I bought the furion camera for my fifth wheel and installed at the back of the camper as instructed. The camper was pre-wired to the aft camera mount. The wire for the camera only has power when parking lights are turned on. Yes, a goofy way to wire the camper, it should be hot all the time. Turn your headlights on, it may help with the power problem, have a good day!

 

My wireing now is the same, I must have the running lights on. But I had to get it fixed under warranty. At first there was no power to wire under any situation.

 

I recently bought a 2024 F350 Lariate that was custom ordered by someone else who baled on the purchase. It came with the Lariat Ultimate Package. I bought it to haul my 5th wheel which exceeded the rate cargo capacity of my 2018 F250 Lariat. Looking into trailer towing with BLIS I understand I would have to purchase the additional sensors (vehicle came with the yaw sensor kit). I fail to understand why TPMS is necessary to implement BLIS for towing my 5th wheel. Anybody got a clue? The two packages cost over $1K which seems pretty extreme.

 

I didn’t realize this. The XL is sounding better and better every day. Ford doesn’t make that clear, or clear enough, when you’re looking at ordering or purchasing, IMHO.

 

I have know idea why you need the TPMS but you do, and thats what i found, about $1,000 to make tje BLIS work with a 5th wheel. I decided not to spend the money.
actully, when you turn the blinker on and have it in trailer mode with a trailer connected the large screen gives you a view of the whole side of the truck and trailer. I find I don’t really miss the BLIS.

 

Does the Furion camera connect to the Ford display or do you use the Furion monitor?

 

The trailer BLIS MODULE PLUGS INTO THE TPMS module via a “Y” cable that comes with the BLIS Kit. That Trailer BLIS Kit does come with 2 sensors but no photos on Ford Part web page. Probably shown in the “Free resources/instruction sheets” referenced below. Yup, combo of TPMS and Trailer BLIS Kit is $1k at discounted Ford Parts Dealers.

 

Has anyone yet installed the Fifth Wheel BLIS sensor kit, and if so, what is your opinion of it? Also, if someone has installed the fifth wheel BLIS sensors, can you please post a pic of where they go or what they look like? Thanks.

I am in the process of ordering a 2025 F450 KR and I'm trying to decide what options to go with. I currently have a 2017 F450 KR and tow a 46 ft fifth wheel all over the country. I also already use the Ford trailer TPMS and Ford auxiliary camera on my current truck and will continue to use them on the new truck. I personally have been very happy with the Ford trailer TPMS system and have over 45K miles using it on my current trailer. It has been very reliable, once I extended the sensor cable and placed it near the lead axle on my three axle rig.

 

I've purchased and installed the Trailer BLIS kit for my 5th wheel. Overall the sensors work most of the time, but I think it's pretty expensive for what it does. The main advantage of the system is that it lets you know when your tail is clear for changing lanes. But the 360 side cameras pop up when you signal, and the hard-wired trailer camera (a much better option) shows you if it's clear back there, so the BLIS kit's actual value seems pretty marginal. Also, the cross-traffic BLIS warnings (the blinking BLIS light/audible warning) are disabled when towing, even with the trailer BLIS sensors. That would be a useful feature if it was still enabled, but it's not, which is somewhat mystifying to me. When installed and towing it does give you one less warning to click through on startup which is nice, I guess, but it's probably not worth $700.

In terms of install, it consists of two sensor boxes (one for each side), a + shaped harness that inserts into the TPMS harness between the harness and TPMS sensor receiver box and 8 bolts and nuts. The sensors are supposed to be mounted very far forward and low to the ground, probably so they work with gooseneck horse & cargo trailers, which did make the install a bit interesting for my 5th wheel. I ended up having to cut out a steel backing plate and attach that to the trailer, and get some shorter bolts for the lower half to get everything to fit along my trailer. But it does work. Here's a picture:

 

Thanks very much for your response and this information, and especially the photo. I already have Ford trailer TPMS running on my existing truck, a 2017 F450. I wonder if the trailer BLIS system would work with it? Obviously, the cable would be the same, but I'm guessing the truck is too old to recognize the feature. Did you install the 360 cameras on your RV yourself? If so, how difficult was it. I already have the Ford rear camera, so how many more cameras must be installed?

 

The only 360 camera involved is the system that comes installed on the truck from the factory (front, mirrors, bed and tailgate cameras). Ford has talked about a 360 trailer camera system since 2022 or so, but as yet it hasn't been released and (to my knowledge) isn't available. You don't need to install any cameras at all, but I do recommend the ford tailer camera, it's a pretty good option - certainly better than the wireless Furrion camera setup I initially used with my trailer.

As for the trailer BLIS sensors, my understanding is that they're only compatible with the harness for the 23+ MY fords. I suspect the harness is unique and wouldn't fit with the older models. Does your 2017 have the Ford 12-pin trailer connection below the 7-pin connector? I thought the 12-pin connector was newer than that... How does your trailer TPMS connect to your vehicle?

 

Yes, 2017 was the first MY for both the trailer TPMS and the rear camera. I have both installed and yes, my truck has the 12 pin connector. I connect to both the trailer TPMS and the rear camera via that connector. It has all now worked perfectly for almost 50K miles, although I did need to lengthen both the cables to the camera and the TPMS sensor as I have a 46 ft fifth wheel. The TPMS receiver was kind of intermittent until I moved it back over the front axle of the rig. Since then, no issues. As the trailer TPMS kit part number is still the same as when I bought it in 2017, I'm assuming the BLIS cables would plug into it.

 

Huh, interesting - well, the trailer BLIS was introduced in 2023, and does not indicate backwards compatibility. Personally, my gut tells me that the onboard software wouldn't know what to do with it. But if you don't mind spending $700 as an experiment you could always buy the kit and give it a try - if you do definitely report back and let us know.

If you want my opinion, from my experience I don't think the trailer BLIS kit is worth the money even when you know it will work - the added functionality is so meager. This is especially true if you have the trailer camera installed, which is a much more useful feature.

 

I'm sure you are probably correct about the truck not recognizing the trailer BLIS signals or knowing what to do with them. I do like the rear camera feature and I am glad it is hard wired. The only problem I have with the camera is that, back in 2017, it is only active or available when the truck is in reverse. I can't access it when moving forward. From what you are saying it sounds like yours comes on when changing lanes? Is that correct?

 

I am new to Ford BLIS, I've only been driving my truck for a week. I am accustomed to BLIS in my Hyundai which operates differently: as vehicles in adjacent lanes approach from behind, the mirror BLIS indicators light up, with no sound. But if you turn on your turn signal, signaling an intention to move into an occupied lane, the Hydundai system additionally sounds an auditory alert. In contrast, from my perspective, I find the sole Ford BLIS indication, the little orange indication light in the mirror, too small and, with my focus forward, too inconveniently located to be helpful. Apparently there is no way (even with Forscan) to enable an auditory warning when you turn on a turn signal and the adjacent lane is occupied. Does this sound correct?