rear view camera mount to go over large spare tire -- fabbed and installed

[jmg222]

Got tired of not being able to see out of my review mirror (thanks to the 35" m/t on the rear tire carrier) had rare couple of hours free this weekend , so welded up a quick-and-dirty mount for a review camera to sit on top of the tire, wired into my double-din video in -- works great! (thinking of adding in a third brake light on it):

[techno1154]

The video graphics look good. I like.

How do you get a double din in the XJ?

[jmg222]

Originally Posted by techno1154

The video graphics look good. I like.

How do you get a double din in the XJ?

Was not a pretty project.. involved cutting into the hvac ducts behind the existing radio, moving the hvac controls down and getting rid of the center vent, blocking that off, modding a standard bezel, and then I switched from horizontal mechanical hvac controls to dial mechanical hvac controls, since they were a bit shallower (which required a set of relays to convert from neg to pos edge trigger, reworking vaccuum lines, etc). I don't recommend it.

If you have a 92 or newer (or whenever they went with the new interior) , it's supposedly far, far easier, basically just modding the plastic bezel.

[jmg222]

heres a better pic of the double din in case you're interested:

[techno1154]

Originally Posted by jmg222

heres a better pic of the double din in case you're interested:

OK. I see wat you did there. Nice project. When I get my DD back on the road I may try that.

My XJ is a 1996. It should not be too difficult.

[thetastelingers]

Sony makes a single din unit that you don't have to do so much cutting.
Here it is molded into my 01

Pay no attention to the mismatched color. I gotta fix that soon.

[jmg222]

Originally Posted by thetastelingers

Sony makes a single din unit that you don't have to do so much cutting.
Here it is molded into my 01

I know, I didn't want one of those pull-out screens though.
you're version interior is super easy to do, I did that for one of my friends, took less than a quarter of the time as my '88. looks good too

[bajabronco]

Like you I couldn't see crap behind me with my 37's so I installed a rear view camera as well. My camera was one of the license plate ones - I just cut the license plate mount strip part shorter, drilled two holes , and then mounted mine directly to the spare tire with two bolts. My camera is in my rear view mirror.


Camera mounted to rear tire - I simply have to remove the two bolts if I need to ever use the spare.




Rear view camera in the mirror



Spare and camera

[jmg222]

looks good, I just bought a 12" full screen rearview camera to display the video. I considered putting it in the wheel itself, but have as cover over the wheel with storage/ Molle pouches, I didn't want to dive those up.

[jmg222]

Originally Posted by techno1154

OK. I see wat you did there. Nice project. When I get my DD back on the road I may try that.

My XJ is a 1996. It should not be too difficult.

I believe the '96 has the same interior I have.
If that's true, I don't recommend doing it... it's far, far more trouble that it's worth, requires hacking into hvac, and pulling cutting all sorts of crap inside the dash. It was miserable work. when I did it the single din head units with the pull out screens were horrible -- now, the screens are actually just as good as the Double dins. If I were going to do it all over again, I'd keep the dash stock and go with one of those.

[richheezee]

Originally Posted by bajabronco

Like you I couldn't see crap behind me with my 37's so I installed a rear view camera as well. My camera was one of the license plate ones - I just cut the license plate mount strip part shorter, drilled two holes , and then mounted mine directly to the spare tire with two bolts. My camera is in my rear view mirror.


Camera mounted to rear tire - I simply have to remove the two bolts if I need to ever use the spare.




Rear view camera in the mirror



Spare and camera

What brand back up camera is that? I have been looking at a lot and have not pulled the trigger. Thanks.

[bajabronco]

The camera is an autovox - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZM70NU/

[richheezee]

Originally Posted by bajabronco

The camera is an autovox - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZM70NU/

What rear view mirror did you use?

[jmg222]

there are a bunch of high quality, 12" , full screen 1440p (2k) mirrors on amazon.
I went with Karsuite

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I went with this one because it came with cameras that use sony sensors, and also had the highest resolution screen I've seen -- 2560x1440, the screen is big, and the video fills the entire screen. Based on youtube reviews I saw, if you tilt your head in a certain way you can still see the mirror. I figured if this really is going to replace the mirror, I want something pretty big with excellent resolution, and high-quality sony cameras. Most rear cameras I've seen are 760p or worse, 640x480.

DMYCO also has a very similar spec'd system-- same sony sensors, same size mirror, same resolution .. and I think same price.

[techno1154]

Originally Posted by jmg222

I believe the '96 has the same interior I have.
If that's true, I don't recommend doing it... it's far, far more trouble that it's worth, requires hacking into hvac, and pulling cutting all sorts of crap inside the dash. It was miserable work. when I did it the single din head units with the pull out screens were horrible -- now, the screens are actually just as good as the Double dins. If I were going to do it all over again, I'd keep the dash stock and go with one of those.

In the past, I looked at some of those flip up screens and decided against them. I will take a look again.