Originally posted by gaweidert I installed the rear camera on my RV trailer yesterday. Seems to work fine while stationary. The real test will be when towing. Installation was "interesting". The trailer was camera ready. Once I removed the blank to install a mount I found something like 6 feet of cable stuffed into the little space. Why six feet of cable was there when 6 inches was ll that was needed is beyond me.
I still have the rear view camera to install on my pickup as it did not come with one. It mounts using the top license plate screws. I need to decide if I want it on all the time or only when in reverse. Leaning toward reverse only.
We bought an older very small fully self-contained travel trailer a year ago. While our tow vehicle has a factory back-up camera, it is not centered over the hitch. Just like shooting with a rangefinder camera, you have to account for the parallax - sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. As for the travel trailer; it is small enough that most times I don't need an eye behind it. However, when I do and a spotter either isn't available or reliable, I figured out an interesting way to see behind the trailer.
I have a small wi-fi router that can run off a 12vdc > 120vac inverter inside the trailer. While I also have a cellular modem, it isn't needed for this purpose; just the local wi-fi network. I have my wife's older Android cellphone (no cellular connection) and a strong vacuum mount for that phone. There is an Android app 'ScreenStream' (guessing that iOS might have something similar) that will send whatever the phone's camera sees to another Android phone on the same local network running the same app. I just suction mount the old phone to the back wall of the trailer such that I can just see the width of the trailer's bumper and beyond. And my phone is on the tow vehicle dashboard. Pouring rain might be an issue for the outside phone, but a plastic sandwich bag with a hole for the camera works fine for lighter weather. The vacuum mount works well, but there is always some fiddling to aim the camera. One of these days I will create a permanent magnetic mount on the trailer so all I have to do is stick the phone to the mount and start the camera app. BTW, "ScreenStream" shows whatever is on the sending phone's screen; it just so happens that what I use is the phone's video camera. My total additional investment so far is less than US$15.