DIY: How to Install a Backup Camera
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Lexus Champion
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DIY: How to Install a Backup Camera
Here’s how to install a backup camera on your car:
First thing is you’ll need the camera and a deck that supports a video input. Here I took apart my aftermarket deck in preparation for routing wires:
The camera I bought was a generic nut-mounted camera that I’ll mount to the chrome trim.
Remove the trunk liner:
Four 10mm bolts to remove the chrome trim:
Behind the trim, I will be mounting the camera slightly to the right of the center keyhole, near the right side license plate light:
The camera comes with a hole saw of the correct size, so I drilled the chrome bezel:
Routed and mounted the camera through:
The nut just barely clears the bolt protrusion on the chrome trim, and the cutout for the license plate light.
To route the wires through the trunk, I drilled a hole in the decklid. You might want to insulate this hole with a grommet after to prevent water penetration:
Routing the wires through:
The video cable provided has a red wire that’s the trigger wire. It will run along with the video line to activate the headunit when its in reverse to turn on the camera:
I tapped into the red reverse wire. Good idea to tap into the tail light side of the harness, in case it needs to be replaced in the future:
For the camera ground, I found an empty connector with a white and black wire that turns out to be ground under the deck lid:
Ran my reverse wire up the quarter panel:
Neatened up my deck lid wiring:
Next, the rear seats need to be removed to run the video line:
There’s a hole where the trunk wiring harness runs through the body behind the rear drivers side seat bolster:
Ran my line underneath the seat cushion, under the carpet to the center console:
Under the carpet:
On the headunit harness, the pink wire happens to be the reverse trigger:
I plugged in the RCA cable to the video input, and replaced the interior pieces:
The end result is a decent quality backup camera (for a generic Chinese headunit that came with the car and an eBay camera at least!):
Night time quality is still useable with stock reverse lights and LED license plate lights:
First thing is you’ll need the camera and a deck that supports a video input. Here I took apart my aftermarket deck in preparation for routing wires:
The camera I bought was a generic nut-mounted camera that I’ll mount to the chrome trim.
Remove the trunk liner:
Four 10mm bolts to remove the chrome trim:
Behind the trim, I will be mounting the camera slightly to the right of the center keyhole, near the right side license plate light:
The camera comes with a hole saw of the correct size, so I drilled the chrome bezel:
Routed and mounted the camera through:
The nut just barely clears the bolt protrusion on the chrome trim, and the cutout for the license plate light.
To route the wires through the trunk, I drilled a hole in the decklid. You might want to insulate this hole with a grommet after to prevent water penetration:
Routing the wires through:
The video cable provided has a red wire that’s the trigger wire. It will run along with the video line to activate the headunit when its in reverse to turn on the camera:
I tapped into the red reverse wire. Good idea to tap into the tail light side of the harness, in case it needs to be replaced in the future:
For the camera ground, I found an empty connector with a white and black wire that turns out to be ground under the deck lid:
Ran my reverse wire up the quarter panel:
Neatened up my deck lid wiring:
Next, the rear seats need to be removed to run the video line:
There’s a hole where the trunk wiring harness runs through the body behind the rear drivers side seat bolster:
Ran my line underneath the seat cushion, under the carpet to the center console:
Under the carpet:
On the headunit harness, the pink wire happens to be the reverse trigger:
I plugged in the RCA cable to the video input, and replaced the interior pieces:
The end result is a decent quality backup camera (for a generic Chinese headunit that came with the car and an eBay camera at least!):
Night time quality is still useable with stock reverse lights and LED license plate lights:
The following users liked this post:
Fritz330 (01-30-19)
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