GM1210 Camera Support

Aftermarket Camera Power and Ground Connections

Since the GM-1210 gets its reverse trigger through the databus of the vehicle, it is not necessary to wire a reverse trigger lead in GM vehicles. All that’s required to add a backup camera is to add the camera, power it up, plug in the RCA video output lead to the GM-1210 reverse camera input RCA, and enable the camera in the menu.

When wiring an aftermarket backup camera, keep in mind that the GM-1210 allows access to the camera while driving, so if you are planning on using this feature, it’s important to wire the camera to an accessory or ignition power source.

ALTHOUGH THE GM1210 RADIO HARNESS HAS A LEAD LABELED “ACC”, YOU CAN ONLY USE THIS LEAD TO POWER A RELAY! DO NOT WIRE ANY ACCESSORY DIRECTLY TO THIS LEAD OR UNPREDICTABLE OPERATION AND/OR DAMAGE TO THE UNIT WILL RESULT!

The easiest place to get power (in the Silverado/Sierra/Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon) is at the left I/P Junction block, which is under the large black plastic cover to left of the foot brake pedal on the firewall. When you remove the cover (by pulling outward on both sides while pulling straight towards you), you will see a number of “ports” in the junction block with various plugs plugged into them. Your truck may differ slightly from the photo shown below, but the pin locations shown should be the same for almost all GM trucks that we’re aware of.

If you are planning on using your camera ONLY while in reverse, we recommend connecting the 12v power lead for it to the reverse wire (dark blue wire in the upper right port in the pictures below), which will power the camera on ONLY while the vehicle is in reverse and will not allow camera operation while moving. Ground for the camera can go to any metal point on the truck, or you can grab it at Port X14, Pin 1 (GROUND) in the pictures below.

If you are planning on using your camera while the vehicle is in motion, the camera needs to be powered from an accessory or ignition circuit. In this case, the camera’s 12v positive (red) lead can be hooked to Port X14, Pin 7 (IGNITION) or Port X14, Pin 8 (RAP ACCESSORY) NOTE: the ACC circuit on Pin 8 supports a maximum 2 amp draw only! Use this only if you are certain that your camera will draw less than 2 amps – if uncertain, we highly recommend using a relay triggered from this circuit to route a higher amperage source of voltage to your camera or other accessory.  Ground for the camera can go to any metal point on the truck, or you can grab it at Port X14, Pin 1 (GROUND) in the pictures below.

To start the installation, first remove your old tailgate bezel – Use the 13mm socket wrench to remove the bottom bolt of the tailgate latch – YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE THE TOP TWO 13MM BOLTS. Pull the tailgate handle up out of the way with one hand and firmly grab the plastic bezel with the other and give it a good tug. Be careful, because it has a tendency to bust a knuckle on the way out. To install the camera, you will simply snap the new bezel in place and reinstall the 13mm bolt, but first you will need to run the camera cable out of the tailgate.

All trucks have drain holes in the bottom of the bed, and the camera harness is small enough to pass through the center drain hole. Pass a fish tool of some sort (a coat hanger works great) through the center drain hole up to the handle area, then tape the camera lead to it and GENTLY pull the cable through the drain hole. All 2010 and newer trucks already have a 1 1/4″ hole in the back of the bed, and if yours has this, simply pass the camera cable into this hole and under the bed in preparation for connecting and running the extension harness. If you do not have a hole in the back of the bed, you have two options: drop the camera cable UNDER the back of the bed, or remove the tailgate and drill a 1″ hole into the rear panel of the bed and snap in the supplied plastic grommet, then pass the camera cable through to the area under the bed. Pull the excess wire slack under the truck. Slide the wire loom over the wire and up through the tailgate so the exposed portion between the tailgate and box is protected (shown at bottom left). Tape the loom in place and zip-tie the camera cable to an existing vehicle harness, leaving enough slack to operate the tailgate properly (center).

To insure a secure, watertight connection (especially important if you launch a boat on a regular basis), source some dielectric grease and coat the male connector with it prior to plugging the male plug into the female socket of the extension harness. Connect the male and female ends of the camera harness (be careful when plugging in the camera connector – it has a keyway and only fits one way!), then tape or heat shrink the connection to seal out moisture. Run the pre-loomed camera harness alongside the factory harnesses on the left side frame rail toward the front of the truck, using the included zip ties to secure it.

The easiest place to enter the cab is through the parking brake cable grommet on the driver’s side floor near the front left corner of the driver’s seat (right). To access this grommet, remove the driver’s side sill plate and peel the carpet back far enough to see the top of the grommet. Carefully pop this grommet out (it helps to push from below). You can pass the cabling through this grommet two ways: make a “X” cut in the hard rubber and pass your cables through, or cut through the outer hard plastic rim, then split the rim to pass your cables through. We suggest splitting the rim, which will allow you to pass the cables into the cab without worrying about damaging the RCA end when trying to force it through the very stiff rubber grommet.

Tailgate cable run

Camera cable zip-tied under bed

Parking brake cable grommet

Once you enable the camera in the menu on the GM-1210, start the truck and place it in reverse – it should display automatically. You can also choose to mute the audio system when in reverse in the settings menu.

NOTE: Duramax diesel trucks need to be running in order to power the reverse circuit.

