Tow vehicle audio, nav & backup camera - what to do?
Hello, everyone. I'm a newbie to the forums but have already gleaned a lot of useful information from the group so far. My question today concerns “technology in the cockpit.”
Our tow vehicle is a 2005 Tahoe LT, 5.3L with tow package and only about 72K miles (pulling a new Surveyor Sport 220). The truck came with the non-Bose sound system but with onStar. Being a musician since the ‘60s (and, worst of all, a bass player), I could not abide by the stock sound system, so I installed what I call my “stealth” audio system. This consists of the stock head unit (to retain steering wheel controls, onStar, and a stock appearance for security purposes) feeding a JL Audio CleanSweep to get the messed-up stock EQ back to flat. The CleanSweep then feeds a multi-band parametric EQ (for pinking the system to the vehicle), four-channel amp for the doors and a bridged amp for the JL Audio center console Stealth sub. The primary music source is a Kenwood Music Keg hard drive unit stocked with 70 or 80 GB of uncompressed (FLAC) audio files. With this said, I mostly get to listen to music going to/from work (still putting off retirement) and when my wife is asleep on trips. Otherwise, we often find ourselves listening to a good book on CD.
My current navigation unit is a Garmin 2555LMT with which I’ve been very happy. (I probably wouldn’t know any better, though, as my flying and sailing days were pre-GPS…)
My quandary is this: I would very much like to have a backup camera to back up to the trailer – and the Garmin isn’t backup camera capable. My wife is “spatially challenged” and doesn’t have the decades of experience towing with me that my late wife had. With a dash-mounted GPS with power cable mounted, it seems like a separate backup camera would just make things that much more cluttered. I don’t particularly want to give up my sound system to replace everything with a new in-dash head unit with nav and backup camera (none of the new ones have a Kenwood CD changer input which is what the Music Keg requires) and I’ve used friends’ OEM in-dash units and am NOT impressed. I guess the Kenwood DVD navigation units with Garmin GPS would be OK, but I would still have to give up my Keg. (And I’ve read a number of reviews stating that the processors in these units are very slow and the units sometimes lock up.)
That brings me to the choice behind door #3… I’ve read some good things about the Good Sam-branded Rand McNally RV GPS available through Camping World. It appears to accept a hard-wired backup camera (the most reliable kind, anyway) and I can define my tow to avoid routes with narrow bridges, etc. It would mean only one dash-mounted device but would provide the backup camera option and allow me to keep my sound system. The Garmin RV dezl units aren’t getting very good reviews (and the dezl is the only one with a backup camera input), so this seems like a reasonable path to follow.
Does anyone have any other suggestions, experience with the Rand McNally or Good Sam units, or “out of the box” ideas? What would you do?
Thanks!
Rob
Our tow vehicle is a 2005 Tahoe LT, 5.3L with tow package and only about 72K miles (pulling a new Surveyor Sport 220). The truck came with the non-Bose sound system but with onStar. Being a musician since the ‘60s (and, worst of all, a bass player), I could not abide by the stock sound system, so I installed what I call my “stealth” audio system. This consists of the stock head unit (to retain steering wheel controls, onStar, and a stock appearance for security purposes) feeding a JL Audio CleanSweep to get the messed-up stock EQ back to flat. The CleanSweep then feeds a multi-band parametric EQ (for pinking the system to the vehicle), four-channel amp for the doors and a bridged amp for the JL Audio center console Stealth sub. The primary music source is a Kenwood Music Keg hard drive unit stocked with 70 or 80 GB of uncompressed (FLAC) audio files. With this said, I mostly get to listen to music going to/from work (still putting off retirement) and when my wife is asleep on trips. Otherwise, we often find ourselves listening to a good book on CD.
My current navigation unit is a Garmin 2555LMT with which I’ve been very happy. (I probably wouldn’t know any better, though, as my flying and sailing days were pre-GPS…)
My quandary is this: I would very much like to have a backup camera to back up to the trailer – and the Garmin isn’t backup camera capable. My wife is “spatially challenged” and doesn’t have the decades of experience towing with me that my late wife had. With a dash-mounted GPS with power cable mounted, it seems like a separate backup camera would just make things that much more cluttered. I don’t particularly want to give up my sound system to replace everything with a new in-dash head unit with nav and backup camera (none of the new ones have a Kenwood CD changer input which is what the Music Keg requires) and I’ve used friends’ OEM in-dash units and am NOT impressed. I guess the Kenwood DVD navigation units with Garmin GPS would be OK, but I would still have to give up my Keg. (And I’ve read a number of reviews stating that the processors in these units are very slow and the units sometimes lock up.)
That brings me to the choice behind door #3… I’ve read some good things about the Good Sam-branded Rand McNally RV GPS available through Camping World. It appears to accept a hard-wired backup camera (the most reliable kind, anyway) and I can define my tow to avoid routes with narrow bridges, etc. It would mean only one dash-mounted device but would provide the backup camera option and allow me to keep my sound system. The Garmin RV dezl units aren’t getting very good reviews (and the dezl is the only one with a backup camera input), so this seems like a reasonable path to follow.
Does anyone have any other suggestions, experience with the Rand McNally or Good Sam units, or “out of the box” ideas? What would you do?
Thanks!
Rob
