Auxiliary Accessory Trailer Camera

migrabill · January 31, 2020

Just left the dealership. My 2500HD was built monday and we're waiting for it to show up. I told them about the supposedly scarcity of this item at dealerships. He looked in his system and said there were plenty available. Anyhow, he ordered one for me so that they have it when the truck come is.

I get it at the GM employee price - so it was cheaper than any website.

harry65 · February 6, 2020

On 1/30/2020 at 9:29 PM, XY74 said:

I have the camera and no truck yet. Just ordered the truck last week, ordered the camera separately based on the info found here and another thread. (THANKS for that, $200 cheaper!) My trailer is 22" longer than what the owner's manual says for maximum length, hoping it will still work for transparent trailer. If not, it will be great to just see anything back there.

The camera cable seems to be well protected. I am not sure why they are so adamant about routing it over the top, shouldn't be too hard to protect it underneath.

do you recall the post? 200 cheaper would be nice

sdelam · February 6, 2020

15 minutes ago, harry65 said:

do you recall the post? 200 cheaper would be nice

https://www.shopchevyparts.com/electronics/2019-sierra-1500-invisible-trailer-camera-auxiliary-trailer-camera-models-with-uvi-and-cwm/84876818-p-92301886.html

XY74 · February 6, 2020

https://www.shopchevyparts.com/electronics/2020-silverado-2500-invisible-trailer-camera-auxiliary-trailer-camera-models-with-cwm-pdm-uvn/84876818-p-92305265.html

It was $356 here, $595 to order it with the truck.

Wbrisett · February 17, 2020

Just got back from a trip with my Airstream, it came with a factory bluetooth camera, but requires a monitor that then mounts on the windshield and truth be told, the image quality isn't all that great. I really wanted to get rid of that, and get the camera, so I stopped into my local GMC dealer thinking that that I would order it and it would come in a few weeks later. Lo-and-behold, they had one in stock. So, I printed off my Reward points, and bought the camera. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be installing it on my Airstream. I'll keep you folks posted.

Tr3kker · February 18, 2020

15 hours ago, Wbrisett said:

Just got back from a trip with my Airstream, it came with a factory bluetooth camera, but requires a monitor that then mounts on the windshield and truth be told, the image quality isn't all that great. I really wanted to get rid of that, and get the camera, so I stopped into my local GMC dealer thinking that that I would order it and it would come in a few weeks later. Lo-and-behold, they had one in stock. So, I printed off my Reward points, and bought the camera. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be installing it on my Airstream. I'll keep you folks posted.

Let us know how it works! There’s just not a lot of information out there about the auxiliary cameras. Do you plan on mounting it rear bumper height and running the wiring underneath to the hitch?

Wbrisett · February 18, 2020

33 minutes ago, Tr3kker said:

Let us know how it works! There’s just not a lot of information out there about the auxiliary cameras. Do you plan on mounting it rear bumper height and running the wiring underneath to the hitch?

I know! It's amazing how little info there is about these cameras. GM is advertising the feature like crazy on TV, but nowhere does anybody really talk about the setup and install.

I plan on installing at the height just slightly above where the truck camera is (as suggested in the documentation), and to keep things cleaner, I do plan on running things under the trailer. I know that's not recommended, but especially on the Airstream you want to keep things 'clean'.

I'm out of town next weekend and the following week on business, I'm going to try to see about getting it sorted by then, but we'll just have to see. The weather here isn't looking great all week, so I may have to hold off until I get home. But to do plan on documenting this as much as possible.

Tr3kker · February 18, 2020

Every time I see the “disappearing trailer” commercials, I do an eye roll. Chevrolet should be getting FREE auxiliary cameras out there for people that order the trailer camera package. I sorta blame the dealerships; I don’t think their sales and service staff are up to date with what all this tech does. I just figured out the other day that my truck will interface with the iNCommand system on my Keystone travel trailer. It shows you your tank levels, battery info, temperature, ... It just seems that you really have to dig to find all this stuff. Luckily, I’m an IT guy and don’t mind doing the homework to find these features, but not everyone is willing to do that.

rblanch · February 19, 2020

I have a 40' Raptor toy hauler and I mounted the auxiliary camera above the rear garage door with the cable ran under the trailer I was not about to have a wire visible on the outside of the new trailer. We just got back from our trip to the Daytona 500 about a 10 hour drive. The 1st long trip for the new truck. The rear HD camera worked great and gave a really good view being mounted up high. It also had a really good view at night. The truck over all pulled really good the trailer has a gvw rating of 17,000 no telling what it really weighs when loaded I find it has to shift a lot more than my 2017 Denali L5P with 6 speed and 3.73 gearing going up bridges and hills the old truck just kind of stayed in 6th gear at 68mph where as the new truck was constantly down shifting going up hills. I wish the new trucks had a 3.73 gear ratio option. I averaged 8.5 mpg about the same as the 2017 so nothing gained there with the 10 speed.

