Van out of winter storage, starting to add a backup camera

[LenS]

Van has been in storage for about 4 months, house batteries are at a 12.28v level. Not bad for 4 months.

Bought a backup camera at Costco yesterday and installing it on the van today.

First made sure it worked and because it is a wireless unit made sure it works in MY VAN.

Looks good. Now need to hard wire it and hide the wiring.

[BrianW]

I originally had my rear camera mounted in the license plate area. This provided a great view for parking and backing up, but when I started using a hitch-mounted bike rack the view was almost totally blocked. I ended up moving it up to the penthouse, attaching it with double-stick molding tape to the top-mount brake light. This position has proven to be pretty good, allowing me to see both the bikes as well as the area behind for parking.

And, as others have posted in the past, when the penthouse is up you get a birds-eye view of the campground if you want!

Mine is hard-wired, and I ran the wire inside the canvas where there was already a wire for the third brake light coming in. I then took off most of the decorative trim for the penthouse where it meets the roof inside and just hid the wire in there, dropping it down at the driver's side b-pillar.

[LenS]

The unit I got at Costco for $119.99 is wireless, so I have only to get power to the camera and display, no wire to run for and aft between the units. Seems to work fine. That is why I wanted to test prior to hard wiring it in.

[larrie]

Great score. Will have to visit the local Costco to see if they have them too.

[rob_gendreau]

I got a generic camera from somewhere (note that you need a backup camera since it gives a mirror view and is very wide angle; I tried one of my security cameras and it was meh. I wired that up via a DC plug I made using the trailer hitch 7way wiring receptacle (after some initial issues; I needed a relay since SMB had left mine out). I just put the DC plug in where the normal trailer wiring cable would come out. This worked better for me since I had to mount the camera higher, and need to remove it at times.

I also used a generic LCD monitor, and a Taotronics wireless transmitter (on Amazon). The transmitter had issues with a much older 4.3" screen I had, but works fine with my newer one. It doesn't power on till it senses a signal from the camera. No need for wires to the back. The wireless gizmo is $19; LCD and camera probably <$20 each.

[LenS]

Checked the system out after dark tonight. Must be able to see 30 in any direction behind the van. I was expecting 10 feet. The night picture is black and white but looks bright as day.