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Rambox and tailgate locks

djorden

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Does anyone know whether or how you can disable the unlock function for the ram box and tailgate locks to keep them locked if you take the truck in for service or have to valet park it somewhere? I have asked every dealer that I have stopped at and the response has always been the same "I don't know, no one else has ever asked that". I travel a lot all over the country and I they are full of tools and all sorts of stuff that I "might" need and I don't want to lose any of it. My local dealer has been good about recognizing the issue and has tried every combination of key fob and little key inside, even reached out to ram service tech guy that happened to be there one day I was there. We even got the tech manual that told us which fuse to pull and they still worked after pulling the fuse. I would have thought that since Mopar sells a gun rack for the rambox, a light bulb would have lit up and some bright engineer would have said "how do we keep that secure".

I have a tonneau cover and I want to disable the unlock function on that also. Surely that option could be programmed into the system because you can choose whether the deployable steps don't deploy or always stay deployed. You can choose whether or not the heated seats and steering wheel automatically turn on at startup in cold weather. Same with the cooled seats in hot weather. The only thing that I've been able to do is open the rambox, take the cover off the lock assembly and unplug the wire and lock it manually and keep the key while giving service or valet the key fob. Haven't figured out anything for the tailgate yet.

It would also be nice if we could program the exhaust brake to stay on at each startup. I also wish the latch striker bar in the rambox had a slot in it so we could adjust the tightness of the latches.

On the navigation screen, Uconnect 5, setting the "over the speed limit notification", we used to be able to set how many mph over the speed limit that we wanted a reminder ding and color change in case we didn’t notice a change in the speed limit. Currently with the Tom Tom navigation, that notification is not adjustable and is set to 3 mph over the speed limit and it dings at 3, if you slow down even 1 mph and go back to 3 over, it is constantly dinging. If you set the volume down so it isn't so annoying, it also sets the volume of your navigation directions down so you miss the verbal directions given. It should have separate adjustments. Better yet, get rid of Tom Tom and let us have a choice of which navigation maps we want. You also can't zoom out or get the little speed limit icon in the lower right corner while you are in half screen with navigation. I think the bean counters have too much power.

Any help with these issues will be appreciated. Thanks
 

2001WS6

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Probably not what you wanted for an answer but, on my 2018 PW, I unplugged the lock actuator for each RamBox. I just used the key to lock and unlock when I wanted.
 

H3LZSN1P3R

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You could put a switch for the lock actuators to interrupt the unlock but not the tailgate because its not a lock it is just the BCM allowing the handle to work or not but you could also have a switch for that to interrupt the signal

So yes with 2 hidden switches it can be done pretty easy but id confirm with @Jimmy07 first he knows his stuff for these trucks and the electronics
 

djorden

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Yes, I thought about putting a small switch on the inside of the rambox on the side of the plastic cover, then lock it manually as you suggested, but darn it, it could be so easy for Ram to just program it so we could disable it on the screen if we could just get them to think it was their idea to do it . It wouldn't really be too hard to put the switch in for the ramboxs but sometimes I put totes of supplies and luggage in the box under the tonneau cover and I'd like that to be somewhat secure until some Yahoo comes along with a knife.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 

djorden

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We need somebody to write a program to add to what we have and hopefully not mess something totally unrelated to randomly quit working. I think they have their hands full getting the bugs out of the Uconnect 5 system for now.
 

Ram2500diesel

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Does anyone know whether or how you can disable the unlock function for the ram box and tailgate locks to keep them locked if you take the truck in for service or have to valet park it somewhere? I have asked every dealer that I have stopped at and the response has always been the same "I don't know, no one else has ever asked that". I travel a lot all over the country and I they are full of tools and all sorts of stuff that I "might" need and I don't want to lose any of it. My local dealer has been good about recognizing the issue and has tried every combination of key fob and little key inside, even reached out to ram service tech guy that happened to be there one day I was there. We even got the tech manual that told us which fuse to pull and they still worked after pulling the fuse. I would have thought that since Mopar sells a gun rack for the rambox, a light bulb would have lit up and some bright engineer would have said "how do we keep that secure".

I have a tonneau cover and I want to disable the unlock function on that also. Surely that option could be programmed into the system because you can choose whether the deployable steps don't deploy or always stay deployed. You can choose whether or not the heated seats and steering wheel automatically turn on at startup in cold weather. Same with the cooled seats in hot weather. The only thing that I've been able to do is open the rambox, take the cover off the lock assembly and unplug the wire and lock it manually and keep the key while giving service or valet the key fob. Haven't figured out anything for the tailgate yet.

It would also be nice if we could program the exhaust brake to stay on at each startup. I also wish the latch striker bar in the rambox had a slot in it so we could adjust the tightness of the latches.

