Peak backup camera My X-mas Present :)

[kehecross]

My wife bought me the Peak back up cam for X-Mas.
I am just looking for some input for the install. I want it be a rear view cam not just for backing up. I will wire it to a switch or a circuit switched on by the ign. The camera mounts on the license plate but I already have a led light bar mounted there. My plate lights were rusted out. This was a quick easy fix. So I am considering mounting it in the factory spot in the half moon.
I wanted one with the display in the mirror. Not sure if I can mount this one on the mirror and if I do this one plugs into the cig lighter. I would have to run the wires under the headliner. Not sure if I want to do this much work. I am also not sure if I want it plugged into the lighter all the time. It would be nice to hard wire the monitor also or maybe just install a hidden power port.

Any suggestions or input from anybody who has installed one already is greatly welcomed.

Thanks, Mike

I put this same camera in my VX. There were no stock wires in the rear door, But I was able to run the wires from the camera through the rubber boot in the hinge into the jack compartment to a harness plug in there that I tapped into.(All the light wire are in there) Was able to make it look like a factory wire job. The hardest part was mounting the camera in the half moon. (It just didn't look right) and the screen was hard to see. I kind of found it to be useless and removed it and bought a new half moon piece and I am back to guessing whats behind me. LOL

[FenderBender]

I put this same camera in my VX. There were no stock wires in the rear door, But I was able to run the wires from the camera through the rubber boot in the hinge into the jack compartment to a harness plug in there that I tapped into.(All the light wire are in there) Was able to make it look like a factory wire job. The hardest part was mounting the camera in the half moon. (It just didn't look right) and the screen was hard to see. I kind of found it to be useless and removed it and bought a new half moon piece and I am back to guessing whats behind me. LOL

Great Thanks for the input. I have not had time to heat up the garage and take a look at it yet. I'm not sure if returning it is an option...lol
It is a pretty small screen. Now you got me thinking some new speakers in the back might be nice.

[kehecross]

Yea. When trying to make the camera look where you need it to, It had to stick out through the punch out in the half moon piece and it looked like it didn't belong. It seemed to work good but the screen was so small and you really could not tell how far away a object was. You could hook it up temporarily and see what I mean. Also if there is not enough light you can't see anything. Sorry for the bad news. But I would hate to see you go through what I did and not be happy. Other things I didn't like were the blinking blue LED that tell that tell you it is on. It is really annoying at low light and it seemed to pick up interferance in the same spots in the road (electric lines, fire departments some street signals) and the screen would act like it was trying to turn on. The blue sceen would come on and then gray and black fuzzy lines would appear.

[tom4bren]

... I kind of found it to be useless and removed it ...

If you'd stuck with it for a while it may have surprised you. The human mind is impressive for matrixing images. I have 3 cameras on the RV. The rear camera is wide angle and points almost directly down (can barely see the rear bumper at the bottom of the screen). When a car is passing you, it appears almost vertical before it disappears from the screen. My mind doesn't even see that anymore. If I'm in the process of changing lanes, the turn signal automatically switches to the appropriate side camera & after getting used to using it, I don't have any issues with the image orientation switch anymore.

With the proper orientation of mirrors & camera, it could have been a useful tool once you got used to it.

I'm not trying to convince you to keep the camera, just wanted to add my observations so that you can make an informed decision.

Just remember that there is no magic cure for bad visibility, but there are things that can help.

[kehecross]

If you'd stuck with it for a while it may have surprised you. The human mind is impressive for matrixing images. I have 3 cameras on the RV. The rear camera is wide angle and points almost directly down (can barely see the rear bumper at the bottom of the screen). When a car is passing you, it appears almost vertical before it disappears from the screen. My mind doesn't even see that anymore. If I'm in the process of changing lanes, the turn signal automatically switches to the appropriate side camera & after getting used to using it, I don't have any issues with the image orientation switch anymore.

With the proper orientation of mirrors & camera, it could have been a useful tool once you got used to it.

I'm not trying to convince you to keep the camera, just wanted to add my observations so that you can make an informed decision.

Just remember that there is no magic cure for bad visibility, but there are things that can help.

(It just didn't look right) and the screen was hard to see. I kind of found it to be useless

The screen was hard too see because it is so small sorry! But I was though I made a informed decision You are comparing 3 cameras to one camera that had many issues. Coming on all by its self (interference from something) a very bright blue LED that flashed to let you know there was power to the unit (Really distracting at night) And last the very small screen with poor resolution. It is a cheap setup and it works like a cheap setup. There are better one's out there. I am with you on the no magic cure for bad visibility but there is a better one then this camera.