Backup Cams and Rear LED Lights

[Skillet]

Something I hope to tackle this year is adding a backup cam and rear lights. I was thinking of one of those bar led lights mounted high so when I'm backing up into something it will illuminate everything. Anyone do this? Or a backup cam with night vision. Or both. I'd love to hear some camera models people are using because there are so many choices out there it's hard to decide. I was originally thinking of wireless to make it easier, but I'm not opposed to wired.

[Colorider]

I have this one...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QT ... UTF8&psc=1

It's cheap (to be fair, you can tell) and it gets the job done.

I trimmed down the license plate mount and used double sided tape to mount it just above the handle next to my entry door. That way, it's more centered, sits higher so I can see over my moto trailer and made the wire easy to run. I just have the wire tucked into my rear cargo hatch behind the spare. I was able to run the wire behind the shower and sink, then along the floor behind the couch. Also, I didn't power it with my reverse lights. I wanted it to be able to be on at all times so I just wired it to a switch and now have a camera I use when changing lanes, etc.

I've had it mounted for about a year and it's still going strong. Like I said, it's cheap but it gets the job done.

BTW, it has night vision, but I'm not convinced it does anything. Usually, all I can see is headlights and/or my bicycles or motorcycles bouncing around behind me.

[Skillet]

Thanks! I don't mind cheap, especially since I'm buying a new a/c compressor... Did you find the wiring long enough or did you have to add some?

[kdarling]

Search the forum for backup camera. E.g. this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=48&hilit=camera&start=0

Two years ago I bought something similar to Colorider, plus wireless trans/recvrs are dirt cheap these days, too.

pyle camera

[Colorider]

As I recall, I had to buy an extension cord for the cam. I ordered it at the same time for a couple of bucks. The RCA wire (the video one) had an interesting feature that came with it. It had an extra red wire coming out of either end, probably used as a sensing wire for an alternate wiring plan. It was tiny, but the camera uses such a small amount of juice, I was able to make that work as the camera power wire, meaning I didn't have to run an additional wire to the front. I'm sure that makes no sense, but when you see the wires it comes with, you'll figure it out.

[kdarling]

Oooo. Thanks for the memory jog.

Like you, I ordered an extension video cable in case the wireless didn't work, and it had that extra wire. Like you, I figured I could use it to power the camera from the overhead cab switch I installed for my mirror-LCD-display.

As it turned out, the wireless worked fine hooked up to the backup lights, so I have not installed the extension wire.

However, I've often thought of changing the wireless transmitter to be connected to the running lights instead of the backup lights. That way I could just use those to turn it on all the time.