With warmer weather coming on I will be using my trailer more and decided to cut down on arguments with the wife, and getting a backup camera I am wanting to put one on my truck to line up the trailer with the hitch ball when the wife try’s to guide me she has me all over the place .I have been doing some research and have found some reasonable ones both hard wired and wireless I think I would prefer the wireless so I could use it in either truck. My question is have never used one before is it fairley easy to line the trailer up with one and install one? Thank you in advance.
I dunno. I can’t remember. What i would get regardless is a set of those magnetic deals with the tennis balls on to help line up with the hitch even with a back up camera. I don’t think you’re going to be able to see the hitch that low that close.
On the car without a camera, my problem is being able to back the trailer because I can’t see it. On the car with the camera, I’ve only used the trailer a couple times and can’t remember backing with it. My trailer is light though so no problem with the hitch, just backing it up. Used to be able to back the camper perfectly when I could look through the back window but not anymore. I understand the part about getting help. Usually it was just standing there watching, and then waving the arms when it was wrong.
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I have had a set of those magnetic ones and never could get the hang of useing It probaly because I almost never look out the back window to use to using mirror’sI could get close but still had to get out and check a few times. As far as backing the trailer itself I can use my mirror’s with no problem. As far as the wife helping she will say left when I go left she hollers no no my left while waveing her right arm. and saying no no the other way. I am just to cut down the arguments. thought with a camera I could do it almosy as easy as a semi with a fifth wheel.
Installed a wireless one for my BIL. Wireless just means tou don’t have to run a video cable back to front. You do still need to hard wire it into the backup lights and ground so that it will turn on when you are backing.
The front section can replace the mirror or be a stand alone screen. Hard wired or powered off the ciggy lighter.
He says it works great to hook up his boat. The view is very good to the rear of his truck.
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Have a backup camera on ours, did not find it that useful for the trailer hitch connection exercise. Put the tailgate up for a better view then it is totally worthless.
I would put a plug in between the camera and backup lights and ground. I am glad to hear the view is very good. Did your BIL go for the high $$ or the low $$ one like I am looking at?
Where did you have it mounted the one s I was looking at are suposed to be mounted right above the tag witch I would think would put it right in line with the ball and hitch.
Factory equipped, just above the rear wiper,.
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I can see that would be useless other than maybe having a wider view just for backing up if you just use the mirror’s/
Heh heh, we always call it the other left.
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That was what my first wife would say.
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Not sure what you price breakpoint is but I think he paid $175 or so. His kit replaced the rearview mirror with one that had the display screen in it. He had the option of sending the display to the screen on his dash but that would have been $500 or so.
The camera mount was onto the upper license plate mounts on his pickup. Straight view to the hitch.
The one I was looking at was 25$ the camera attached by the tag and the screen that looked to the size of a garman GPS had a dash mount if I was going to be working with I probably would go with a better on but I need it only a few times a year.
They must have gotten really cheap. I bought one over 15 years ago for $100. I wanted to mount it on my box trailer so I could see behind it when backing up. Not enough range to get around 25 feet of aluminim skinned box and another 15 feet of steel wrapped truck.
I could easily hook the trailer solo, but backing without a spotter was almost impossible.
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I guess like every thing else after a while the price goes down then it could be that so many new car’s come with them the after market people are jumping on the band wagon. The one I was looking at I just saw pictures on line it might be like a lot of things made in China.
As of May 2018 Backup cameras became mandatory for vehicles made that date or after.
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I did not know they became mandatory I just knew there was a lot of them out there plus after market ones.
My Ford F150 has a factory back-up camera and I connect to a pontoon boat and trailer. The boat/trailer is resting on grass and it cannot be jockeyed by hand, So I must position the hitch ball exactly under the trailer coupling. The back-up camera does the job, even has a zoom feature when I get close.
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It does make it easier. But I still have my wife there to tell me how far back I need to go. But alignment (left or right) is a lot easier with the camera.
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