Has anyone installed a rear view camera? I am thinking about it and was wondering where you ran your wire, mounted the camera, etc. My new headunit supports it, and I thought it would be cool to have. I was looking at the license plate cameras.

 

Hi...I had the Boyo VTL-120 black, rear license plate camera installed when I installed my Valor GPS radio replacement.

The camera works great under all light conditions, but because the camera is mounted on the top side (center) of the license frame, there is a little clipping of the image due to the curved over-hang of the body. Ideally if the camera were located on the bottom of the frame, I think it would give a larger, unobstructed rear view.

I wanted this because of my grandkids and the rather large blind spots of the coupe car.

I would do it again and like having it. I had Car Toys install mine; I presume they ran the wire through an existing hole and under carpet, but dont know for sure. I cant see any sign of the wiring.

 

I installed a rear camera on my wifes 2004 and it looks great. The lens is just right of the license plate. It shows alot of the backup area but to be truthful I don't think she uses it and it it not worth the cost of install. Useful but not used in real life. Think about it before sending the money.

She's had it installed 5 years so I know it's not been used enough to justify the cost.

 

Hi All
Yeah been looking into this , As my wife has just started driving the Xfire could do with the same , I was thinking you need the camera to start up by itself when you put Xfire into reverse gear or it will not be used , I like the idea of the screen in the rear view mirror , But do not like the mirrors that clip over top , So i am trying to find a mirror from a breakers .


Cheers

Andy

 

I have one too. It's integrated in the License plate frame - so it sits just below the trunk opener - really inconspicuous. The picture automatically shows up on my headunit when I shift to reverse. The cam is wired to the backuplight and the cable for the picture runs from the trunk to the front on the passenger side.
It has nearly a 180° field of view, IR-View and to me it makes backing the car up a lot safer and easier.

 

I have one as well, but I _really_ didn't wait to drill holes in the car. So I mounted mine right next to the top-center brake light, inside the hatch. The wiring was simple, run the wire behind the hatch interior panel, follow the brake light wires down through the rubber grommet into the main body of the car. Be careful when removing and replacing the grommet, as you can strip the little plastic clips that hold it in place and then it won't stay in place and water will get inside your car!

The view from where I placed the camera probably isn't as wide as the guys that have them beside the license plate, but its leaps and bounds better than what you get from the rear view mirror.

 

Question for the people with cameras on the license plate: How is the visibility on the passenger-side rear?

My Biggest concern in the roadster is backing out of parking spots with trucks on the passenger side. The passenger flank is basically Blind until I'm halfway out of the spot. I'm wondering about a wide-angle license plate.

My other idea is to put a camera directly behind the drivers head against the rear glass and have it aimed at 4'o'clock. That should move the point of view back ~2 ft and have a crystal clear view of the scary blind area the cloth top makes. I imagine if I attach it to the clothtop, it would not have any troubles folding away with the rest of the lid when down (and with the top down there are no blind spots.

Of course, if a license plate camera is able to cover this region, I could go that way instead.


Thanks,

 

Just to give you an impression. I have a 180° field of view license plate camera installed. The picture on the headunit is a lot better in daylight conditions. These pictures were taken in the parking lot with only very little light.


Notice the little bottle on the passenger side. Thats how far you can see to the side. The car stands only inches away from the wall.

 

That's very impressive, thank you for the photos.

So I guess as long as I track down a 180* lens I should have no worries of backing out of spots using a plate-mounted camera.

Thanks again,

 

Which camera is that? I am getting ready to make a purchase and that one seems excellent.

 

I picked mine up on eBay in Germany and it's directly attached to a standard german sized license plate frame. I have a picture of the installed camera in my gallery.
However this camera on eBay USA looks identical - the pictures of the cable and the camera itself looks exactly like mine and it has a CCD Chip too (overall better picture).

 

Click the picture to view the thread I posted on my camera install

 

A couple of days ago I mounted a RV camera on the license plate. It was one of those cheap models, but it really serves the purpose, good overall monitor, wireless transmitter. Overall is just fine. I mounted it on the bottom screws because the trunklid was just barely hitting it. Then I snaked the wires under the plate and thru that hole behind the plate. Because of all the supports though I couldn't get it snaked through to the taillight bay on the right. So I went up and over tucking the wire into the moulding edges, then made a small slit in the rubber seal and snaked it into the car that way.

There is not very much room in there to get at the wires, hanging upside down tring to get your hands in there is painful. I ended up, at least for the time being, buying a very small 12V battery from radio shack fro $34 and connecting the camera to that. We'll see how long that lasts, it's a sealed battery that can be recharged and I didn't have to clip any of the wires in the reverse back up pigtail. But all in all, it works great, great view of the rear and I can see if I'm going to hit something.

 

Here's a link to mine from a previous post. I was told by the manufacturer that because it is designed for backing (and low cost), the camera should not be operated full time. It's just for backing. The story was that it could possibly 'overheat' and fail quicker if operated all the time the vehicle is running?
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...up-camera.html