GM Transparent Trailer camera install

[gln826]

That picture is a thing of beauty mgblake! Thank you for sharing that info. Now more motivated than ever to brave the snow and get to work on the install.

Glenn

[wpugh007]

Just got done with camera install today. Had to drive around for fifteen miles to get the camera to calibrate. Thanks to everyone who posted ideas and pictures.

[Trailride]

Originally Posted by wpugh007

Just got done with camera install today. Had to drive around for fifteen miles to get the camera to calibrate. Thanks to everyone who posted ideas and pictures.

Nice. How did you attach the camera to the AS body?

[jaybauman]

Originally Posted by wpugh007

Had to drive around for fifteen miles to get the camera to calibrate.

How fast were you driving when you were attempting the calibration? I have found that driving through my neighborhood at 25-30mph with a few turns and very few stop signs gave me the quickest calibration. For me, this worked within the first 2 miles.

I've noticed that driving too fast with too many stops and with too much traffic on the road all add additional time to the calibration curve.

The good news is once it's calibrated, it tends to stay there unless you intentionally change some of the calibration settings.

[Glohn]

Does anyone know what type cable comes with the camera? I have an EB and want to have a short piece of cable connected to the camera I can disconnect when I open the hatch so the wire isn’t hanging down.

[LNBright]

It's a weird cable. It's really designed to remain intact, but, as discussed, it is possible to remove the camera head so that the cable can be fed through some tight fittings, and then reassembled. I don't believe any instructions from GM actually discuss such, it was only through crowdsourcing info that such was learned. AFAIK, no one makes any adapters That could be used to create a convenient disconnect. With an EB, in your case, you may be better off mounting it above the door, and taking the cable across the roof.

[jaybauman]

Originally Posted by Glohn

Does anyone know what type cable comes with the camera? I have an EB and want to have a short piece of cable connected to the camera I can disconnect when I open the hatch so the wire isn’t hanging down.

GM has selected a Fakra connector for the auxiliary trailer camera system. While this connection is quite obscure to most of us, it's actually quite common to use this type of connection in automotive antenna and cameras. Most of the time, these connections exist within the dash and are not really intended to be connected/disconnected on a routine basis.

Since the application is a high-def plugged-in camera, the connection meets the technical and bandwidth requirements. The durability, at least in my initial camera purchase, is dubious at best.

To answer your question, Google Fakra connectors. If you cannot find exactly what you're looking for, there are small electronic shops that would be willing to make a connector cable of your desirable length....or you could do it yourself. I was considering this about a year ago, but I didn't want to purchase 500 male and 500 female connectors to make a single cable. Maybe your Google-fu is better than mine?

Good luck.

[LNBright]

Well, there's a better answer than I had! Thanks Jay.

[SeaLevel]

Originally Posted by mgblake13

I have found the following screen combination is the best one for backing up with the trailer camera. It is also the hardest to find. The far left button needs to have the bottom circle highlighted and the far right button has to have the top circle highlighted.

I finally had a chance to try this today, and for some reason I was not able to get it to work. The two choices aren't even on the same screen on my truck.

[mgblake13]

Originally Posted by SeaLevel

I finally had a chance to try this today, and for some reason I was not able to get it to work. The two choices aren't even on the same screen on my truck.

I wish I could tell you exactly how to get the screen on that view. It took me a lot of button pushing to do so. I have to say the GMC screen is not that user friendly. I have only towed the trailer once since installing the camera and unless one is fully hitched the options are grayed out.

Don't give up and let us know if you find it. I won't be hooked up to my trailer again until next month.

[mgblake13]

Originally Posted by jaybauman

How fast were you driving when you were attempting the calibration? I have found that driving through my neighborhood at 25-30mph with a few turns and very few stop signs gave me the quickest calibration. For me, this worked within the first 2 miles.

I've noticed that driving too fast with too many stops and with too much traffic on the road all add additional time to the calibration curve.

The good news is once it's calibrated, it tends to stay there unless you intentionally change some of the calibration settings.

Jay, I actually had an opposite experience. I first drove about 8 miles fairly slowly on the country roads close to my house. The calibration meter was slowly moving towards the finish line. Once I got on a 55 mph road the blue meter took off and finished. I am guessing it just moves fast at the end.

[Glohn]

I found a solution for my Eddie Bauer hatch camera with a company called Pasternack. They made me a 9” cable to run through the hatch so I can disconnect it when the hatch is opened as I ran the camera cable inside the AS. Pasternack part number PE3W08444-9 Black FAKRA Jack to FAKRA Plug low loss cable using LMR 100 Coax. The connectors don’t seem quite as beefy as the OEMs and the cable is similar in size to a cell phone charging cable but everything works fine. You can get by with a shorter cable but I wanted a drip loop on the outside.

