trying to do some research before I start depleting my kids college fund.

I cannot answer your question with absolute certainty but in my opinion nothing in the aftermarket is currently compatible with the electronics in the 2006 and later Dodge Rams because they use the Canbus system.



I agree with and would follow the advice of sam-eye-am in the above post. OEM indash Nav units look nice but I don't think they are as user friendly as a Garmin aftermarket GPS unit.

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

As far as the Bluetooth goes, I put an Eclipse radio with TomTom GPS buit in, in m wifes car last year. The Bluetooth is horrible. Sounds like you're talking through a tin can. And the GPS, (it's removeable), just got sent back to Eclipse because it lost it's brains, the second time. I use a stand alone GPS that I can move from vehicle to vehicle. Personally, I think that's a better option. If you get the Kenwood, make sure the Bluetooth module comes with it. I have a Kenwood deck in my '96 which was supposed to be Bluetooth compatible. What they neglected to say, was I had to purchase the module to make it work, which I found out when I installed it.

 

[Axion]

Thanks for all the input.



I had not heard that the oem nav was not the greatest. I have family members that run Garmin Nuvi's and really like them. Guess I can cross the rec nav radio off my list.



I have been doing some research and I think I may go with one of the new Dodge mygig systems. There is a company that makes an adapter harness to allow the use of a low speed mygig in 2006 and up ram trucks.



MYGIG Adapter



I would still need to source a new radio bezel and probably some sort of adapter to go from the size of the rec radio to the industry standard 2 din size of the mygig. Since the mygig comes with uconnect and sirius built in I wouldn't need all the extra adapters and modules to get the same features from the kenwood system. The only huge advantage I can now see for the Kenwood is its use of Garmin software for the navigation side of things. I could not find any information about who provides Dodge with the nav software. I did find out that they use Navigation Technologies maps but the software side is still a mystery.



Anyone out there have any hsitory, good or bad, with a mygig equipped vehicle? From what I could tell, it looks like Ram trucks will have mygig as an option in 2009, although not the mega cabs.