Wbrisett · February 19, 2020

23 minutes ago, rblanch said:

I have a 40' Raptor toy hauler and I mounted the auxiliary camera above the rear garage door with the cable ran under the trailer I was not about to have a wire visible on the outside of the new trailer.

So, I'm curious. With it mounted there you obviously don't get the 'invisible' trailer, so with it activated, what do you see? I'm kind of curious. I have the option of removing the bluetooth camera that's mounted on the top of the trailer, but figured I would go with the 'invisible' option. However that requires putting some additional holes in the Airstream, and I'm never crazy about doing that.

FirstAscent · February 19, 2020

So, I'm curious. With it mounted there you obviously don't get the 'invisible' trailer, so with it activated, what do you see? I'm kind of curious. I have the option of removing the bluetooth camera that's mounted on the top of the trailer, but figured I would go with the 'invisible' option. However that requires putting some additional holes in the Airstream, and I'm never crazy about doing that.

@rblanch I’m curious on this as well. I’m looking to get a similar size toy hauler and included the aux camera in my truck build.

I think I read earlier in this thread there is a max length of trailer in order for the invisible trailer feature to work, but obviously the camera as a backup camera would function so you can still see behind you

jaybauman · February 19, 2020

1 hour ago, rblanch said:

I have a 40' Raptor toy hauler and I mounted the auxiliary camera above the rear garage door with the cable ran under the trailer I was not about to have a wire visible on the outside of the new trailer. We just got back from our trip to the Daytona 500 about a 10 hour drive. The 1st long trip for the new truck. The rear HD camera worked great and gave a really good view being mounted up high. It also had a really good view at night. The truck over all pulled really good the trailer has a gvw rating of 17,000 no telling what it really weighs when loaded I find it has to shift a lot more than my 2017 Denali L5P with 6 speed and 3.73 gearing going up bridges and hills the old truck just kind of stayed in 6th gear at 68mph where as the new truck was constantly down shifting going up hills. I wish the new trucks had a 3.73 gear ratio option. I averaged 8.5 mpg about the same as the 2017 so nothing gained there with the 10 speed.

Please help me understand this comment that I bolded. The rear end is only 1 part of the equation; the ratios of transmission gears are equally important here. This is easy to see when plotting gear ratio vs. final drive ratio for each model. I can understand why the truck might shift more often (i.e. there are more finite choices with the 10-speed), but this doesn't affect where you'll be when towing on the highway (i.e. at or near overdrive gears).

MTU Alum · February 19, 2020

59 minutes ago, FirstAscent said:

@rblanch I’m curious on this as well. I’m looking to get a similar size toy hauler and included the aux camera in my truck build.

I think I read earlier in this thread there is a max length of trailer in order for the invisible trailer feature to work, but obviously the camera as a backup camera would function so you can still see behind you

Got to be conventional trailer and less than 33 ft. You can fake the measurements a little if you are over 33 ft to get it to work. Invisible does not work on fifth wheels and goosenecks.

#iworkforGM

XY74 · February 20, 2020

I did the install on the camera today. I'm a rebel and disobeyed a few things. I ran the cable underneath, I just can't see any reason not to do so. It comes with a nice loom to protect the wires and it's not that hard to secure it under there. Secondly, I used double sided 3M automotive trim tape to attach the camera. I also did not want to drill holes in the middle of the back wall of the trailer. It's good stuff and it feels very secure. I measured the truck tailgate camera at the dealer to be 56", so I set the trailer camera at 60" as per the instructions. Need the truck to do more.

FirstAscent · February 20, 2020

Got to be conventional trailer and less than 33 ft. You can fake the measurements a little if you are over 33 ft to get it to work. Invisible does not work on fifth wheels and goosenecks.

#iworkforGM

Can you explain a little more in the fifth wheel and gooseneck portion. Not that I don’t believe you, just doesn’t make sense to me. the truck doesn’t know what type of trailer you’re hauling right, so if you had a shorter gooseneck or 5th wheel I don’t get why it wouldn’t work. Maybe I’m missing something here haha