[Muske-go]

Originally Posted by Glohn

I found a solution for my Eddie Bauer hatch camera with a company called Pasternack. They made me a 9” cable to run through the hatch so I can disconnect it when the hatch is opened as I ran the camera cable inside the AS. Pasternack part number PE3W08444-9 Black FAKRA Jack to FAKRA Plug low loss cable using LMR 100 Coax. The connectors don’t seem quite as beefy as the OEMs and the cable is similar in size to a cell phone charging cable but everything works fine. You can get by with a shorter cable but I wanted a drip loop on the outside.

Th’s sounds like a great solution. Would love to see photos on the outside and inside of the hatch.

[Glohn]

Here are the pictures. I hope they are self explanatory. If not, I will try and figure out how to put captions to each picture.

[SeaLevel]

Originally Posted by mgblake13

I wish I could tell you exactly how to get the screen on that view. It took me a lot of button pushing to do so. I have to say the GMC screen is not that user friendly. I have only towed the trailer once since installing the camera and unless one is fully hitched the options are grayed out.

Don't give up and let us know if you find it. I won't be hooked up to my trailer again until next month.

Thanks. I tried several more times this past week while on a 6 day trip, and still could not find the magic combination to get that view.

[Muske-go]

Originally Posted by Glohn

Here are the pictures. I hope they are self explanatory. If not, I will try and figure out how to put captions to each picture.

Does this require you to open the camera to detach the cable, and attach the extension, and close the camera housing? I haven’t opened mine, so I don’t know what the end of the cables look like inside the camera. If so, is there a gap around the new small cable and the housing? Did you pad up the wire or silicone caulk the gap or anything?

[Glohn]

Yes, I took the camera apart. I think I used a T8 and a T10 for the screws. There is a small lever on the cable end plug to release the hold. The cable fits snug to the camera.
Since my new 9” cable was smaller diameter than the OEM there was a gap where the cable exits the camera housing. I used either a 1/8 or 3mm rubber grommet to protect the cable and had to cut the grommet to get it around the cable.
I drilled a 1/2” hole in the metal mount for the camera so I could run the cable into the AS. Anything smaller might be hard getting the FAKRA fitting through. I then drilled an 1/8 in pilot hole from the outside to the inside in the AS then the 1/2” hole from the outside, then the 1/2” hole from the inside using the pilot hole as my guide.
To mount the camera housing I used 3M automotive, double sided adhesive tape and made sure everything was really clean and wax free. I then added a 5/32 rivet just for good measure. (It was the largest I had on hand.)
I ran the cable through using a small round file taped to it and put 1/2” (I think) rubber grommets on both inside and outside. I did silicone the inside of the grommet on the outside of the AS and left some cable hanging down for a drip loop to keep water from tracking. On the inside I used another 1/8” or 3mm grommet that fit nicely inside the 1/2” grommet. We’ll see if it stays there.
I used a little Velcro to keep strain off the plugs on the inside. There are probably better ways to run the OEM cable once inside the hatch. We have recliners and this seemed the easiest to connect and disconnect to get the cable out of the way.
Let me know if additional pictures help. I might even be able to get them straight this time:-))

[mgblake13]

Originally Posted by SeaLevel

Thanks. I tried several more times this past week while on a 6 day trip, and still could not find the magic combination to get that view.

I did a brief google search and it appears that the view I posted is new to the 2021 GMC Sierra. My apologies to everyone for the confusion.

"These new features include Jack-Knife Alert, Trailer Length Indicator, enhanced Rear Trailer View with rear guidelines, an enhanced Rear Side View and Cargo Bed View now with zoom and Hitch Guidance. The new features are now part of the Sierra’s already impressive available trailering technology suite."

https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/...021-gmc-sierra

[driftwood1]

I have spent the entire day trying to get my camera to calibrate the transparent trailer view. I have used the tips and tricks suggested on the forum, studied other websites, and can’t find the solution. TV is a 2021 GMC Sierra Denali with the tech package, and trailer is 2005 25 ft Safari. The only items out of the ordinary with my installation is that I mounted the camera to my Fiamma bike rack instead of the trailer body, and ran the cable through a conduit beneath the trailer. The camera is mounted to a rigid plate with no obstructions in the view, and the cable in a protective conduit.

All camera views work, including the rear view behind the camera, except the transparent view, which will not calibrate. I have driven over 70 miles today (multiple 15-20 mile trips) after making adjustments, still no luck. I tried different trailer lengths (added 9 inches to the actual trailer length to account for the extra distance from the trailer to the camera on rack; added 3 inches to the hitch-to-trailer front dimension as suggested by Jay, and combinations thereof).

I would not think mounting the camera on the bike rack would matter as it just adds trailer length (and I tried using both the actual 25 ft trailer length and the additional 9 inches for the added rack length as stated above), unless there is some vibration issue. But if vibration was a problem, I would not think the rear view would work either. Again, all other views working fine.

Suggestions welcomed!

[moosetags]

My experience was if the camera can see any object attached to the trailer, it will never calibrate. I originally tried to mount the camera inside the trailer. The camera could see the bottom of the rear window frame and would not calibrate. I suspect that yours may be seeing part of the rack or a piece of a bicycle.

Brian