Anyone have experience with a rearview mirror backup camera set up?

[Rich69shortfleet]

Some success. I tried a smaller nut on the string and got it to go about halfway down the A piller. Not sure why it stopped, perhaps just friction on the string. Metal in there has a lot of patina and are no longer smooth surfaces. I will pop a hole into the kick panel area and then try the compressed air method to help move it along.

[Rich69shortfleet]

So I got the rear camera mounted and ran the video cable all the way up to the cab. I also gave the string with a nut on it a shot with compressed air and I think it went down to the kick panel. I'll have to drill an access hole tomorrow.

I mounted the camera on the lip of the bumper above the license plate. It fit so snug with the license plate light holding it in place I didn't have to drill any holes or use and bolts or screws. This turned out to be the best place and way to mount the camera since my license plate hinges up to allow access to a hidden hitch receiver behind it.

[LockDoc]

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I did some more checking today. The only thing I can see that would be a problem are the ends of the bolts that fasten the end of the dash to the "A" pillar/cowl area. They would catch the string and/or the nuts fastened to the string. There is nothing else in there.

In the last picture you can see the top bolt. There are 3 more below that. So maybe if a guy would remove those first..... Dunno?

[Rich69shortfleet]

So I was determined to get at least get a fish line from the top to the bottom. I already had a line down the A pillar but I found I had a LOT of cable from the rear to work with so I thought I'd instead route the wire down the B pillar which would allow me to avoid drilling a hole in the kick panel. I could never get a fish line to go down the B pillar, it would always get stuck at the top rear corner. My boreoscope view was inconclusive about if there was a clear path that way or not. So I returned to the A pillar. I drilled a 3/4" hole by the mirror mount and another just below the edge of the dash in the A pillar lower plenum. I had a nut on the string so I looked inside with my boreoscope and saw the nut resting on the lower dash mount bolt so I used a magnet tool and fished it out through the new hole.

So I have a solid line from the visor hole to the kick panel. I need to get some grommets for the cable holes and then I can route the cable from the kick panel to the mirror mount area. So far so good.

I did have to take the parking brake pedal loose, I couldn't get it out altogether so I just pushed it toward the center to give me enough room to get my 90-degree power drill in there to drill the hole in the kick panel. To be able to move the parking brake pedal assembly I had to take my trailer brake modulator off the dash too as well as the driver's side courtesy light. So, I have to run the cable, connect the power wires and put things back together. I'm having a fabricator make a mounting bracket like JEM made and when done I can mount the mirror/monitor and get it all set up for use.

I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to wire this into the truck. My truck has the original fuse panel which is pretty basic and over the years I've added air conditioning, trailer braking, LED lighting for the box, DRL and a Custom Autosounds stereo and a powered subwoofer. I've got a lot of new accessories on the appropriate circuits so I'm not sure I can fit on another jumper on them but we will seen. Nothing pulls a lot of power, the AC connections are just controlling relays out in the engine compartment which are wired separate to power, but still. I should probably upgrade the alternator as what I have is the original size 37 amp unit. I've never blown any fuses or fuseable links and all the lighting is now LED so that helps lower the power burden.

[dmjlambert]

Keep up the good work. It is interesting to hear of your progress and see pictures. It would be fun to see a picture of your 90 degree drill.

[Rich69shortfleet]

I found some grommets, two tiny rubber grommets, +$5.00. Sheesh.

Also, when listing grommet specifications online and on packaging almost everyone lists the overall outside diameter and inside diameter. But the most important measurement is the diameter of the hole into which it will fit. The ones I finally found were listed as 31/32" OD and 1/2" ID. I had to measure the groove diameter to make sure they would fit the 3/4" holes I drilled (and they do). Glad I found them locally since buying some online and shipping them would have been crazy for two small rubber grommets. I got the last two the local store had.

[Rich69shortfleet]

I had a bit of a challenge getting the video cable up through the top of the A pillar where it enters the roof cavity. It took a while but I finally got it around that corner. The end of the cable is stiff, so it did not easily bend around the corner and the pulling wire was just pulling it to the side of the hole at the top and that's where it was getting snagged.

Anyway, I got it in and routed to the mirror mount, that last stretch was easy. Here are the holes with the cable installed and the grommets in place.

All that's left to do now is to connect the power wires and wait for the mounting bracket to be completed. I'll try to get it wired to power tomorrow and test it out. BTW, at the junctions in the video cable where the camera cable plugs into the long cable up to the cab and where the mirror/monitor cable plugs into the power cable and where the long video cable plugs into the power cable I am using self-sealing shrink tubing to not only seal the joints but to help keep them firmly connected.

[Rich69shortfleet]

Well, everything is mostly buttoned up and wired in. It works! Just waiting for the mounting bracket to be completed. Then I need to spend some time working on the settings. The screen image is great.

When poking around the fuse panel to wire the mirror/monitor in I saw and was reminded that I had wired the AC into the pre-existing slot in the fuse panel for AC which was not originally wired in as my truck was not built as an air truck. So, the switched and not switched power outputs in the fuse panel are feeding the stereo and the new mirror, not a huge burden on that circuit.

I still might upgrade to a 55 amp alternator. I haven't had any issues with lights or stereo acting like they are power starved, but it would still be a good upgrade for when I might have AC, stereo (including a self-powered subwoofer), mirror and headlights all running at the same time. That all sounds like a lot for a 37 amp alternator to handle.

[Rich69shortfleet]

I FINALLY got the bracket my fabricator worked up for me. It fit fine. If the weather ever changes back to something approaching tolerable I'll finish the installation.

[Rich69shortfleet]

Finally wrapped up the install.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Sure looks nifty.

[Rich69shortfleet]

The other day I got some real world experience with the new system. It was late in the day and the sun was shining bright. I found the glare on the screen was so bad I couldn't even see the image even at the brightest setting. So, I decided to have the windows on the truck tinted, which is something I've always been meaning to do anyway, and while there I had them add an anti-glare cover to the monitor itself. Worked out pretty well.

Here's the truck with the newly tinted windows.