Adding Rear camera Above Bed

Brian Wotring · February 10, 2020

1 minute ago, Davidj98 said:

To be safe I disconnected battery during install, not sure it was needed though

I just did the mod this weekend. I opted to not disconnect the battery, had no issues (thankfully). . I had a couple friends to help; we took our time, and it was a fairly simple job.

The hardest part in our case was popping the two clips that hold the headliner up by the rear window. I think they broke when we pulled it down, so I think I'm going to be ordering some new ones. I think the metal component of the clip is busted (see pic). Not sure how I could have pulled it down any different.

In any case, everything else was super simple, I'm pleased. So grateful for everyone who posted info and pics.

Davidj98 · February 11, 2020

Great job man, those two clips separated from headliner when I pulled, I just applied a light coat of gorilla glue on reinstall.

LSX Z28 · February 11, 2020

I am looking at doing something slightly different with this setup, and I have a few questions. Does anyone have an idea of how long the coax cable is ( 84335461) ? And also, from what I can tell the camera looks like it can be removed from the brake light housing. Can anyone confirm? I am looking to move the factory camera and install it on the back of a cap. I purchased the short harness that goes through the spoiler last week from the dealer, as that is the only one we could find on their system. I think with the coax cable, I could just plug it into the existing one which I think would make it long enough to run to the back of the cap and just plug the camera into that.

Brian Wotring · February 11, 2020

1 hour ago, LSX Z28 said:

I am looking at doing something slightly different with this setup, and I have a few questions. Does anyone have an idea of how long the coax cable is ( 84335461) ? And also, from what I can tell the camera looks like it can be removed from the brake light housing. Can anyone confirm? I am looking to move the factory camera and install it on the back of a cap. I purchased the short harness that goes through the spoiler last week from the dealer, as that is the only one we could find on their system. I think with the coax cable, I could just plug it into the existing one which I think would make it long enough to run to the back of the cap and just plug the camera into that.

There are two screws to pull the camera out of the brake light housing, though I admit I didn't try it. The cable is about 7' in length (at least mine was).

LSX Z28 · February 11, 2020

17 minutes ago, Brian Wotring said:

There are two screws to pull the camera out of the brake light housing, though I admit I didn't try it. The cable is about 7' in length (at least mine was).

Great! Thanks! I am going to give that a try. The box is 6’9”, and the cable between that one and the camera is about 2’, so hopefully about 9’ of cable total. I will just have to try to figure out a way to mount the camera on the cap.

ArTurf · February 12, 2020

4 hours ago, LSX Z28 said:

Great! Thanks! I am going to give that a try. The box is 6’9”, and the cable between that one and the camera is about 2’, so hopefully about 9’ of cable total. I will just have to try to figure out a way to mount the camera on the cap.

6 hours ago, LSX Z28 said:

I am looking at doing something slightly different with this setup, and I have a few questions. Does anyone have an idea of how long the coax cable is ( 84335461) ? And also, from what I can tell the camera looks like it can be removed from the brake light housing. Can anyone confirm? I am looking to move the factory camera and install it on the back of a cap. I purchased the short harness that goes through the spoiler last week from the dealer, as that is the only one we could find on their system. I think with the coax cable, I could just plug it into the existing one which I think would make it long enough to run to the back of the cap and just plug the camera into that.

I'm looking to do this as well. Please keep me/us posted

fishnfly20 · February 12, 2020

How does the camera do at night? I hope it's better than the backup camera, because it is really dark. For those of you who have had this for a while, is there any need to use the mirror function over the camera or do you always just use the camera?

Brian Wotring · February 12, 2020

2 minutes ago, fishnfly20 said:

How does the camera do at night? I hope it's better than the backup camera, because it is really dark. For those of you who have had this for a while, is there any need to use the mirror function over the camera or do you always just use the camera?

So in my opinion, I find it much more useful at night than the mirror. I am able to makeup a lot more of what's behind me other than just headlights. However, it is winter here, so 70% of what I see is white However, day or night, I rarely use the mirror anymore. Here are some more thoughts:

Colors are more washed out than the mirror. It's a high res screen, but clarity and color can't compare with the mirror. I was also tempted to zoom in all the way in order for objects to appear the same distance in either mode. This probably makes things even less clear because I suspect it's a software zoom, not optical.

Took my brain a while to context switch between the road (glass) and the screen. I didn't expect this, but I'm finding it's going away over time. It's odd because I don't have that issue with the infotainment screen, but for some reason, the first time I used it, it took a couple seconds each time i'd look at it, for my brain to focus on it.

