Rear back up camera install

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shanemac

Active member
Hi everyone, this is the beginning of my journey to install a rear back up camera system. So for today I'm just starting off the thread with the system i bought and my opinion so far about it. As my progress moves along i will update the thread as i go.

The company i went with is called RearView http://rearviewsystems.com/index.html


This is the system i went with and according to Nick the guy who took my order this is there most popular kit they sell. Nick is a great guy and was very helpful.



I also went with this mounting bracket...once i seen it on member twistyroad's van i had to have one:thumbup:



Now for some more detailed photos







I have more photos trust me but i better stop hear or it could be a huge page load for some...

Right now i can say this, the quality of this stuff is very very good, the camera assembly looks very sturdy like it can take some abuse. The monitor is light weight but looks to be well made.

All the cables and power supply wires have a nice flexible feel to them not the cheap stuff. Kit includes mounting hardware for camera and the monitor has mounting as well.

The instruction sheet is clear and makes sense. Not sure when i can start this project but looking at a few weeks at least.
 
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shanemac

Active member
Decided to just dry fit the mounting bracket and see ware i want to mount the monitor. To me this looks like a good spot to mount things.
 
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qualityair

'09 144" Cargo
Shane, those are great photos you take. Did your van come with the factory pre-wire?, are you going to try and use it?, or just run a new wire?

looking forward to your next post, Charles.
 
D

Douglas Hicks

Member
Has anyone tried a wireless license frame camera? I am pulling a job trailer, what is the range of a wireless? Can I use a wireless on the Sprinter and the trailer?
 
aljimenez

aljimenez

'13 LTV Serenity on '12 3
That top rear brake light will cause your camera to blank out. You might consider trying your position first in the dark. Of course this is hard since you want to see what it does to the camera's output. I positioned my camera besides the brake light to reduce this problem. Of course my '04 brake light is a lot smaller... Al
 
OrioN

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
The rear backup lamp wiring and the cyclop wiring are in the same harness running to the rear d-pillar. I would put a 12v relay on the cyclop wire that is triggered by the current in the rear backup lamp. That is when you put your gear in reverse, the cyclop turns off. (ps... you'd have to live will a dash warning lamp coming on tempararily while in reverse)
 
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shanemac

Active member
Did your van come with the factory pre-wire?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately no it did not.

or just run a new wire?
Click to expand...
The plan is to use the kit harness but its only so long it will not reach from the front drivers area to the back so either i exstend the harness to feed into the rear area or try and tap into harness just behind the seat. The first option seems easier.

That top rear brake light will cause your camera to blank out. You might consider trying your position first in the dark.
Click to expand...
Good point i would like to have the bracket either just temporarily mounted until i can get the position just right and see what the camera feed is like on the monitor.

OrioN...good info....I'll see how brave i get when i get to that point i may just end up getting things planned and laid out in the cabin and let the dealer finish the wiring not sure yet.

The wiring harness included in kit has been kinda a challenge, they only made the monitor cable so long off the main harness so if i want to mount it high and in the center in the rear view mirror area, the rest of the harness for the power feeds and such will be in a very award position in cab will not reach under seat plus the bundle of extra AV cables ends and fuse block in harness needs to be accessible . The only other option would be to get there extension cable of 5 feet and that would make things a bit better.

I decided last night to mount the camera in the upper drivers corner that way i don't need the extension cable and the power feeds are closer to the power strip under drivers seat this photo may help explain it better wires would be hidden of course



Other monitor locations would use a suction cup mounting system

This one i like but this morning realized when the blower is on dumps a lot of air in that area This is another ok spot but kinda interferes with cup holder running cable tricky



Hear gets very warm and its in the sun etc running cable more awkward this is good too a bit of a look up but out of sun and heat i wouldn't need extension cable


Once i make a decision with input hear ware to mount monitor then that will determine how and ware to run the cabling

If i go center of dash i could feed wiring in behind the dash and down out through the bottom area and run cabling under floor mats or something. But getting the cable run from the back up camera to the harness connectors in a lower spot is awkward to. Maybe for the pros it would be easy:professor:

Going higher with monitor means a longer or custom monitor cable...that's what it may just come down to is a custom full harness. This is the problem with one size fits all harness and seeing the sprinter is so tall makes it tricky.
 
