13 replies to this topic

[trdt44]

I also cut my bumpers and have about 1/2" between the bed and the camper. Mine sits about even with my rear bumper. As mentioned there is plenty of room to access the tailgate/camera connection. The lip does not sit lower the wood strip on the underside of the camper. My turnbuckles are fine after moving it forward the 1" or so.

 

The Ram bed is not ideal for a Hawk, lengthwise. Not a deal killer by any means. I trimmed my bumpers down (on a table saw) so I'm sitting maybe a 1/4 to the front of the bed. No issues, been that way for a couple years.

I also relocated the camera to the door. 360° works just fine.

 

A couple of questions on your camera install. I am getting ready to install mine in the same location. My camera was on a tire carrier previously but I decided to ditch that. Did you run bolts through the door or just use the double sided tape? Where did you run the wire into the cab? How did you run the wire to the back of the camera? I was going to surface mount everything on the outside but yours looks so much cleaner. Any input you can provide is appreciated. 

Edited by trdt44, 12 June 2023 - 02:09 PM.

[Jon R]

I can offer an alternative to consider.

The camera mounting angle on my tailgate is 45 degrees, so I fabricated an enclosure for the same GM camera that is mounted in my tailgate using PVC fittings and used a FAKRA cable I bought on line. Camera was about $100, pvc fittings $6, cable about $20.

The doors on FWC models that have the optional rear wall steps have a 1.5” by 1/8” aluminum strip across the door to protect the door if it gets opened hard into a deployed step. This strip is at the same height as my tailgate camera, so I attached my pvc enclosure to that strip (really a replacement strip so I could save the original brush finished strip for a buyer who might want to restore the original configuration) and routed the camera wire behind the strip and down a groove in the door frame. It works perfect and the truck display grid lines are accurate, was cheap, and is fully reversible to original configuration.

I can give you measurements to locate the strip and provide closeups of the screw locations if you decide to use this approach. You can see where the strip mounting screws are in the frame of the door on the right side of the closeup picture. The extra holes in the strip are from a prior configuration I tried. I will eventually get a new piece of metal so it looks better but that’s low priority.

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Edited by Jon R, 12 June 2023 - 05:34 PM.

[Adventurebound]

I also cut my bumpers and have about 1/2" between the bed and the camper. Mine sits about even with my rear bumper. As mentioned there is plenty of room to access the tailgate/camera connection. The lip does not sit lower the wood strip on the underside of the camper. My turnbuckles are fine after moving it forward the 1" or so.


A couple of questions on your camera install. I am getting ready to install mine in the same location. My camera was on a tire carrier previously but I decided to ditch that. Did you run bolts through the door or just use the double sided tape? Where did you run the wire into the cab? How did you run the wire to the back of the camera? I was going to surface mount everything on the outside but yours looks so much cleaner. Any input you can provide is appreciated.

I drilled a hole in the door and ran the wire inside the camper door. Then used some white wire channel I picked up at the ol Home Depot and ran the wire across, bridging over the hinge to the door side, down the inside next to the door, through the floor and plugged in at the factory location at the rear of the bed.

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Edited by Adventurebound, 14 June 2023 - 08:51 PM.

[CreekRob]

My installation looks very much like ramblinChet's; it's in the exact same space on the door and I used the same conduit.

 

A few differences though.

 

I used 3M tape mounted tabs that accept zip ties for anchoring the conduit.

 

I used the Camera Source camera and housing.

 

My camera seems to use a different connection. My truck is a Ram 2023 and it has a single cable FAKRA connector. Rather than pass it through the tailgate orifice as shown, I use a connector I found near the spare tire underneath the bed, so I bypassed that opening. Sort of six of one, but I had extra cable and easier to store it there.

 

The result is great. I LOVE having the modern cams. Best thing about a new truck.