flanghor

Have been trying for a while to figure a good hack to install a backup camera that would feed to my Garmin gps. With a long driveway, I wanted a backup camera to give me a view straight back instead of looking over the high rear deck, but I did not want to install another lcd display in the cabin. Here's the route I took, maybe it might help if you have the same issue and want to DIY.

I bought a Garmin Dezl 560lmt. The 5" display with lifetime maps and traffic updates is great, but the essential feature is a composite video input to accept the camera output. This is a pretty rare gps feature, and since I wanted to stick with Garmin the choices are limited. A license plate backup camera, waterproof and with ccd sensor, was next. It came with 19 feet of rca cable, just enough to wire through the trunk, into the cabin and to the gps. An rca to composite plug was required to make the final connection to the head unit (the gps)--Monoprice online is a great source if Radio Shack is too far or pricey.

Inside the trunk, I popped some grommets and pulled back the covers just as far as needed for access. The most unnerving part was drilling through the trunk behind the license plate. The camera wires come with a rubber grommet for weather seal. Cameras come with two female rca jacks, one for power and one for video. For power, I tapped the white wire into the reverse light positive wire with a Radio Shack connector, then grounded the black wire to metal. The next step is to get the long rca cable into the cabin which I did through a port at the front of the trunk on the driver's side where a black conduit takes other wires inside. Instead of removing the rear seat, I taped the cable to a plastic tube to fish it through; it comes into the cabin about shoulder level at the left edge of the rear seat. Now it gets easy--secure the cable under the trim as you snake it to the gps up front. Plug in and, with a bit of luck, voila.

Photos below show some of the install and final look. Now when I put the shift in reverse the gps automatically detects the video input at the main screen (not, oddly, if I go to the map) and shows the backup camera picture.


gps installed with a Pro Clip mount


License plate camera. I know it's not beautiful--guess I could paint it "platinum"


Back up camera view through gps


Reverse light tap in


Cable feed from trunk into cabin