We've just purchased a caravan & take delivery early September. We are getting a reversing camera put on the caravan, we already have one our ute, which isn't much use when there is a caravan attached & (saves getting a divorce) we checked with our local auto electrician as to cost, hardwiring it in. & he is saying $2000. We only have 2 auto electricians in town so are a bit limited on choice!
thanks everyone in advance!
-- Edited by redx2 on Saturday 25th of August 2018 05:08:55 PM
not a chance it would cost anywhere near that much .
Is he using gold wiring ?
If you do some of your own research you will see the cost of the items themselves.
Perhaps look at one of the wireless models.
A mate at work has one on the back of his 24ft and has no issues with it working at that distance.
It still needs to be powered but it will save running power and feed from the front of the tug.
For the same job I was charged $650. In Tassie. Suggest you go else where as it is not a difficult task in fact quite simple to interconnect to you existing set up. Only recently I have done similar myself. Good luck.
Redx2 this is how I wired mine I have Three way switch in the dash in the off position the camera operates as a normal reverse camera . Flip it up ( note A ) it powers up camera 2 and the relay to give power to activate the screen . Flip it down ( note B) it powers camera 1 and sends power though the relay to activate the screen . There is also a diode to prevent power returning to the reverse light when using the three way switch .
Of course theres video wires from the cameras to the screen too and yes they use the same wires from the back of the Ute to the screen
When the power of Love becomes greater than the love of power the World will see peace ! 24ft Trailblazer 5th wheeler n 05 Patrol ute and Black Series Dominator camper trailer ( for the rough stuff)
You can Buy an Aussie Polaris Double din GPS/ Entertainment unit and three cameras for under a $1000. Most of the big Auto stores have Radio connectors for whatever make your tug is.
The video feeds (Yellow) are just plug in and you use the wire supplied to connect to your reversing lights. The rear camera is just two screws to fix to the rear end and a screw to adjust the angle of the camera. If you don't want or need the other two cameras no need to install. Should be easy enough to run the cables under the carpet to the rear of the tug and use a waterproof box on the back to connect the video leads. Those little boxes are just a few bucks from places like Jaycar.
Have the Caravan Camera feed cable run alongside your trailer plug and connect to your waterproof box on the tug. 90% is just plug and play and the only wiring connection is splicing into the reversing lights. You could use a length of plastic 20mm conduit attached under your caravan to feed your video cable from the rear and feed it into your A Frame. and come out where your trailer wires and plug come out from.
If you can fit a radio to your car you should be more than able to do the work yourself.
Lots of entertainment units around that would do the same job. I just used Polaris because they are a well known brand.
$2000 is an awful lot to charge for a rearview camera.