wmichael3
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I did not see a clear answer to this anywhere so wanted to post my resolution to this for others to find if someone has the same issue:
- I have a new 2021 JLU and wanted to hook up my existing trailer camera to it. That camera I wired myself - your basic $25 SD backup camera from Amazon - which I had connected to my previous JKU via RCA and a socket that I ran next to the 7 pin trailer connector. Power to that camera came from the back side of a DC-DC charger that also connects to the Jeep alternator so the camera only draws power when the trailer is towed. That JKU had an aftermarket Pioneer stereo that accepted multiple video inputs. By the way, the $25 SD camera looks identical to just about all the aftermarket SD cameras out there - probably there is just one Chinese camera to rule them all. So I think that $25 is the fair price.
- The new JLU already has HD backup/rear and trail/front cameras that came with it, and the 8.4 inch radio. What I didn't know was whether I could add a third (SD) camera that would work in conjunction with the two existing cameras. What I found in this forum and elsewhere was about adding a front trail cam, which I already had. Would the Jeep firmware support 3 concurrent cameras?
- The answer to my question is "Yes!". I used a 10 year old ODB2 Bluetooth adapter I had laying around and the JScan app on my Android phone. I bought the ECRI security module on Amazon for $25 - although I had read that some people found that difficult to plug in, on my 2021 model it was easy and no extension cable was necessary. JScan didn't love my old ELM327 adapter, which didn't have features adequate to reboot my ECU, but the adaptation for enabling the camera in JScan worked fine. I started/stopped the Jeep a couple times and let it sit overnight and the next day the Cargo Camera came up in the UI! The UI changed to add a third button in the Controls section and that brought up the third camera. It did not seem to have a timer - I left it up for a minute or so and it did not shut off.
- Once I verified that worked I ended up buying the radio->RCA adapter cable from Z Automotive ($25 plus $10 shipping) and wow, what a markup. $5 would be about the right price. If you want to save a buck just chop up any RCA cable and crimp or solder on a couple pins - you can get a lifetime supply of pins on Amazon for like $12.
- Then remove the radio, which was really just a 15 minute thing (pry off main control panel, unscrew two screws, pull off bezel, remove 4 screws, pull out radio) and remove the rear socket on the radio (lift up the lever), remove the red lock plate with a small screwdriver, insert the two pins from the RCA cable. Z Automotive has good documentation on that part, so I guess that is what the profit margin is for - anyway I'm being brief here but you can find lots of help on removing the radio on Google.
- Then it is just running an RCA cable to wherever you want it. I just used quality speaker wire and screw/crimp on RCA connectors I bought online a few years ago and ran the wire on the passenger side beneath the carpet and trim pieces to the back and improvised a small mount under the bumper next to the trailer connectors. I used a wire coat hanger to guide the wire from the radio down to the rear passenger footwell.
So my out-of-pocket was $35 for the adapter cable, $24 for Jscan, and $25 for the security module because of stuff I already had. (OBD2 module, RCA stuff and wire) If all you need to do is enable a camera you don't need a Tazer Mini or a $50 OBD2 module (A $13 module will get the job done) and a basic $25 camera from Amazon works fine. (I went through 3 cheap cameras to find mine - I didn't want LEDs on all the time or backup lines and I didn't want such a wide angle where stuff behind me looks like it's on Mars)
I hope this is helpful to someone. I get a lot of info from these forums and don't usually post but since I could not find a clear answer to my situation I thought I would document my experience.
- I have a new 2021 JLU and wanted to hook up my existing trailer camera to it. That camera I wired myself - your basic $25 SD backup camera from Amazon - which I had connected to my previous JKU via RCA and a socket that I ran next to the 7 pin trailer connector. Power to that camera came from the back side of a DC-DC charger that also connects to the Jeep alternator so the camera only draws power when the trailer is towed. That JKU had an aftermarket Pioneer stereo that accepted multiple video inputs. By the way, the $25 SD camera looks identical to just about all the aftermarket SD cameras out there - probably there is just one Chinese camera to rule them all. So I think that $25 is the fair price.
- The new JLU already has HD backup/rear and trail/front cameras that came with it, and the 8.4 inch radio. What I didn't know was whether I could add a third (SD) camera that would work in conjunction with the two existing cameras. What I found in this forum and elsewhere was about adding a front trail cam, which I already had. Would the Jeep firmware support 3 concurrent cameras?
- The answer to my question is "Yes!". I used a 10 year old ODB2 Bluetooth adapter I had laying around and the JScan app on my Android phone. I bought the ECRI security module on Amazon for $25 - although I had read that some people found that difficult to plug in, on my 2021 model it was easy and no extension cable was necessary. JScan didn't love my old ELM327 adapter, which didn't have features adequate to reboot my ECU, but the adaptation for enabling the camera in JScan worked fine. I started/stopped the Jeep a couple times and let it sit overnight and the next day the Cargo Camera came up in the UI! The UI changed to add a third button in the Controls section and that brought up the third camera. It did not seem to have a timer - I left it up for a minute or so and it did not shut off.
- Once I verified that worked I ended up buying the radio->RCA adapter cable from Z Automotive ($25 plus $10 shipping) and wow, what a markup. $5 would be about the right price. If you want to save a buck just chop up any RCA cable and crimp or solder on a couple pins - you can get a lifetime supply of pins on Amazon for like $12.
- Then remove the radio, which was really just a 15 minute thing (pry off main control panel, unscrew two screws, pull off bezel, remove 4 screws, pull out radio) and remove the rear socket on the radio (lift up the lever), remove the red lock plate with a small screwdriver, insert the two pins from the RCA cable. Z Automotive has good documentation on that part, so I guess that is what the profit margin is for - anyway I'm being brief here but you can find lots of help on removing the radio on Google.
- Then it is just running an RCA cable to wherever you want it. I just used quality speaker wire and screw/crimp on RCA connectors I bought online a few years ago and ran the wire on the passenger side beneath the carpet and trim pieces to the back and improvised a small mount under the bumper next to the trailer connectors. I used a wire coat hanger to guide the wire from the radio down to the rear passenger footwell.
So my out-of-pocket was $35 for the adapter cable, $24 for Jscan, and $25 for the security module because of stuff I already had. (OBD2 module, RCA stuff and wire) If all you need to do is enable a camera you don't need a Tazer Mini or a $50 OBD2 module (A $13 module will get the job done) and a basic $25 camera from Amazon works fine. (I went through 3 cheap cameras to find mine - I didn't want LEDs on all the time or backup lines and I didn't want such a wide angle where stuff behind me looks like it's on Mars)
I hope this is helpful to someone. I get a lot of info from these forums and don't usually post but since I could not find a clear answer to my situation I thought I would document my experience.
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