Opinions on Backup Camera Harness In the Works

Hey Guys, We (The Harness Connection) are in the final stages of designing and prototyping our Backup Camera harness, Similar to Jeep Guys (RIP) and we just wanted the wonderful people of ramforums opinion. There are a couple ways we could design the harnesses, first way would be similar to jeepguys and if it was factory installed, using the big chassis connector behind the driver wheel well, or more along the lines of the mopar add on kit that runs into the engine bay and then inside the cab.

Factory way would run into the Chassis connector, then you pick it up at the white connector inside the cab and run to the radio. Cleaner install but price will be more because the pins and covers needed for the chassis connector are $$$ even in the bulk we would buy. Estimated Price Point $150 including shipping

Aftermarket/Add on way would basically consist of running the cables from the fuse box along the frame to the tailgate and then run from the fusebox through either the clutch plate or the wire loom boot and then running to the radio all in one harness. Pins are on the cheaper side so price point would be more around $100 including shipping.

Opinions from you guys? Also any harness ideas that arnt already out there that you would like to see? We love hearing your ideas! Thanks guys!

Guess nobody has opinions.


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I am kind of confused at what your harness will do. The kit from mopar is running $250 right now and has all of the harness, replacement tailgate handle, and the camera. Am I missing the point of your harness?

Backup camera is on my list of things,but need to finish the RA1 to RA4 upgrade before I've put too much thought on it.

If I'm understanding you correctly , your harness " the OEM add on Kit type"
( from the rear ) starting at the back of the truck bed / tailgate disconnect would be one solid harness without an additional radio harness ? It would have 6 wires ? Power to PDC , Ground near PDC , BCM wire to C-5 connector pin 45/Orange & dkblue (for gridlines) utilizing linbusCBC3 signal. , 1ea bare shield & 2 ea video wires going to sockets 31,32,33 @ the radio C1 main connector ?
If that's how it would be for $100.00 I think that would be Fantastic !
This would be a specific harnes for radio display only no mirror .

Your harness would obviously have the same connector @ the tailgate disconnect to populate the tailgate locking wires 2ea .

I think this would be easier to install than the OEM add on kit because it's designed for radio display and or mirror display , which involves an additional harness and connector that the installer must assemble . This sounds easy (was for me ) however this is the area in the OEM add on kits instructions that a lot of people make a mistake ( adds room for error ).. so with that said . A solid , wires only kit dedicated
for radio display would most definitely be a good idea !

My .02. ,

I have no experience with Jeepguys kit , but if that route would cost $50 more , I would recommend the befor mentioned style .

Now if your harness was gonna be the basic description I had above then the remainder of the back up cam kit would consist of the Camera/Lock jumper harness P/N 68096415AC aprox $55 retail I found for $36.00 ( you could make this too ) , camera harness P/N 68189124AB $__?__, ( you could make this as well , its only like 10" long ) and a Handle & camera assy $__?__
Even if the end price is a little more , the overall install would be easier and much less room for error . Again just my .02

Suggestions on your back up camera harness . Either one the Jeepguys variant or the OEM Add on kit type .
With your harness price @ $100-$150.00 , to make the overall price and competitiveness swing in your favor , you guys should replace both harnesses inside the tailgate with a sigle harness for tailgate lock / camera operations. .
If you offered this all that's required for the installer to purchase separately is the handle and camera assy..., I'm pretty sure the handle assy with the camera is the most expensive part of the kit .
Another thought FYI the new camrea/lock jumper harness that came with my OEM add on kit , I didn't need , my 2014 1500ST already had.this same harness installed , so maybe you should make different variants of the ( inside the Tailgate harness ) due to some people not needing it , just a thought , for production purposes and mass manufacturing maybe one sigle universal harness for inside the tailgate would be the way to go ...

If you could make a harness identical to the one jeepguy made, i would be a buyer even if it where to cost $150. Currently the only thing stopping this mod for me is the fact that the MOPAR kit wants you to splice wires and i do not want to cut a perfectly good harness in a new truck. I would vote for a two part harness just like jeepguy made.

GraniteCrystal said:

If you could make a harness identical to the one jeepguy made, i would be a buyer even if it where to cost $150. Currently the only thing stopping this mod for me is the fact that the MOPAR kit wants you to splice wires and i do not want to cut a perfectly good harness in a new truck. I would vote for a two part harness just like jeepguy made.

Click to expand...

I agree. The goal in my opinion is to replicate the missing factory wiring as much as possible. As someone who used his kit and after helping people with the oem kits, i can say Jeepguys' harness setup was superior to the RAM kits hands down. It did require more chassis length variations to account for the different wheel bases and Cab/Bed size combos.
I will point out that certain combos have the same length/wheel base... i.e. 140" wb? crew/5.7 box = quad/6.4 box at 16'-9" from i550 tailgate (5'-6" to gnd lug) to the c322 Cab/chassis connector by the left front wheel on his harness. The i315 to radio C1 is 70". Info thanks to MTGTS and his old jeepguy harness. Variations to this can be figured out from the RAM body builder page but adjusting for the different wheelbases.

The only improvement I could see for jeepguy's setup would be to match the wire color codes to the factory colors in the schematics. It really was a much better install.

I'm not sure how he did it for $100 but he sure wasn't making a bunch off it. If you price it out of range of the complete RAM kit, few will buy it.

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There are 2 interesting possible harness mod discussions going on that have some interest.
1) to relocate the 8 speed selector knob to the center console ( if they can figure out the mechanical parts for it )
http://www.ramforum.com/showthread.php?t=71694


2) a harness to add the missing factory fog light wiring (& switch) into trucks (like mine) that didn't come with it. I could really use the extra light output.

