Well that makes sense to me. A lot more sense than my original assumption LoL
I think I'm going to be the guinea pig and see if that Durango EVIC works in our RAMs. I feel pretty confident that it would work, and if not, I'm sure I could get rid of it here on the Durango forum. I really wish the guy that did the swap into his '07 had coughed up a part number before he disappeared. Oh well.

 

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

So I woke up a little earlier than normal today, and to my surprise, my EVIC was waiting on my front porch! Let me tell you, if this mod were any easier, it would be programming your truck with the SC LoL

First things first, you can see that the EVIC has a slightly different body than the OTIS, but this is not an issue. The overhead plastics in the RAM have the proper mounting holes for both. The only difference that makes any sense to mention, is that the OTIS plugs in at the top, while the EVIC plugs in at the bottom. This is still not an issue, as there was plenty of wire going to the harness, folded up neatly with electrical tape. Cut the tape, and you get more than enough length to reach the EVIC's plug. The truck was obviously wired for this unit.






Here you can see how the unit plugs in opposite the lights. This is where the extra length of wire comes into play.



Turned it on, and everything instantly just worked, exactly as I had hoped!





I have but one complaint, and it's a small one, but a complaint nonetheless. The display is not as bright as the OTIS was. This is to be expected, as the OTIS is segmented LCD (like a cheap calculator) and the EVIC is dot matrix. It is not a huge difference, but it was the very first thing that I noticed. In very bright sunlight, the unit is more difficult to read. Other than that, I couldn't be more pleased. I even have the homelink connected to my garage door already LoL


I am not going to presume anything, but here is what I know FOR SURE:
The part numbers listed in the official parts PDF for '08 do NOT list an EVIC unit. Parts 56044864AC and 56049824AC are OTIS units with and without homelink, respectively.

If your '06-08 RAM has an OTIS unit, you can swap in a compatible EVIC unit without any modification.

Part number 56046038AC is an EVIC from an '07 Durango, and it works.


I do not know if there are other EVIC units that will work, but if you want to presume that a unit from a Dodge vehicle using the CANbus system will swap in, I would say that would be a safe bet.

Lastly, all of my information came up exactly as it appeared on my OTIS. MPG, trip, etc. I do not know if the EVIC is what calculates MPG, but I am assuming that it is NOT. However, if it does, and if the Durango had a different sized gas tank, then my DTE would be off. I won't know if this is the case for awhile, but I think the ECU does the calculation, and the OTIS/EVIC simply displays the information for the user.

Any other questions, just let me know, and I'll do my best to answer them.


**edit**
Mods, can you kindly mark this thread as SOLVED? Thank you.

 

You CANbus guys get all the cool stuff...

 

Great info!

Yeah, at the expense of nightmarish electrical issue's and expensive fuse panels(tipm)

 

no lie, for my brake lights going out it cost $1,100

 

brandon......does the new display show everything the stock did? like outside temp etc....

 

Yessir, besides the new menus to change preferences, all of the original modes are there as well. I was hoping it would display individual tire pressure, like the earlier EVIC units did, but it does not. All of the sensors are tied to the ECU, not the overhead computer. This is what leads me to believe that the overheads themselves do nothing but display the info, where the non-CANbus units had more input wires because they did the actual calculations.

 

This forum is fantastic! Next question.....can i install a EVIC into my truck without any trouble if it didn't come with one? I have a 2008 Ram 1500 Quad cab.....

Thanks in advance

 

When you say that it didn't come with one, do you mean that there's no overhead at all? If this is the case, take off your driver's A pillar cover and look for a large connector. I don't remember how many pins it is off the top of my head, but I remember it was pretty wide for as few wires that were in it. At any rate, if the molex is there, you'll just need to buy the harness to run the wiring above your headboard, and then purchase the entire overhead assembly, including the framework that goes in the headboard and holds everything up. If you're lucky, there may even be wiring already in the roof. What model QC do you have that doesn't have an overhead console?