Trucks, cameras and blind spots.

Donstar · June 21, 2019

I'm approaching 50 years of owning a 1/2 ton as my daily driver. I am aware of the hiding spots inherent in the shape of a pickup and compensate for them by keeping aware of my surroundings. I recently started pulling a travel trailer and was annoyed at not being able to see cars/motorcycles riding too close behind my trailer. I bought a wireless camera setup from Amazon and resolved this issue. However, I had this system with recording capabilities not being used except for when I'm towing. I decided to install a licence plate' camera on my truck for front vision and dash-cam duties. I took this picture after installing the front camera. I placed my bicycle 48" from the front bumper as a prop. I was actually quite surprised. If I sit tall in the seat, I can see part of the handlebar!

madsen203 · June 21, 2019

I like the idea of a front camera. The trucks with 360 cams are pretty cool but over the hood cam would be ideal. If only you could get it wired into the stock unit and make it OEM looking. Even a back up camera mounted to the front that wires into the rear view mirror for the front field of view would be sweet.

I got the max tow package with the dumbo mirrors (as I call them). I have zero blind spots behind or to the side. Those huge convex mirrors that take up 1/3 of the monstrosity point out every detail behind and to the side of me. Maybe upgrade to those mirrors?

Edited June 21, 2019 by madsen203

Donstar · June 21, 2019

2 hours ago, madsen203 said:

I like the idea of a front camera. The trucks with 360 cams are pretty cool but over the hood cam would be ideal. If only you could get it wired into the stock unit and make it OEM looking. Even a back up camera mounted to the front that wires into the rear view mirror for the front field of view would be sweet.

I got the max tow package with the dumbo mirrors (as I call them). I have zero blind spots behind or to the side. Those huge convex mirrors that take up 1/3 of the monstrosity point out every detail behind and to the side of me. Maybe upgrade to those mirrors?

I agree that a 360 degree camera system running through the OEM monitor would be ideal. Tow mirrors are also on my wish list however my current trailer is only 7' wide so the regular mirrors aren't too bad. My current setup reflects a solution for someone on a limited budget!