I need an inexpensive one desperately. Hopkins makes one, but it apparently isn’t waterproof and fails quite soon. Anyone here have a backup/hitch camera that was added and makes you happy?
This would be for a Ford F250 Superduty.
Depends on what you’re looking for. Are you looking for a camera that has it’s own monitor/display or that connects to a smartphone app?
Looking for one with a monitor/display.
If you want one only for hooking up I have a “Swift Hitch” that was awesome. It is not a permanent mount…
I need a permanent backup camera because I have jackknifed my utility trailer into my truck three times, at a cost of about 3k per incident and almost doubled insurance rates. I never hit anything going forward, but backing is my bete noire. My truck has many blind spots, that aren’t help by the rear view mirror.
So are you looking for something that provides a downward view of your hitch, or one that goes on the back of the trailer?
I also have the swifthitch but it is not permanent - I’ve never used it in the rain. I did have a license plate mount camera that was hardwired into my 02 GMC that I think I got on Amazon.
garmin makes a backup camera (wireless) for $130ish that displays through your compatible garmin. I’m pretty sure all the Drive versions are compatible. I had the Drive (or DriveSmart) 51 and upgraded recently to the DriveSmart61 (bigger screen). I’ve been using it for about 3-4 years and it works pretty well (the 51 screen was ridiculously small though).
Originally I had the camera installed on both my old focus and my F250 and I just moved the garmin to whichever vehicle I was driving at the time, although now it lives in the truck since the newer car has a backup camera/navigator screen built in. Both were wired through the backup light to so they automatically kicked in when I put the vehicle in reverse, but it has an optional turn on through the app if you don’t wire it that way. Camera sits right above the license plate. The truck was optimized for hitching the trailer when I was 100% blind thanks to carriage in the bed and the car was just for regular backing up.
I think it was about the cheapest “easy to see/use” solution out there when I researched it, and practically speaking I find I prefer using the garmin (over my phone) for directions, etc. If you go that route, my only word of caution is to unplug the garmin every time you are not driving the truck for any length of time. Aside from the normal battery drain of leaving a device plugged in, apparently it also spends all of its time doing the electronic version of “can you hear me now”, looking for the wireless camera (who could care less since the backup light is not on). This will result in a few dead battery moments and finally a new battery and then a rather expensive fishing expedition as a mechanic tries to find the electric draw in the truck. Learn from my fail.
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