On the navigation screen, Uconnect 5, setting the "over the speed limit notification", we used to be able to set how many mph over the speed limit that we wanted a reminder ding and color change in case we didn’t notice a change in the speed limit. Currently with the Tom Tom navigation, that notification is not adjustable and is set to 3 mph over the speed limit and it dings at 3, if you slow down even 1 mph and go back to 3 over, it is constantly dinging. If you set the volume down so it isn't so annoying, it also sets the volume of your navigation directions down so you miss the verbal directions given. It should have separate adjustments. Better yet, get rid of Tom Tom and let us have a choice of which navigation maps we want. You also can't zoom out or get the little speed limit icon in the lower right corner while you are in half screen with navigation. I think the bean counters have too much power.

Any help with these issues will be appreciated. Thanks
Im also unable to lock My 2019 2500 diesel Rambox 's separately when leaving truck for service despite inquiries with service depts. I did find that when the RAMBOX locking mechanism fails ( common problem) the Rambox ceases to open with the fob so it's a step in the right direction.
 

djorden

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Im also unable to lock My 2019 2500 diesel Rambox 's separately when leaving truck for service despite inquiries with service depts. I did find that when the RAMBOX locking mechanism fails ( common problem) the Rambox ceases to open with the fob so it's a step in the right direction.
The part that fails is a little plastic piece that keeps the little rod from slipping out of place. I really have a hard time believing that someone at the factory hasn't thought of a solution for us to be able to keep it locked when we take it in for service or valet parking.
 

jetrinka

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The part that fails is a little plastic piece that keeps the little rod from slipping out of place. I really have a hard time believing that someone at the factory hasn't thought of a solution for us to be able to keep it locked when we take it in for service or valet parking.
What’s the difference? Valet or service is still going to have the mechanical key in the fob capable of opening the boxes
 

jsalbre

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I can't say whether it will work or not, but there's a configuration item in AlfaOBD called "Trunk Unlock Enable/Disable CSM Present". Maybe that would give you a menu option to disable the tailgate lock. Someone could of course go back in and enable it, but I doubt they'd know to look for the option.
 

djorden

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Interesting, I will ask my dealer about that when I see him next week. I wonder if I could go into settings and enable, disable easily as needed. Of course, if it's accessible through the touch screen and settings, a mechanic or valet parking attendant could undo the disabling command. Thanks, I'll check that out.
 

jsalbre

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Interesting, I will ask my dealer about that when I see him next week. I wonder if I could go into settings and enable, disable easily as needed. Of course, if it's accessible through the touch screen and settings, a mechanic or valet parking attendant could undo the disabling command. Thanks, I'll check that out.
Your dealer will know nothing about AlfaOBD settings changes and I'd advise against asking them about it. This is firmly in the "DIY" category.
 

djorden

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Your dealer will know nothing about AlfaOBD settings changes and I'd advise against asking them about it. This is firmly in the "DIY" category.
OK. I'm going to try the small switch on the rambox lock cover. I can't see why it won't work because several years ago I took that cover off and unplugged the wire controlling the lock mechanism and it disabled it but that takes a lot more time to do that than just switching a little rocker switch and using the valet key to lock it. It shouldn't make any difference which wire I cut because it will either interrupt the power or the ground. I'd rather interrupt the power if I knew which one it was. Should be able to find the one that has power to it.

Is there a specific OBD that I should get and do they have a manual or information so I can navigate through the settings without messing something else up?
 

trblmkr

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Has anyone found a way to keep the Ram boxes locked for the reasons the OP stated other than what has been mentioned already?
 

Ram Beau1

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Im also unable to lock My 2019 2500 diesel Rambox 's separately when leaving truck for service despite inquiries with service depts. I did find that when the RAMBOX locking mechanism fails ( common problem) the Rambox ceases to open with the fob so it's a step in the right direction.
My passenger side Rambox 'broke' so now I can keep it locked during service............
 

Davej

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Hi everyone, Update- I got a wiring diagram from the dealer and got a couple of little rocker switches, drilled a hole in the plastic actuators cover, cut the unlock actuator wire on each side and wired the switches in. Works great, I can lock it with the fob but with the switch "off" it won't unlock. I'll just take the little key out of the fob and give them the fob only. It also didn't throw any codes!

I still haven't figured out how to keep the tailgate from unlocking so if anyone can walk me through it step by step (I'm not a wiz kid with electronics), maybe I could get that solved too. What specific alfaBOD would I need and what are the steps to disable the tailgate lock.

Thanks for any help. djorden
 

Ram2500diesel

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Hi everyone, Update- I got a wiring diagram from the dealer and got a couple of little rocker switches, drilled a hole in the plastic actuators cover, cut the unlock actuator wire on each side and wired the switches in. Works great, I can lock it with the fob but with the switch "off" it won't unlock. I'll just take the little key out of the fob and give them the fob only. It also didn't throw any codes!

I still haven't figured out how to keep the tailgate from unlocking so if anyone can walk me through it step by step (I'm not a wiz kid with electronics), maybe I could get that solved too. What specific alfaBOD would I need and what are the steps to disable the tailgate lock.

Thanks for any help. djorden
Great info,TY.
 

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