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Model it after Jeepguy's (RIP) that harness was a piece of cake to install and a very nice product! Make him proud!!!!

I can't argue with Mpgrimm2 on his knowledge of Jeepguys kit , for I have zero experience with it other than what I've heard here . Jeepguys kit seems to be more fluid and everyone who has had it did like it ! With the OEM add on kit some people had dificulty getting to the BCM C-5 connector, due to an amp in the way and some (me included) just had trouble locating the C-5 connector until we found that C-5 is clearly labeled ( E ) on the BCM?? LOL !

Qs : 1) does Jeepguys kit not utilize the Lin Bus CBC3 Signal for grid lines @ the BCM ? (2) Does it pick it up @ the Chassis connector by inserting a pre- pinned wire ?

I guess some may be hesitant to splice into a new truck harness ... this doesn't bother me at all especially with a solder joint and heatshrink tubing or a good environmental splice .
I do think a single harness dedicated radio display kit without a separate radio harness would be a Great upgrade from the OEM add on kit ( even with two wires spliced ) especially if you built a single harness inside the tailgate for Lock/Camera functions as opposed to the two with the OEM add on kit .
Good Luck ! I'm sure CuylerTech/the Harness Connection will come up with a better solution that's currently available either way ...

Mpgrimm2 said:

There are 2 interesting possible harness mod discussions going on that have some interest.
1) to relocate the 8 speed selector knob to the center console ( if they can figure out the mechanical parts for it )

2) a harness to add the missing factory fog light wiring (& switch) into trucks (like mine) that didn't come with it. I could really use the extra light output.

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Click to expand...

I would definitely purchase the fog light harness ! ! ! I need the extra light output as well .

+++++EDIT , EDIT , EDIT , EDIT +++++

Oooppps! I misunderstood , I HAVE factory fogs installed on my 1500ST, I just wanted to be able to turn them on with High Beams ON !

@ CUYLERTECH , could you make a kit that allows you to turn on the fogs while High beams are on ?

R.L.K. said:

I would definitely purchase the fog light harness ! ! ! I need the extra light output as well .

Click to expand...

Initial discussion...

Adding foglights to tradesman
http://www.ramforum.com/showthread.php?t=70456


Here is 12ram1500's thread...

Adding foglights to 2013+ tradesman/slt
http://www.ramforum.com/showthread.php?t=72043

.
- now if I ever get my truck back from the dealer with the paint issues fixed correctly...

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Getting back on the BACK UP CAMERA harness discussion .

@ CUYLERTECH / The Harness Connection .... still early in the discussion I know , but so far What say you Sir ??

The thing with a harness made off of jeep guys design, it would only work for SLT+ trucks. Express and tradesman don't have the wires running from the chassis connector to the white connector inside the truck that's why jeep guy had 2 different kits. I would have to get probably 15-20 pre orders to make the jeep guy design feasible for cost reasons ( buy more parts at a time, lower cost). I'll look into doing a harness for adding fog lights and high beams with fog lights as well. Also was thinking about a rear view mirror to radio backup camera relocation harness. What do you guys think a fair price would be for the high beam harness if it was 100% plug and play and the fog if it was plug and play?


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Fogs with high beam plg n play I'd pay $50 - $75 at a drop of a hat with instructions & pics !

Funny I've talked two diff people through how to relocate wires from mirror to radio , this is easy but both would've rather purchased a harness! Good idea !

cuyler, I understand your concern about people without an slt+ model, but the way I see it is if you have an express or tradesman the MOPAR kit is the simplest way to add a backup camera. just my thoughts. I understand this might sound selfish as I have a big horn, sorry.

The OEM add on kit is a.goog kit .
With that said CuylerTech /the Harness Connection could making it a Great kit...and much easier to install .

So got some bad news.. at this time I dont think there is a way to get the cost to a reasonable standpoint if I did a harness based off jeepguy for the SLT+. The pins alone for the body connector and the white connector in the vehicle are $38 per harness, and to get the price down to a point where its reasonable (sub $20) I would need to get preorders for at least 50 harnesses. Ive sat on it and this is what I think we will be offering for the time being:

Mopar Replicated Backup Harness + improvements
Fog light add on harness
Overhead console harness
8.4 Swap Harness
Footwell to LED pigtails
Rear parking sensor harness.
RCA to radio backup harness
rear view backup to radio harness.

In regard to the fog light bracket, I think the easiest way to design it will be to not even use the factory fog harness at all for 2 reasons. 1) $150 for what you get from mopar is a rip off. 2) The connector cannot be bought for the vehicle side. Im thinking about making it a 2 piece harness simply just 1 harness that plugs into both fogs and has a connector on it and the second harness is what gets wired into the vehicle then just plugs into the first one.

CuylerTech said:

So got some bad news.. at this time I dont think there is a way to get the cost to a reasonable standpoint if I did a harness based off jeepguy for the SLT+. The pins alone for the body connector and the white connector in the vehicle are $38 per harness, and to get the price down to a point where its reasonable (sub $20) I would need to get preorders for at least 50 harnesses. Ive sat on it and this is what I think we will be offering for the time being:

Mopar Replicated Backup Harness + improvements
Fog light add on harness
Overhead console harness
8.4 Swap Harness
Footwell to LED pigtails
Rear parking sensor harness.
RCA to radio backup harness
rear view backup to radio harness.

Click to expand...

No 2013+ fog light on with High beam kit ?

I'll be picking up an O/H Console harness for compass module , lights and pwr window slider in the not so distant future.