Backup Camera

[rich weyand]

I put a wireless backup camera on Working Girl yesterday. It was a simple install and works great. I could have wired it into the backup lights right there in the back, but I ran the power wires for the camera (which I had to extend a bit) alongside the stock wiring harness, up the frame rail and into the cab. I plugged red into an ACC terminal on the fusebox and black onto an open tang of the ground buss at the parking brake pedal. So I made it harder on myself than it could have been if I had just wanted it on in reverse.

The camera hooks over the license plate. The red/yellow/green bars are adjustable, as is the vertical angle of the camera. The view in the screen is excellent, and it is easy to tell where you are. It would also be excellent for use during hitching to a trailer.

Anyway, it was easy to install, and I like it.

Amazon.com: Yada BT54860-50 Black Back Up Camera...

[1774btcrew]

It looks pretty cool. Do you have any installed pictures? Where do you put the monitor?

[rich weyand]

Here's the camera. There are three infrared LEDs on either side of the lens, so it works at night.



For right now, I just have it suctioned to the windshield with the supplied holder and plugged into the cigar lighter. I am thinking of hard-wiring it, fastening it to a styrofoam block and wedging it into the little glove holder hole in the dash.

[old Rusty C10]

nice... id just think about the location if you back up to trailers a lot as I see it getting damaged on the newer trucks they are mounted b the tailgate latch... these things are pretty helpful tho

[In The Ten Ring]

Has law enforcement given you any trouble? Your cam location obscures what state your vehicle is registered.

[rich weyand]

Nope. Not a word. But they are not very picayune here. Lifts, and excessive exhaust noise, HIDs, etc. don't seem to bother them. Mostly worried about people speeding and such rather than equipment infractions.

[In The Ten Ring]

I'm a bit surprised they are so lenient. If I was an officer, I'd give you a warning for that, but (as non police) I have reported a lot of drunk drivers so I've made lots of calls to 911 and read off lots of plates, always starting with the state.

How is the camera performing for you? It appears to have IR lights also.

I plan on outfitting both my vehicles with both dash and rear cams. On my truck I think I might try and get a step bumper and when I do, cut a hole for a camera, welding up a mount housing of sorts. I want the camera out of the way and yet protected from rain. I think a step bumper would really provide me a lot of those opportunities.

*Your truck looks very nice. I like your plate number too.

[rich weyand]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

I'm a bit surprised they are so lenient. If I was an officer, I'd give you a warning for that, but (as non police) I have reported a lot of drunk drivers so I've made lots of calls to 911 and read off lots of plates, always starting with the state.

How is the camera performing for you? It appears to have IR lights also.

I plan on outfitting both my vehicles with both dash and rear cams. On my truck I think I might try and get a step bumper and when I do, cut a hole for a camera, welding up a mount housing of sorts. I want the camera out of the way and yet protected from rain. I think a step bumper would really provide me a lot of those opportunities.

*Your truck looks very nice. I like your plate number too.

Thanks! When we moved here and had to get new plates, I asked if it was available, and it was. So I don't have to change plates for car shows.

I have the same camera, mounted the same way, on Working Girl and on my wife's xB. Both work great. She really likes hers because the xBs one failing (once I put the TRD anti-sway bar, the TRD shock tower strut, and the Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires on it to clear up the handling issues) is a bad view out the rear. I like the camera on Working Gilr for all the reasons you already know.

The cameras have IR LEDs so they work at night. Your weather-shielded mounting needs to take that into account. The little camera, though, is really well sealed. I think it's a misplaced priority to shield it from the rain.

The only problem I have is that, with a GPS, a windshield cam, and the backup cam, I need three 12-volt plug-ins in the truck, all on accessory power rather than constant-on like the ciggy lighter. So I ordered an Able 2 three-hole outlet box for mounting under the dash. Should be here in the next day or so.

[In The Ten Ring]

You are welcome man. I am a 1972 owner and I wish Chevy had run that body shape as long as they ran the '73 but yours is still a good looking truck.

A friend's dad had a 2wd '87 with a 305 V6 and that thing was a tank! He took us hunting in it up steep trails you wouldn't think a 4wd could manage.

About the cam, I was thinking about just that! Those IR spotlights would have to be provided for. My stepbumper cut out could be larger I suppose. I don't want to have to modify my truck's body in any way but cutting out part of a step bumper I would be OK with.

Oh yes, extra plug ins would be in order.

I want a front mounted cam too, at least a dash cam. I had a run in with a trucker that thought he was in "Duel II" and when state police finally caught up with him I had no real evidence of what he had tried to do. The officer I spoke with after wards said "if you had had a dash cam, we'd have a completely different result here." Based on other things the officer said, his tone, and his body language, that would have meant an arrest and I would have pressed charges and pushed for the loss of his CDL and job. What he tried to do to me would have wrecked/totalled/killed a less alert driver.

[rich weyand]

I have this windshield camera, and put a 32GB SanDisk microSMD card in it. On sale now because it is being phased out, I think. Seems to work fine. I mounted it low on the windshield, so it isn't in my vision. All of my windshield gadgets are below my sight line to the front edge of the hood, though they might not be for someone smaller, or with a shorter seat. (I have aftermarket buckets.)

https://www.amazon.com/Degree-Ultra-.../dp/B00JSZVWOG