I was recently inducted into the seemingly not so exclusive tailgate theft club. After days of heart ache and sticker shock of a $4500 replacement cost, I decided to search for a used one. Found a few on ebay and purchased one. Got it back and, of course, UPS took great care when throwing it from truck to truck. Even with the damage, I decided to install so I could secure my bed. Hooked up the camera, and nothing...I get a "camera not recognized, contact dealer" message. After looking on this forum and other places, I am pretty confident that the 2016 camera is the exact replacement for my 2013. I consulted the dealer and they confirmed. Due to the damage caused in shipping, I ordered another tailgate. This time a 2013, still get the same error message....Time to go to the dealer....

Dealer tells me that they hooked up a computer and found no issues with the wiring harness from bed to head unit. Says its the camera that needs to be replaced. They mentioned that Truck harness has 5 wires, and camera harness has 6. They are telling me that the camera harness for 2013 should only have 5 wires. Can someone please weigh in on this? I would really like to not pay 300 for new harness and camera...

 

Somewhere here on the forum is the wiring instructions on what wires are used on a 2013 truck. I know this because I posted it. I change tailgates from my factory camera equipped tailgate to a 5th wheel tailgate for ease when hooking up the RV.

I purchased a $20 camera off of Amazon and mounted it to the 5th wheel tailgate, then picked up a factory wiring harness and wired the $20 camera into the factory wire harness. When I swap tailgates I simply unplug the harness connection located behind the bumper under the truck bed. This inexpensive little camera looks and functions great.

Strangely I only recall having to hook up 4 wires, but then my memory is getting old.

Guess what I'm saying is, you can pay the $300 or do a little wire jiggling and maybe just maybe you can find the right combination of wires to make it work.

Second option maybe to purchase a license plate frame mounted camera for $24 off of Amazon. A camera wire harness pigtail from your dealers parts counter for another $20. Find the old post located hear on the forum and wire things up.

Good Luck,

 

Thanks for the quick response. I have seen your posts and your aftermarket setup. I would really prefer the OEM setup to work. I just paid $2k to replace my tailgate, and everything should work.

I guess what Im looking for is a picture of a 2013 camera end connector. Does it have 5 wires like the dealer says it should or are there 6 like im seeing on mine. Obviously only 5 wires are being used, but I find it hard to believe there is an issue on the camera end when Ive hooked up 2 different cameras and got the same result.

 

My 13 Lariat with nav has a 6 wire connector and a 2 wire connector coming off the tailgate.

 

Thanks! That's what I was looking for. I have the same setup (Lariat/nav) and same plug I will take it to a dealer that knows what they are talking about....if they exist...