Invisible Trailer Program: what am I missing?

Shawn T · August 22, 2020

Rear camera is on and plugged in, so is 7-pin. There Is no “Towing Assistance Setup” option like the manual says. No option to enter trailer dimensions just maintenance schedule and tire pressure monitoring which now needs to be serviced and won’t take a program. This happened because I deleted all of my profiles and tried to start anew. When I choose the invisible trailer icon in the camera app it displays “calibration failed” according to the manual you activate the rear camera and start moving forward, a status bar pops up to initiate calibration, again nothing. It’s almost as if the option doesn’t exist. My truck has every option available including Pro Grade Trailering and the Technology Package. What am I doing wrong?

migrabill · August 22, 2020

You do have to enter the trailer dimensions first. They are entered into the "profile" that you must create for whatever it is you are towing.

Edited August 22, 2020 by migrabill

Shawn T · August 22, 2020

8 minutes ago, migrabill said:

You do have to enter the trailer dimensions first. They are entered into the "profile" that you must create for whatever it is you are towing.

There is nowhere in the profile to enter dimensions that I can find, I’ve searched high and low. The only choices I have are maintenance schedule and tire pressure monitoring or when plugged in “camera preview”. I’m baffled

Edited August 22, 2020 by Shawn T

Shawn T · August 22, 2020

I figured it out!!!! You have to choose “conventional trailer” in the profile, it doesn’t work when you select 5th wheel! That is dumb

MTU Alum · August 22, 2020

Invisible/transparent trailer only works with conventional trailers. So if you select a different trailer profile, you won't get dimensions.

#iworkforGM

migrabill · August 23, 2020

The only kind of trailer it works with is conventional. Doesnt work with a 5th wheel. The trailer is too long and the plug is too short - it wont ever calibrate.

Shawn T · August 28, 2020

On ‎8‎/‎22‎/‎2020 at 8:45 PM, migrabill said:

The only kind of trailer it works with is conventional. Doesnt work with a 5th wheel. The trailer is too long and the plug is too short - it wont ever calibrate.

It worked, I just used a "conventional trailer" profile and plugged in my dimensions as I would have a tongue pull. My display looks just like yours above, instead of seeing a tongue and propane tanks I see my front stowage compartment. Pulled it around the neighborhood for about 3 or 4 miles and it calibrated just fine. Also my 5th wheel is 33-1/2 feet from rooter to tooter. I had enough cable to mount the camera, run the it under the skirting, up through the gooseneck, and out of the pin box opening. It left me 7', just enough to plug it in and have slack to back it up while in a 110 degree turn.

fdagen · April 24, 2021

On 8/28/2020 at 4:16 PM, Shawn T said:

It worked, I just used a "conventional trailer" profile and plugged in my dimensions as I would have a tongue pull. My display looks just like yours above, instead of seeing a tongue and propane tanks I see my front stowage compartment. Pulled it around the neighborhood for about 3 or 4 miles and it calibrated just fine. Also my 5th wheel is 33-1/2 feet from rooter to tooter. I had enough cable to mount the camera, run the it under the skirting, up through the gooseneck, and out of the pin box opening. It left me 7', just enough to plug it in and have slack to back it up while in a 110 degree turn.

How did you calibrate it. I have read there is a limit of 31 feet. You mentioned 33 and 1/2. Did you just shorten the length in the calibration?

MTU Alum · April 24, 2021

2 hours ago, fdagen said:

How did you calibrate it. I have read there is a limit of 31 feet. You mentioned 33 and 1/2. Did you just shorten the length in the calibration?

Just shorten to maximum length. It won't be perfect but, it will work. The maximum length is the inch equilivant of 10 meters.

#iworkforGM

GMC4Zee · April 25, 2021

Yeah real nice of GM to create such a great feature and limit it to a certain type of trailer. I would bet more HD trucks tow a 5th wheel than a bumper pull. I will be swapping the in bed and bumper receptacles to make the camera wire routing more protected for my 5th wheel.

