Some photos of my project
Thought I'd add some photos of the process to install my camera. I have not decided where to mount up front yet. May go with on the dash to the right of the steering wheel - the unit fits well there, and my wife likes it lower rather than up high.
More to come.
Some notable items:
routing the wiring to the backup lights would be a ROYAL pain - snake up through the door channel and into the rubber conduit, then out of the conduit to the light fixture? I went with the license plate lights. Much simpler. Good suggestion!
Also, note that not all of the panel clips came out of the door when removing the panel. Glad I had a trim tool
like this one!
Finally, note the holes to access the nuts that hold the light bar on the outside of the door. You'll need a 10mm socket for that job and an extension....
A better shot showing the bolt access holes. This shows the completed wiring for the backup camera, so I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.
Here's the bracket for the license plate, showing the T15 screws which hold it to the door. I noticed *after* taking the photos that the license plate screws used by the dealer actually cut through the paint on the door. Cleaned those spots and then painted over them with hobby paint (never be seen, so color match is not as big a deal) then covered the paint with a couple of layers of electrical tape so that future screws won't cut into the paint!
Note that I ran the wiring between the license plate and the bracket - then up behind the bracket in the hopes of moisture dripping beneath the whole assembly.
This is what the harness looked like before I started.
Here's a shot of the wiring up close. I zip tied the wires tightly so that I could avoid rattles. I did go chintzy with the taps - I used the ones that came in the kit. Kind of a hassle. The connectors in the taps were fine for the factory wires, but too %$*%($ small for the wires in the silly kit. I ended up soldering the kit wires to the kit taps. Who planned that?