The GMC Transparent Trailer Camera (P/N 84876819) is a nice feature to add for a trailer, but the installation instructions call for running the 53' harness / cable on the outside of the trailer, which can be unsightly. The harness is 1/2" diameter, but the large camera is attached to one end, and the connector plug at the other end has large prongs that would require drilling a 2" hole to route it inside the trailer. My initial thought was to remove the connector plug, run the cable, then reconnect it, but I found some strong advice not to do this as it is nearly impossible to reattach the connector. I found on an Airstream forum a very helpful post from jaybauman who had disassembled the camera holder, removed the camera, and routed the cable allowing smaller holes through the trailer. However, there were no detailed instructions for disassembly or pictures to help reduce any anxiety for doing this. I did do this, and thought it would be helpful to post some more info and pics for this approach.

1) Disassemble camera from bracket with 8mm wrench (I grabbed 5/16" wrench)

2) Remove Torx screws with T10 driver.

3) Remove camera and cable from case

4) Disconnect camera from cable. I used a small flat head screwdriver to lift the tab and gently rocked the connection loose.

Now you can drill 5/8" holes in the trailer and run your harness / cable through the trailer. I used silicon to seal around the holes.

The instructions have you use double sided tape to test mount the camera. Instructions call for using Brake Parts Cleaner, which also removes paint, to clean where the tape will go on the trailer. Since this is temporary, I suggest considering other cleaners such as Windex. Also, after you finish your final mounting of the bracket and reattach the camera case, I suggest using some high strength removable thread lock on the bolt threads (I used Permatex).

Another area I'm still sorting out has to do with how the Transparent Trailer looks on the home screen. When you set up the trailer profile, it promts you for trailer dimensions. My trailer is 9' wide (108") outer wheel to outer wheel, which is how you are prompted to input this dimension, as you see in the picture.

However, when I used that dimension, and pushed Save Changes, I received a message saying my dimensions were outside the Transparent Trailer feature limits. I played with the width dimension and found that it would accept up to 102" for the feature to work. The Transparent Trailer image is fine on my home screen, but you can see in my picture below that the upper 2/3 of the screen from side to side is from my trailer camera. The various demonstration videos show vertical transition lines on the sides of the upper 2/3 of the screen where the images from the Video Trailer Mirrors are stitched in. I don't know if one is better than the other, but I plan to play with reducing my width dimension, recalibrate, and see what it does. I'd be interested if anyone has experimented with this and what they learned.


Hope this is helpful. Cheers and Boiler Up!