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shanemac

Active member
Well decided on the upper middle position as of now:laughing: my Ram Mount came in today so did some test fitting in various spots and for the most part the upper and lower corner locations work fine too. If anyone wants more photos of anything or the mounting system just ask. In the mean time i will post back when i have more progress completed.

 
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James-G

James-G

New member
cool i just bought a system and came looking for info/help on installing :D

The power wire, GND and reverse light wire where do you link those in?
 
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shanemac

Active member
For me i have not gotten that far but from the research i did on this sight you can use the terminal strip for the power wire. I stole this photo from another board member Tom McD... i made the notes.



I cut this page out too it shows the terminal strip details.
http://shane.servicetechhelp.com/terminalstrip.pdf

I'm not sure which terminal post of the three is constant power or powered when ignition is turned to accessory or if all three are powered all the time i would guess there all powered all the time.
I want to have a switch on dash (would like to use one of the factory switch locations) to turn on the camera when i wanted too. I need to research the factory rocker switch to buy.
The reverse light wire is a BLUE/WHITE wire from the few threads i read anyhow...they were taping into tail light housing i would guess.

Just wanted to show a closer detail of the Rear View wiring harness while i was making this post. A few draw backs about putting this complete harness under the drivers seat is access, such as the fuse link when the time comes and the AV cables jacks if i want to add other accessory's on the fly quickly. I would not rather remove the seat each time or gash holes in the side of the seat base for access.

The video camera wire trigger leads the white, blue, and green will have to be extended anyhow, the blue for the rear camera, the white and green for side cameras for example. I will keep working on this in the mean time:crazy::lol:

 
twistyroad

twistyroad

New member
shanemac said:
Hi everyone, this is the beginning of my journey to install a rear back up camera system. So for today I'm just starting off the thread with the system i bought and my opinion so far about it. As my progress moves along i will update the thread as i go.
The company i went with is called RearView
This is the system i went with and according to Nick the guy who took my order this is there most popular kit they sell. Nick is a great guy and was very helpful.
I also went with this mounting bracket...once i seen it on member twistyroad's van i had to have one:thumbup:
Right now i can say this, the quality of this stuff is very very good, the camera assembly looks very sturdy like it can take some abuse. The monitor is light weight but looks to be well made.
All the cables and power supply wires have a nice flexible feel to them not the cheap stuff. Kit includes mounting hardware for camera and the monitor has mounting as well.
Click to expand...
You didn't just get the same camera mount that I did... this is the same complete system as well. I'm very pleased with it. :rad:

shanemac said:
Decided to just dry fit the mounting bracket and see ware i want to mount the monitor. To me this looks like a good spot to mount things.
]
Click to expand...

Exactly where I mounted mine. :cheers:


aljimenez said:
That top rear brake light will cause your camera to blank out. You might consider trying your position first in the dark. Of course this is hard since you want to see what it does to the camera's output. I positioned my camera besides the brake light to reduce this problem. Of course my '04 brake light is a lot smaller... Al
Click to expand...

I don't know about other (cheaper?) systems, but that is NOT true of this system on this mount. On this mount, the brake light is not within the camera's field of view. During the day, there is absolutely no change to the monitor image when the brake light comes on. In the dark, the brake lights brighten the image somewhat, because the brake lamps provide increased illumination to the ground/objects behind you, but they certainly don't "blind" it.


OrioN said:
The rear backup lamp wiring and the cyclop wiring are in the same harness running to the rear d-pillar. I would put a 12v relay on the cyclop wire that is triggered by the current in the rear backup lamp. That is when you put your gear in reverse, the cyclop turns off. (ps... you'd have to live will a dash warning lamp coming on tempararily while in reverse)
Click to expand...

