Do I NEED the touchscreen?

[jam_at_msu]

My Jeep will be here soon ("Anticipay-yaay-shun..."). I ordered it with the lowest radio option (5" touchscreen). Other than the rearview camera, is there anything that I NEED the stock radio for? If I were to replace the sound system with a non-screen version, am I breaking anything?

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[jludave]

Other than the rearview camera, is there anything that I NEED the stock radio for? If I were to replace the sound system with a non-screen version, am I breaking anything?

Some of the vehicle settings are adjusted through the radio.

 

[csjlu]

Touchscreen offers setting control redundancies to physical knobs and dials, should they ever break. And Car Play can be hard to live without once you get used to it, but I'm not sure if you get it with your build.

 

[jam_at_msu]

Some of the vehicle settings are adjusted through the radio.

Which ones (that don't have a physical knob/switch on the dash)?

 

[jam_at_msu]

...And Car Play can be hard to live without once you get used to it...

I have another car with Car Play and I don't use it at all (sign of my age?). But, yeah, things like hands-free calls, map directions, etc. I know would be lost without the screen. I'm mainly wondering if I will disable something critical (and I consider AC critical - Mississippi!).

 

[blnewt]

Which ones (that don't have a physical knob/switch on the dash)?

The steering wheel has quite a few buttons, the only one I use is behind the wheel to adjust volume. And FWIW the 5" screen makes it hard to trust my backup camera, but I'm old and still use maps, have a flip phone, and just use mirrors for that

My wife has a smart phone though, so there's still some hope for me lol

 

[jludave]

Which ones (that don't have a physical knob/switch on the dash)?

Check in the manual here:

https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/servicemanuals/jeep/2021-wrangler.pdf

There are several things like door unlock settings, light settings, etc. You can't set them without the radio.

I don't advise changing out the radio to one without a screen and the ability to communicate with the vehicle. There are too many vehicle features that require a UConnect radio or a radio with an interface to replace Uconnect.

 

[blnewt]

You can find 7" Uconnect units on the site for $300-400 pretty often if you decide you need something better down the road too.

 

[jludave]

I ordered it with the lowest radio option (5" touchscreen).

At minimum you can swap it out for something like this:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/7”-unconnect-w-bezel-350-sxm.76293/unread

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