back up camera [Archive]

Rude

05-14-2008, 06:55 AM

I normally just turn my head around and watch where I'm going.... :thumb:

i don't know why i didn't expect THAT one :smashfreak:

my problem is the last couple of feet...back up, get out and look...back up, get out and look. i suppose i'd get better if i would just go to the lake more :D

Rude

05-14-2008, 06:56 AM

Ex-wife

:dunno::dunno::dunno:

OnlyMoney

05-14-2008, 08:23 AM

BADFISH II

05-14-2008, 08:50 AM

We have a Clarion one (BIG surprise there). Makes hooking up the trailer really easy by yourself, but I can't stand to watch it when I put the boat in the water...seeing it coming at you when you're looking forward AND backward....makes me queasy just thinking about it.

I agree - we have it in the Yukon and hooking up is easy, but I wouldn't use it launching. Retrieving somewhat though - it's kind of cool. Is it worth it? probably not a major necessity, but it is cool!

Liquid Courage

05-14-2008, 09:30 AM

I have mine pointed downward towards the ball. Works absolutely fabulous for hooking to trailers. Now I just dump the air bags in the rear, back up to the trailer using the camera (perfect alignment almost every time), walk to the back push the fill button for the bags, finish raising the jack and roll out.

After having one and hooking to so many trailers alone and playing that stupid in and out, in and out game I would never go without one again.

It is also nice for backing up in parking spots and towards the garage door. Takes a short learning curve with the wide angle lens.

I had one of the Wal-Mart wireless ones. It worked, but had some noise in it. I now have a wired in dash unit that works great, automatically turns in when I put it in reverse.

I will never be without, we should have a trailer hooking up race and let the time decide. :D I think I would be hard to beat, especially using the bags to raise and lower the rear of the truck.

Keith

Rude

05-14-2008, 08:47 PM

i wouldn't need to back with in general, i just want it to hook up to the trailer with. those of you that have after market cameras, where did you find them and what kind of price range. i looked at a number of different sites that offer them but the descriptions aren't very good. i have found a couple of wireless ones that look pretty cheezy. one of them was about $80 or so. Keith, where did you mount the camera? can you post a couple of pics of your setup? onlymoney, i'm assuming yours is aftermarket as well if its clarion. if you have any pics of your setup i'd like to see it as well if you happen to have any pics of it. thanx for the input.

hkunz

05-15-2008, 09:28 PM

We've had one in the motorhome for years, works great. I got the Walmart online and the Walmart walkin store wireless cameras. Get the one that does not have to bolt to the license plate.

I put one in the rockcrawler to look for rocks behind me, and then other is on the pickup. The pickup one allows me to hook up to the trailer while my wife does whatever it is that girls do before we go out on the lake - fix her hair, mop, do dishes, mow the lawn, etc....

Rude

05-16-2008, 09:14 AM

the one you're talking about runs about 80 bucks or so right? that's really all i want it for, just to hook up with. walmart huh? i'll check it out. thanx.

AnchorNPlay

05-16-2008, 09:18 AM

the best tool in the world for an SUV when hooking up a trailer, ours is stock so I am not sure what to recommend. In the Overtons magazine there was a reall simply cheap one thats built into a license plate bracket if you dont want to spend the big bucks...

I have mine pointed downward towards the ball. Works absolutely fabulous for hooking to trailers.

Liquid Courage

05-16-2008, 01:44 PM

Not a great picture. I took it last night. The first one I had from walmart was about $80 and worth every penny. There was a little noise in the picture, but it did work well.

The camera is mounted above the ball, not the cleanest install. It was a matter of function for this one.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k4/dkdecker/truck/P1010494.jpg

Dont forget, you need a nice place for some air bag controls. Sorry had to throw this in there. I love the airbag controls. Flip down license plate holder.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k4/dkdecker/truck/P1010495.jpg

Rude

05-16-2008, 06:12 PM

thanx for the pics keith. i'll have to check out the walmart camera. and trust me, i've thought many times about the air bag system. but i think i'm going to save my dough and put all the goodies on the next truck i buy. i can't seem to convince myself i'm going to keep the truck i've got. the back up camera would be pretty easy to take off, but the airbag system, while not permanent won't fit on my next truck.

hkunz

05-17-2008, 12:37 PM

The $80 one from walmart.com, or the walk-in store. Try to find the one that does not need to be mounted on the lic plate.

I hooked up the pickup according to instructions, it only comes on when I put it in reverse. On the Jeep, I ran the hot lead for the cam up to the same switch as the monitor so I can run it anytime. I like to see if the guy behind me on the trail made the obstacle - I've even done some spotting with the cam setup.

