I ultimately solved this question for me by buying a Boyo license frame camera system that is wired into my head unit (7" retractible screen). The clearance is close between the hatch and the frame, but there is no contact and I have no trouble opening or closing the hatch. I've had mine about 8 months. The only problem is the camera is situated behind the hatch and so the hatch cuts off a bit of the upper view of the camera. All-in-all, I'm very pleased with my set-up. Here is an ebay item number for a comparable frame to show what it looks like - 300247973949. With mine, the camera comes on whenever the car is in reverse gear.

 

I installed my rear view camera and monitor this week and it certainly helps with the blind spot. I got the type that has the pod to hold the monitor but I didn't use the pod.

The first challenge was finding a way to wire the camera. I had to drill a hole in the hatch frame directly above the license plate and under the hatch weather stripping...so if I ever remove the camera you'll never know cause you won't see the hole. Once I got the wire into the car I fiched it through to the driver side tail light area and wired it directly to the side marker light. This way the camera is powered all the time as the marker light comes on with the day time running lights. I also siliconed around the drilled hole to eliminate the possibilty of any water infiltration. Oh, the camera mounting utilizes the top (2) license plate holes and with the hatch closed I still can access the release latch to open the hatch.

So with the camera mounted and wired I moved to the monitor. I did not want to use the cigarette lighter connection. I hard wired it running the power source to the fuse box inside the engine bay and connected it to the glove box/cigarette lighter fuse. Then the monitor...it is the 2.5" LCD type and I didn't use the holder. I made an "L" shape bracket and velcro'd it to the back of the monitor and the "L" part of the bracket I wedged in the space above the middle console air bag switch. It fits real nice between the lighter and the ashtray/coin holder and does not affect the air bag switch at all. If I ever wanted to activate the air bag switch (for some reason) I'd just easily move the monitor. I'll take some pic's and post the installation later.

,Randy

 

See my pictures of my rear back up monitor and camera. I mounted the camera using the top license plate bolts. It does not interfere with the hatch release. The wire from the camera I brought into the hatch area by drillling a hole under the weather stripping. With the wire fiched through I then siliconed around the wire and hole to seal any moisture from getting through. With the wire inside the car I then fiched it through to the drivers side tail light area and the spliced the power wire into the side marker light, (the blue wire with the brown hatched line), and then made the ground connection using the nut holding the taillight fixture in place. As the side marker lights come on with the daylight running lights, the camera is always powered. Then moving to the monitor I mounted it to the space between the coin holder/ash tray and the cigarette lighter. I made an "L" shaped bracket and the "L" piece fits between the panels and holds the monitor perfectly. With the monitor in place this does cover up the air bag switch (something I can't see myself ever turning off), but with the "L" piece just being wedged between the panels it can easily be removed if need be. I then had the choice of using the cigaretter power supply, or hard wiring. I opted to hard wire as I did not like the look of this option. I routed the wire through the firewall under the dash on the drivers side. I started from the engine bay firewall, drivers side, and fiched the wire through an existing grommet where other wires already go through. The power wire I connected to the cigaretter lighter/glove box light fuse, and secured the ground wire to the closest fender mount bolt. And wah lah...everything worked. It's great to see what's behind you and how far you have to go before you wack something. The nice thing to is if I should ever remove the system from the car you'd never know it was there.

,Randy

 

This is a mod that I definitely wanted to do. I was considering the pioneer head unit mentioned earlier, but wow, I'm not willing to pay a grand for a camera and ipod useage (the car already has nav).

My issue is the gigantic blind spots where the rear pillars are . I have been reading the reviews and consumer reports on all of these, and the consesus has been don't go wireless b/c they lose signal, don't get anything "chrome" plated b/c it will flake, but every says the camera works "well", but I haven't seen anything on how well the convex lense works REALLY gets the corners. I have to back out of blind driveway, where joggers are constantly running by and not paying attention, and I'd really prefer to not running any of them over, no matter how annoying some of them are.

Randy, your solution is by far the most cost effective, but are you really able to see the blind spots any better?

 

I wouldn't mind having one of those, you can get one at walmart for under $100 that is supposed to be pretty good.

 

I don't think the camera would help to see through the rear pillars. But it does help to see what's directly behind you. It is useful on the crossfire since the drive sits low, and the rear window is high, so the driver cannot see well what is behind the car, especially anything under 3 feet, such as a fire hydrant.

 

It doesn't solve the blind spots you refer to but it's much better. My motivation for the installation was due to a nearly too close encounter with one of those steel concrete parking lot posts that are not tall enough to be seen through the rearview mirror or even neck cranking to look through the rear window. When I finished backing up, and shifted into first gear, I then looked through my side mirror and damned near crapped at how close I came to hitting the damned thing. So, the blind spot right behind the car is what I was wanting to overcome. I don't care what kind of camera systems are available as there are always going to be some blind spots even a camera is not going to pick-up...unless you had a camera mounted on a tripod 3' over the car that shows a panoramic view of everthing in the area. As you can see in my picture of my driveway, through the camera, the blindspot view is excellent from a distance, but it won't help at all if some idiot comes running past my driveway from the hedge side without checking to see it a car might be coming. Once I reach my hedges..it's slow as she goes. I wanted something that was going to be relatively simple to install and I did not want to replace the stereo system, muck with the wiring, etc., and somehting that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

 

Here's a link to some pics of the one I installed from Costco. It's been awhile, but I think it was $79.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ad.php?t=24436

 

Yea I got the one from costco too, I think that's the best price for this size screen. I actually mount the screen it at the back on the passenger side c-pillar, near the rear window. Since I need to turn my head back when I back up anyways, so I can see both rear windows and the screen at the same time. Also I can hook up both screen and camera from the back up light power. and can get excellent signal from the wireless camera as they are so close.

 

And used the hole behind the number plate for the wires?

 

No i didn't, too much work to mess around.
it is only a small wire and it just go through the rubber weather strip on the edge of the rear trunk door.

I'll try to get some pictures and post them up one of these days.