Help W/ relocating camera port from bumper to bed for 5th wheel,

[crspangenberg]

Just as a help to everyone doing this

 

 

This is a writeup on this forum for creating your own accessory camera for a lot less money, I personnally have not done this yet, but wanted to share with the rest of you in case you haven't seen it.

[Kerry Pulaski]

Great info guys. Adding a camera to my trailer soon with my '24 Denali HD. 

With these suppliers, has anyone found a FAKRA Male & Female "Storage Plug", to put on the Coax Cable ends when "Not In  Use", to keep out the elements ?

The bumper / bed receptacles have spring loaded doors and a gasket. Free hanging Coax & plug  off the trailer camera, needs protection sitting idle.

[Another JR]

You could buy a cheap amazon Chinese made universal (water blue) FAKRA cable and just cut it for less than you can buy bare connectors I suspect.  The last one I bought was about $6 with free prime shipping.  I think the manufacturer was Bingfu. I bought a couple of short cables so I wear those connectors out instead of my GM ones on the truck and the tailgate as I go back and forth between having a slide in camper installed and having my tailgate installed a few times a year. 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Another JR

[Another JR]

Here is a picture of my homemade camper camera enclosure made from a pvc pipe fitting.  Camera itself was $90, cable $10, fittings $6. 

[crspangenberg]

Great thread, I have done this as well as the "Poor Mans Camera" and can say everything worked out great, I did order 48" cables and I did not have to trim my bed liner at all. 

 

Thanks all!

[pigpen23]

The two cables (48") are all that are needed to switch the bumper plug and the bed plug, correct? I'm assuming the 4-pin plug once relocated to the bump will work as it should?

[ShogunKC]

57 minutes ago, pigpen23 said:

The two cables (48") are all that are needed to switch the bumper plug and the bed plug, correct? I'm assuming the 4-pin plug once relocated to the bump will work as it should?

 

That's all I needed to relocate my bumper plug into the bed. Like someone mentioned, I didn't even have to remove any bedliner (2024 Sierra 3500).

[Grjfer]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:09 AM, Another JR said:

Here is a picture of my homemade camper camera enclosure made from a pvc pipe fitting.  Camera itself was $90, cable $10, fittings $6. 

Looks great! Care to provide a few more details on this?

[Another JR]

35 minutes ago, Grjfer said:

Looks great! Care to provide a few more details on this?

I can do that, but it will involve partially disassembling mine and buying another set of the two pvc fittings to clearly show what I did. I told my neighbor I would build one for him so I need to do that anyway. Give me a week or two to get pictures and explanations done and I’ll quote you and post so you get a notification. 

[Stahl2014]

On 7/18/2023 at 1:34 AM, UserXYZ said:

 

 

 

I did a similar setup on my 2021 Sierra except I used the commonly posted Pasternack extension cables and a cheap FAKRA splitter cable found on eBay/Amazon for about $10.  When using the cheap FAKRA splitter cable the truck recognizes that a camera is connected but I can only get a black screen from it. After seeing your post I ordered the same cable from vcablemart as you did and unfortunately get the same results with it. Through extensive process of elimination I have confirmed every other part works properly (I have 3 GM trailer cameras, about 6 cables, 2 FAKRA splitter cables, and 2 GM camera/7 pin trailer plugs). Every camera works in every port with every cable as long as neither splitter is inline. With either splitter inline in any configuration, I can only get a black screen... even if I only connect one half of the split cable to either GM 7 pin/camera port receptacle and leave the other half of the splitter hang free. I'm at a loss as to what to try next other than give up on the hope of having 2 working trailer camera ports.

 

Could you confirm whether or not you have tested your setup with the vcablemart FAKRA cable splitter inline yet?  If it works for you then I will probably continue troubleshooting mine... even though I'm not sure what else to try.

Were you able to get this working? I’m looking at doing this as well. Thanks!

[Another JR]

On 4/26/2024 at 6:30 PM, Grjfer said:

Looks great! Care to provide a few more details on this?

I finished making one for my neighbor today. The pvc reducer fittings available at my local hardware store were a bit different from what they had when I made my own in 2021, so the new one is a little different. Once you see that a 45 degree 1-1/4 pvc ell is just the right size, it’s just a matter of deciding how you want to close the camera end so the camera is square with the opening and locked in, and how you want to close the camper wall end to allow you to mount it to your camper. I used a 1-1/4 inch to 3/4 inch reducer fitting, and cut it to make the two different end pieces.
 

Here is the finished product ready to mount. 

Here are the fittings and how I cut the reducer on my radial arm saw. 

 

ignore the ring of pipe, which I decided not to use. 
 

The camera needs to be held centered in the pipe fitting, and it turns out a cap from a Gatorade bottle was the perfect diameter and thickness. I just had to make a square cutout with a utility knife to fit the square shoulder on the front of the camera. 