Parking brake cable grommet

Left I/P Junction Block

Camera settings

METHOD 1 – FACTORY NAVI (OR FACTORY MIRROR WHEN MIRROR DISPLAY WILL NO LONGER BE USED):

If your vehicle came with the factory camera that displayed on the factory navi radio OR if your vehicle came with the factory mirror display (AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO RETAIN THE MIRROR DISPLAY OR YOU WANT TO MANUALLY TRIGGER IT),  use this method.

(1) Identify the blue wire in the upper left connector (X11, White plug, pin 5) at the left I/P junction block as shown below. (Note: the left I/P junction block is under the black plastic square cover to the left of the foot brake). Verify this blue wire goes to 12v when the truck is in reverse.

(2) Unplug white “X11” plug in the upper left, then de-pin the BLUE wire in the pin 5 location (factory camera power as shown below, center). Release the connector by releasing the red keeper then lifting up on the tang that retains the female connector in the plug.

(3) Remove this BLUE wire from the White X11 plug and insert it onto the the IGNITION pin (X14 Pin 7) in the diagram below.

(4) NOTE ON FACTORY MIRROR DISPLAY: To turn off the mirror display (which will now be on full-time with this modification), remove the DARK BLUE wire in Pin 9 location of the mirror harness (shown in next section), or add a toggle switch to this wire if you want to use the mirror display on-demand.

If your vehicle came with the factory camera that displayed on the factory mirror display (AND YOU WANT TO RETAIN THE MIRROR DISPLAY OPERATING ONLY WHILE IN REVERSE),  use this method.

You will need to source a standard automotive “Bosch” style NORMALLY OPEN relay, five female “.250” spades (for relay), two butt connectors (to extend factory wires), two “.110” female spades (for power/ground connections at junction block), short length of wire and electrical tape. NOTE ON RELAY: Bosch style relays come in two types: normally open and normally closed. You can tell the difference by the numbers assigned to each terminal. The normally open relay will have 5 terminals labeled like this: 85/86/87/87A/30. Normally closed relays will have 4 or 5 terminals labeled like this: 85/86/87/87/30

(1) Identify the blue wire in the upper left connector (X11, White plug, pin 5) at the left I/P junction block as shown (above center). (Note: the left I/P junction block is under the black plastic square cover to the left of the foot brake). Verify this blue wire goes to 12v when the truck is in reverse.

(2) Using the picture below as your guide, strip back some of the black tape on the “X11″ harness, then cut the BLUE factory camera 12v wire as shown below. Extend both sides of this wire by 6-8” and add .250 female spade connectors to the ends. Connect the wire that comes FROM THE JUNCTION BLOCK TO PIN 30 on the relay and the wire that GOES INTO THE HARNESS TOWARDS THE FLOOR TO PIN 87A on the relay.

(3) Connect three more short pieces of wire to the relay on pins 85, 86 and 87A. 

Connect 87 to pin 5 of port “X11” – IGNITION
Connect 86 to pin 1 of port “X11” – GROUND
Connect 85 to the DARK BLUE wire in pin 8 port “X10” – REVERSE

If the relay is wired correctly, the camera will be displayed on the GM1210 and on mirror display in reverse while allowing you to switch to the camera on the radio while in motion.

Alternatively, if you want to be able to use it on demand, you can set this wire up on a toggle, activating it when you want to use the mirror monitor.

If you want to get really tricky, we can show you how to add a front camera (or trailer camera) and have it display in the mirror!

NOTE: If you have the factory Centerpoint system, you will use the subwoofer harness provided with the GM-1210 on the X4 connector, but it will not have the camera leads in it – you will still have to do this modification.

To hook up the factory camera, you will cut off one end of a short RCA cable (not provided with GM-1210), then strip the outer insulation and separate the center conductor from the outer copper braided wire, then connect the RCA center conductor to the pink or white wire in pin 6 of the BROWN X4 connector (this color will depend whether your truck has RPO code “Y91” – found on RPO code sticker in glove box) and connect the RCA braided outer wire to the lt. blue wire in pin 7.

If the camera is wired to this plug, the camera can be wired to the GM-1210 with the center conductor of the RCA connected to the pink wire in pin 6 and and the shield of the RCA connected to the blue wire in pin 7:

Silverado/Sierra camera “Y” adaptor allows retention of rear view mirror display

Silverado/Sierra factory camera adaptor to eliminate rear view mirror display

With the Advent CAM-500 camera, front camera installations have never been easier – the pictures below show the front camera installation on our own 2011 Tahoe, and mounting this camera installation took less than five minutes. All that is required is to wrap the threads with a couple layers of electrical tape and force the camera into one of the openings in the crosshatch grille. It will be a VERY snug friction fit, that will be very stable and gives a great view over the front bumper.

This process involves switching both camera’s video positive leads (the center conductor of the camera’s RCA cable) through the relay and out to the radio. It can be done by cutting and soldering the leads right onto the relay, but we strongly recommend putting the relay together using female RCA female extension cables for all connections (commonly available as a (1) MALE to (2) FEMALE RCA “Y” adaptor – simply cut off the male end and you have two female leads) so that both camera output wires and the jumper to the GM-1210 can be done without modifying the camera or radio leads themselves (BELOW RIGHT).

In this arrangement, with the relay at rest, pins 30 and 87A are connected, leaving the rear camera connected to the rear camera input on the GM-1210 as it would normally operate.

When the switch is flipped, the relay turns on and you are now connecting pins 30 and 87, sending the front (or second) camera’s video output to the rear camera input of the deck, allowing you to view that camera.

All RCA outer wires (usually bare copper) should be twisted together and crimped or soldered.