Spent the weekend installing the Camera on my 2017 Bighorn Fifth Wheel. First thing is the camera system is not made for a fifth wheel. I had to modify the truck wiring harness that connects to the truck female connector.

You can't have the umbilical cord hanging outside the truck box. I spliced 3' of 22 gauge wire to 7 wires under the truck to get the harness to connect to the custom plate I made for the in box connection of the camera and 7 Pin trailer connector.
A wireless camera would have been nice as running the 50' trailer harness through the rear cap, under the trailer, into the basement, and fished through the overhang to the trailer pin was a pain in the A$$.

Its done, it works. Now to remove all the tires and take them to my Service Station to install the pressure sensors.
Sorry about the sideways pictures.

 

Nice job.
Yup, Ford really didn't put much real world thought into this expensive option.

I'm not impressed with the upside down 7way plug door at the bumper that snapped closed with a load of wet snow on it.
Guess what, it all turned to ice inside and I couldn't get my plug in the next day.
A fancy diploma doesn't trump real world experience.

 

I was thinking of doing something very similar. Glad to know that it works and can be done. Thanks for the info and pics.

 

klassic - my 7-way plug on the bumper lifts upward... did your dealer just install it upside down?

 

I don't have the trailer camera/tpms because of the issues pointed out above by the OP.
So my plug was never swapped out. It is upside down from the factory. If, in fact, it is upside down.
I saw a Ram, or a Chev, (I forget now) with the exact same plug installed the same way.
I haven't seen any other 2017 SD's yet. I'm hoping it will flip the other way when it gets warmer here.

 

Love my well thought out optional Trailer Camera, I installed the trailer camera, had dealer install bumper plug. 7 way pin plug is on top. Camera plug is on the bottom and has a well thought out gasket to seal out the environment when not in use. I think it is a little pricey, what isn't on these trucks. 30 foot travel trailer and the kit came with enough cable/wire.

 

Very nice job!

 

it works for you because you have a travel trailer. Those of us that have fifth wheels the plug is in the wrong place

 

So for those of you who have installed the trailer camera. Question...how waterproof is the camera? And my question revolves around wanting to possibly mount the camera on the trailer of my bass boat and it would need to survive being dunked in 2-3 ft water twice a trip. Any thoughts?

 

FWIW I asked this very question to a Ford engineer here at a Ford F-250 event last summer. He said the camera was waterproof and could be mounted and get dunked.

 

Man you just cost me $800 LOL...I will order now as I would love this capability as well as monitoring the tire pressures on the trailer as a blow out of low tire can eat up those fiberglass fenders in no time without warning! Thanks..

 

Well thought out would be a quality wireless unit that gets installed at the front of the trailer and sends the signals to the front.
I'm iffy about the new valves that only install in certain sized holes.
Seems other TPMS manufacturers have no problem with flow through valve caps that could be moved to other trailers if need be. Instead of paying to have all your trailers retro fitted with new, pricey, valves.

The need for no wire dangling from the front of a 5ver to the bumper of the truck seems to be obvious.

Having the video screen stay on while driving so you can see traffic behind you at 42' also seems to be a point that needs more thought for $800.
Glad it works for short bumper pulls, but it doesn't need to be touted as the "Ultimate"... stinks as far as I'm concerned.

 

klassic, I have to be in full agreement with your comments. In this day and time BT or WiFi would have been appropriate and provide considerable ease of management/installation. And man would I be disappointed if I bought this and the wheels were not in spec. Just things to consider. It seems the Ford engineers in tech division need to share some time with those in the Lincoln division. Our improvements seem to be very rudimentary and evolve over time like they want to think we are all simple people. ;-) Wonder how many Platinum models were bought to be pure work trucks? I know some are but the majority of work trucks are XLT...save the bucks there for niceties and invest in these high dollar garage queens! LOL

 

Wireless did not work for me with the extra monitor always getting in the way. I agree it is not the ultimate, and I did NOT pay $800.00 for it either. Think it was in the neighborhood of $350. For my application I think works rather well. Nope , Ultimate it is not.

 

The connector to the camera doesn't look to me like it would be waterproof. I'm thinking if you submerge the camera water will get to the pins and certainly short something out. The connector is inside the housing so rain would not be an issue. Kinda like the new IPhones: they are water resistant but not waterproof.
I do agree with the other comments here. Certainly it would be nice to have the camera on when driving forward if I so choose. I had a wireless one on a previous fifth wheel and it was not very good. A lot of interference. They may be better now.
It is useful for backing with a pretty clear picture. Not HD but adequate. Worth the price they charge: probably not!
Still didn't get to the tire pressure monitors yet. Can't wait to see what that brings.