Trials and Tribulations of my Trail Cam

[TheDude317]

I too wish I had OEM front camera but went with zautomotive one since it was on sale with tazer purchase black Friday of 2021. Camera isn't HD like OEM but decent.

Flash forward less than a year later and camera quit working. Check wiring and all was good. Bad camera. Contacted them, didn't have order number or anything and they were able to find it and send me a new camera (not the whole kit, just camera which was totally fine). Plugged new 1 in and it worked again (great customer service)

Only issue is THIS camera is terrible! I noticed the back of it was slightly different so I don't know if they changed or what but the picture is BAD! And the camera is like really zoomed in and useless. 1st camera fave a nice wide angle view and I could see the end of my bumper to judge how close I was to things, this one is zoomed to the ground, bumper not in view.

So I would have recommended zautomotive 1 but idk anymore since it seemed to have changed.

Good to know, was the process simple with taser to activate camera?

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[ShadowsPapa]

No, the dealer cannot do it. Did you read my post? I explain everything in the post.

Right - I got an education recently from Jimmy here (he knows his @#%$ about the modules and "programming" in Jeeps) and there's a whole lot more that dealers either can't, or won't, or both, these days.
It was simple, free, fast and easy a couple of years ago but things have changed.
Besides, I can sit back and see how it could be a can of worms for them even if they could or did.

 

[Fishee]

Good to know, was the process simple with taser to activate camera?

Yes real simple. As someone else said you shows up as "cargo cam" on the radio instead of front cam

 

[Mr._Bill]

No, the dealer cannot do it. Did you read my post? I explain everything in the post.

The dealer could not do it because they were trying to activate the front trail camera. They could probably activate the cargo camera input, but it depends on the dealer and the tech doing the work.

If the shop that installed the camera did it correctly, you should be able to activate it yourself with AlfaOBD, Jscan, or a Tazer. All of the aftermarket front cameras I have looked at are a similar design to the Tazer (ZAutomotive) camera and are wired the same way.

 

[MJRSC]

My only question is what does “squirty squirty” mean? In 40 years on earth never heard that phrase.

 

[TheDude317]

My only question is what does “squirty squirty” mean? In 40 years on earth never heard that phrase.

The trail cams have a spray nozzle that washes it off with windshield washer fluid.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The trail cams have a spray nozzle that washes it off with windshield washer fluid.

And a forum member here added the sprayer to his backup cam lens - that's something I need BADLY. I need to get a pick of the back of my truck. I didn't know the JEEP emblems on the tailgate were textured and white.

 

[TheDude317]

The dealer could not do it because they were trying to activate the front trail camera. They could probably activate the cargo camera input, but it depends on the dealer and the tech doing the work.

If the shop that installed the camera did it correctly, you should be able to activate it yourself with AlfaOBD, Jscan, or a Tazer. All of the aftermarket front cameras I have looked at are a similar design to the Tazer (ZAutomotive) camera and are wired the same way.

Sorry I only realized after a couple days of this thread that there was a distinction between trail cam, and cargo cam. This has made my understanding clearer. I've ordered a Tazer as there were some other features I wanted along with it and this accelerated my purchase. Thank you again.

 

[hjdca]

I have the Tazer and the front cam kit they sell which is enabled by the cargo cam. Like everyone said before, it is not HD, so, it is not close to as sharp as your rear camera. I use the front cam when I rock crawl, use the winch, and for parking. Even though it is not as nice at all like the rear camera, I still use it, and like it. For three days in the Rubicon Trail, I used it the whole time and it helped me a lot. So, what I am trying to say, is that it is way, way better than nothing, but, do not expect anything close to the rear camera.

PS. There is a thread on this forum on how to install the factory HD front Trail cam option, but, it is about $1K worth of parts and you have to take most of the interior apart (ie. there is an extra video module to install at the rear of the cab, and route more cables.

 

[ecidiego]

These posts go on to talk about making this a factoryish install complete with squirty squirty pump, nozzle, lots of wiring, a different camera brand, and some things I don’t have any clue what they are. Such as a CVPM, and a CAN IHS BLOCK or a BCM.

This isn't accurate. It isn't a different camera brand, it's the OEM Front Trailcam. The only thing " non factory " of the install is the power wire and the camera coax cables. All of the other related parts are 100% factory and the installed system looks and functions identically to a Jeep that rolled off the factory floor with the trailcam. Same parts, same BCM config.

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