TT pre-wired for camera - system is junk (maybe)
Newer model Forest River, Shasta, and probably other brands of travel trailers have been outfitted with a backup/observation camera mount. Many dealers are saying this mount is for the Furrion branded cameras. My dealer included. the Furrion Observation camera WILL NOT FIT the installed bracket, nor will it mate up to the provided power lead, without some serious modification. I learned this the untimely way - luckily the box I got was a used item, and missing some parts, but the sales listing indicated new, so I was able to easily return it.
At this point, I contacted Shasta directly to be sure, so I didn't order another mis-fit. Here is their response:
I found this camera on Way Interglobal's website, only in the store, not in the products section. Weird. Anyways, their store page (http://www.wayinterglobal.com/store/) has the camera ($329.90 as of May 2017). Ouch. Of course, I turned to Amazon to try to find a better deal. I was able to find what seemed to be the same system by searching for the part number alone , specified by the Shasta rep, "CL-718W-C". Turns out I see now that WAY now offers a digital model on their site, but that one is not available on Amazon by using the part number.
the matching product name that I found is
There were 2 options for this Camera - one sold by Amazon and one by another seller, but also on Amazon's site. The price difference was large. 125 dollars difference. Worried about getting an incomplete system I asked to the Amazon community "What's in the box?". I got a detailed reply in a day, and decided to also try to take the plunge on the less expensive one. I'm glad I did. It's a much better deal.
This is the box I received.
There's a couple of things that I'd like to share about my experience with the installation, so here we go. The product was packed pretty well by the manufacturer. Carved foam inside the box, and the monitor and camera were in their own foam bags. the Monitor had a clingy clear sheet over it as well for protection. The camera itself came with a universal mounting bracket with sun shield. Also in the box were the following:
There's some work involved in getting the camera prepped to install to the RV-mounted bracket - you have to take off the bracket supplied with the camera.
There are 4 small phillips head screws that hold the Forest River supplied bracket to the camera housing. Keep track of those screws, you'll need them again to install the camera.
Below, I have the WAY camera on the left, and forest river bracket on the right.
Take the 2 phillips screws out of the side of the way camera/bracket. The antenna lead will still be connected to the bracket.
Using a small socket (my 4-way screwdriver had the perfect size), carefully remove the brass nut holding the antenna lead to the bracket.
I didn't get a picture of this next part, but I had to resize the holes in the plastic bracket part that came off my trailer. I used a 9/64 drill bit to make the holes a bit wider. The screws did dig into the plastic a bit at this size, so you could probably get away with using a 5/32 bit. To be clear, these are the two holes that are used to hold the camera to the bracket insert. Do not try to widen the 4 holes that hold the bracket insert to the trailer mounted bracket.
I then lined up the antenna lead with the smaller slit in the plastic bracket, and the power lead with the wider, center slot. I later found out (once I had everything installed, that this caused my image to be upside-down on the monitor. You may or may not have this issue. I simply turned the camera over in its bracket to resolve this.
and inserted the 2 screws to hold the camera to the bracket.
The antenna lead will get connected to the other part of the bracket. There's a little rubber stopper on the part of the mount still on the RV. Remove and discard. I intially tried install the nut and tooth washer back on the antenna lead, but found that I couldn't get the antenna on quite right. The knockout for the lead is kind-of D shaped, as is the lead itself, so I felt that I would be able to get things on tight enough that I don't have to worry.
Connect the camera to the power, you may find, as I did, that you need to use that male-to-male adapter that came with the kit. Screw one end onto the camera, and one end onto the rv side.
Remember those 4 little phillips screws? Use those to remount the camera and bracket to the rv
Now, I didn't take pictures of the actual install process of the monitor, but here it is mounted in our Jeep.
And here is a closer up shot of the screen itself in use.
Hopefully someone finds this useful.
At this point, I contacted Shasta directly to be sure, so I didn't order another mis-fit. Here is their response:
forestriverinc.com wrote:
Thank you for contacting the Shasta Parts Department. The brand of back up camera for the mount is Way Interglobal. Their part number is CL-718W-C for the camera. Please let me know if I can assist further.
I found this camera on Way Interglobal's website, only in the store, not in the products section. Weird. Anyways, their store page (http://www.wayinterglobal.com/store/) has the camera ($329.90 as of May 2017). Ouch. Of course, I turned to Amazon to try to find a better deal. I was able to find what seemed to be the same system by searching for the part number alone , specified by the Shasta rep, "CL-718W-C". Turns out I see now that WAY now offers a digital model on their site, but that one is not available on Amazon by using the part number.
the matching product name that I found is
Elite CL-718W-C 7" Wireless Rearview System (TFT LCD (16:9) )
There were 2 options for this Camera - one sold by Amazon and one by another seller, but also on Amazon's site. The price difference was large. 125 dollars difference. Worried about getting an incomplete system I asked to the Amazon community "What's in the box?". I got a detailed reply in a day, and decided to also try to take the plunge on the less expensive one. I'm glad I did. It's a much better deal.
This is the box I received.
There's a couple of things that I'd like to share about my experience with the installation, so here we go. The product was packed pretty well by the manufacturer. Carved foam inside the box, and the monitor and camera were in their own foam bags. the Monitor had a clingy clear sheet over it as well for protection. The camera itself came with a universal mounting bracket with sun shield. Also in the box were the following:
- Male to Male pigtail adapter (for camera connection to trailer)
- 6 foot hard-wire power lead for camera
- Monitor wiring harness
- 12-volt plug in for monitor power
- 2 different mounting brackets for monitor
- Sun Shield for Monitor
- Antenna for Monitor
- Antenna for Camera
There's some work involved in getting the camera prepped to install to the RV-mounted bracket - you have to take off the bracket supplied with the camera.
There are 4 small phillips head screws that hold the Forest River supplied bracket to the camera housing. Keep track of those screws, you'll need them again to install the camera.
Below, I have the WAY camera on the left, and forest river bracket on the right.
Take the 2 phillips screws out of the side of the way camera/bracket. The antenna lead will still be connected to the bracket.
Using a small socket (my 4-way screwdriver had the perfect size), carefully remove the brass nut holding the antenna lead to the bracket.
I didn't get a picture of this next part, but I had to resize the holes in the plastic bracket part that came off my trailer. I used a 9/64 drill bit to make the holes a bit wider. The screws did dig into the plastic a bit at this size, so you could probably get away with using a 5/32 bit. To be clear, these are the two holes that are used to hold the camera to the bracket insert. Do not try to widen the 4 holes that hold the bracket insert to the trailer mounted bracket.
I then lined up the antenna lead with the smaller slit in the plastic bracket, and the power lead with the wider, center slot. I later found out (once I had everything installed, that this caused my image to be upside-down on the monitor. You may or may not have this issue. I simply turned the camera over in its bracket to resolve this.
and inserted the 2 screws to hold the camera to the bracket.
The antenna lead will get connected to the other part of the bracket. There's a little rubber stopper on the part of the mount still on the RV. Remove and discard. I intially tried install the nut and tooth washer back on the antenna lead, but found that I couldn't get the antenna on quite right. The knockout for the lead is kind-of D shaped, as is the lead itself, so I felt that I would be able to get things on tight enough that I don't have to worry.
Connect the camera to the power, you may find, as I did, that you need to use that male-to-male adapter that came with the kit. Screw one end onto the camera, and one end onto the rv side.
Remember those 4 little phillips screws? Use those to remount the camera and bracket to the rv
Now, I didn't take pictures of the actual install process of the monitor, but here it is mounted in our Jeep.
And here is a closer up shot of the screen itself in use.
Hopefully someone finds this useful.
