Wiring for a rear camera

[Saboga]

I've just installed a new rear view mirror dashcam. I have the wire to the rear camera run along the top of the windshield , down the A-pillar, and along the floor under the plastic trim back to the space under the rear seat. The rear camera is mounted under the top cross bar of my Yakima bed rack. (The bed rack seriously hampers rear visibility, and I love the wide angle view the camera gives)

Ok, so the problem is getting wire the rest of the way from under the rear seat back to the camera.

Idea #1 - run it out the 3rd brake light fixture above the rear window. But, I haven't been able to get the trim loose on the C-pillar to get the wire up to the headliner.

Idea #2 - run it through the large rubber-grommeted hole under the seat where the wiring harness exits, and then under the bed back to left corner where the light and AC outlet are located. But, I've tried fishing a stiff wire through there and can't get it to go through where I can grab it underneath.

Idea #3 - (my least favorite) Drill a hole through the front wall of the bed - up underneath the top of the fender and tuck the wire in the corner up under the lip.

Before I go f***ing things up, has anyone found an easy wire path from the rear of the cabin to the tailgate area?

Here are pix of the camera location and the view I get in the rear view mirror.

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[Saboga]

I just realized what a crappy picture the last one is. Here it is all buttoned up.

 

[Montana]

Pretty cool! Does it function as a regular mirror too?

As for the wiring... nope. Gonna be fun

 

[fossil]

good way to get a front cam

 

[Saboga]

Pretty cool! Does it function as a regular mirror too?

As for the wiring... nope. Gonna be fun

When the screen is off, it does function as a regular mirror, but more like one that is in 'night' mode. The glass is not as reflective as a real mirror.

 

[Saboga]

Update: I went back at it again, and was able to get the wire through the large grommet under the rear seat. From there it was easy. I drilled a small 3/8" hole at the left rear of the bed just under the top edge - above the 110v plug - to snake the wire out to the camera. Removing the 110v plug gave me plenty of access to that empty space in the fender.

 

[colinl]

Nice work. I'm sure you saw that there are cameras that you can power from a tail light and then they use bluetooth instead of a wired A/V connection like this. Now that you've done it, yours is definitely better, but bluetooth would have been easier.

 

[Saboga]

Nice work. I'm sure you saw that there are cameras that you can power from a tail light and then they use bluetooth instead of a wired A/V connection like this. Now that you've done it, yours is definitely better, but bluetooth would have been easier.

What I'm actually aiming at is a system where I have a camera on the rear of my Airstream trailer that I can monitor from the rear view mirror display. Not just for backing. I've tried 2 different wireless camera/monitor systems, and they both sucked. One was a wifi connection to an app your iPhone. The other was a dedicated wireless camera with a monitor that clipped over the rear view mirror.

All the wires hanging down from the mirror was one problem. The other was that the picture had a lot of static from poor reception. I think the aluminum on the trailer was blocking the signal.

The problem with the iPhone app was that the video would freeze when the signal dropped and you wouldn't know it right away. Backing the trailer, you'd see you have 10' of clearance, then bang, you'd just hit the obstruction. Meanwhile, the image still shows you 10' away.

So I decided to hell with all the wireless options. I'll have a hard wired camera on the back of the trailer that I swap connections with at the rear of the truck when I'm towing. And when I'm not towing. I have a much better rearward view than the stock mirror.

Oh, and it also has a forward-looking dash cam with video recording. So it's not just a rear-view camera.

 

[colinl]

Oh, I assumed this was just dashcam/dvr usage. If you're actively monitoring I could see how the reliability of bluetooth video wouldn't be suitable.

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