Both are very wide angle, and have some sort of IR capability to see in the dark. Neither is very good when pointed towards the sun - not just at it, which would blind anyone, but even as much as 75* off angle. This means for me that the Saturday morning backup into the garage is blind until I get the truck in the door. That's ok, I can still use the mirrors:laugh:

kimswang

05-20-2008, 06:28 AM

I was trying to dig up a thread on OSO but the guy apparantly deleted it due to too many responses. He mounted a camera and hooked it up to his nav unit that already was in the dash. It was awesome and invisible until you put it in reverse.... I can not stand loose wires anywhere so one of those "one size fit all" just wont do the job. I have tried to come up with some better ideas about how to mount it but is still working on it... If you have mounted one feel free to post some pictures of it and give me some ideas to work on...

kevnmcd

05-20-2008, 06:48 AM

Kim - Did you see LC's post above with pictures? He doesn't seem to have any loose wires hanging around.

Liquid Courage

05-20-2008, 08:15 AM

Kim - Did you see LC's post above with pictures? He doesn't seem to have any loose wires hanging around.

Mine is also tied to an in-dash unit. It is invisible until you put it in reverse.

kimswang

05-20-2008, 09:11 AM

Kim - Did you see LC's post above with pictures? He doesn't seem to have any loose wires hanging around.

I was more thinking about the interior. He didn't post any pictures from there.
The idea of hiding things behind the license plate is nice, I did the same thing with my last truck, except I hid everything (handle, airshocks, hitch, plug in for trailer....) I will do that again with the Yukon once I get all the parts gathered and made my own hitch receiver. The bumper is comming off and it will all be smooth back there...
The guy on OSO actually hooked up two cameras, one for the hitch and one for the 5th wheel. He then hooked it up so that the original nav/radio unit in the dash functioned as the monitor... pretty slick.

kevnmcd

05-20-2008, 12:53 PM

I was more thinking about the interior. He didn't post any pictures from there.

Gotcha! :thumb:

Post'em up here, Keith!

Rude

05-31-2008, 07:51 AM

i picked up the walmart special. i'm going to try and get it put in next week.

kevnmcd

05-31-2008, 07:59 AM

i picked up the walmart special. i'm going to try and get it put in next week.

All by yourself? :eek3:;)

just another payment

05-31-2008, 12:32 PM

James has become quite the mechanic.

We are all so proud of you James.

kevnmcd

06-01-2008, 10:54 AM

James has become quite the mechanic.

We are all so proud of you James.

Let's wait and see how it turns out first! :thumb:

Rude

06-02-2008, 08:06 AM

Let's wait and see how it turns out first! :thumb:

BLAH BLAH BLAH :laugh:

actually, i won't be doing this one alone. one of the guys at work wants to help me put it in so he can see how they work and what it takes to put them in. he's looking at putting one on his wifes car for reasons i probably don't have to explain :D :smashfreak: hopefully it will be done this week sometime so i can try it out this next weekend.

Liquid Courage

06-02-2008, 12:35 PM

They are easy to put in. The monitor is actually a cigarette lighter plug. I cut this a tapped directly into "keyed" power under the dash. Ran the cable up the a-piller, behind the headliner and came back down through the visor bracket and then had the monitor attached to the visor.

The camera can be done in a couple of ways. Either straight to a keyed hot which you will have in a 7 way trailer plug, or you can use a reverse hot which will take more time for the camera to aquire the picture appox 8-10 seconds. The down fall to this is everytime you go from forward to reverse you have to wait for the camera to aquire the image.

I had my camera wired keyed hot and the monitor also wired keyed hot. I prefer to be able to turn the monitor off and on myself. I am actually going to run a switch to my current indash setup to be able to turn the rear monitor off and on without going to reverse.

The wired camera gets the image very fast.

If you get a really bad image with the wireless setup make sure you do not have any bluetooth running. It was hit or miss with my bluetooth interfering.

Rude

06-23-2008, 07:45 PM

the cam is finally in. i haven't actually installed the monitor yet. i can't decide where to put it. so for now i'll just have to plug it in. the cam is wired into the license plate lights. i wanted to pull this thread up before i wired it but wasn't able to do so. i thought about the trailer plug. but doens't your lights have to be on for the cam to work. i have to turn on the parking lights at least for the cam to come on. not a big deal. the picture seems pretty clear.

Liquid Courage

06-24-2008, 08:04 AM

The Walmart one I had I just had the camera side hot all the time. I mounted the monitor to my visor running the wires down the A-pillar to a key on wire under the dash. I prefered to have the camera hot all time because of the time it took for the camera to show the image. The parking lights should work great that way it is only on when you want or at night.