cjbates Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 I have a 2007 SEL and am currently in the process of installing a backup camera to go along with the new Pioneer AVIC 700BT nav head unit I installed. I bought the Boyo VTL300 lincense-plate-mounted camera after reading some positive reviews on www.avic411.com. I've got the camera mounted (see pic #1) and the wire running into the rear hatch alongside the existing wiring bundles (see pic #2). (To get the wire inside the hatch I drilled a 1/4" hole thru my license plate, and a corresponding 1/4" hole in the back hatch. The wire goes thru these two holes, and a rubber basket seals up the hole.) Where I'm left scratching my head is trying to figure out how/where to route the long wire through the existing rubber tube (pic #3) that connects the back hatch to the main cabin, and up to the head unit in the dash. I'm assuming if I can figure out a way to fish the wire (which has a rather large s-video connector on one end) thru the rubber tube, I could somehow run it to the front dash thru the headliner? Does anyone have any tips on how to accomplish this? I'm imagining it will take a creative combination of tools and techniques to do this, and I'm a little scared of damaging my headliner in the process. Thanks in advance. This forum was invaluable when it came to installing my AVIC nav system (pic #4). I hope I can return the favor with some tips of my own. Pic #1. Boyo VTL300 lincense-plate-mounted camera Pic #2. Wire running inside the rear hatch. (Trim has been removed from the inside of the hatch.) Pic #3. Rubber tube containing wires that connects hatch to main cabin. Pic #4. My installed Pioneer AVIC 700BT nav system. Really happy with this unit so far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) On my install, see here, I ran the camera wires ALONG that rubber tube as I found, trying to fish them through that tube with the other wire bundle in it was not going to happen. I spent like 10 minutes pulling/fishing it through and it is just to tight with the RCA connectors and the wires already there. So, I ran the wires along back side of the rubber tube with a zip tie. Out the hole, push the rubber end back in and it will form around it, along the back, in the top hole and rubber will reform back around it.. still water tight (but not like that is an issue really). See my photos (see photo #10 in my thread), pretty clean and cannot even see it unless I point it out. my threads talks all about it.. first Camera section text, but yes, I then ran it into the headliner, over to drivers side rear, down pillar, along floor, right up to drivers foot area, and viola... you are there. all of it 100% concealed in existing trim pieces. you will not want to try to run it from headliner all the way along celling to drivers side pillar and down that since there is an airbag in it and that is not worth jeopardizing.. so I ran it over to rear window and down as soon as I got it into the headliner. actually, once you get camera mounted - that was toughest part - and once you accept you cannot use the rubber tube and must go around it, the rest is cake when it comes to running the wires as trim can conceal it all. Edited April 5, 2009 by Lex Talionis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjbates Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Thanks so much for the tips Lex - I'm surprised I didn't find your earlier post when I was searching on this topic. I'll give this a go this weekend. I'll report back (hopefully with pics of my working camera). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 good luck. it is not really a hard mod, just takes a lot of time as many loose ends to tie up and pieces to bring together. as for license plate cameras, the Boyo and the XO Vision both get pretty top marks. neither are cheap, and an XO Vision is what I was planning to do - but I found a license plate frame I had to have and as it w=turns out, that little camera I found works awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjbates Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Got the wire routed up to the head unit, and I'm really happy with the results. The long wire for the BOYO has an s-video connector at the end, so I had to route that through the vehicle. It got kind of tight in some places, but I ended up taping the ire to the end of a coat hanger wire to fish it through all of the tight spots. Really pleased with the outcome - no visible wires, the license plate frame mounted camera looks great, and the picture on the head unit is crystal clear. I even drove around today with the camera on so I could keep an eye on everyone behind me In case it might help anyone, I've attached a picture of the car and outlined the path I took to route the wire from the license plate to the stereo. If anyone has any questions I'm happy to answer them. Thanks again to Lex for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 you routed wires exactly as I did. nice diagram! my conversion unit that allows me to attach a camera to a factory nav has the ability to attach a switch so I could flip the switch and have the rear camera on at all times as opposed to just when in reverse - I did not hook it up. you seems to have something similar "I even drove around today with the camera on so I could keep an eye on everyone behind me".. how do you activate it on yours while driving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjbates Posted April 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 (edited) The aftermarket nav system I installed (pioneer AVIC 700bt) allows you to select the rearview camera while driving. No special overrides or switches necessary. You can just select it from the touchscreen. Edited April 13, 2009 by cjbates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 The aftermarket nav system I installed (pioneer AVIC 700bt) allows you to select the rearview camera while driving. No special overrides or switches necessary. You can just select it from the touchscreen. oh man.. akriby is gonna have a fit if he reads this and knows you can interact with your nav screen like that while driving :shades: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bidmor Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I also installed the Pioneer AVIC700BT and installed a Pioneer back up camera. I ran the camera wire up the tailgate and then crossed in down under the gasget all the way to the bottom and then ran it down by the spare tire and concealed under the trim all the way down the passenger side of the vehicle up behind the glove box and then over to the head unit. I also offset my to the right of the license tag. Hope this will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy1223 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 What is the best way to hook the power to the camera? To a constant 12V or to the reverse switch? Or is there an actaul wire from the aftermarket Pioneer unit to hook it up to. I have not gotten this far with my install yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 What is the best way to hook the power to the camera? To a constant 12V or to the reverse switch? Or is there an actaul wire from the aftermarket Pioneer unit to hook it up to. I have not gotten this far with my install yet. well.. generally speaking.... depends on your system. In most cases, you hook to the reverse so that power only hits the camera when in reverse. Why run the camera all the time when you can only access it when in reverse on your HU and see the image. BUT, if you have some HUs (like above) where you could flip to see the camera while driving, then constant power would be good. That is cjbates could do. In my case, I can only see it when in reverse, so I hook to reverse bulb as no need for constant power.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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