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Wireless rearview camera (was: How to get 12V power outside of truck)

DrBad

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I'm looking to mount a wireless trailer camera on my R1T, probably on top of the spoiler, but need to get 12V power to it. Apparently I can't tap into the trailer hitch as that will fool the truck into thinking I'm trailering and will change alerts and whatnot. Are there any "easy" ways to get from either inside the tunnel or the truck bed with tonneau cover? I know I can get out of the bottom of the tailgate and could tape wire around somewhere to get where I want. Another option would be from inside the tunnel but the wire might get pinched when closed. I see a small slot between by the front of the truck bed but don't know if that goes anywhere, looks like maybe a drain?

Thanks for any ideas. I DID search the site but couldn't find anything.
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DrBad

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What type of trailer? Cargo? Travel?
Type of trailer doesn't matter. This isn't necessarily for towing. It's a Furrion wireless camera that communicates with a monitor in the cab. With things mounted on truck bed I cannot see out the back through the rearview mirror. I plan on sticking this camera on top of the roof spoiler, looking back over the trackbed, to use as a rearview monitor. Yes, one could use the built-in rear camera but would need to continually take eyes off the road to switch from other things on the screen to the camera view.

I already have the monitor and camera for my airstream camper so this seems like a good option vs a rearview mirror dash cam where the rear camera would need to be routed from the inside to the outside.
 

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Ah I see. Looking a powering a camera on the truck and not the trailer. Sorry.
 

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Use the pass-through grommets behind the front plastics of the bed to pass into the gear tunnel and use the 12v there?
Or go into the cab of the truck using the other passthroughs that come through behind the back seats and grab 12v somewhere in there?
 

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Type of trailer doesn't matter. This isn't necessarily for towing. It's a Furrion wireless camera that communicates with a monitor in the cab. With things mounted on truck bed I cannot see out the back through the rearview mirror. I plan on sticking this camera on top of the roof spoiler, looking back over the trackbed, to use as a rearview monitor. Yes, one could use the built-in rear camera but would need to continually take eyes off the road to switch from other things on the screen to the camera view.

I already have the monitor and camera for my airstream camper so this seems like a good option vs a rearview mirror dash cam where the rear camera would need to be routed from the inside to the outside.
That rear bed cam must be 12v. So at least you know there is a tappable power source up there where you need it. The 3rd brake light is going to be a 12v part too, so your power options in the location are ample.

With that said, don't you also have to snake the data lines into the cab to plug into the viewing screen (or are these wireless now?)

If so, it may not be worth trying to access some external 12v feed if you are just doing one-off hauling, just string it out the door frame or window from the outside and tape it down.

If you need something more permanent, I think you're gonna be fishing wire through body panel grommets.
 
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DrBad

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That rear bed cam must be 12v. So at least you know there is a tappable power source up there where you need it. The 3rd brake light is going to be a 12v part too, so your power options in the location are ample.

With that said, don't you also have to snake the data lines into the cab to plug into the viewing screen (or are these wireless now?)

If so, it may not be worth trying to access some external 12v feed if you are just doing one-off hauling, just string it out the door frame or window from the outside and tape it down.

If you need something more permanent, I think you're gonna be fishing wire through body panel grommets.
Not a one-off, this will be semi-permanent, and wireless, so just needs 12V and it will wirelessly hook up to the screen. This system is made so you can add side and rear cameras to your trailer and they can all connect to the 5" monitor on your dash or attached to the windshield. But it's a lease so I don't really want to start pulling apart too much. Right now I'm thinking plug into the gear tunnel 12V, out the top of that door, just a few inches along the side of the truck until it could be tucked or taped along the edge there and up to the spoiler. Hopefully just put a little indent into the weatherstripping there. Unless there's a way to get from inside the gear tunnel to the outside other than the door. There's a removable panel in the back of the tunnel but I haven't pulled that apart yet. Someone said the grommets from there go into the truck bed, which is not what I want.

I'm going to play around with it tomorrow and see what I can come up with.
 

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Get a cheap 12v power supply that plugs into AC off Amazon. You can plug that into the 120v outlet in the bed. Then it’s just a matter of routing a small low voltage wire up to your camera. You could use the little adhesive cable clips.
It’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s fast, cheap and does not require modding the truck in any way.

https://a.co/d/eVFGcXc
 

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I'm looking to mount a wireless trailer camera on my R1T, probably on top of the spoiler, but need to get 12V power to it. Apparently I can't tap into the trailer hitch as that will fool the truck into thinking I'm trailering and will change alerts and whatnot. Are there any "easy" ways to get from either inside the tunnel or the truck bed with tonneau cover? I know I can get out of the bottom of the tailgate and could tape wire around somewhere to get where I want. Another option would be from inside the tunnel but the wire might get pinched when closed. I see a small slot between by the front of the truck bed but don't know if that goes anywhere, looks like maybe a drain?

