Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Hopkins backup camera review

Just a PSA for those that are interested. I just bought a Hopkins backup camera for my teen driver to go on a double cab 2500hd. The camera has two modes, regular backup and hitch align, plus it is the only one I know of that has back up sensors (beep with increasing rapidity as you get close to an object). What sold me was the install. It comes in three pieces, the camera/sensor array which mounts on the license plate, the wiring harness, and the screen. If anything dies in the future, it can be replaced piecemeal, hopefully saving the re-running of the wire from the back to the cab (the hardest part)

Unlike every other unit out there it does not require cutting the factory wiring to get power from the backup light. You simply unplug the factory trailer hitch connector, plug the unit into the factory hitch connector at both ends. It basically intercepts the wires it needs and passes everything through, retaining full functionality of the trailer lights. There is no wiring needed in the cab. You run the wire up to the cab and connect the screen. The camera comes on right away in reverse with a clear image, and the sensors actually work very well so far. I have factory cameras in my other rigs, with sensors and camera in my other 2500hd. This works as well or better than the factory setup. For $115 it will definitely save me more than that in teen driver mayhem. For anyone without a camera, it is totally worth it. Time will tell about durability, but I wouldn't be without a camera after having one.

I'm not sure what brand mine is. It also has the license plate camera and a monitor that sits on the dash. I wired mine to a separate switch, though, instead of through the back up lights. The reason I did that is because the monitor is too bright at night. When it's on, it's blinding and makes it difficult to see my left mirror. I only turn it on when I need it in close quarters or when hooking a trailer.
It sure makes trailer hooking a breeze. I can get the ball straight with the hitch 1st time every time. It's a little tricky to get the distance to the hitch right, though, because of angle from the camera to the hitch. If it was mounted higher, it would be easier to see.

The Hopkins has adjustable color, contrast, and brightness, and . I've only used it to simulate hitching a few times, but the beeper and guide lines seem spot on. I wired up a Christmas CB at the same time, which took much longer than the camera install. The kiddo is happy.

Link in case anyone is interested. I bought from a vendor, but called Hopkins and they sent an extension cable free (ultimately was not needed for my install) free and fast.

I needed an extension cable & they sent it free. My pickup is a quad cab with a long bed. The cable was 2' too short.