 

I used a Bingfu FAKRA Z water blue (the universal color) female to female cable. A 10 footer costs $8 on Amazon. The camera corner that has a diagonal cut goes in the lower left when facing the camera. 
 

I glued in the cut 3/4 end of the reducer fitting into the camera end of the fitting. It was cut so only about 1/8 inch engages with the ell. This allows the camera to be out enough so there is room for the connector instead the ell. 
 

I used a fender washer inside the other piece of the reducer to allow that piece to be attached to a plate or cross bar as needed to mount the enclosure. This piece can be mounted before the ell is attached with the camera. 

 

I slotted the ell and the reducer piece with overlapping slots to allow the wire to exit the enclosure. I drilled a hole to allow a screw to lock the ell to the reducer mount piece when it is finally assembled after the reducer piece is mounted on the camper. The reducer mount piece fits tightly in the ell so the screw is a fail safe. See the last picture below to see the slots. The forum won’t let me insert more pics in the body of the message. See the first picture to see the screw.
 

I also added a pic of the camera in the Gatorade cap sleeve from the back. It has to be done just so, but the camera in the cap with the Bingfu connector attached will push into position from the back of the fitting.

 

Once the camera is in place and at the right angle in the ell, jam it into position by filling the fitting with some firm foam or styrofoam. Then line up the slots and mount the ell on the reducer mount. 
 

After it’s all mounted up, the entire enclosure can be rotated on the single mounting screw to adjust the fitting aim. The camera can be rotated in the fitting if needed by careful use of a miniature needle nose pliers.
 

You want to mount the enclosure at the same height as your tailgate handle camera so the views line up. The 45 degree angle is just about perfect to match the tailgate camera view. 
 

if any if this isn’t clear ask questions and I’ll try to explain better. 

[Another JR]

Maybe it’s clear to most of you, but please note that crspangenberg and I are writing about different camera installations and different cable types. He is writing about the accessory trailer camera, while I am writing about a replacement for the tailgate handle camera to be mounted on the back of a slide-in truck camper. 

[SoCal Angler]

Another JR.....great idea and very creative!  This should be made a sticky under Mods and also as a sticky in other truck camper forums!!!

[Equine Artist]

Thank you ALL. I am so happy I am not the only one with this issue. The engineers do not haul and think these things through, so frustrating. Now if I could only get someone in my area to do it for me. 65 year old girl with gooseneck horse trailer and I do not want to tackle this after market fix myself! in Napa CA. Message me if anyone can do it for me. Thanks

[Radmaska]

On 7/18/2023 at 2:34 AM, UserXYZ said:

 

 

 

I did a similar setup on my 2021 Sierra except I used the commonly posted Pasternack extension cables and a cheap FAKRA splitter cable found on eBay/Amazon for about $10.  When using the cheap FAKRA splitter cable the truck recognizes that a camera is connected but I can only get a black screen from it. After seeing your post I ordered the same cable from vcablemart as you did and unfortunately get the same results with it. Through extensive process of elimination I have confirmed every other part works properly (I have 3 GM trailer cameras, about 6 cables, 2 FAKRA splitter cables, and 2 GM camera/7 pin trailer plugs). Every camera works in every port with every cable as long as neither splitter is inline. With either splitter inline in any configuration, I can only get a black screen... even if I only connect one half of the split cable to either GM 7 pin/camera port receptacle and leave the other half of the splitter hang free. I'm at a loss as to what to try next other than give up on the hope of having 2 working trailer camera ports.

 

Could you confirm whether or not you have tested your setup with the vcablemart FAKRA cable splitter inline yet?  If it works for you then I will probably continue troubleshooting mine... even though I'm not sure what else to try.

Been looking all over for a solution to this 'splitter' idea and was not able to find anything or anyone who has gotten it to work, but I had an idea that I will be trying out.  I've purchased an additional GM Camera/7 pin trailer plug, 1ft and 4ft Pasternak # PE3W08444 cables, and  1ft and 4ft Pasternak # PE3C2779 cables.  Plan is to install the 1ft cables on the existing plug in the bumper and then install the 4ft cables on the new plug that will be installed in the bed.  When I am pulling my 5th wheel, I will connect the Pasternak cables connected to the plug in the bed to the factory wiring - this will make those camera ports 'hot'.  When I need to pull my hitch trailer, I will swap out the connection to the factory wiring with the 1ft cables connected to the original bumper plug.  This is by no means an elegant or clean solution and I know that I will have to waterproof and ensure the unused cables are secured - and yes it'll be a pain to switch, but until someone comes up with a 'splitter' of some sort that truly works, this work-around for me is better than having to drape the camera over the tailgate in one direction or the other.