mattrourke

I have a pioneer deck and wanted to install a rear backup camera mainly for hooking up trailers solo since i already have backup sensors to keep from hitting things. I looked at license plate cameras and bolt-on cameras and wasn't happy with how they looked installed. Here is what i installed and how it looks when completed. I have included a link to the camera i purchased on eBay. Let me know what you think!

This camera is pretty sturdy looking, aluminum shell and it is snug in its swivel and doesnt move during use of the truck. Because it is 170 degrees the picture does have a slight curve to it but since mine was for the hitch at centre there is little distortion. I have yet to try at night but will report back.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=190700802754

First thing, remove the tailgate liner and/or the access panel and you will see two nuts to remove the handle. Here is a picture with the handle removed, you can see the two holes that the bolts came through



Next, i drilled a hole with the holesaw included with the camera. i tried to line it up with the key hole as much as possible but i ended up a little bit off.


I routed the wire through the tailgate and out a hole in the bottom and down behind the bumper. i covered the exposed wire with plastic loom conduit to protect it. The camera comes with a quick disconnect point in case you need to remove your tailgate later. I wired the camera in to the 7 pin trailer harness with the white wire being ground, the orange wire being constant ignition power to the camera (so i can view the camera without being in reverse) and the black with pink stripe was the reverse signal that i ran back to the deck to allow it to auto switch to camera when the truck is put in reverse.

I ran the wires along the frame with the brake line on the drivers side and up the fender liner in the engine compartment (also covered with plastic loom conduit here too to add some extra protection) and through an access point in the firewall. The access hole i used is up and slightly to the left of the steering shaft on the firewall if you are standing at the front of the truck looking at the firewall. It comes in to the cab above the gas pedal and routed perfectly to the deck.

If you run in to problems with the constant power at the trailer harness (the orange wire) check to make sure the fuse and relay are in place in the fuse panel under the glove box (fuse and relay are referred to as Trailer Battery Charge). Mine had the 30amp fuse but was missing the relay. Some truck dont come with the relay in place and others have the removed because people find it drains their battery when hooked up to a recreational trailer with lights or accessories that draw from this source. The camera did not drain my battery after a day of sitting nor do i suspect it ever will.



here is the finished product. With the camera adjusted so that i can see the hitch i can almost see both corners of my bumper as well and so there is no need to adjust the camera between regular backing up or trailer hitching. To blend it even more i may paint my key hole black to match the camera but not too concerned at the moment.


Let me know if you have any questions or comments! thanks!

Mod (Ret.)

Nice job! As long as the tailgate remains in it's up position, your good to go. Very clean installation of the camera.

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Great write up!
Very clean!
I'm stealing this idea from you! Thanks!

I was gonna go with the built in tailgate handle camera, but since it doesn't allow you to move the camera like this unit, it's not looking so great anymore.

I like the idea of it always working even when not in reverse, because when you back up too far and need to pull forward to catch the tow ball, you can never see what your doing...

This is going to be saved in my future projects file.
So how is the video quality of the camera on the deck. Any pics of that?
Also with the always hot wire you hooked up in addition to the reverse signal wire, what feature do you select on the head unit to watch the camera when it's not in reverse??

picaflor

Great job on this camera!

I did use a Y to supply the video from the back camera to the reverse camera entry and the video entry in the pioneer head unit. It works fine. In settings you have an option to enable the video input.

TxCustoms89

iTrader: (1)

Great job i was thinking of doing this aswell because im gonna see about a roll pan and i have to take my cam off the bumper.

knezat225

Good job man!

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

I just checked and apparently my deck does have a button to choose the camera when not in reverse. So I would Y the 2 wires into the deck at this point for both forms of function?

Rider4life350

Awesome idea. Looks real good

HardcoreFx4

What kind of head unit you useing?

mattrourke

As for watching the camera when not in reverse, my deck (avh-p3200bt I think) allows me to select camera from my input list, same list I would choose cd, radio, USB etc. when I choose camera it does not effect my already selected audio. And of course when I put the truck in reverse all video is overridden by the camera. I will take some pictures of the camera image quality today.