Front View and Ground Clearance Cameras

italynstylion

Well-Known Member
I ended up finishing my install today. If you've noticed a severe uptick in productivity, it's because the wife is gone for the weekend and I'm 100% capitalizing on the situation.

I was under the truck for a completely different reason and decided to drop the spare to get better access to the inside of the rear bumper. When I did, I was blown away...so much room for activities!

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At this point I noticed a great spot to mount the diff camera that was previously inaccessible. But first, I want to give credit where it's due. C3 sticker has been with me for 142k miles and still looks fresh. He's the real MVP.

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Finished the cable with more heath shrink and electrical tape in an effort to water proof it just like the front camera. This one should be fairly protected but I was born with the overkill gene; they say it's terminal. Whatever.

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Here's where the camera ended up. Right above the diff and a little bit closer to the rear of the truck. It's a great spot. And yes, that's thread locker on the bolts. Remember, overkill...

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Here's what my view looks like. It was quite dark under the truck so I suspect the view will improve with more light. I had an LED light shining up on the dif and gas tank at this point that's why those are so bright. In normal operation I expect the ground to be more lit than the parts of the truck. The real trick will be keeping these cameras clean. Time will tell.

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Silverback

Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Yeah on my front camera I need to clean it periodically.. bugs.. dirt.. grime.
 

TacoXpo

HOAX DENIER
Yeah on my front camera I need to clean it periodically.. bugs.. dirt.. grime.
Great items if you have them. I do a few Zen practice rituals to get to see where I'm about to cause major damage.


It doesn't always work :(
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
I concur. I need to do this to the Taco someday and add dash cams to the Taco & Subaru. Just had a severely impaired driver in front of me for miles that I reported. Would of been great to be able to hand over a video to the trooper who got them. I typicaly never rat but when you spend more time out of your lane than in it....I'm game. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if the driver killed a family after I didn't report them. Don't need that Karma on me.
Florida man calls 911 to report himself drunk driving
 

CowboyTaco

Well-Known Member
I'm now going to have to see how many video inputs my Kenwood HU has. I was thinking about adding a front camera on a switch and hooking it up to the reverse camera input. That way it automatically changes the screen when toggled. I think I have one other one for video input (dvd, game console, etc.) that I could add another camera. Just don't know where I would put it....
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
I'm now going to have to see how many video inputs my Kenwood HU has. I was thinking about adding a front camera on a switch and hooking it up to the reverse camera input. That way it automatically changes the screen when toggled. I think I have one other one for video input (dvd, game console, etc.) that I could add another camera. Just don't know where I would put it....
Passenger side
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
I'm now going to have to see how many video inputs my Kenwood HU has. I was thinking about adding a front camera on a switch and hooking it up to the reverse camera input. That way it automatically changes the screen when toggled. I think I have one other one for video input (dvd, game console, etc.) that I could add another camera. Just don't know where I would put it....


Have you ever looked for old classic cars parts for a front right fender, there are less out there and the right one will cost more than the left fender. Historically passenger side of vehicles get more damage than the driver side.

Just food for your thoughts.
 

Silverback

Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Good food.. :)
 

Silverback

Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Wifes ride has them all around. Birdseye view mode is cool. But it also has a split screen between front and down the passenger side mode which supports your food for thought.
 

tx_shooter

You ever try to roughie a bear?
Staff member
So after some digging and a few phone calls to people who do cameras for a living the end result is as @italynstylion said earlier. There are no good solutions for a WiFi camera for onboard video use. So I guess I am going back to researching a single DIN with video screen solution. I am mainly looking for front camera use; a rear camera of any sort would be a bonus but not necessary.
 

CowboyTaco

Well-Known Member
Have you ever looked for old classic cars parts for a front right fender, there are less out there and the right one will cost more than the left fender. Historically passenger side of vehicles get more damage than the driver side.

Just food for your thoughts.

Interesting. Not a bad idea, but where would you mount it?
 

Silverback

Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Yep.. peephole style lens.
 

TacoXpo

HOAX DENIER

CowboyTaco

Well-Known Member
Most cars have them the mirror

I've seen that on the newer Hondas, but haven't noticed it anywhere else. That's an interesting idea, but not sure I want to invest that much time into it. I'll probably just stick to the front camera.

If I do decide to put another one somewhere, it will probably be looking to the rear so that I still have a backup cam in the event that my tailgate is down.
 

Taco Loco

Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
I've seen that on the newer Hondas, but haven't noticed it anywhere else. That's an interesting idea, but not sure I want to invest that much time into it. I'll probably just stick to the front camera.

If I do decide to put another one somewhere, it will probably be looking to the rear so that I still have a backup cam in the event that my tailgate is down.

Lexus has had them for 10yrs, way before Hondas

Research and see if a Lexus mirrors fit the Tacoma with camera already built in, if so visit salvage yard.
 
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