Perspective. Much improved. I can watch a car in the rear mirror and as soon as it leaves the focus of the mirror, it's starting to show up in my side mirrors, or at least my mirror light shows something is there for the brief moment. There was a much bigger gap before.

Headlights at night, even though it was auto-dim, don't have nearly the washout effect when using the screen.

The obvious, way more usable data because you aren't blocked by seats, window, etc. Overall, the good far outweighs the bad for me. I love it. i hope this helps.

fishnfly20 · February 12, 2020

22 minutes ago, Brian Wotring said:

So in my opinion, I find it much more useful at night than the mirror. I am able to makeup a lot more of what's behind me other than just headlights. However, it is winter here, so 70% of what I see is white However, day or night, I rarely use the mirror anymore. Here are some more thoughts:

Colors are more washed out than the mirror. It's a high res screen, but clarity and color can't compare with the mirror. I was also tempted to zoom in all the way in order for objects to appear the same distance in either mode. This probably makes things even less clear because I suspect it's a software zoom, not optical.

Took my brain a while to context switch between the road (glass) and the screen. I didn't expect this, but I'm finding it's going away over time. It's odd because I don't have that issue with the infotainment screen, but for some reason, the first time I used it, it took a couple seconds each time i'd look at it, for my brain to focus on it.

Perspective. Much improved. I can watch a car in the rear mirror and as soon as it leaves the focus of the mirror, it's starting to show up in my side mirrors, or at least my mirror light shows something is there for the brief moment. There was a much bigger gap before.

Headlights at night, even though it was auto-dim, don't have nearly the washout effect when using the screen.

The obvious, way more usable data because you aren't blocked by seats, window, etc. Overall, the good far outweighs the bad for me. I love it. i hope this helps.

thanks, yes this helps. Does rain and dirt distort the image like on the rear view camera? I figured there would be times when rain or dirt gets on the lens but probably not as bad as the tailgate camera due to how close that is to the road.

Brian Wotring · February 12, 2020

Just now, fishnfly20 said:

thanks, yes this helps. Does rain and dirt distort the image like on the rear view camera? I figured there would be times when rain or dirt gets on the lens but probably not as bad as the tailgate camera due to how close that is to the road.

Don't know, haven't had it long enough, and it's winter here. I suspect not, because of where it is, that part of the truck is far less prone to dirt compared to the tailgate.

LSX Z28 · February 12, 2020

41 minutes ago, fishnfly20 said:

How does the camera do at night? I hope it's better than the backup camera, because it is really dark. For those of you who have had this for a while, is there any need to use the mirror function over the camera or do you always just use the camera?

It is amazing, day or night. Not even a comparison between that camera and the tailgate camera. Mine, which is a 2020 seems to be 4K resolution. When I bought my truck, I thought it was a totally useless option. The first few days, I didn’t like it. However after having it for a while, I really like it. Now that I have a cap on the truck, I really miss it. I have had caps on my trucks for the last 20 years, so I am used to not using the rear view, but I do miss it now. Especially since I use it for snowplowing.

LSX Z28 · February 12, 2020

5 minutes ago, fishnfly20 said:

thanks, yes this helps. Does rain and dirt distort the image like on the rear view camera? I figured there would be times when rain or dirt gets on the lens but probably not as bad as the tailgate camera due to how close that is to the road.

I only used it for about 2 months before I put the cap on, but it never got dirty or distorted like the tailgate one, even in snow.

ArTurf · February 20, 2020

On 2/11/2020 at 4:21 PM, LSX Z28 said:

Great! Thanks! I am going to give that a try. The box is 6’9”, and the cable between that one and the camera is about 2’, so hopefully about 9’ of cable total. I will just have to try to figure out a way to mount the camera on the cap.

Have you got around to moving the camera to the back of the camper top?

Chad Sollenberger · March 13, 2020

On 9/16/2019 at 6:04 PM, Boda1985 said:

Does anyone know the proper part name of item 22? i imagine its the video controller.

Amit Ranavaya · April 4, 2020

On 2/11/2020 at 5:21 PM, LSX Z28 said:

Great! Thanks! I am going to give that a try. The box is 6’9”, and the cable between that one and the camera is about 2’, so hopefully about 9’ of cable total. I will just have to try to figure out a way to mount the camera on the cap.

Did you ever get your camera moved?