John,
Do you know if the wired trailer camera is the same type as the cargo camera used for the rear view mirror. I have a jack for a trailer camera in the box (and on the rear bumper). I also received a box with the camera for the rear of the trailer and cabling in the back seat when I bought the truck. I've not found where you can toggle cargo camera vs rear trailer camera to display in the rear view mirror - that would be too easy.
If we get a nice day, I'll connect up the cable and camera for the rear trailer and see if the UConnect or mirror gives me an option to choose which camera to display.
I think I will miss the camera in the rear view mirror as my old school rear view mirror is often blocked by cargo in the box plus the rear canopy window is tinted and hard to see through.
I'm coming off a 2008 Laramie CTD I bought new. Thought I'd died and went to heaven when I got the 2008. This new truck is like Star Wars in comparison. I am just flat out amazed at this thing!
Option #1: If your truck came with the "Wired Tow-Mode Camera" (XH7), the easiest option is just to use this camera. Once it's plugged in, it will enable an option to select this camera on your digital rear view mirror. (When the camera isn't plugged in, this option isn't available.) Here's a video showing this in operation. They start messing with the mirror around 5:30, and show the trailer camera around 7:40.
If your truck doesn't have the "Tow Technology Plus Group" with the additional cameras in the side view mirrors, you won't have the "split" or the "triple" view referred to in the video. You'll only have the truck and the trailer camera views.
If you go this route, you will have nearly 70 feet of cable to deal with. Plugging into the truck is a 13' cable that goes to a "signal repeater" box. Then there's another 55' of cable to go between the signal repeater and the camera. If you would like to reduce your cabling, the 55' cable uses standard fakra connectors and you can purchase shorter versions from amazon. The 13' cable uses a proprietary connector to the truck. It's not as easy to replace, but fortunately it's only 13 feet long.
Option #2: Replace the camera in your 3rd brake light with a remotely mounted camera. This option is a bit more difficult, but is what I would do if I planned on leaving a topper mounted on my bed. You'll need a coax cable with fakra connectors of the appropriate length, and a camera (P.N. 68506525AA). The cable is available on Amazon and should be < $20. The camera should run around $100.
The processor module for the cameras is under the driver's seat. The cable going to the camera in the 3rd brake light is labelled CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Light). Simply unplug this cable and plug in your new coax. Then on the other end of your coax, plug in the camera. The difficult parts are routing the cable from under the driver's seat to wherever you want to mount your camera, and mounting your camera.
FYI - In 2023 Ram changed suppliers for the digital rear view mirror camera system. Anything you see on this forum referring to 2022 or older trucks "may" not apply to your 2024.