As I said, the light from the "cyclops" is not an issue, therefore this is not needed.


shanemac said:
Well decided on the upper middle position as of now:laughing: my Ram Mount came in today so did some test fitting in various spots and for the most part the upper and lower corner locations work fine too. If anyone wants more photos of anything or the mounting system just ask. In the mean time i will post back when i have more progress completed.

Click to expand...

I modified the stock interior mirror to serve as a mount. The end result was a position much like where you're proposing. I think it's ideal.


MySprinter_20080824_01sm.jpg
MySprinter_20080824_02sm.jpg


shanemac said:
The wiring harness included in kit has been kinda a challenge, they only made the monitor cable so long off the main harness so if i want to mount it high and in the center in the rear view mirror area, the rest of the harness for the power feeds and such will be in a very award position in cab will not reach under seat plus the bundle of extra AV cables ends and fuse block in harness needs to be accessible . The only other option would be to get there extension cable of 5 feet and that would make things a bit better.
Click to expand...

I too came up a bit short on cable/harness length... I ended up going with their camera cable extension.


shanemac said:
For me i have not gotten that far but from the research i did on this sight you can use the terminal strip for the power wire. I stole this photo from another board member Tom McD... i made the notes.

I'm not sure which terminal post of the three is constant power or powered when ignition is turned to accessory or if all three are powered all the time i would guess there all powered all the time.
Click to expand...

The posts under the "consumer terminal strip" in your picture are:
Blue/Yellow wire: on when engine is running.
Red/Gray wire: always on (direct battery power).
Black/Yellow wire: on with ignition switch.

I spliced the reverse wire into the wire harness going to the backup lights. Here's where I put the fuseholder:

MySprinter_20080706_01sm.jpg


The pic below puts the fuseholder in better perspective. The wires are still just "roughed in." The added green and red wires running down the B-pillar are power wires to accessories (including the rearview system) from the "consumer terminal strip" or the aux battery.

MySprinter_20080706_02sm.jpg


Hope this helps. Enjoy your new upgrade! :thumbup:
Rock
 
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shanemac

Active member
twistyroad thanks for your input...i was also wondering were the best place to buy automotive wiring from... napa? any other places i can get this wiring from?
 
James-G

James-G

New member
I decided to skip the bit i can't do and just add a cigerette lighter plug for power, i'll get some professional to wire it in properly some time.

I think a switch is the way to go as opposed to using the reverse option, my camera also has sound and i can invisage wanting to switch it on some time while i'm not in reverse.





My system came with three brackets i settled on the least invasive of the three, which is the stick on option, I settled on having the screen near the side mirror to avoid too much looking around while reversing.








the wire shortcut, just to get me up and running really, i can leave it plugged in and just use the power button on the screen.




I'm very happy with the build quality of this system http://www.svencamerasystems.com/
 
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shanemac

Active member
Well i decided to start doing some more work with install i managed to get the monitor powered and my new extension cable for monitor came in too. I'm real rusty with automotive wiring and need some clarification. I decided to install a manual toggle switch to turn on the rear camera when i want rather than taping into vans wire harness for the reverse light. I don't need the camera to come on every single time i reverse plus i wanted the option of turning the rear camera on when I'm moving just for the hell of it.

hear is a crude sketch



The rearview camera instructions says to connect the green wire to the switched positive + power output terminal of the "R"(reverse) gear for CAMERA

so 12vdc feeds + on toggle switch when i turn i switch that will feed dc to rear camera, ground the switch to a chassis ground....sounds to easy. I'm i way out in left field? i should fuse the toggle switch too?
 
bikergar

bikergar

Active member
Shane

You don't need the ground. All you need is 12v on one side of the switch. On the switch you are displaying you could put 12v on one side to turn the camera on and off as desired and 12v reverse gear power on the other side. This would turn the camera on when you go to reverse. If you just want simple on and off don't use the terminal on the other side. No ground...It will get that thru the camera when turn the switch on.

gary
 
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