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  1. #1
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    2017 F-350 + 2021 Imagine wireless backup camera won’t display

    Hey everyone, my first post here, need some help.

    Okay, so I made the classic mistake of buying too much trailer for my truck. I used to have a 2016 F-150 with the max trailer tow package and it towed my 29” Imagine okay..but not great (~1,500 towing miles)..which is not a great feeling when you are about to move to Alaska with it. I say that because when I had that truck I bought one of those aftermarket wireless backup cameras (not furrion) off of amazon and installed it via the furrion cabling in the back. It worked like a dream. Anytime I was in reverse, neutral, or drive, the camera synced up no problem.

    What I really liked is that it seemed like the camera wasn’t pulling any power when I wasn’t in one of those gears. That makes me think that the truck specifically put power to the camera when in one of those gears. The GD is also built right so that it doesn’t continuously power the camera.

    Fast forward a few weeks and I’m in my 2017 F-350 and I’m thinking this should be cake, just plug it in and go. Nope. Doesn’t display a thing. Just black screen.

    So here is what I am thinking is going on..the truck doesn’t have the same communication thru the 8-way that the F-150 had, i.e. it doesn’t know to power the camera when in gear.

    Okay, so are you ready for the kicker? It will only display when I turn the ignition off and before I open the car door...WHAT THE HELL?? This proves it isn’t a pairing, range, or voltage issue.

    I also don’t think it is a speed thing bc it won’t display even when I’m stationary in all gears, even after a couple of minutes.

    I have considered getting up in the back of the trailer and connecting the hot wire to one of the lights up there, which would since the issue so long as they are on, but I don’t want to do that, mostly bc I don’t want my lights on all the time (I use it when I’m driving as a rear view camera, which is an AWESOME feature)

    And no, my battery disconnect isn’t engaged.

    I know there are some smart people in here, help me please?

    -Archer

  2. #2
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer View Post
    Hey everyone, my first post here, need some help.
    Archer, welcome. You've started off with quite a puzzler! Some of the things you're saying don't fit together, as you seem to know. Others are new to me and I've read a whole lot of threads about cameras. For example I don't understand how the camera used to know when you were in gear.

    Unable to think of anything to explain your cornucopia of symptoms I thought I'd write to encourage you towards the idea you rejected, connecting the camera to the marker lights. Grand Design is kinda haphazard about the way it wires the factory Furrion camera mount, but a lot of the time it does wire it to the marker lights. When it doesn't, a lot of people including me change the wiring that way.

    That way, when the truck lights are on so are the marker lights and the camera. Want to see through your "rear view mirror"? Flick on the lights and the image is there a couple seconds later. When the lights are off or the truck is disconnected, the camera draws no power.

    I don't know your trailer but it's likely as easy to rewire as it is on other GD trailers (I've done two). The back wall is a sandwich with styrofoam in the middle. It's an easy task to remove a marker light at the top of the wall and with a screwdriver poke a channel from there a few inches down through the styrofoam to the camera mount. Then connect a wire to the hot wire of the marker light, run it down through the channel you created, and hook the camera's power to it. It's less than a one-beer job.

    If you ever figure out the rest of the mystery you've posed I hope you'll post it here and tag me. Good luck.
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

  3. #3
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    Thank you for the reply!

    It was so simple.

    I tried a bunch of stuff, including plugging the trailer into the 2nd 7 way in the bed of the truck for the 5th wheel, checking the fuses for the 7 way, and trying all the upfitter switches.

    At one point I was trying stuff at night, and when the lights came on, the camera came to life.

    Could be the normal wiring, or it could be that it was originally sold in Canada, where you have to drive with your lights on, even during the day, so either Ford, or the previous owner wired it that way.

    I hope someone down the road finds this useful!

    -Archer

  4. #4
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    Archer,
    Glad to hear you got it figured out.

    It's all about what @boyscout was saying - the camera is powered from your tail light circuit in your rig. The same circuit that lights the clearance lights on the rig. When they come on, camera power is on.

    Clearly the 2016 F150 and the 2017 F350 have a different logic in applying power to the tail lights. It sounds like there is only power to the tail light pin on the truck's 7 pin connector when the lights are on (by either turning them on manually or when they automatically come on when a door is opened, etc.). My 2018 is like that. The F-150 probably had a different logic for activating that circuit.

    Anyway - now is all OK. And like boyscout said, when driving down the road you can turn the camera on and off during the day by turning you truck lights on and off.

    Welcome to our forum. Reach out anytime and you'll find lots of good folks willing to help.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
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  5. #5
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer View Post
    Thank you for the reply!
    Glad that it worked out. A couple of tips for using the forum:

    1. When you're replying to a post, click on the Reply With Quote link at the bottom right of that post. That copies the text you're replying to into your reply, improving context for others who come along later, and it alerts the person you're replying to that you've replied so they know to return to this thread and see your response. If copying the whole of the original message is superfluous, you can edit out some of the copied text. Or, you can tag the user you're responding to by including in your post their user name with an '@' symbol, such as @Archer, which also generates an alert for that user.

    2. Consider creating a "signature" that will appear at the bottom of every post you publish here. Include at least the year and model of your trailer, if not also other information that will help readers understand the context of your situation. (See my signature at the bottom of this message.) To create yours click on Settings at the top right of this page, and then Edit Signature at the left side of the resulting page.

    Again, welcome!
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

  6. #6
    Big Traveler Wicked ace's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer View Post
    Thank you for the reply!

    It was so simple.

    I tried a bunch of stuff, including plugging the trailer into the 2nd 7 way in the bed of the truck for the 5th wheel, checking the fuses for the 7 way, and trying all the upfitter switches.

    At one point I was trying stuff at night, and when the lights came on, the camera came to life.

    Could be the normal wiring, or it could be that it was originally sold in Canada, where you have to drive with your lights on, even during the day, so either Ford, or the previous owner wired it that way.

    I hope someone down the road finds this useful!

    -Archer
    As you found out the headlights need to be on for the camera to work as that is where it gets power. This is common on most any recently built PU as the "auto" feature has become common even in lower trim level vehicles.. Most, and I do it too like to keep the headlights on auto switch so they come on or off as needed. You need to remember to switch off your headlights after traveling. Although there will be a power management feature that would shut down any auxiliary function it's better to be safe than sorry with a drwn down battery.
    2018 F150 XLT 301a, Screw, 4x4, HDPP, Max tow, Andersen Ultimate w/ Curt Double Lock hitch.
    2019 Grand Design Reflection 150 series 260RD.... SOLD!!!!.

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