trailer cameras

[kmh]

We bought an aluminum Sundowner GN trailer last year. It has a 4 foot short wall living quarters area with a walk-thru door from LQ to horse area. We would like to get a camera installed to keep an eye on the horses. The floor length of the entire trailer is 21' long.

We pull the trailer with a 2005 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton crew cab, short box truck.

What do you use for a trailer camera in your living quarters trailers? Could you please let me know what is involved in installing a wired cam? We do not want to drill holes in the trailer to run wires if we don't have to. So we are looking for ideas.

What is your experience with a wireless cam? Will the signal penetrate the aluminum on the trailer to get a good picture in the truck cab?

There are so many variables and there is not much information on camera sales websites about the signal penetration on an aluminum trailer.

Any advice would be appreciated. We have shows coming up in another month and would like to have the cam up and running by then.

Thanks

Steph

 

[shalamara minis]

I've been wanting a camera two but really have not started lookiing. You might want to start with a RV dealer, I had one show me a backup camera that would have worked well. Next you might want to try a Radio shack and see what he can come up with. There are a lot of ways to go but it can be pricey. The back up cam I saw was $400.

As for wireless or wired I will probably go with a wired system, that way there is no interference from other radio waves. As far as drilling only a couple of holes would need to be drilled to get wires down to the frame and up to tow vehicle.

good luck. Let us know what you come up with.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I don't know about the aluminum factor but an electronically-talented friend of mine jury-rigged a cheap wireless vehicle backup camera to work in my trailer and I love it! He ran wires through the existing wiring channels so he didn't have to drill any new holes and placed the transmitter as far forward as possible so there wasn't much interference between the transmitter and the truck. When the trailer is empty the picture sometimes breaks up going over bumps and such but once there's a horse in there it steadies and works very well. I have a small full-color LCD in the truck cab that sits right above my GPS and lets me keep an eye on my boys as I'm going down the road.

Both the camera itself and the half-power light that lets me see them at night are controlled by switches in the tack room and run off a battery he installed years ago that allows me to have lights in the trailer even when it's unhitched from the truck.

Leia

 

[shalamara minis]

Leia, do you know what brand he used or where he got it?

 

[hobbyhorse23]

It was a cheap model on sale at AutoZone. anything similar would work.

Leia

 

[Mulligans Run]

We have an awesome camera system that uses our rear view mirror to view the cam. When the cam is on the video appears in the mirror. When the cam is off...the mirror is normal and has full viewing range. I love it because there are no additional monitors to sit on my dash.

We installed two cams in the trailer and we switch back and forth depending on what we need to watch.

If you drop me an email I can give you more info. I don't think I can post info here ...