Thanks for any ideas. I DID search the site but couldn't find anything.
I was thinking that you could possibly tap the output of the trailer plug, but you probably need a conductor that is always hot.
 

ElGuano

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Not a one-off, this will be semi-permanent, and wireless, so just needs 12V and it will wirelessly hook up to the screen. This system is made so you can add side and rear cameras to your trailer and they can all connect to the 5" monitor on your dash or attached to the windshield. But it's a lease so I don't really want to start pulling apart too much. Right now I'm thinking plug into the gear tunnel 12V, out the top of that door, just a few inches along the side of the truck until it could be tucked or taped along the edge there and up to the spoiler. Hopefully just put a little indent into the weatherstripping there. Unless there's a way to get from inside the gear tunnel to the outside other than the door. There's a removable panel in the back of the tunnel but I haven't pulled that apart yet. Someone said the grommets from there go into the truck bed, which is not what I want.

I'm going to play around with it tomorrow and see what I can come up with.
If it's semi-permanent, just find a way to remove the trim for the roof spoiler/vector and tap into what has to be constant 12v power there for the existing lights and camera.

You could string a wire from the cigarette port in the gear tunnel, or anywhere else, but again if it's semi-permanent do you really want loose/taped wires running all around your truck? And if you find weird grommets to fish through, I would think you're STILL left with removing the vector to get the wire out and connected to your remote camera.
 

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Shawnkaplan00

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Get a cheap 12v power supply that plugs into AC off Amazon. You can plug that into the 120v outlet in the bed. Then it’s just a matter of routing a small low voltage wire up to your camera. You could use the little adhesive cable clips.
It’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s fast, cheap and does not require modding the truck in any way.

https://a.co/d/eVFGcXc
This is a good idea for him. There’s 120v, so invert it back to 12. Other idea I just thought of is the air pump is probably 12v? I’m just guessing though. The hat panel might come off and allow you to tap into it. (Sorry just guessing). Another idea is the bed lights. I can’t recall can they be turned on/off inside the cab?
 
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DrBad

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Yes, going from the truck bed with an ac/dc converter was one of my original ideas/options, as well as out of the gear tunnel straight from the 12V. My issue was getting out of either of those areas to the outside of the truck. The gear tunnel would have worked, the wire didn't get pinched too much by the door, but I didn't like the wire having to go along the side of the truck, so went with the ac/dc from the truck bed. From the bed, I was able to thread the wire out the rear corner of the tailgate through a slot for the spare tire cover, then up the inside of the tailgate opening past the latch, then slip it underneath the rubber bed protector to run it up to the front of the bed. There's kind of a slot in the bed protector that it fits nicely into, keeping it out of the way of the tonneau cover. I used some gorilla tape to keep it up in there so it wouldn't slip down and jam the cover. The clearance between the tape and the cover was a little tight and had to press the tape pretty good. Could also have taped it along the inside of the bed above the cover. From there I went around the rear window and up to the spoiler where I've attached the camera. Works great! I'll post pictures soon. I used some gorilla tape along the window but it looks sloppy so I'm going to use some 3M wire clips instead. I used 3M double sided tape for the camera but am going to switch that to velcro so I can more easily remove it like for car wash or in case I want to relocate it to a topper if I add one of those.
 
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DrBad

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OK, I had the camera installed up on the spoiler with the wiring described above but decided to put it on the tailgate instead for a better road view. I wired from inside the truck bed, along the tailgate "arm", underneath the inside tailgate panel, and underneath the top tailgate strip, resulting in a few inches of wire running down the outside center of the tailgate to the mounted camera. Double sticky tape for the monitor on the dash and we're in business. I have the rear camera paired with the monitor plus my camper camera for when I have that attached. See photos.
Rivian R1T R1S Wireless rearview camera (was: How to get 12V power outside of truck) IMG_2633

Rivian R1T R1S Wireless rearview camera (was: How to get 12V power outside of truck) IMG_2624

Rivian R1T R1S Wireless rearview camera (was: How to get 12V power outside of truck) IMG_2635

Rivian R1T R1S Wireless rearview camera (was: How to get 12V power outside of truck) IMG_2636


Taking off the tailgate inside panel and top panel was interesting, contact me if anyone wants details on that, need to be careful not to break the tabs. I also tried to pull power from the tailgate light but couldn't find 12v on any of the wires, might have been my issue but seemed weird. That's a pretty fancy light so might not be standard power.
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