Shawn T · April 29, 2021

On 4/24/2021 at 8:03 AM, fdagen said:

How did you calibrate it. I have read there is a limit of 31 feet. You mentioned 33 and 1/2. Did you just shorten the length in the calibration?

The measurement for the camera is taken from the bumper of the truck to the rear wall (mounting position) of the trailer. My 33-1/2 foot 5th wheel is ~30' from the truck bumper to the back. You need the 50' of cable though, because it needs to go from the center of the rear wall, under the trailer body, and out of your pin box, with enough slack to plug into the bumper harness. The invisible trailer function is almost pointless, it cannot figure out why the camera on the cab is so close to the trailer body. It looks funky but the truck camera mirrors jive with the rear trailer camera and give you a decent field of view behind the trailer and to the sides. GM dropped the ball big time, 5th wheels should have been the main priority on the invisible trailer function IMHO. Also, having to mount the trailer camera tailgate high is a nuisance too. They should have come up with a technology to adjust the elevation and allow the camera to be mounted on the top edge of the back wall.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Shawn T

mavito · May 2, 2021

On 4/29/2021 at 11:34 AM, Shawn T said:

The measurement for the camera is taken from the bumper of the truck to the rear wall (mounting position) of the trailer. My 33-1/2 foot 5th wheel is ~30' from the truck bumper to the back. You need the 50' of cable though, because it needs to go from the center of the rear wall, under the trailer body, and out of your pin box, with enough slack to plug into the bumper harness. The invisible trailer function is almost pointless, it cannot figure out why the camera on the cab is so close to the trailer body. It looks funky but the truck camera mirrors jive with the rear trailer camera and give you a decent field of view behind the trailer and to the sides. GM dropped the ball big time, 5th wheels should have been the main priority on the invisible trailer function IMHO. Also, having to mount the trailer camera tailgate high is a nuisance too. They should have come up with a technology to adjust the elevation and allow the camera to be mounted on the top edge of the back wall.

I agree with with you concerning mounting the camera that low on you r fifth wheel. i am also having a hard time putting holes in the back of a new unit. I also am not sure about the invisible trailer function but I am glad to hear you were able to calibrate the camera by tricking the system. I have a 2021 and want to use the new trailer guidance and trailer length app but they require you calibrate the system. I almost decided to just mount the camera high until I read your post. So thanks for the info.

GMC4Zee · May 3, 2021

Mavito, I agree 100%, Most HD will be towing 5th wheels not bumper pulls. They really need to update the firmware to accept 5th wheel parameters and when you order the 5th wheel package, change the camera hookup location to the bed. Poor execution on GMs part for sure. I hope they read this! I will be moving my camera port to the bed and hope with a 32.5 ' long 5th wheel i have enough cable.

MTU Alum · May 3, 2021

While I'll agree the trailer camera ports should be available in the bed, I don't think you guys understand the complexity of the transparent trailer system. My preference would be to make the coax cables long enough where you could swap the plugs between the bumper and bed.

The transparent trailer system is pretty complex system. It stitches together four cameras (tailgate, mirror, and trailer cam) to make one image. It also does view biasing based off the trailer turning using the tailgate camera. To work on fifth wheel or gooseneck, you probably are going to need to use the bed camera vs the tailgate. This probably means the trailer camera will probably need to be mounted around the roof height of the truck.

#iworkforGM

Edited May 3, 2021 by MTU Alum

1MOGAN · May 5, 2022

I appreciate all the dialogue.

I really thought I wouldn’t be able to use the system because the salesman lied about how long the trailer could be. I have 35 foot trailer. More than enough cable but didn’t realize the cut off was 32’11. I went back and programmed the max numbers for the trailer and it worked. Works well enough for me to see to make good judgment calls while pulling. Thx to all.

Edited May 5, 2022 by 1MOGAN