Running coax cable through pin box

[BradF]

Bigdog3162 SJJohnson regarding the camera, I did buy the GM camera, it is to my knowledge the only one that will work with the Pro Grade Trailering package. Note that I ran the cable next to the pin box not through it and not above the aluminum skin of the trailer. rather I attached it with cable clamps. Some of the members here have been able to snake it through to the front compartment but try as I may, i could not pull it through with a wire or a fish wire.
Regarding the way to get the cable up to the camera...there are some YouTube videos out there showing guys drilling through the trailer and fishing the cable into the trailer and then through the floor. Again, that was not for me. The GM camera comes with adhesive clips and zip ties to secure the cable down near the trailer hitch. From that point I used the cable clamps. I will post pics when I get the trailer back from the dealer. Hopes this helps.
Brad

[breinhold]

Hi all, I'm also trying to figure this out -- I have a new 2023 Sierra 2500 and I bought a camera with it. I didn't realize transparent trailer and other features did not work with a 5th wheel, but that's another discussion and the camera still seems pretty useful. I appreciate the great information in this post and I have a few additional questions:

1) I didn't notice anyone talking about mounting the camera. I'm nervous about drilling into the back of the camper to mount the camera and I was considering trying to use some good quality outdoor mounting tape. Has anyone tried tape? (what kind?) If attaching with hardware -- screws or bolts? If screws (and not drilling all the way through the camper wall), how large/how long?

2) I thought it might look better and offer some protection to have the camera in an enclosure but I haven't found anything like that. Does anybody know of one? I'm also considering designing and 3D printing one.

3) I'm also planning to swap the trailer connectors and found another forum with a description of that project. He listed the following parts from Pasternack -- any different recommendations than these? It seems like low-loss cable may be overkill at video frequencies.
a. Rear view camera cable (black) PE3W08444-36. Description: Black FAKRA Jack to FAKRA Plug Cable Using LMR-100 Coax.
b. Inside camera cable (Water Blue which is a universal cable to connect to the Orange cable) PE3C2779-36. Description: Water Blue FAKRA Jack to FAKRA Plug Cable Using LMR-100 Coax.

4) Country Campers, can you provide any more details about the need for the junction box replacement? I haven't opened mine yet but I'm surprised to hear work like that may be necessary.

Bill

[Country Campers]

breinhold

No "need" to replace the junction box, it just makes troubleshooting easier if needed. I was doing some other mods and decided to replace mine.

Brian

[BradF]

breinhold When I did my conversion I used the Pasternack cables you mention with one exception. Based on recommendation, I used the 48" long cables, not the 36" cable. Same Pasternack item #s just -48 instead of -36. The extra length will make it much easier to route them under the bed than the 36", in my opinion. Because these are HD cameras, I would suggest using the high quality Pasternack cables. Side note; for me the most difficult part was removing the spray in bed liner where the plug clips in to the bed wall.
Regarding the camera placement, I drilled two holes in the back of the trailer to attach the camera frame and then ran the cable down the back. If I remove the camera I plan to buy some snap in plastic plugs from Lowe's or Home Depot etc, that will fill the holes and dress up the look. They can likely be painted if you like to make them less visible as well.
I suggest you read/ download the GM Auxiliary Trailer camera installation guide from the website. It has useful information for the installation.
Brad

[breinhold]

Thanks for the replies BradF and Country Campers .

Looking at the truck it looks like 36" video cables would be plenty so I appreciate your insight into the extra length, and the idea of just plugging the camera mounting holes later if needed is a good one.

One follow-up: Did you drill all the way through the trailer and secure the camera with nuts and bolts as shown in the camera installation instructions, or did you use screws only? Just wondering if a sheet metal screw would have enough to bite into to hold the camera securely.

Bill

[BradF]

breinhold The camera comes with a large permanent adhesive pad that the camera mount adheres to. There are holes in the camera frame used to add the screws.

[breinhold]

Hey BradF, thanks again for all the great information, and I apologize for not asking my final question clearly -- I'm interested in how you (or anyone who has done this) attached the camera to the trailer. Specifically:

Did you drill holes all the way through the camper wall to mount the camera? In other words, did you drill holes through the interior wall of the camper?

[Bigdog3162]

Hello all, I just ran my GM camera cable from the rear of the camper to the front, just above the chloroplast liner near the passenger side frame rail, wasn't too difficult at all. Cordless drill with a 3/8" bit I think. I only removed liner bolts 1 or 2 at a time as I went along, like unzipping, then re-zipping the liner. I fished and tucked the camera cable along the way, scooting on cardboard under camper. I got to the front area and went along the final seam of the liner, removing bolts and clamp strip, tucking the cable above, over to the driver side. I then made a small hole in the expandable foam where wires go into my front storage where battery sits. I coiled the excess cable there against my driver side front jack assembly in the storage compartment and zip tied it out of the way. I then snaked the remaining length of cable I estimated I would need along the inside of the front fiberglass panel to the right of the hatch, down into the bottom of the LP tank area, coming out under the trailer. I plan to come out from underneath when I hook to my truck bumper where my camera input receiver is located. For a tension and slack loop, I will add a small 90 degree chrome bracket to one of the bolts under my pin box overhang area, which is the flat skinned area leading forward. I'm concerned about the hanging loop from camper to truck bumper. I may also develop some sort of short arm bracket to the truck receiver hitch to bungee-connect the camera cable so the tension is not pulling on the camera receiver port to harshly. Reading the post above, I may try the pin box routing also. I have enough extra coiled length to experiment with going up along the flat skinned surface, forward to the pin box, then leaving the extra to reach the camera receiver if I think that works better. But that would mean my camera cable would loop up and over the tailgate to reach the bumper mount camera input receiver.

For now, I intend to store the looped connection-end cable length clamped in or underneath in my driver side LP tank bottle compartment. When disconnected and stored, there is no power source to the cable at all, its just a dead cable that runs back to the camera. When I am going down the road and camera is in use, nothing will be in the LP compartment. With this method, I do not need to drill any holes in my forward camper skin and I just come out from underneath. I thought about drilling out a hole the front compartment floor pan but the camera cable to connect to the truck but the cable end has a large pull handle that makes the dimensions of the connector about an inch total or more. I'll test my LP compartment solution first.

As for the rear camera placement on the camper, the instructions are fairly easy to follow. I did not hookup to truck and level front to back per the instructions, but I estimated the level using the difference between camper-to-ground measurements front to back and at the wheels, to get a good estimate because you have to take your truck camera height and add about 4" to that measurement to find your location on your camper. This calculation placed the camera under my rear window and above the Reflection logo. (got lucky!) Once you determine the ideal mounting location you can vary it within that box up to 4" each way. What I don't like is having to run the external cable wiring along the rear of the camper over to the ladder on top of the siding. The kit comes with adhesive zip tie mounts but it is an obvious add-on look. Oh well.

I already had my RV dimensions entered into the truck's trailering app so there wasn't anything extra to do.

I tested the camera function before running the cable underneath and it worked well. My truck gives me some options with the 360 camera system so I can see a small rear screen along with the side views, or just a large rear view.

The photo that shows my truck split screen looks strange but that is because I was temporarily backed up to camper at a 90 degree angle and my door was open (cameras on side mirrors). Normally it would show down the side of rig on right and left. If anyone needs a specific photo to see any of this let me know.