Rear view safety trailer camera

[coastie]

I just finished this install on a new to me 2019 Ram 3500, and wanted to share the set up on the truck.

Background: I have used a hard wired Rear View Safety Camera on our 5th wheel for the last 9 years. I like the idea of the minimal RF and EM interference of a hard wired camera, as well as having a dedicated display for what's behind the trailer. After reading about others who have tried the OEM trailer camera, I didn't like the idea of the display timing out or having to share the U Connect with other apps. Kind of like a rear view mirror replacement.
Install: If you go with this system, make sure you start from the bed or trailer connection point first and move your way towards the cab.

After drilling a hole for the trailer connection, I painted the bare metal and ran the trailer camera harness along the main body harness zip tying along the way. I used the hood release cable pass through in the fire wall as my entry point to the cab and routed it behind the instrument cluster to the center panel. I removed the 12volt outlet on the upper dash and used that as a pass through for the harness to the monitor.
View attachment 10599
Since that outlet is powered with the key on, it was an easy option for power. I soldered flat leads to the displays harness that would interface with the female connector of the 12volt outlet and avoided having to splice into the factory harness.

Operation: When connected to the tailer and key on, the camera and display power on. When I'm not towing the camera disconnects easily from the RAM mount and the truck side of the camera harness stays in the 12v outlet housing.

Trailer tow quick connect/disconnect kit: RVS-213-613

Monitor DVR: RVS-3710-DVR

Camera: RVS-MV3-IR-AHD

 

[22 Vader]

Thanks for the post - I’ll be installing a Voyager wired camera system in a couple of months and was wondering about how to route the wiring....

 

[coastie]

I installed the trailer video connection on the driver side in the bed, just forward of the trailer power connection. I used a fresh pack of zip ties and attached the trailer video cable to a main harness that follows the driver side frame all the way to the fire wall. Getting through the fire wall was the tricky part. I chose to use the firewall pass through for the hood release cable since that was the only object in that specific pass through, it gave me more room to work. It was fairly easy to feed a straightened coat hanger through from the cab to the engine bay through the pass through. I bent the hanger 180deg and used electrical tape to form a good hold of the video cable, then added some fluid film to help lubricate the whole process. After that, I attached the video cable to another main harness behind the dash that followed up the left side over the steering column and to the center infotainment area.

I'm picky about how I install things, so it took me a two separate days about 3 hours each.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I installed the trailer video connection on the driver side in the bed, just forward of the trailer power connection. I used a fresh pack of zip ties and attached the trailer video cable to a main harness that follows the driver side frame all the way to the fire wall. Getting through the fire wall was the tricky part. I chose to use the firewall pass through for the hood release cable since that was the only object in that specific pass through, it gave me more room to work. It was fairly easy to feed a straightened coat hanger through from the cab to the engine bay through the pass through. I bent the hanger 180deg and used electrical tape to form a good hold of the video cable, then added some fluid film to help lubricate the whole process. After that, I attached the video cable to another main harness behind the dash that followed up the left side over the steering column and to the center infotainment area.

I'm picky about how I install things, so it took me a two separate days about 3 hours each.

You were able to pass the large 5-pin DIN video connector through where the hood release cable is?

 

[coastie]

You were able to pass the large 5-pin DIN video connector through where the hood release cable is?

That’s correct, with some determination and lubricant... I’ll try to send a photo soon.