Yeah they sell them on Amazon. Just search for trailer camera systems.

 

Etrailer.com is a good resource too.

 

Thanks for those sites, they show some good products.

But, I should have been more clear. I would like to put a camera in back of the trailer, but use the monitor built in the dash along with it's backup camera.

Any way to tap into that existing system?

 

Thanks for those sites, they show some good products.

But, I should have been more clear. I would like to put a camera in back of the trailer, but use the monitor built in the dash along with it's backup camera.

Any way to tap into that existing system?

I'd suspect it is possible to splice in a pair of sockets to the existing harness back by the tail light and rig up a switch(es) that would connect one socket or the other. Then you could buy a second camera identical to the oem camera and attach it to the back of whatever trailer you use. If I towed the same trailer all the time, I might be inclined to give that a try, but I'd have to be pretty motivated.

I think it would be a lot easier to add one of the aftermarket systems.

 

I have a wireless camera on the back of the Airstream. It came with a screen as well. The camera has a microphone as well so I can hear what is going.

The challenge of taping into the headunit is that is probably closed off to external inputs. I only use mine trailer cam on rare occasions so the second screen works.

Another option would be to look at a GoPro and run that with your iPhone and if possible, Apple Car Play might allow the image to appear on the headunit. I can see that working in theory but haven't tried it.

 

This is the camera that came with our trailer:

Voyager 5.6

Kit includes 5.6" TFT LCD digital wireless monitor with Auto-Pairing technology, wireless signal transmitter, 4" pedestal monitor mount, video splitter cable, A/V RCA camera connector, and 4-pin female camera to RCA adapter.

voyagercameras.com

It works well. Plug the monitor into the cigarette lighter and wire the camera to pull power from the 12V running lights on the trailer.

No modifications needed to your RL. Simple hook up on the trailer side. No need to run wires through the trailer connector etc...

You can leave it on all the time and have the screen sitting in view but still have your headunit displaying your music or nav info. I tried that on our first trip and found it too distracting to be looking behind.

GM has some sort of camera/tech that looks through the trailer, I think they have adapted some sort of wireless trailer camera(s). Maybe that would be something to shoot for.

 

I have done exactly what you asked about.

my 2006 Ridgeline did not come with a backup camera, but did have the GPS. Following instructions found here on this forum i installed a backup camera behind the license plate. It activates from the backup lights and displays on the Honda nav screen.

Then I wanted my trailer backup camera to also display on the nav screen, so I mounted a switch in the middle above the "not an ashtray" to switch between the truck cam and the trailer cam. The trailer cam is powered full time by the trailer 12vdc, so I can switch it on anytime so I know who's behind me, when it's OK to merge lanes, or when I've backed up into a camp site.

 

I found this old diagram I made of how I routed 2 backup cameras through the Honda nav unit. Not entirely comprehensible to me after all these years.

Here is a photo of my switch:

 

...and I found my document where I cut and pasted the instructions that I found right on this forum. May only work on a gen 1 Ridgeline, but here it is for your reading pleasure.

It can be done! Aftermarket rearview camera using the factory navigation plug. No need for a video converter or to find the backup light wire under the dash! Total cost was about $70.00 and about three hours of work. Best of all you don't need to spend $300.00 on a video interface!

The reverse signal is already in the navigation unit so when you put it in reverse it automatically switches the video display to the rearview camera. Thanks to PUG and his wiring diagram I was able to figure out which wires to use. It did take a little courage and some trial and error to get it working. See PUG’s diagram here Backup Camera Question

The back of the navigation unit has a seven (7) pin plug for connecting the factory backup camera. Pin one (1) on the navigation unit is the pin all the way to the left. The Molex plug that I used is a six (6)-pin plug.

Plug type to use is a Molex, part number is WMLX-103. Available from www.Frys.com for $2.85. Frys part number is 1899306.

The factory plug on the back of the navigation unit has a pin configuration as follows:

Pin (1) is a constant 8 volts dc. I assume that is the voltage the factory camera uses but its not enough to power an aftermarket 12vdc camera.
Pin (2) is the video ground or shield
Pins (3 & 4) are not used
Pin (5) is the video line (center pin)
Pins (6 & 7) are jumpered together. I’m not sure what they do but they have to be jumpered together.

Although there are seven pins on the factory navigation plug you only need four of them to make it work. Looking at the picture below Pin (7) would be all the way to the right. As you can see it is jumpered to pin (6). This plug needs to be inserted into the back of the factory navigation unit under the drivers seat so that pin (1) on the left is not used.

In the next picture below, the plug is inserted so that the pins all the way on the right are used and pin (1) has nothing on it.

According to the factory manual, pin 6 is Camera Shield ("shield for terminal No. 1 to No. 7") and pin 7 is Camera Adaptive ("Control signal for rearview camera"). A bit cryptic, but I suspect that pin 7 is the sense line that tells the Nav unit that a camera is present (it knows somehow). So what you did was ground that signal using the shield ground, enabling the function.