Truck YeahThe trucks are good!The new GMC Sierra has 15 different camera views available to help you see out, behind, above, around, and behind any cargo you might have in the bed, or trailer you might be towing. This afternoon I hopped into the driver’s seat and tested out a few different towing options, including the new 2020 GMC Sierra 2500 HD hauling a giant camper and the new 2020 GMC Sierra 3-liter diesel hauling an 8,000 pound box trailer loaded down with ballast.
(Full Disclosure: GMC flew me to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to drive the new GMC range of trucks, put me up in a nicely equipped tiny house, and put a lot of great food in my stomach.)
When I arrived in Jackson Hole, I was immediately thrown into the deep end of the hauling pool. Last weekend I towed my 1000 pound camper trailer behind our 3700 pound wagon. This afternoon I was conductor of a 7500 pound truck with a 12,000 pound 5th wheel camper. That’s basically the same experience, right?
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You’ll see more of the new Sierra HD in an upcoming review, but for now we’re going to focus only on the trailer camera system. There are a ton of them on this truck, and it’s pretty damn cool.
When you’re hauling a 5th wheel camper, my favorite view is this one. Straight off the back of the beastly trailer is a rear view camera that hooks right in to the GMC’s system to display on the center stack display. I still found myself looking in the rear view mirror, which gave me a great view of the front of the trailer. Once you get used to looking at the center console for rearward visibility, however, it’s quite helpful.
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If you’re concerned about the width of your haul, you can swap to this interesting view showing a tow-mirror view of both sides at once. I imagine this is a little bit of what it’s like to be an animal with eyeballs on the side of your head. Any time you’re travelling at parking lot speeds and turn the steering wheel, the camera view will default to the tow-mirror view on the inside of your turn to provide you unobstructed view of the trailer wheels so you know where they’re placed at all times.
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If you’re hauling a box trailer, or really anything with a bumper hitch rather than the 5th wheel hookup, you can select this totally bitchin’ view which makes the trailer “invisible”.
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By adding the rear of the trailer camera as an inset within the tailgate camera view, the panoramic view you’d normally get from a rear view mirror is returned. It’s like the trailer isn’t even there! In practical use, this is a great way to haul a box trailer. If you’re frequently hauling a race car trailer, you’d probably love this feature.
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The Sierra also includes GM’s second-generation camera operated rear view mirror. This is a really cool system in that it allows the driver to zoom or move the view around a bit to see over or around things in your bed. I asked an engineer about it, and they gave an example of hauling a dirt bike or snowmobile in the bed. A traditional rear view would be obstructed in that case, but with the camera system you can get an elevated view above your toys. Of course, if you flip the mirror down, you get a traditional glass mirror view. Pretty trick.
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And the GMC also incorporates a number of other views that aren’t necessarily new or interesting, but sure as shit are helpful.
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